I took a step back and drew in a breath. “I suppose that makes one of us, then.”
His eyes snapped to mine, glittering with a perverse pleasure. “You would fight me still?”
I twitched the fingers on my right hand and the trees pulled back around us. The fool didn’t notice. “I would do more than fight you. I will kill you.”
CHAPTER 26
he trees at the edge of the blasted land shot forward, whistling through the air with the velocity of a hurricane. Blackbird dodged the first two, but got caught on one I’d pulled from behind him. I didn’t wait to see if he would get up. Bolting forward, I yanked my spear from my side and whipped it around.
“No, Larkspur, I forbid this!” the mother goddess yelled.
I didn’t pause. “Then you should never have chosen us both.”
I thrust the spear forward and I was jerked backward, vines wrapping around my waist. They tightened and began to heat, bursting into flames.
I threw my head back and screamed, even as I shattered the remaining vines, breaking apart the molecules into tiny droplets.
Blackbird was on his knees and his blue eyes were wild with fury. There were no words between us. We’d said all we’d needed to say.
Back and forth we fought, flexing our power through the world around us.
Like a game of chess, we were careful in our choices.
I used the sapphire, drawing on its power without knowing what I was doing. I held my hands out and water condensed in front of me into a rolling ball. With a twist, I threw it at Blackbird, changing the molecules, hardening them into a ball of ice. It clipped him on the shoulder, spinning him around. He held a hand up and pointed a single finger at me.
A bolt of lightning snapped out of the sky and shot through my body. The electricity arched my back and sparkling lights danced before me. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think past the pain cascading through me. Blackbird’s laughter rolled around me and I fought to find my connection to the earth through the pain. There at the edge of my consciousness it hovered. I reached for it and pulled it to me.
Held to it while Blackbird poured everything he had into me. The lightning stopped, but I was on my knees and his hands were on my head. “This is a battle I did not want, Lark. I do love you.”
His words were meaningless as he used Spirit to hammer my mind, as if he were trying to crack a nut.
It felt like he had his fingers inside my brain and was pulling it apart section by section. The screaming started and I couldn’t stop it as I scrabbled to get away from him.
He was stronger than me.
I couldn’t stop him.
Were the words mine, or his? A tiny flicker of darkness spun in my mind and black eyes blinked up at me. Good thing I made sure you kept a piece of me, Elemental.
Astrid. The darkness swam between Blackbird and me, popping the connection between us like a bubble being burst. I fell back and Blackbird was thrown away from me to the far edge of the blasted field.
My whole body shook, convulsions shuddering through me from head to toe. I wasn’t sure I could even stand. I stayed on the ground, my hands buried in the soft, dead earth.
Blackbird stared at me as he stalked forward, his blue eyes full of curiosity. Seeing him jump from one extreme to the other told me all I needed. He was as unstable as Cassava.
“How?”
“Does it matter?” I had to stall, to buy myself time. I didn’t dare glance at the mother goddess. To think she would intercede on my behalf was stupid.
Blackbird smiled, and I wondered how I’d missed the lies in him. The deception. My desire to be loved had blinded me to the truth.
With a roar he leapt at me, shifting in midair. Of course he was a shifter. Why was I not surprised?
He landed on four large, black paws as an oversized bear. He roared a second time, his blue eyes glittering through the heavy pelt around his face.
He swung at my leg with one thick paw, the claws digging deep into my calf as he hauled me toward him. Truth was he could have killed me easily, stealing my air from my lungs. But he was dragging this out.
Making me suffer.
The claws cut into my muscle and tore through it as easily as if it were a razor blade.
I grabbed at his face, driving my fingers into his eye sockets. He roared and pulled back, shaking his head. Stumbling back a few feet, he put distance between us and shifted once more.
“Now you’re just showing off.” I gasped the words as I fought a sudden wave of nausea followed by a narrowing of my vision. This was not the time to lose consciousness.
Blackbird grinned, blood trickling from his eyes. “Maybe. Maybe I want you to see how puny you are next to me.”
“Enough.” The mother goddess spoke and her power slammed into us both, dropping us flat. I reached for the strength of the earth and got nothing. By the look on Blackbird’s face, he was in the same position.
“Neither of you will fight. I have chosen you both. For different reasons, and while you may never understand fully, I do not expect you to. I expect you to obey me.” Her words grew in strength with each one until her voice hammered my head with its volume and power. Her hair was dark as the night and I knew which side of her personality we were dealing with. Yet why then did she save me? Because that was what happened.
Blackbird would have killed me if she hadn’t stopped him.
“Yes, Mother.” Blackbird bowed his head.
The mother goddess looked at me. I raised an eyebrow. “Get stuffed.”
Her lips twitched. “Blackbird. I forbid you from seeking Lark out. You will not fight with your sister.” She spoke like a mother scolding small children.
He looked from her to me. “You cannot stop her from coming after me. She is the disobedient one.”
I wasn’t going to argue with that.
“Then we will make sure she is kept far from you, my boy.”
She clapped her hands and a wave of power caught me and threw me backward. I tumbled several times, all the way to the edge of the blasted field. Blackbird and the mother goddess were gone, as if they’d never stood there.
