Windburn (The Elemental Series Book 4)

by Mayer, Shannon

  “You don’t have to prove anything to her,” Peta said.

  “I do. If she doesn’t believe in me, this negotiation is over.” I walked toward Elle and Bram’s attackers, the sand tugging at my feet with each step. I opened myself to the power of the earth and pulled it toward me. It filled me, making my skin tingle and my muscles quiver. The desire to run, to feel the wind in my hair and the sand beneath my bare feet, called to me, begging me to be a part of the earth once more.

  Around us, the sand trembled and shifted. Peta swayed on my shoulder, wrapping her tail around my neck for balance. “I don’t like this.”

  “Neither do I. But the choices are limited at best.”

  As I drew closer, I sucked in an angry breath. The attackers were none other than the coven from Greece. I looked for Winters, searching for his demon-infested body. But he, at least, was missing from the group. They fired balls of flame and burning arrows up into the sky, while a portion of them manipulated the winds, driving the dragon and The Bastard closer within range.

  Ten of them, working in concert to bring down a Tracker. What could Elle have done to piss them off? Sure, she had an attitude, but I doubted that was enough to cause this sort of problem.

  Something else then.

  “Focus, Lark, or you’ll get us both killed.”

  Peta was right.

  I stopped behind the witch closest to me, leaned in and whispered in her ear, “I warned you not to cross my path again.”

  She spun, her blue eyes wide. I softened the ground under her feet with a thought, sucking her down into the sand. The others turned one by one by one.

  “I wondered if you’d be here with the winged Bastard.” A man, warlock, stepped forward. “I will deal with her. The rest of you, capture Elena. Orion wants her alive.”

  Well, that was interesting. The warlock stepped toward me and I softened the ground enough to slow him down. One warlock was going to prove very little problem.

  He flicked all his fingers at me and a burst of light shot at my face. I closed my eyes and dropped to my knees.

  “Lark, I can’t see!” Peta yelped.

  I blinked several times. I couldn’t see either, but Peta didn’t know that. “Hang onto me.”

  Straining to hear his footsteps over the sounds of battle and the roaring of a dragon above us was useless. I stood and took a few steps back as the warlock laughed. “You can’t run away. I have you now. Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you. I think Winters would like to get to know you too.”

  He was moving, walking as he spoke until he was right behind me. I spun and kicked out, my foot connecting with his soft midsection by the feel of it. He let out a grunt and I dropped to my knees. “Peta, do you trust me?”

  “Mother goddess, what are you going to do?”

  I swallowed hard. “Something new.”

  She shimmied off my shoulder and into my arms. I grabbed her and tucked her inside my vest. “No matter what happens, don’t let go.”

  A whimper escaped her, but that was it.

  I buried my hands into the sand and called the earth up.

  All of it, every last piece I could reach. Power roared through me and bit back the scream that built in my throat. Sand whirled around us, but in my mind all I could see was a wave of the earth pouring over the witches, burying them deep into the ground where they could no longer harm anyone.

  In my mind, I saw the sands turn into an ocean that raged on the winds of a storm, a hurricane of the earth that would wipe out those who would do us harm.

  Screams erupted around us, cries for help as the world bucked and writhed under me, rising to my call.

  I ignored them, feeding my power into the wave I saw in my mind, crashing it over them, swallowing them up. Hands wrapped around my throat. “You fucking bitch!”

  The warlock squeezed and I buried my hands deeper into the earth, softening it under us both. I could survive being buried, I was sure of it. Him, not so much. A wave of sand pulled him away from me in a jerk as we sunk past my waist.

  The world trembled with the power that surged through me and I reveled in it, feeling . . . unstoppable.

  I kept my mouth and eyes shut but the sand still got into them. I didn’t ease off until I could hear nothing but the whisper of sand on sand. Slowly I pulled my hands out, laying them on top of the tiny grains. My face was covered in grit, glued on with sweat.

  “Thank you.” The ground seemed to answer with the slightest of rumbles. Not the mother goddess . . . but the earth itself.

