Windburn (The Elemental Series #4)(42)

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 f*cking 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 f*cking 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 f*cking 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 f*cking 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. Muscular 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.”