The words echoed in the room in a strange way, almost like they were whispering back to me the answer. Yes, you will all die if the original elementals die.
“No, that’s not what I want!” Raven snapped back.
All the blood in my body seemed to still as if I’d been dunked into a frozen lake and left there. “Talan, is that what will happen?”
He drew in a big breath, held it and then slowly let it out. “I don’t know. Possibly. It’s not like there are cases where the others have been killed before, you know.”
I raised an eyebrow. “That’s not true. My mother was your sibling, and she died. Both Bramley and I lived. Perhaps that is a good sign that the bloodlines can continue on?”
He shook his head. “Your mother… she did not carry an original element like the rest of us so it’s not the same kind of comparison.”
That wasn’t exactly a comforting thought. The more I mulled it over, the more upset I became until I was pacing the room. “This is only more reason to leave. Why are we still standing here?”
“Because we can’t find them!” he roared at me. “There is no way to track them. There is no way to track Cassava!”
“You aren’t even going to try?” The horror was heavy in my voice. I didn’t understand the ability to walk away, to act as though there was nothing we could do. To give up before we’d even tried.
“And do what? Have Viv realize I am training you to take her down? Have her realize that we are after her? She has the stones, Lark. What do you think she will do to this world if she feels threatened? The curse is nearly broken. One more stone and she will be able to attack anyone.” Talan was right in front of me, his hands gripping my upper arms. “She will cause havoc and chaos out of spite. With four of the stones, she can do that and not upset the curse. As long as she isn’t actively trying to kill an elemental, she can’t be stopped.”
The intricacies of the curse were not lost on me. “I won’t just stand by and let her do this, Talan. And we don’t know she has the pink diamond.” The only stone I hadn’t carried with me.
“You can’t leave without me,” he said, his eyes flashing anger.
I leaned into him. “Then I suggest you pack, because we have to go, now!”
He let out a snarl and spun away from me. “I am trying to help you, damn it!”
“And I am trying to save your siblings!” I yelled back.
There was silence between us and I knew in my gut he wouldn’t back down. Talan believed I had to be trained or I would fail. To be fair, I understood. But he wasn’t looking at my life.
I’d never been fully trained for any of the challenges I’d faced. I’d seen them, taken what knowledge I could, and ran at them full tilt.
Looked like I was back to leaping before I looked.
I drew myself up. “Raven, do you know the way out?” I didn’t look at my brother, but kept my eyes on the elemental in front of me. Did I need his training? Probably, and even more honestly, yes. But the idea that Vivica was out there, ready to kill those we needed the most, was not an acceptable path to me.
“Yes, I can get out of here,” Raven said softly.
“Don’t you dare,” Talan snapped, and it was only then I saw the sheer weight on him. I saw the fear and the uncertainty. I saw the desire to help no matter the cost and I softened a little. I couldn’t help it.
“Talan, we can do this with you, or without you. Will you come?” I held a hand out to him, an offer of peace. An offer to keep training. “You had to know there was no way you’d be able to keep me here for long. That I’d find a way out.”
He stared at me and I stared right back. “There is always a way,” he said softly. There was no warning, there was no ability to block the power of Spirit as it cascaded over me and I swayed on my feet.
“You will stay here, and you will train,” Talan said, and I fought the desire to repeat the words back to him. They clogged my throat.
Raven grunted and there was the flutter of his black cloak beside me. “I will stay.”
Well, shit.
I knew I was stronger in Spirit than Raven.
But could I ever truly face down Talan and win?
“I will stay and train with you.” I bit the words out, one at a time as if they dropped from my lips. Peta shivered on my shoulder. “I will help her train.”
“Good,” Talan said. “I am sorry, but we have to make sure you are ready, Lark. I have worked too hard, for too long, and we have all lost too much now to race into a battle with Vivica before you are ready.”
I stood there, unable to turn away. Talan tucked his hands behind his back. “We start your training now, Lark. Raven, you will train as well because it is obvious you have forgotten your lessons with me.”
I swallowed the words that leapt up my throat. I wanted to scream at him that he was a stinking pile of shit. But my mouth wouldn’t move. I had no control over that.
My mind, though, was another thing. Carefully I sent a thought to Peta. Can you hear me?
Her green eyes flicked over me and she gave a single blink.
We will play along, I sent to her. He will make a mistake and Raven will help us.
Her eyes narrowed and while her thoughts were not actual words, I saw her concern. There was the distinct possibility that Raven would betray me yet again. But what other hope did I have than to put my trust in the brother who’d once been my favorite sibling? Nothing, I had no other hope than to believe I could outwait Talan. That he would let his guard down at some point.
The only questions were, how long would it take, and would any of the original elementals be alive when we finally escaped?
CHAPTER 12
Peta leapt from my shoulder as I stood, frozen by Talan’s command of Spirit in the caves under the waterfall. Raven stood beside me, in the same predicament, watching Peta. She shifted into her leopard form. “You don’t seem to want to hold me back now. Why is that?” Her body hunched as she stalked toward Talan.
He held up a hand. “Because you were my closest friend for many years, Nepeta. You were my confidante, and of all the souls left in this world, you know me the best. You have to know I am trying to fix things that were done wrong so many years ago.”
