Windburn (The Elemental Series #4)(72)

Held to it while Blackbird poured everything he had into me. The lightning stopped, but I was on my knees and his hands were on my head. “This is a battle I did not want, Lark. I do love you.”

His words were meaningless as he used Spirit to hammer my mind, as if he were trying to crack a nut.

It felt like he had his fingers inside my brain and was pulling it apart section by section. The screaming started and I couldn’t stop it as I scrabbled to get away from him.

He was stronger than me.

I couldn’t stop him.

Were the words mine, or his? A tiny flicker of darkness spun in my mind and black eyes blinked up at me. Good thing I made sure you kept a piece of me, Elemental.

Astrid. The darkness swam between Blackbird and me, popping the connection between us like a bubble being burst. I fell back and Blackbird was thrown away from me to the far edge of the blasted field.

My whole body shook, convulsions shuddering through me from head to toe. I wasn’t sure I could even stand. I stayed on the ground, my hands buried in the soft, dead earth.

Blackbird stared at me as he stalked forward, his blue eyes full of curiosity. Seeing him jump from one extreme to the other told me all I needed. He was as unstable as Cassava.

“How?”

“Does it matter?” I had to stall, to buy myself time. I didn’t dare glance at the mother goddess. To think she would intercede on my behalf was stupid.

Blackbird smiled, and I wondered how I’d missed the lies in him. The deception. My desire to be loved had blinded me to the truth.

With a roar he leapt at me, shifting in midair. Of course he was a shifter. Why was I not surprised?

He landed on four large, black paws as an oversized bear. He roared a second time, his blue eyes glittering through the heavy pelt around his face.

He swung at my leg with one thick paw, the claws digging deep into my calf as he hauled me toward him. Truth was he could have killed me easily, stealing my air from my lungs. But he was dragging this out.

Making me suffer.

The claws cut into my muscle and tore through it as easily as if it were a razor blade.

I grabbed at his face, driving my fingers into his eye sockets. He roared and pulled back, shaking his head. Stumbling back a few feet, he put distance between us and shifted once more.

“Now you’re just showing off.” I gasped the words as I fought a sudden wave of nausea followed by a narrowing of my vision. This was not the time to lose consciousness.

Blackbird grinned, blood trickling from his eyes. “Maybe. Maybe I want you to see how puny you are next to me.”

“Enough.” The mother goddess spoke and her power slammed into us both, dropping us flat. I reached for the strength of the earth and got nothing. By the look on Blackbird’s face, he was in the same position.

“Neither of you will fight. I have chosen you both. For different reasons, and while you may never understand fully, I do not expect you to. I expect you to obey me.” Her words grew in strength with each one until her voice hammered my head with its volume and power. Her hair was dark as the night and I knew which side of her personality we were dealing with. Yet why then did she save me? Because that was what happened.

Blackbird would have killed me if she hadn’t stopped him.

“Yes, Mother.” Blackbird bowed his head.

The mother goddess looked at me. I raised an eyebrow. “Get stuffed.”

Her lips twitched. “Blackbird. I forbid you from seeking Lark out. You will not fight with your sister.” She spoke like a mother scolding small children.

He looked from her to me. “You cannot stop her from coming after me. She is the disobedient one.”

I wasn’t going to argue with that.

“Then we will make sure she is kept far from you, my boy.”

She clapped her hands and a wave of power caught me and threw me backward. I tumbled several times, all the way to the edge of the blasted field. Blackbird and the mother goddess were gone, as if they’d never stood there.

“Did you tell Viv to get stuffed?”

I blinked up at Griffin who stared down at me. “Yeah, I think I did.”

“Well, I’ll be damned. She finally met her match, yeah?” He grinned as he held a hand out and helped me to stand. I leaned on him, unable to put weight on my mauled leg. He handed me a piece of paper as I stood. I looked down at it, the familiar writing across the parchment and the blob of ink as my father’s hand had wavered. This was all I needed to prove that my father should not pick Briar or Raven as heir.

The clearing was battered and bruised from the fight, trees at the edges torn up from the roots, the dirt burnt and charred in places.

Across from us, Peta raced across the blasted field, blending into the dirt. Behind her came Ash and Cactus, weapons drawn.

“Stop doing this to me, Lark!” Peta yelled as she leapt for me. I caught her and placed her on my shoulder.

“It isn’t on purpose. Honest.”

Ash and Cactus didn’t look at one another, only me. I couldn’t help the sigh that escaped me.

“Let’s go home.” Cactus thumbed back toward the Rim. Griffin didn’t come with us, but watched us go. I know because I turned twice to see him staring after us. His dark eyes were unfathomable. Yet his stance told me all I needed to know.

The night was not over.

We walked in silence, me leaning on both men, but it was not the silence of comfort. Or of a job well done. The silence tasted of a heavy blow yet to come.