“Did you tell Viv to get stuffed?”
I blinked up at Griffin who stared down at me. “Yeah, I think I did.”
“Well, I’ll be damned. She finally met her match, yeah?” He grinned as he held a hand out and helped me to stand. I leaned on him, unable to put weight on my mauled leg. He handed me a piece of paper as I stood. I looked down at it, the familiar writing across the parchment and the blob of ink as my father’s hand had wavered. This was all I needed to prove that my father should not pick Briar or Raven as heir.
The clearing was battered and bruised from the fight, trees at the edges torn up from the roots, the dirt burnt and charred in places.
Across from us, Peta raced across the blasted field, blending into the dirt. Behind her came Ash and Cactus, weapons drawn.
“Stop doing this to me, Lark!” Peta yelled as she leapt for me. I caught her and placed her on my shoulder.
“It isn’t on purpose. Honest.”
Ash and Cactus didn’t look at one another, only me. I couldn’t help the sigh that escaped me.
“Let’s go home.” Cactus thumbed back toward the Rim. Griffin didn’t come with us, but watched us go. I know because I turned twice to see him staring after us. His dark eyes were unfathomable. Yet his stance told me all I needed to know.
The night was not over.
We walked in silence, me leaning on both men, but it was not the silence of comfort. Or of a job well done. The silence tasted of a heavy blow yet to come.
As we approached the Spiral, I was not surprised to see the crowd of people. They parted for us, but not with deference. I did not care. My father stood on the steps of the Spiral. Fern was nowhere to be seen. I put a hand on Ash. “Where is Fern and the baby?”
The words had barely left my lips when I knew. He shook his head and spoke only one word. “Cassava.”
My heart thumped hard against my chest. Poor Fern. Of all the people in our family, she had cared for me in her own way. Had stood up for me against my father.
At least she would be at peace where she was, though it was a small comfort.
The man I called my father raised both hands in the air as we drew close.
“I will name my heir so there will be no dissension in our home.”
He paused, saw me, and his shoulders sagged. “Larkspur, I will deal with you in a moment.”
Bella was there with him, as was Briar. All my father had left were two girls to choose from.
Bella’s eyes met mine and I forced a smile for her. She blinked back tears as she put a hand to her heart. I did the same.
My father spoke. “My people, I have seen the error of my ways. My sons were not worthy of being named heir.”
I clutched the paper in my hand, crinkling it. If he named Briar, I would have to say something. I prayed he would name Bella.
“My heir will be my youngest daughter, Briar.”
The crowd cheered and it felt as though the weight of the Wretched Peaks had crawled onto my shoulders. There was only one thing I could do.
I held up my hand. “Stop.”
A gasp rippled through the crowd, followed closely by my name.
“I have evidence that you are not in your right mind, that Cassava and Blackbird have stripped you of your ability to rule, to make the best choices for this family.”
I approached and held the paper out to Bella. “Bella, read this, please.”
She did, her voice stumbling until she got to the part about me being named heir. Her eyes shot to mine and she grinned. “By your own hand, Father, you have named Larkspur your heir and rightful ruler to your throne.”
By law, there was nothing he could do. The letter pre-dated his naming of Vetch as heir.
His face paled, and from behind him I saw a glimmer of my mother. Whether it was her spirit or the mother goddess come to watch the game, I didn’t know and didn’t care. She placed a hand on him. I looked around; no one else was looking at her.
Spirit whispered through me, and I knew Spirit was the reason only I could see her.
“I will not recant,” my father whispered, his eyes locking on mine. “I . . . name Larkspur as the heir to my throne and the next queen of the Rim.”
The crowd went to their knees around me.
How easy would it be to take the throne? I looked at Ash and Cactus. I could have them both.
I glanced at Briar, who looked relieved, and then to Bella. She nodded. “Take it, Lark. I will stand with you in this.”
But I was not the best one for the job. I was a half-breed. A Terraling needed to be on the throne of the Rim. A place I no longer belonged.
“I refuse.”
My father’s eyes widened even as Bella’s closed. “Excuse me?”
The mother goddess shook her head and spoke directly to me. “I will let you suffer his madness if you do not accept this. I want you here, on the throne, Larkspur.”
Again with the machinations. “Bella is the best choice. She is trained as a diplomat, she is trained as a Princess. I am trained as an Ender, and I would serve her as my queen. It would be my honor to place her life above my own.” I went to one knee and bowed my head to Bella.
“You would give up your right to the throne?” My father’s voice was incredulous.
A calm surety flowed through me, Spirit calming me. “Yes. Bella is the best choice. If you choose Briar, I will force your hand as your spoken heir.”
Again the crowd gasped. I dared to lift my eyes. My father stared at me with little emotion on his face. Fern and his child were gone, killed by Cassava. He had no other heirs awaiting him besides his three daughters.
“Belladonna.” He held a hand out to her. “Will you take this responsibility your sister so thoughtlessly casts aside?”
She placed her hand in his, but not before looking at me. Her eyes were troubled. Perhaps she didn’t like the thought of being chosen last. Yet I felt the certainty of my choice the same as I’d felt when I’d named Samara as heir. Belladonna was the one who should rule.
