Destroyer (The Elemental Series #7)(66)

And now… now it would just be me and Viv.

I laid Talan next to Frost and called the earth over them, putting their bodies deeply within the rock where they would never be disturbed. Peta lay on the spot where I’d placed them, one paw over her head, her shoulders shaking. Her pain suffused me and tears leaked from my own eyes. “I am so, so sorry, Peta. I know you loved him.”

“It is not your fault. But I thought… I lost him once and it gutted me. To lose him a second time even though I am not his familiar any longer, it is a pain I would not wish on anyone.”

I bent and scooped her into my arms. There were no words that would soften the blow to her heart. Ash landed on my shoulder and ducked his head, pushing his beak into the circle. She reached around him with one paw and tugged him into the cradle of my arms. He stretched a wing out and spread it over her back. The closest thing to a hug he could offer, and the sight about broke what was left of my heart.

We stood there for a few minutes, but I knew we didn’t have long. We’d waited too long as it was. We had to go.

“Peta, we have to find Raven. He is the last one who can help me with this madness.”

“Then let us go. Let us leave this place of death.” She pressed her tiny cold nose against the hollow in my throat, her hot tears tracking down my skin.

I wove Spirit through our three bodies and swept us away, toward Raven, wherever he was.

I wanted to believe there would be no more death, that I was done with it for a time. But I knew better. I knew these deaths and this pain were just the beginning.





CHAPTER 23



I braced myself for the memories from Peta or Ash. They were Peta’s this time, and they came softly, gently. Her laughing with Talan, her time with him, and all he’d taught her. All she’d given him. She’d tried to find him after he “died” the first time. She didn’t have it in her to believe he’d been truly gone. Through the memories, I felt the threads of love so strong and bright that I knew no matter how long it had been, she would always have a special place for him. A first love, her first charge. Her first loss. And now a loss again, this time in front of her eyes.

We stepped out of Spirit’s embrace and I looked around, totally confused for a moment as to just where I’d taken us. The room was well furnished with chairs and a long table—a human room somewhere within a city, if the hum of vehicles outside was any indication.

At the head of the table sat Raven, his hands propped up under his chin, his eyes closed so tightly, the skin on his forehead wrinkled.

“Lark, where the hell are you?” he murmured.

“Uh, here,” I said, and his eyes snapped open. He leapt to his feet and ran around the table. His embrace was so sudden and unexpected, I hugged him back. Ash ruffled his feathers and gave out a sharp hissing noise.

Raven stepped back. “Goddess, I thought… have you been feeling the strange pulls on the elements?”

“Yes.”

He blew out a breath and shook his head. “You’d only be picking up on Earth and Spirit. But Water is being tampered with too. Has Viv taken them?” His eyes were flooded with worry. “Are we too late?”

I shook my head. I knew we were running out of time, and I wasn’t sure I would be able to get to Mattie before Vivica did. Which meant I had one chance at taking on the last of the five elements. I had a plan, only… a great deal of it depended on me being right about my suspicion. That Vivica would be with Mattie even now, taking the last of her life, and with it, the last of her power.

“No. I… I carry them. And I am going to deal with Viv, right now.”

He stumbled back. “Wait… what are you saying?”

I pulled myself up a bit straighter. “Realm, Olivisha, Frost, and Talan gave up their power to me, to protect the world not only from Viv, but a greater threat. I’m going to deal with her now and then I will face the last.”

“What greater threat?”

“The humans’ war,” I said. “It is going to destroy the world in a way that no one will come back from. It will wipe out not only the humans, but the supernaturals and elementals, too.” I placed a hand on the table, tensing my fingers, the truth I was seeing as my connection to Spirit intensified. “They won’t stop… Viv has placed them on this path and so I must end her life first.” I looked up at him. “And then I must stop this war. The weapons are already engaged.”

He blinked at me several times like the information took time to slide through his brain. “And why have you come to me?”

“You need to come with me to Viv.”

“I will do what you want me to, Lark, but… do you think you need me to tackle Viv?” He shook his head. “I can feel the power vibrating through you and you aren’t even doing anything. Viv never had power like this.”

I nodded. “But I think I know where she might be, and if she is, then Samara is in trouble.”

He paled. “My son.”

I nodded. “Your son.”

“How can you know that?” Peta asked.

I bowed my head while I answered. “Pivotal points in my life have almost all been in the Eyrie. That is where the true mother goddess slept. It is why I woke her when I first went there. And… I feel a draw to it once more. Like I am being called home. I think… it’s because the mother goddess is my,” I paused because it almost felt silly saying it out loud, “grandmother.”