Rootbound (The Elemental Series, Book 5)

by Shannon Mayer

  Easy to think, not so easy to put into practice. The sand floated through the water to me. Finley threw her head back, laughing soundlessly. I pulled the sand together, crushing it into a tight bond so it became shards of glass. Staring at Finley’s middle finger where the ring rested, I prepped my aim.

  Power roared through me as I flicked my fingers toward her hand. The shards of glass shot forward, slicing through the water and into her finger. Blood spurted in a pink bloom and her finger fell, floating side to side.

  I swam forward and grabbed the finger, and the ring. Gripping the ring, I felt the pull of the ocean and sent the water in the room to it. A ripple ran through my body, like the water took a part of me with it as it left. I slumped to the floor, gasping for air as I looked for Peta and Bella.

  Sodden, and in her snow leopard form, Peta stepped out of the smaller room first. Bella was right behind her, gasping for air as well, green lines of power hovering over her arms.

  “Easy, Bella. It’s done,” I said. I pushed myself to my feet, and glanced at Finley who clutched her hand to her. “I’m sorry, Finley, but I can’t leave this with you.”

  I backed away, and Peta hurried to my side.

  Finley lifted her head, her blue eyes watering. “Wait, Lark, please wait! I can’t rule without the ring. I’m not strong enough.”

  “You are, but you’ll never know it as long as you wear this.” I pulled the ring from the finger.

  “There was a voice in my head, I couldn’t stop what he wanted.”

  Finley’s words sent a shiver down my spine and I paused in mid-stride. “Who?”

  “I don’t know.” Her whole body shook. “I couldn’t stop what I was doing. I sent that assassin to kill you. I know I did. But I didn’t want to. The voice made me.” She burst into tears.

  I glanced at Peta, unsure of what to do. The words didn’t feel like a lie, and Finley sounded more like herself than she had since we’d been in the Deep.

  Bella went to her side. “The same thing happened to me. The stones are dangerous, and Lark is making sure this doesn’t happen again.”

  Finley looked up at her, still clutching her wounded hand. “Lark was the one who gave it to me.”

  I grimaced, Talan’s words once more making themselves known. “I didn’t know what they were. I thought they were best to be kept in the hands of those who understood the power.”

  A shudder rippled through her. “I ache for the stone. Give it to me, for a moment.”

  “No.” I took a step back. The need in her eyes was something akin to the human addicts I’d come across in the few human cities I’d been in. A desire so fierce, it overcame all common sense. Bella kept a hand on her.

  “Easy, Finley. It will pass.”

  A clatter of feet in the hallway snapped me around. I grabbed my spear from where it was buried in the wall. I dropped to a knee on one side of Finley and Bella as three Enders arrived, one of them Dolph.

  She held a hand to them. “No, she has done no wrong. I think she may have saved us. Again.” Her blue eyes lifted to mine. “Lark, you have cleared my mind of his commands.”

  “Who though? Who commanded you?”

  She leaned into Bella, putting her head on my sister’s shoulder. I took her injured hand, knowing I could heal her. Wondering if I should, if the cost to my own soul was worth it.

  Damn, if I wouldn’t heal her, I was losing whatever good was in me. I pulled her bloody hand out and covered it with my own. My body shook as I pulled on Spirit, weaving it through her wound and closing it. I let her go and she held up her hand, her eyes wide.

  “Lark, I didn’t know you could do that.”

  Peta butted her head between us. “To truly destroy, you have to know how to heal first.”

  Her words seemed to shimmer in the air, and that same shiver I’d felt before crawled up my spine. The words were too close to me, too close to the truth I was learning, and I waved my hand as if to bat them away.

  “Finley, who commanded you to try and kill me?”

  She put her healed hand—minus one finger—to her forehead. “I don’t know. The voice was familiar and he made me do things. I think . . . I think you are right, it has to do with the ring.” Her eyes flicked to my closed fist. “Take it away, Lark. I don’t want it anywhere near me.” Finley pushed my closed hand away. “I don’t have the strength to hang onto it and not use it, even though I know I will be manipulated. I want the power too much.”

