Destroyer (The Elemental Series #7)(73)

I wanted to deny the mother goddess, tell her we could form an army of elementals and stop what was happening, but I knew it would take too long. There were so many already dying.

Viv had set things in motion, and even she wouldn’t have been able to stop this madness.

A hand settled on my shoulder and Raven crouched beside me. “You can do this, Lark.”

“I don’t think I can,” I said. “I may carry the five elements, but what the mother goddess asks of me, it is—”

Raven smiled at me. “Impossible?”

I leaned my head on his shoulder, a bitter laugh escaping me.

Now it was clear that the path I’d been on my whole life had brought me here. All I’d learned, all that had been cast in my way, at my feet. I reached out for Peta and she crawled into my arms. I held her tightly.

“What say you, cat?”

A tiny cry slid from her lips. “Lark, I do not know. For the first time, I am at a loss. We have been so busy chasing Viv, trying to stop the madness, that the world’s trials passed us by.” I knew what she was truly saying. Maybe we could have stopped it if we’d taken time to notice it.

I drew a deep, shaking breath. “I do not know that it can be done.”

Raven cleared his throat. “The first steps have been taken. In order for the world to be reset, the Veil had to be destroyed first. That is why I had Pamela call the Lynchpin through and back to the land of the living. He’s done his part. Now… now we need you to do the rest.”

He speaks truly. The Veil held a piece of the world together that was tied to the elementals. The bonds have been released, and you have the strength to save our world. The levels of the Veil are spread throughout the world now, as it was always meant to be.

“Save the world, by destroying it,” I said.

Yes.

Just that one final word. Yes.

Holding Peta tightly, I stood. What would Ash do? What would he think was right?

I closed my eyes and let myself sink into my own mind.

Peta pressed her nose against my throat. “He would tell you to follow your heart.”

“That he would,” I said.

Bella touched my arm, drawing my eyes to her. “I stand with you, Lark. We all do. The mother goddess has called on you.”

I looked to Raven and he nodded, as did River.

I drew another deep breath. “Raven, I… I need to speak to all the elementals.”

His eyebrows raised but he didn’t tell me it couldn’t be done.

“Now?”

I nodded.

“Now.”





CHAPTER 27



I stood in the cemetery of my family, my feet firmly planted into the ground. Between Ash and my mother, I knew I would find no better place to call on the power I would need to do this.

Raven stepped up beside me. “What do you want me to do?”

I shook my head. “Nothing yet, perhaps nothing at all. I don’t really know.” Peta lay herself across my shoulders so her tail wrapped around my neck. That little bit of warmth slid through me. I was not alone. I’d lost Ash and a huge piece of my heart and hope for the future, but I was not alone. The five original elementals were still with me, guiding me. Another small comfort with what I was facing.

I opened myself to Spirit first as I thought about all the elementals in the world, all of them family, blood in some way or another.

The mother goddess was silent as I sent the power of Spirit out like a net, high into the air and then shooting out in rays, searching for every elemental.

They pinged inside my head one at a time while I counted them. Two thousand elementals left in the entire world. But they were not the only ones I reached. Elemental blood ran hot through the supernatural world, and Spirit carried my voice to those human children of our people. There were many more, thousands of their kind, and that gave me a small hope. I could pick out Rylee, Liam, Pamela and others… They paused and closed their eyes in unison as I began to speak.

“My family,” I spoke and my words were carried to them, “the world is in a dire state. The mother goddess has called on me to correct it. The only way is to break the world. That will disrupt not only the humans and their deadly weapons, it will allow us all a chance to survive.” I paused, struggling to find the right words. “Many will die. Not only the humans, but the world of magic, too. Do your best to be safe. Do your best to help those around you.”

Rylee seemed to look right through me. “Lark, we are here. We stand with you. We are family.”

Her words undid the tears in my eyes. “Thank you.”

She grinned and winked through her own tears. “You got this, Larkspur. Cousin.”

She faded from sight, but I could feel her strength as I could feel the strength of all the elementals and supernaturals hovering just out of sight. Ready to be used if needed.

I let go of Spirit, but felt no fatigue from using it.

I looked to my sister. Bella’s face was covered with tears. “I’m afraid, Lark, for what is to come.”

“So am I,” I answered her honestly. “But I trust in what must be done. I will trust in the mother goddess.”

“When?” River asked. “When are you going to do it?”

I stared at my hands as the five elements danced in a spiral of color that only I could see. “There is no reason to wait. There is nothing that must be done first. Go to the Rim and the Spiral. Even burned out, I think it will protect you.” That was what the old king had said. A place of protection. Goddess, let it still be that.