  From inside my vest Peta shifted, breaking my concentration. “Are you done?”

  “Yes, I think so.”

  “I have sand in places no cat should have sand,” she spat out, literally, as she climbed from my vest. I was more than a little afraid to open my eyes. What if I still could not see? How in the seven hells would I find my father then?

  I opened my left eye first and a sigh of relief slid from me. Though my eyes were gritty with sand, and the backs of them ached from the flash burn, I could see again.

  I stood and dusted off my pants and vest. Around us the world was silent, the sand flat and unmoving, though the landscape had shifted. It looked as though I’d pulled the sand out of the desert toward the ocean, creating a new peninsula.

  “Holy fucking shit. Was that for real?”

  I turned to see Elle approach me, Bram beside her and Cactus pulling up the rear. Elle’s eyes were wide.

  “Did you have a good enough view of what I’m capable of?” I crossed my arms, mimicking her earlier stance.

  She glanced at Bram, then nodded. “Yeah. You’ve got yourself a deal. A favor then.”

  Peta cleared her throat. “Technically, you just did her a favor. You wiped out those looking for her.”

  I didn’t answer Elle right away but then said, “You sure that’s what you wanted to say?”

  Her lips tightened. “Fine, you fucking well saved our asses. That what you want?”

  I nodded. “Yes. Now we can look for my father.”

  “You got a picture?”

  “No, Jack said you didn’t need one.” My legs trembled and I locked my knees in place. This was not the time to show weakness of any kind. Not to this woman. Whatever her past had been, it had hardened her to the point of seeing others’ plights and feeling no empathy. That was not good.

  “Jack? You spoke to that dick?”

  My eyebrows shot up. “He spoke highly of you. Said you were the only one with the skills I need.” Okay, so maybe those hadn’t been his exact words, but she was still on the fence. Even after I saved her ass.

  “That doesn’t sound like Jack.”

  “He said you owed him cookies,” Cactus offered.

  Elle glared at him. “I’m not baking any fucking cookies. Do I look like a—”

  Bram blew out a sharp breath. “Enough, Elle. Enough. Do this job, you know you want to.”

  She glared at him, but there was a twinkle in her eyes too. “Pushy man.”

  “You love it. Now let’s do this. We have other tasks ahead of us.”

  I liked him, maybe better than I liked her. Or maybe it was because he seemed to be working in my favor.

  “I need you to describe him to me, think you can manage?” Elle asked, once more crossing her arms. Defiance radiated from her.

  I nodded. “Yes, I can do that.”

  “Well, let’s get this fucking show on the road then, shall we?”

  Indeed. Time to find my father and straighten out the Rim once and for all.

  Yet, I had a feeling our journey was far from over.

  Looking back, I had no idea just how accurate that hunch was.

  CHAPTER 14

  “escribe him then, and tell me his name. Anything you can give me will help. Not only physical shit, but what he’s like.” Elle’s eyes swirled as she spoke.

  My words tumbled, one after another. Basileus. Long hair, mostly dark brown with strands of auburn. Gray beginning to show. Muscul
ar body, shorter than me. Green eyes that faded to black when he was angry. Most powerful of our family. A broken soul from being manipulated. Favored some children over others. Put his family in danger because of his foolishness.

  “That’s enough,” Elle said. I looked up, not realizing I’d looked down at any point. “He did a number on you, didn’t he?” Her words were the first that showed any sort of understanding, her eyes soft with a shared pain.

  I chose not to respond. “Can you find him then?”

  Her eyes swirled, the three colors blending faster and faster. “Yes, I’ve got a bead on him. Northeast from here.”

  My eyebrows climbed. “That’s it?”

  “Well, shit, I don’t know the exact location, but we’ll travel with you. Make sure you find him so you can deal with your daddy issues.” My jaw dropped and she walked away from me. Bram’s lips tightened, and he shook his head.

  “I’d apologize, but then that would be all I do. You’ll get used to her.”

  Cactus shook his head. “I’d worry more she’ll push one too many sore spots on Lark.”