“Yes. It would be my honor.” She spoke clearly, so all could hear her.
The mother goddess backed away, and as she released my father, his eyes snapped to me, flickering with anger.
“You chose to use a Tracker. You broke our laws. You defiled the Eyrie, earning yourself the name Destroyer. You killed Sylphs. You’ve killed Salamanders. You’ve killed Terralings and Undines.”
I swallowed hard, knowing what was coming. “I have. And I would do it again to protect those I love.”
“That is one law too many broken. Your death awaits.” There was no malice in him, only a deep sadness and confusion that permeated the air.
“Then so be it,” I whispered, staying where I was.
Cactus pushed forward. “No. I called on the Tracker. I broke that rule. One less to punish her with, then. You cannot kill her.”
I didn’t gasp, I wasn’t surprised he would try to take the punishment from me. That was Cactus through and through. “Cactus, don’t—”
“No.” He went to his knees beside me. “No. You are not doing this without me.”
My father stepped down from the platform. “You are both hereby banished. You are no longer of the Rim. You are no longer of our family. I cast you out to wander the desert, Larkspur. That is your home. Cactus, I cast you out to the north. You will not be together.”
Cactus’s eyes bugged and I knew what he was thinking. He’d finally found a way to be with me without Ash. Except Cactus would not survive banishment.
Beside me, Peta let out a wail, her pain echoing through me. I crouched and put my arms around her, whispering in her ear. “This is not forever, Peta. I will survive this too. You know if Talan survived banishment, so can I. Do what you can to learn, go to the families and search out their secrets, weaknesses. The mother goddess plays a deep game, and I aim to uncover it.”
She put her head against mine. “Please, do not leave me again.”
“For a little while, my Nepeta. Only a little while.” I stroked her head. “Shazer. Take her, and don’t irritate each other too much.”
The Pegasus shook his head. “This is wrong.”
“For all those deaths?” It was my turn to shake my head. “I think I got off lightly.”
There was no saying goodbye for me, not for anyone other than my two familiars. Bella tried, as did Cactus and Ash. They were held back and I didn’t fight the guards who hustled me to the eastern edge of the Rim.
Griffin leaned against a tree, watching me dumped like a bag of human garbage. “Kicked out?”
I dusted off my clothes. “You don’t seem surprised.”
“Not. Seen it coming for a while, yeah? I’m going to come with you for a bit. I got something you should learn.”
We walked side by side through the forest, angling to the south. “What’s that?”
“Teach you how to make things from the earth. Not with your power, but with your hands. Teach you the ways of a blacksmith. It’ll keep you company while you’re away. I think you’ll have a knack for it.”
That was not what I’d been expecting.
The days and nights rolled into each other and we only stopped when fatigue or the pain in my healing leg finally demanded I rest. There was a strange emptiness in my heart I chose not to pay attention to.
The loss of my Peta. Of Ash and Cactus.
Of watching Bella cry as I was dragged away, never having even met my niece.
Of understanding how much the mother goddess had used me.
The edge of the desert beckoned me on the fifth morning. Flat, empty, desolate. The ground was baked so hard it might have been concrete. A hot wind blew across the expanse, kicking up tumbleweeds and dust.
“So this is home.”
“Did they give you a time period?” Griffin asked as we stared out over the horizon.
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“They didn’t. Banishment is forever, you know.”
“Only because they don’t know you can survive it. Yeah?” Griffin punched me lightly in the arm.
I laughed, but it was bitter-filled. “Yeah, I know.” Which was why the punishment didn’t scare me. “Griffin, my father banished Cactus too. He won’t survive.”
“I’ll get the boy, take him to a safe place after I show you what I gots to show you. A place outside our world where he can be safe and wait on you. Yeah?” He tipped his chin forward.
“What do you mean, wait on me?”
He burst out laughing. “How long before you decide you’re going to leave this desert? How long before the chains that hold you here weaken and you break this rule too?”
My face heated with embarrassment. “I don’t try to be disobedient.”
“Nah, it comes natural to you. Every Spirit user is like that. It’s why you’re so much fun.” He winked and headed out onto the flats without me. I watched him go, thinking about what my future might hold.
He was right about one thing. I wouldn’t stay here forever. Peta needed me, and I needed her. A little more time I could stand apart from her, but not forever.
No, not forever.
I took a step and my bare feet touched the hot, hard ground. The earth shivered as I reached out for my power, feeling its strength.
Above my head the whoosh of wings tugged my gaze heavenward. Shazer flew high above, Peta balanced on his back in her leopard form. Her eyes met mine and I raised a hand to her as they banked away from the desert. I dug into my bag and pulled out the blue sapphire. With a toss, I sent it into the air. Peta caught it in both paws. “Take it to Finley.”
I held a hand up to her, the pain of losing her once again tearing at me.
“Wait for me, my friend. This is not forever. A little while and then . . . then we will be together again.”
CHAPTER 27
watched her walk into the desert. The walk of shame was not lost on me; I’d done it more than once. A smile tugged at my lips. The defiance in her stride, the tilt of her head. Every part of her screamed rebellion. I liked her already.
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