“Stupid damn way to go about fixing things by letting your siblings die and holding two of the strongest and most temperamental elementals alive captive.” She sniffed at him, then promptly sat. “Don’t make me kill you, Talan.”
His eyes widened. “You wouldn’t. You aren’t like that, Nepeta.”
“Using my full name will get you nowhere. The bond between elemental and familiar trumps all. I can fight your commands when they involve the safety of my charge. You’d best remember that.”
I wanted to ask her why she wasn’t taking him down right then. Why she wasn’t using her ability to do what she wanted, and then I understood. I had told her we’d hold back, that we’d lull Talan into a sense of security. It was the only way. And he could still knock her out with Spirit, even if he couldn’t command her.
Having Peta flat out on the floor did me no good.
I managed to turn my head and look to Raven. He was two steps behind me and I’d never seen his blue eyes so full of anger. Narrowed to slits, they were locked on Talan. As if by mere thoughts, he could strangle the elemental who held us with Spirit.
Slowly, he turned his eyes to me. I gave him the barest of nods. Trust me.
He nodded back.
Allies once more against a common enemy.
If only it would be as easy as stealing pies from the kitchen in the Spiral.
“Your first lesson is simple, Lark.” Talan strode across the room. “You need to learn how to break open your own memories, the ones that have been distorted and changed against your will. When you do that, you will be able to see much of your own truths and the reason for things that otherwise would make no sense.”
I frowned. “I have no other memories that are twisted. Those that Cassava played with
when I was a child have been opened to me. I know that they were not a dream. Besides, I would think that memory breaking is not a useful tool against Viv.”
Talan smiled at me, but it was sad and I hated the pity I saw on his face. He didn’t address the point I was making at all. “Your mind has been tangled with more than once, Lark. I will give you a false memory right now, one that I believe you will be able to fight easily so you begin to understand.”
I didn’t like the sound of this. “Are you even going to tell me how to disprove the false memory?”
“Of course.” He stepped closer until we were almost nose to nose, bent and kissed me on the lips.
I blinked up at him, but he was ten feet away from me. “Why the hell did you kiss me?”
“I didn’t,” he said. “But you believe I did. You need to find the connection to your skin, to your muscles and your body memory. That is the key to making the memory in your head real or not real. What does your body feel?”
I wasn’t sure I understood, but I thought about how my body felt when Ash kissed me, the pressure of his mouth, the taste of his skin, the way my heart picked up… the memory of Talan kissing me held none of that… and as I tried to find the physical memory of his mouth on mine, the memory faded until it was no longer in my head.
“Good, you’re a fast learner, as I’d thought you would be.” Talan nodded. “But that was an easy one. Because the reality is I put no weight into that false memory. I let it be a simple kiss with no emotion, no sensation at all. But do you understand better how to dissect your memories now?”
“All well and good,” I said, “but just how do I know which memories have been tampered with? I could spend years going through my memories! And again, are there not better things you could be training me?”
“You will have memories tucked away and hidden that you have no knowledge of,” Raven added.
I turned to him. “What?”
He shrugged. Obviously, Talan was allowing us some movement now, small bits. “There are memories that can be completely hidden. Just wiped clean as if you slept through them. Basically, if you don’t know what you are looking for, you would never find them in your subconscious at all.”
“Worm shit,” I breathed out.
Talan flipped his hand through the rushing water, splashing us both. “I am the teacher, Raven. Let’s make sure she can pull apart the obvious lies before she goes hunting for the rest.”
Raven glared at him, and I just watched the two face off. Then Raven bowed his head. “You’re right, Talan.”
Talan nodded and flicked his hand at Raven. A curl of pink flowed over Raven, releasing his bonds completely. I couldn’t help my eyes from bugging out.
“You’re letting him connect to his elements?”
Talan nodded. “He won’t fight me, unlike you. I trust him.” Talan paused. “You are eager, Raven. That is your only downfall.” He turned from my brother.
I looked at Raven, his head bowed, and knew he was going to do something when I saw the twitch in his cheek. He didn’t even lift his hand, but with Talan’s back to us, the Spirit Walker never saw it coming.
Fire sprang up around Talan, a wall of heat so large it filled the room from floor to ceiling, forcing him to the far side.
Would it be enough?
I could fling up my own hand to protect my face, the hold on my body gone. Apparently, fire was a weakness for Talan. And I was grateful for it because his distraction stole away his hold on me, and my connection to my own powers flooded through me.
Raven grabbed my other hand and pulled. “We have to go now!”
“Peta!”
She was there in a flash and before I could process that Raven was rescuing me, we were running full tilt through the tunnels, down and down, the rock growing more and more slick with each step and the light growing dimmer. “Raven, are you sure you can get us out?”
“Absolutely. I just need us to get out of the main section.” But there was a hesitation in his voice that made me wonder.
“Why?”
“Talan blocked the ability to Ride Spirit directly out of his home, same as the elemental families.”
I kept my mouth shut after that.
“Peta, stick close,” Raven said. “When we hit the stable, I can take all three of us because you are connected to Lark through your familiar bond, but not the horse.”