  “You see?” Bella said. “Already you are clearing from it.”

  Finley’s body shook. “I used it sparingly, though I wore it often. Perhaps . . . that is why it already fades from my mind.”

  I stood and held a hand out to her. She put her hand in mine and I pulled her to her feet. She wrapped an arm around my waist. “I’m sorry I turned on you, my friend.”

  “No apology needed.” I gave her a squeeze and let her go. “But we must leave.” I pushed away from her. The chance we’d make it to Fiametta and Samara before Blackbird was slipping away from me.

  “Wait!”

  I paused and looked back.

  “You are seeking Ash, aren’t you?”

  Staring at her, I wasn’t sure I’d heard her right. Her words couldn’t have stolen the air from my lungs more completely if she was Sylph. “What?”

  “Ash, I saw him right before he went missing . . .” She shuddered. “He was looking for Cassava and he thought he’d find her in the cypress swamps. That was where he went. I did not remember until you healed my hand, like it healed a part of my mind that was meant not to recall.”

  “Thank you for telling me.” The cypress swamps. I tucked the piece of information into the back of my mind. I would go after Ash if I thought I could find him on my own, but I knew I had to deal with the stones first, before Blackbird could get his hands on them.

  Finley nodded, pulled her shoulders straight and swept past me, snapping her fingers at Dolph. “I want a proper report of the Deep within the hour for the past six months. I have been controlled for the last time.” There was more than anger in her voice; a low simmering rage radiated off her.

  He bent at the waist and raised grateful eyes to me. “It will be done, my Queen.”

  I nodded at him as I went by and he touched the top of my hand in a gesture I’d not seen since I’d been in the Pit. A sign of respect; one he gave to both Bella and Peta as well.

  I followed Finley, catching up to her easily. Which turned out to be fortuitous for her.

  As we circled around a corner, two Sylphs approached, their strides as long as the rest of them, their movement anything but friendly as their hands went to their weapons. Their long white hair and white leathers marked them as Enders for their people. Fighters and enforcers.

  The hallway we stood in groaned as a hard wind curled through it, tugging at the tapestries and painting that hung above us.

  “Why am I not surprised?” I pushed Finley and Bella behind me as I snapped my spear out, holding it in front of me to bar them.

  The Sylphs held up their hands in tandem and the wind picked up, howling as though a hurricane had been unleashed within the Deep. “Peta, take the left.”

  She leapt in front of me in her snow leopard form. She raced ahead, her body close to the ground.

  Finley flicked a hand and from below the Sylphs, the Deep rumbled. “Finley, I can’t breathe under water.”

  “With the ring you can!”

  Hell, I did not want to put the ring on. What if I was controlled? But she was right, it would at least allow me to breathe water as though I were an Undine. And maybe I’d hear the voice try to tell me what to do.

  “Peta, find high ground. Bella, get back!”

  Peta skidded and leapt for an open window. Finley snapped her fingers and the hallway flooded between one breath and the next, filling to the rafters, but never spilling through the windows or doors, like a self-contained aquarium. At the edge, I saw Bella pacing and Finley with her hands held out holdi
ng the water steady.

  I slid the ring on and took a breath. The Sylphs would have no problem breathing with their connection to air, but they fumbled in the water. I swam toward them, my spear clutched in one hand as they tried to backpedal.

  I grabbed the foot of the Sylph closest to me, yanking him through the water so we were eye level. He swept a hand toward me, the glittering edge of his knife cutting through the water with ease. I caught his wrist against my arm, spun my hand and grabbed his hand. With a sharp twist I broke several of his fingers and the knife fell.

  Arms snaked around me from behind, as the Sylph in front of me kicked out, nailing me in the stomach. A burst of air bubbled out of my mouth, but didn’t float away. As I struggled to breathe, the bubbles hovered in front of me. They floated closer until they pressed against my eyes.

