Talan laughed and shook his head. “The world doesn’t work like that, Ender. There are traps set up around the desert for any foolish enough to try and see her. Traps set up by several of the elemental families, and not just her father. She can leave if she chooses to, but none can enter.”

That surprised me, but then again, Lark had done damage in some way or another in all of the families. All to help them, but sometimes lancing a wound was more painful than the original injury.

“She will want to learn,” I said. “When she trained as an Ender, she was single-minded in wanting to gain new skill sets. I don’t think you will have a problem with her.”

His eyes widened. “You were her trainer?”

I glanced away, thinking of Granite and his betrayal of our family. “One of them.”

“And you fell in love with her?”

I didn’t like his implication. “She’s not like that. I have known her for years.” I took a few steps back. “I have to go. Cassava . . . has taken a friend of mine.”

Talan perked up. “Who?”

For some reason, I held my tongue. “It does not matter, but if I do not go after her, I have no doubt Cassava will kill her.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Another woman?”

I wanted to punch him, but I was old enough to know better. Even if the thought of his nose broken and bleeding under my fist made me smile. Talan smiled back, and it was as deadly as any Ender’s. “I wish you luck then in finding Cassava. She is a notorious snake once she goes to ground, coiling up and then waiting to strike at the last second.”

I didn’t turn my back on him. “Norm. Hang onto me.”

The Yeti grabbed my cloak, and I pulled the circular blade free. I touched the edge to my forehead while I thought of Romania and a small town I’d visited in the past. On the edges of a great forest, the village was barely big enough to be called that. With a quick slice, I dropped to my knee and touched the ground with the blade. The Veil spun and widened, opening for us. Talan watched closely, his eyes taking it all in. I didn’t trust him.

Yet, I could find no real reason other than an innate distrust and no solid evidence. Lucky for me, I’d learned to follow my instincts long ago.

“Are you not going to tell me to stay away from Lark?” Talan called after me as I stepped through the Veil.

I looked back, past Norm, and shook my head. “I’ve no need. She’ll tell you herself.”

Talan laughed as the Veil closed. “Oh, I doubt that, my friend. I doubt that very much.”

“Mother goddess, I want to punch him in the face,” I muttered.

“You should have. That would have been a great surprise prank,” Norm said. And for once I had to agree with him. It would have been great. Behind us, the Veil closed and with it, Talan’s laughter was cut off.

I looked around at the outskirts of the small village I’d taken us to. I’d been here once before, looking for a runaway brat from the Rim. Occasionally we’d get a Terraling teenager who decided they wanted to see the world of the humans and all the wonders it held. The problem was they had no idea what they were getting themselves into and regularly had to be rescued either from the other elemental families or from some pissed-off supernatural.

I didn’t realize I was speaking out loud until Norm responded.

“Did you find the brat?”

I nodded. “Yes, he was being held by the local witches in a dungeon. He was glad to go home.”

“I’ll bet. I don’t think I’d like to be caught by a witch. They’d probably make me into a spell.”

I snorted, not sure that there was any possibility there at all. “Or a rug.”

He gasped and I couldn’t help laughing softly. “I’m joking, Norm. They won’t turn you into a rug.”

An audible sigh escaped him. “Oh, good. Wow, that was a prank! I believed you were right!”

I strode forward, eyeing the sky above and the ground below back and forth. If Cassava was here, I would have to be careful about how I connected with the earth. While she was a bitch in truest fashions, she was also a powerhouse when it came to the earth. I went to one knee and let the sensation of the earth roll through me. Nothing stuck out, nothing that made me think I’d found her.

I hoped I was wrong.

“Where are we going now?” Norm asked. I stood and pointed at the village.

“There. And then we will start searching for the one we will pull a prank on.”

He grinned, showing off his strange teeth. “Oh, good. I’m excited.”

“I can see that,” I said. “Stop grinning, you’re freaking me out.”

His lips fell into a ridiculous frown that another time would have drawn a laugh from me. As it was, the tension in the air was too strong. Too much for me to think of anything but the reason we were here.

Cassava.

In the center of the village was an old brothel I’d stayed at before. While not to my taste in other matters, it allowed for a great deal of privacy, something needed at the time. And something I needed now. With Norm hovering over my shoulder, I knocked on the faded-by-time red door.

A woman peered out. She spoke Romanian, but so did I.

“We are closed for the night. Ladies are all done.”

“No, just a room.” I fanned out fifty dollars in American bills. Her eyes shot to them, then back to Norm.

“Inn down the road.”

I put my hand on the door, which not only held it open, but gave her a view of the chakram blade and a dagger on my right hip. “No. I want privacy.”