My heart sank as we rounded a final corner and I saw Shazer dozing with his head hanging over a stall door. His wings fluttered in his sleep, shivering as he dreamed whatever it was a Pegasus would dream. Maybe he dreamed of his past. “We can’t leave him,” I said.
Shazer’s head never even came up.
“He’s under a heavy sleep spell, so you can’t ride him out anyway,” Raven said.
I didn’t even think about what I was doing. I just ran forward and put my hands on Shazer’s neck. Whatever the connection between him and me, it was strong. Carefully, I felt along the edges of his mind and found the spell holding him under its thrall. The same way I’d pulled apart my own false memory of Talan’s kiss, I used my muscle memory of Shazer being awake, sassy, and vibrant to shatter the sleep spell. He came to with a snort, his head jerking up so fast, he hit the top of the stall door.
“What the fuck is going on?” he yelped as he shook his head.
“Explain later, leaving now.” I yanked the stall door open and he plunged out, giving a little kick with his back legs. I leapt up and Peta was right with me, settling down in front of me in her housecat form. It was my turn to hold a hand out to Raven. “You coming?”
He took my hand and I hauled him up. “Run straight at the wall, there.” Raven pointed at the solid rock wall in front of us.
I shook my head. “And use the power of the earth to open it?”
“No, the wall is not real, just another illusion. And if you use your connection to the earth, it will become solid. Now go!” He drummed his heels against Shazer’s sides and the Pegasus leapt forward.
“Asshole,” he snapped back as he sprinted toward the wall. “You’d better be right about this.”
I clung to Shazer’s mane, tangling the long white threads through my fingers as Shazer sprinted. Ten strides from the wall, Talan burst into the room.
If he used Spirit, we were done.
I twisted in my seat, called up the earth under Talan and let my power course through the rock and stone without holding back. Freedom and relief I’d not felt in being able to use my own abilities in ages rushed along with it. Not since I’d first gained control over my abilities had I felt as helpless as Talan had left me, blocked as completely as if I was once more just a Planter girl.
Helpless no more, the room erupted with all the strength I could shove into it. Shattered stone sliced through the air like deadly daggers that would kill if they hit the right organs.
I didn’t want to kill him. Not really.
The explosion was enough to give us the split-second distraction we needed to make our escape happen.
Shazer grunted as he plunged through the wall and the room around us shimmered, faded and was gone. We went from running to falling through space in a single stride of Shazer’s long legs.
“Shit!” The Pegasus spat the word out as the waterfall slammed into us. Peta’s claws dug into my inner thighs and Raven’s arms wrapped tightly around me as we fell with the water and the Pegasus. We’d leapt into a massive waterfall that was pulling us down… but how far? Under me, Shazer fought to get us out of the rushing water, his wings beating hard against the pounding force as every muscle in him worked to save us.
I tucked my head and gave him all my energy, everything I had. A burst of power rolled between us on the connection that bound us and he let out a whinny as we exploded from the water. Only inches from the rocky pool, his hooves skimmed the surface as he pulled up, gaining height and distance quickly. Shaking, I turned to look back. The waterfall was at least two hundred feet high and there was no sign of Talan.
I let out a breath I barely registered that I’d been holding. “As far as we can, as fast as we can, Shazer.”
“You got it. But only if you tell me what happened. One second, I was landing us on the top of that waterfall back there and thought we were taking that asshole on. Next thing I know, you’re waking me up and I’m bashing my head on that fucking stall.” He swung his head back so he could give me the stink eye. “What gives?”
I filled him in as best I could. About Vivica, about the original elementals, about Talan confining us all there behind the waterfall.
“So now the plan is to find Viv and the original elementals and save them?”
I nodded even though he couldn’t see me. “Yeah, that’s the plan.”
“Don’t know how to find her, do you?” Shazer laughed into the wind as he caught a current and we swept upward over a large forest.
“Yeah, that would be one of the problems. A small one,” I said.
He laughed again, turning it into a whinny. “Well, good thing you’ve got me then.”
I leaned forward. “Not that I’m not glad you’re with us, but why do I have a feeling you mean more than just being a good friend?”
Once more, he turned his head so he could look at me. “Vivica is my creator, you already know that.”
“Right,” I said, and then the realization hit me. “Wait, you’re bound to her still?”
“Not like I was,” he admitted. “But I can still find her. Just like Peta can always find you.”
He could find Vivica.
I knew in my head I should be happy about that, ecstatic even. But there was something under my skin that told me that even with Shazer helping, Vivica wasn’t going to be easy to track down.
She knew we were coming, that we had it in for her.
Without a doubt, she’d be waiting.
CHAPTER 13
Shazer, being bound to Vivica because she created him, gave us a perfect way to track her and possibly save the original elementals. Possibly. We’d at least be able to use it to find the first of her prey, and maybe whichever elemental it was would be able to help us find the others. That was if Talan didn’t catch up to us from one side, and Viv didn’t notice us coming in from the other. Yeah, not exactly what I’d call easy. But that didn’t matter. We at least had a starting point and an end goal.
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