  Bram nodded. “Yeah, that too.”

  They mounted up on Ophelia and I paused. The Bastard had brought us here, but that had been the only deal. I walked to his side and put my hand on his shoulder. Before I could ask for another ride, he spoke.

  “I will take you. I have not had an adventure for some time.”

  I pulled myself onto his back. “Thanks. But calling you The Bastard is getting old. If I can’t know your real name, I’m giving you one.”

  He grunted as Cactus climbed up behind me. “Do as you wish, Elemental. Your kind always have.”

  I wanted to swat him for sassing me, but I settled for winding my fingers through his mane. “There is a legend in our family about a horse that carried our first king into battle. How the horse had become the first familiar after saving the king’s life by taking a blow for him. His name was Shazer.”

  He bucked as we lifted off into the air. “Bah.”

  A cold nose pressed against my cheek. “It’s a good name.”

  My mind, though, was already moving forward. Northeast . . . the direction was not lost on me. The Wretched Peaks lay in that direction, what the humans called the Himalayans.

  The home of the Sylphs was nestled in those mountains.

  “Cactus, we sent emissaries to the Eyrie.”

  “Yes.”

  “And they swore oaths that my father was not in their home.” I tightened my grip on Shazer’s mane until the coarse strands cut into my fingers.

  “Just because we are headed in that direction now does not mean he is there. A whole wide world is northeast of us.” He rubbed my shoulders, but instead of soothing me, it only served to cause more friction.

  “Don’t, Cactus. Please don’t.” I didn’t care that he was right.

  We flew for hours, neither the dragon nor Shazer losing speed. Which gave me time to think.

  Something was shifting in our world, and my mind wouldn’t leave alone the pieces I could see. I’d been in the Deep and seen and helped a coup for the throne happen. I’d ousted Cassava from the Rim. In the Pit we’d set Fiametta straight. My heart rate began to climb as the pattern emerged in front of me.

  I was being used to set people on the thrones of power. People the mother goddess wanted. Chills swept through me that had nothing to do with the cold air around us.

  Peta spun in my lap and put her front feet on my chest so we were nose to nose. “What is this fear I feel? What have you thought of?”

  I reached back and pulled Cactus closer to me. “The mother goddess is using me, Peta. I have been instrumental in the Deep, Pit, and Rim in changing the structure of who rules, or how they rule. I have no doubt we are being funneled to the Eyrie for the same reason.”

  Cactus sucked in a sharp breath. “Holy—”

  “Do not use her name,” I snapped, anger filling me. Anger and disappointment. “She has been using me from the beginning.”

  Peta’s green eyes softened. “You are her chosen one, Lark. There must be a reason.”

  “Why would she let me go in blind? How much easier would it have been if I’d known what she would ask of me?”

  Shazer flipped his head. “Perhaps because she knew you would fight her if she laid the harness on too tightly.”

  His words struck a chord. “Damn, you’re right.”

  “Of course I am.” He blew out a breath that sent a spattering of spit back at us.

  I wiped my face and Peta fluffed up her back. “Stupid horse.”

  He rolled to the left, making her scramble to cling to me. “Shazer, enough!”

  A horsey laugh rippled out of him. “For now.”

  If I’d known what the mother goddess was going to ask of me, I would have fought her. I’d have thought I couldn’t do it, especially facing down Cassava. Or going into the Deep. Or the Pit, for that matter. Damn, I didn’t want to be okay with this.

  Especially now that I knew what was coming in the Eyrie. Another coup? Some sort of trial by fire like the Pit?

  I tucked my chin to my chest, wrapped my arms around Peta and closed my eyes. There was nothing I could do until we got there, and maybe, maybe I was wrong.

  Our direction never shifted as we flew. Sometime in the early hours of the night we began our descent and I opened my eyes.

  The Wretched Peaks surrounded us. My heart climbed into my throat as we dropped. Damn, being right had never felt so horrible.

  Ophelia landed first. Shazer dropped to her left with a bounce that turned into a buck. Cactus went flying over our heads and hit the ground hard, landing flat on his back. The dragon tipped her head back and let out a long laugh.

