Destroyer (The Elemental Series #7)(4)
I shook my head slowly. “It could have been worse, Peta. No demons came through the Veil.”
“They won’t,” Pamela said softly.
“How can you be sure?” Peta asked.
With a shudder, Pamela turned to look me in the eye, her shoulders straightening slowly as she pulled herself together. “Because I was not opening the Veil to them. I was breaking it entirely.”
CHAPTER 2
Breaking the Veil.
While Shazer flew higher, I kept my eyes on Pamela as I let the words sink in. The reverberation from the earth that I’d felt in my bones, the power and pain of the world crying out—I’d known nothing good could have come from that. But breaking the Veil? Was it even possible?
“Raven set you up to this.” The words slid from my lips before I could even fully process them.
Pamela’s blue eyes hardened. “I chose to do it, knowing the consequences.”
Worm shit. I looked over her head, between the Pegasus’s ears. There was more to this story than Pamela just breaking the Veil. I was sure of it.
“Shazer, how long before we reach the waterfall where Talan wants us?” I asked.
He flicked his ears a couple of times. “I think maybe a few hours at most.”
“Then, Pamela, you have time to explain to me why you did what you did.” I tried my best to keep my words even, and nonjudgmental.
She was quiet a moment, struggling to find the words. “I… the mother goddess told me to.”
Of course, the mother goddess—the true mother goddess—had spoken to me, too.
“Any idea why?”
Pamela shook her head. “No. I went with Raven on my own. He taught me how to use my powers, taught me to weave them together. But when it came down to it, I wasn’t sure I should open the Veil. The mother goddess told me to go ahead, that I had to break the Veil.”
“And then she told me to save you,” I said softly. “So for whatever reason, this had to happen. I believe you.”
A tiny sob slipped from her. I tightened my hold around her.
“Did he hurt you?”
“What?” She turned confused eyes on me. “Who?”
“Raven.”
“No, he… he saved me from the Guardian that came through the Veil. It was coming for me because I was the one to open it.” She shook her head. “He would never hurt me.”
She said it with such sincerity that it was obvious she believed her own words.
The idea of Talan getting his hands on the young witch was enough to make me hesitate. Obviously, he had a thing for power, or he wouldn’t have tried to take me as he did. I couldn’t risk him getting his hooks into her too. I just didn’t trust him.
“Pamela, is there somewhere you can go? Somewhere away from here? I think Rylee will need some time to come to grips with what happened.”
She hunched her back further. “You don’t want me to stay with you?”
I drew a breath and let it out slowly, knowing the prickly footing that came with teenagers all too well. “I want you to be safe. The man with me with the dark hair, did you see him?”
“The one with the violet eyes?” She nodded. “I saw him.”
“He’s a Spirit Walker, an elemental who can control others through their minds. I don’t know what he would do if he got his hands on you. You are very powerful, and witches with great power are feared by some elementals.”
She frowned and shook her head. “I can’t be controlled by Spirit. It is one of the reasons Raven was willing to teach me.”
My turn to frown. “You could keep yourself free from Spirit when Raven tried to manipulate you?”
She nodded. “While he was surprised, I think maybe he wasn’t at the same time. It was strange.”
The frown did not leave my face. How could a child, a witch who had power in all five elements, be stronger at resisting Spirit’s call than me who had power in the true element itself? There was no jealousy on my part, just true confusion.
Peta cleared her throat. “Sometimes, one using Spirit finds it’s a struggle to control those within their bloodline.”
Pamela stiffened. “Perhaps that is the case.” From her arms came a soft purrp from the orange cat.
“Tell her, Pamela.”
Peta leaned over. “Tell us what?”
“Oka,” Pamela said softly. “I don’t know if that is a good idea—”
“Tell her.” Oka peered up at her charge with large pale blue eyes, then they widened as she took in me and Peta. She swallowed hard, almost like she was tongue-tied. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, and then again, she swallowed and spoke quietly. “I may not be the familiar that Peta is, but,” her words slowly grew in confidence, “Lark is your friend. She is the Destroyer. She needs to know.”
Chills swept through my body and my skin tingled with apprehension. “Tell me what?”
Pamela drew a breath. “I… Raven and I are related.”
If she’d turned and slapped me, I would not have been more surprised. “Related? How?”
She lifted her head and looked me straight in the eye, and while I could see she was being brave, I could also see the fear.
“He’s my father.”