  Air pressure and eyes. Not a good combination as far as I was concerned.

  I jerked hard, loosening the hold on me, but not breaking free entirely. The air bubbles flitted around my face, pressing against my cheeks as they slid closer to my eyes.

  Worm shit and green sticks, this was not going well.

  Kicking backward, I caught the Sylph in the family jewels, and his hold disappeared. The Sylph in front of me drove his knife at my face, the blade’s edge so close I knew I couldn’t dodge it.

  I jerked my head backward, already knowing it would too be slow, that the knife would cut across my eyes.

  He was yanked down and back, the blade going with him. Below him, Peta had her jaws clamped around his ankle as she bit down, pink swirls of blood flowing from the wound.

  I swung backward without looking, using the full length of my spear. It buried into a body and I yanked it forward. Peta wouldn’t have long before she needed air. I spun in a circle and saw Finley and Bella arguing by the way their hands were moving. The Sylph I’d dropped was injured, but still alive as he floated downward, his eyes closed with pain.

  Perfect. I swam forward and grabbed the Sylph Peta had in her jaws. Holding him by the throat with one hand, I drove my spear through his heart with the other. His body convulsed, blood spilled into the clear blue water and his eyes fogged over. Bubbles raced from his mouth and this time they did as they should have, floating up above our heads.

  I let him go and gripped the blue stone. With a quick gesture I sent the water out the windows.

  It dropped in a rush, and I belatedly realized Peta and I were going with it.

  I reached for her, barely catching her by the tip of her long tail. I tapped into Earth and pulled us toward the tile floor even as the power fought me, bucking against the hold I had on it. The spire around us trembled, the sandstone cracking under the pressure. As soon as our feet touched I let go of Earth, but Spirit was having none of it. “Bella, help me!”

  She raised her arms and her power collided with mine. The stone around us groaned, but held steady as I brought Spirit to me and eased off on my connection to the earth. I lifted a hand. “Good enough.”

  Peta pressed her body against mine, her fur plastered to her frame. “What is it about you and water?”

  “Damned if I know,” I muttered. I spat, trying to clear out the taste of salt water. Finley sat across from us on a bench, the Sylph on his knees in front of her as he clutched his side.

  “He won’t speak, Lark. Can you help?” Finley’s voice was as sweet as I’d ever heard it.

  If I were the Sylph, I’d be worried.

  I pushed to my feet and moved to stand beside her. The Sylph wouldn’t look at me. He could have still fought. His power was strong enough that there was no doubt he could have battled us with the water gone. But he didn’t, which was strange.

  “You were sent to kill the queen?”

  He rolled his eyes and drew a slow breath but didn’t answer.

  “So you were sent to kill me?”

  His jaw tightened.

  Bingo.

  I cringed thinking about using Spirit so soon after it fought me. Bile rolled in my guts and I had to force my hand to settle on his forearm. I sent a pulse of Spirit through him, clearing out any connection he would have had to another Spirit user.

  He glared up at me.

  “He’s not under any compulsion. Which means he’s here on orders.” I slumped against the wall, struggling to speak around the need to lie down and close my eyes. Each time I used my connections to the earth or Spirit, the struggle worsened. In that Talan was right; soon enough I would lose control completely.

  I knew my limits, and I was fast approaching them.

  Finley tapped a finger to her chin. “How could they even know you were here? And why would Samara send assassins after you?”

  I wasn’t entirely sure they were only after me. “If they could have killed you, the Deep would be in upheaval again. You have no obvious heir to the throne.”

  “But what would that do to help Samara?” Finley shook her head. “It makes no sense.”

  In that I had to agree. I couldn’t see what Samara hoped to gain by attacking Finley.

  Peta cleared her throat. “Finley, may I ask him a question?”

  The young queen nodded. “If you think he will answer.”

  She trotted in front of the Sylph and sat down. “You are an Ender, so you are trained to withstand interrogation so I will not ask why you are here. I only wish to know if your queen still wears a gift we gave her. A sign of peace. The smoky diamond?”