  Shazer pranced where he was. “Names have power. What does mine mean?”

  I blushed. “Twisting, or intertwining.”

  “Perhaps you should have gone with something more docile.” Cactus snorted.

  I swatted Shazer’s neck before I slid from his back. “You don’t have to wait with us here. Go home to your forest.” I took a few steps before the energy between Peta and me spiked, verging on panic. I reached up and laid a hand on her back as I twisted to look her in the eye. “What’s wrong?”

  “That is not my energy you are feeling, Lark,” Peta said. Her left ear flicked once and I followed the direction she indicated.

  Shazer stood with his hooves planted in the ground as if he were frozen in the thin dusting of snow, while his whole body twitched and quivered.

  “Oh, no,” I whispered. “Let him go. He has done his part.”

  Child, you need him. And perhaps more than that, he needs you. Would you turn away a gift from me?

  The mother goddess spoke to my mind, and so I could not hide my thoughts from her. Of course I wouldn’t turn him away. “Shazer. You are bound to me. Do you feel it?”

  His dark eyes swiveled to mine and he let out a snort, but said nothing. The anger in his eyes spoke volumes that needed no words. He did not wish to be tied to me.

  I steeled myself. I’d won over Peta; I had to believe I could win over him too. I touched his side. “I will not lay the harness on you, my friend. Whatever help I need will be temporary, I’m sure.”

  The emotions in him softened a few degrees. “I will hold you to that.”

  “Elle,” I turned as she approached me, “any final directions?”

  She pointed up at the peak that seemed to hover over our heads. “He’s up there, but how the fuck he’s alive is beyond me. We circled but could see nothing.”

  “It’s okay. I can take it from here.” I held my hand out to Cactus. He offered me his hand and I frowned. “My spear, Cactus.”

  “Right.” He tossed it to me and I twisted the two pieces together. “Thank you, both of you.”

  “The job isn’t done until I return him to you.” Elle stepped in front of me, most effectively blocking me from moving forward.

  I put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her ever so sl
ightly. “I said I can handle it from here. I will even give you that bonus. I will give you a favor, Tracker. One to be called in at any time.”

  Her eyes widened. “Why would you do that?”

  Spirit flowed through me and out my mouth. “You will need me before your life is called to the other side of the Veil. You will give me what you hold closest to your heart.”

  The words were out of my mouth, but they were not my own. Chills rippled through me and Elle’s body shook under my hand.

  “I fucking well doubt it.” She jerked away from me, but the fear in her eyes was loud and clear.

  “Do not follow us, no matter what happens.” I dropped my hand and walked away. Toward the mountain’s base.

  “We can’t stay, Lark,” Elle said.

  I glanced over my shoulder. “Then don’t.”

  “We can’t pull your ass out of this.”

  “I don’t expect you to.”

  She threw her hands in the air. “Bram, time to go. We have things to do.”

  I watched as they mounted Ophelia. Her big eyes zeroed in on me and for a second I thought she might say something. Her head snapped away as she launched, her wings sending them straight into the air. I lifted a hand, and Elle raised one in return.

  A funny twist began in my gut. Whatever part Elle had left in this, she and I weren’t done yet.

  They ghosted through the clouds for a few minutes, glimmers of red scales, and then they were gone.

  Shazer snorted. “What about me?”

  I looked him over. “Will you wait for me? I cannot know what we are walking into, but a backup escape plan is always a good thing to have in my world.”

  His dark eyes narrowed. “Call for me. I will hear you.”

  I touched him on the nose, the velvet of his muzzle softer than dandelion fluff. I turned and walked away, only then noticing where we’d landed. A small valley at the juncture of three mountains, the peaks towering over us so much, the sun struggled to peer through even though it was midday. Snow crunched under my boots; I had an urge to slip them off and feel it on my bare feet. In the redwoods, we didn’t get snow, not like this. The icy crystals covered everything, giving the world a glittering white, ethereal feel. Cactus caught up to me with ease.