Windburn (The Elemental Series #4)(14)

Indeed.

I didn’t want him to lose that spark so early in the journey. Because I had a feeling I was going to be the one to take it from him at some point. Most likely when he found out about Ash and me.

Under my hand, Peta softened as if she heard the words in my mind, though she would pick up on only emotions. “Fine.”

The Rim hummed with energy when we returned. People flowed through the main thoroughfare, stopping and talking more so than usual. I grabbed the first person I recognized.

“Blossom, did something happen?”

The girl who’d been an Ender in training with me stopped and spun, a surprised look on her face. “Lark, you’d better get out of here. He’s looking for you. Go!”

I didn’t have to ask who or why. Vetch had to have broken free of the dungeon. I grabbed Cactus’s arm and bolted toward the barracks. Behind us, shouting erupted as someone spotted us. Not like we were hard to spot. At six feet, I was a good four inches taller than most of the men of the Rim with the exception of Ash, and Cactus with his red hair . . . we were easy to pinpoint.

Peta leapt from my shoulder. “I’ll slow them down.”

“I’m not going without you!” I said.

“Of course not.”

She let out a snarl as she shifted, covering our backs. Cactus and I raced into the barracks, though it was a struggle not to stop and face those who came for us. Could I have fought off the guards? Yes. But it wasn’t their fault Vetch was an idiot slug of a man. They didn’t deserve to be hurt because of the choices he made.

Too many had already died because of Cassava and her machinations. I didn’t want to add to the list.

Bursting through the barracks’ main doors, I stumbled to a halt when I saw what waited for us. Ash stood in the middle of the room, arms loaded with human clothes.

“You two don’t have a lot of time.” He threw jeans and a white T-shirt at Cactus. “Those should fit you. They’re from the last time I went into the human world.”

Cactus caught the clothes and quickly changed. Ash held out a tall pair of boots to me. “I think if you wear these, you should be okay. With your looks, the humans will forgive strange clothing.” He gave me a quick wink.

I took the boots and slipped them on. They laced all the way up to my knee, the soft leather cupping my calves. Made of a deep brown deerskin, they complimented my darker leather vest. Not that I was looking to be fashionable. I only needed to fit in enough so the humans didn’t notice me.

Ash crouched in front of me and helped me lace up the boots, his hands lingering on my legs. “Be careful, Lark.”

“I will.” I touched his head, running my fingers through his hair, forgetting for a moment we were not alone. Behind us the door burst open and Peta fell through. Her white and gray coat was flecked with blood.

Horror ripped through me. How could I have not felt her injuries? “Peta!”

“I’m fine, it isn’t my blood,” she panted. Cactus ran to the door and slid a bar through it.

“Time to go.” Ash grabbed me and spun me toward him. I knew a kiss when I saw it coming and I turned my head. It was one thing to love him, another to rub it in Cactus’s face. His lips caught my cheek and the surprise, then laughter in his eyes made me smile.

Cactus grabbed my hand and dragged me away toward the stairs and the Traveling room. I let him, but couldn’t take my eyes from Ash as we moved out. How had Cactus not noticed?

The boom of something heavy hitting the main doors snapped me out of my fog. I shook off Cactus’s hand and stepped into the lead. Stopping at my bedroom door, I grabbed a small leather bag I could tie to my belt. I looped it through and stuffed the trinkets Niah had given me in beside the smoky diamond that controlled air. The last thing to go in the bag was the white stone from the Pit. I didn’t hesitate, just stuffed it in knowing I could trust Niah.

I took a knife and tucked it into the top of my boot, then backed out and led the way down the hall again. Through it all, the silence from Cactus was as damning as if he’d screamed at me. Apparently he had noticed.

Beside me, Peta lent me her support, her furred body against my leg. I dropped a hand to touch the back of her neck. What a mess my heart was. Almost as bad as the mess my father had left in the Rim.

The doors to the Traveling room were wide open. I stepped inside and as always was for a moment awed by what was laid out in front of me. Situated like a globe, the room was completely round. It was as if we stood inside the world, and looked out toward the land and seas.

“Get that armband off the wall,” I said to Cactus as I reached up and touched the hovering image of the world. Flexing and tightening my fingers, I brought the image of North America closer and closer until I’d zeroed in on the badlands of North Dakota, and then tightened it further to the main, glowing city of Bismarck. Adjusting it ever so slightly, I held out a hand. Cactus set the armband on it and I slid it onto my other arm. Made of highly polished cedar wood, it resonated on my bicep, like a tuning fork. “Hang onto me.”

“You sure your boyfriend will be okay with this?” Cactus asked.

I turned my head to look at him. Okay, maybe glare was a more accurate term. “Seriously? You want to have that conversation right now?”

His jaw flexed. “Is he your boyfriend?”

“No. Now stop being a fool, Prick, and hang onto me.” I used Peta’s nickname for him and she snickered beside me as she wrapped a big paw around my calf.