  He grunted, his lips curling downward. “There is no peace between us, so while she wears it still, do not count it in your favor.”

  Clever, clever cat. I ran a hand over her head. “Peta, you are a gem.”

  “Oh, I know.” She winked up at me, and Bella smirked, though she covered it with a hand.

  The smoky diamond was the stone that controlled air, giving its wearer more power, as the blue sapphire had done for Finley and water. So whoever was controlling Finley was also controlling Samara. And that was the true enemy. The one behind the stones.

  “I’d throw him in the dungeon until you know more,” I said. The dungeons of the Deep blocked an elemental’s ability to touch their power, rendering them useless.

  Almost like a human.

  Dolph and three more Undine Enders bolted into the hallway. “What the hell happened?”

  Finley smiled. “We took care of it. Take this Sylph to the dungeons, Dolph. I will question him later. And send a healer to him, I don’t want him dead. Yet.”

  The Sylph twisted in her hands and whipped out a short knife. Everyone was too far away; he had a perfect shot at Finley.

  I lunged for her, my instinct to protect overriding any sense of self-preservation. But the Sylph didn’t swing at the queen.

  He twisted the handle around and drove the knife into his own heart. His body convulsed and blood bubbled out of his mouth and over his chin. With a final breath, he slumped to his knees and fell back onto the sandstone, blood pooling around him.

  “Damn.” Dolph looked from Finley to me, and back to Finley again. “I’ve noticed there’s only trouble when Lark shows up. Perhaps her visits should be shorter.”

  I grimaced. “We are leaving, right now.”

  “Dry clothes first,” Bella said.

  Finley stood next to me. “I can fix that.” She snapped her fingers, blue lines swallowing her hand. The moisture leapt from her clothes and hair, leaving her as dry as if she’d never been in the water. I raised an eyebrow at her and she snapped her fingers at Peta, Bella, and me.

  The moisture whipped off me, hanging in the air in front of my face in a thousand tiny droplets before splashing to the floor. Finley did the same for Bella, whose skirts moved loose around her legs once more, a puddle of water at her feet. I glanced down at Peta and burst out laughing. She had the most water at her paws, but her hair was fluffed up as if she’d been in a windstorm for three days running.

  Frowning, she glared at me. “Not funny.”

  Finley laughed softly. With a gentle wave of her hand, Pet
a’s hair smoothed back down. “I took too much water is all; that should be better.” Her words set off a riot of thoughts in my brain.

  Too much water. Too much air. Too much spirit and earth. Too much of every element, and yet . . . there was something missing.

  I felt as though I was on the edge of understanding something vital to my survival. And yet, once more, it slipped away from me.

  Close, child, you draw close to the truth. Be ready for its violence.

  I tightened my jaw to keep from responding, because what would I say? Whatever the voice was, I knew the truth was far harder than the lies. That had been my entire life.

  CHAPTER 13

  inley went with us to the stable to gather Shazer. “I want to see you off.”

  “You mean you want to make sure we don’t cause more problems?” I laughed, but even I heard the bitter notes in it.

  Finley shook her head. “No, Dolph is right. You have a knack for uncovering the darkness in our world, Lark.”

  I grimaced. “Yeah, I’ve noticed that too.”

  Peta sat on my shoulder, once more in her housecat form. “The issue is that the news of something happening here that involved Lark will get to the other rulers before we can. Is the ambassador from the Pit still here?”

  Finley raised a hand. “Dolph, can you answer this?”

  He strode to her right side. “He left last night, shortly after Lark arrived.”

  I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter, not really. The stones are used as a form of compulsion. Whoever is using them already knows I’m on the hunt for them. The ambassador will only confirm I’m on my way.” I could only hope that meant Blackbird would also be stalled. Or that he started searching after me, and followed rather than beat me to the other rulers. Who was I kidding? Certainly not myself; Blackbird was hunting as actively as I was. I’d just been lucky so far. Which meant we had to keep moving.