Recurve

“You wanted me to release the cleansing fire, Larkspur. I think I will.”

Eight.

She launched the pot high, arching it over her head.

Six. By the time it hit the ground, the clock would have run out, it would be too late.

I took three running strides and threw my spear.

Two. The clay fire pot hovered at the peak of its arc, the spear shattering it in the air. The fire exploded in a blast that sent me sailing backward. I slammed into the wall, hard enough that ribs cracked, splintering under the force. Overwhelming heat followed the blast, scorching my skin, sliding through me as it searched out the worms. On my knees, I watched as my father’s body jerked and heaved, worms pouring out of his nose and mouth, dying as they shriveled up beside him.

I crawled across the floor, sweat dripping down my bare arms and leaving little drops of moisture that lasted all of two seconds on the fire heated floor. I crept to my father’s side and scooped his upper body into my arms. His eyelids fluttered, and his breathing eased. He was alive. I’d done it in time.

But how would he know that Cassava was a scheming bitch? That she wanted his death? His eyes opened and I shook my head.

An idea formed, like a spark of lightning across my mind, and I grabbed onto it. I shook him lightly, making sure he saw my eyes. “No, no! You killed him!” He gave the slightest inclination of his head that could easily be seen as movement from me shaking him. And then he closed his eyes again.

Cassava laughed. “Of course, I killed him, that was the plan, you little idiot. How sweet that this will be the only time you get to hold the one who despised you the most.”

A gasp slipped from me, both from the pain of my body and the pain in my heart that she might be telling the truth. “He didn’t despise me.”

Her grin widened as she stalked around me, her three oldest children fanning out behind her. “You remind him of Ulani. Too much. And she was cheating on him, with Granite. You know that?” The glow around her hand pulsed, the pink fire swelling until it encompassed her body. I lowered my father to the ground and stood.

“He didn’t despise me, and my mother would never cheat on him. I know she wouldn’t.”

Cassava glared at me. “Damn you, believe me!”

Her roar hit me, a sound wave of epic proportions, and I leaned into it as it swept my hair up. Her voice wrapped around me and squeezed like a boa constrictor, tightening until I could barely form the word I needed to say: “Liar.”

The power around me came to a pulsing crescendo, hammering at me to let it in, that all would be well if I just listened to her. I pushed against it, like sticking my hands into deep mud and trying to push off. The power sucked me under and I held my breath . . . as if that would help. All I knew was I couldn’t let her in. If I did, I was giving up.

My boots dug into the hard packed floor, and from the ground, a thrum of strength resonated through me, starting at my feet, crawling through my body, pushing her magic away from me. Forcing her to leave me, inch-by-inch until . . . I was free of her. I gasped in a breath and found myself on my knees, staring up at her. She had a hand in my hair and held my head back at an awkward angle. Her eyes glittered with a hate she didn’t bother to hide.

“Your mother could defy me, too. I always wondered how strong the genetics were. Time to die, Larkspur, like the whore’s bastard that you are.” Her hand lifted and the sparkle of green around her fingertips lit up her fingers. She was going to drop me into a hole and crush me.

“Tell me, why do you want him dead? At least give me the truth before you kill me.” I tried to look at my father, but she held my head tight.

She burst out laughing, almost doubling over at the waist. “Larkspur, you are truly naïve or maybe just the stupidest elemental alive. Not that the reason matters now. We are in no hurry.” With her free hand, the one with the thick pink diamond on it, she stroked my hair. “Your father was weak. Too weak to do what he must. All he was good for was siring children of strength. Do you know, the other elementals laugh at us? They know we don’t have their strength in magic or numbers. We need to take our place amongst the elite. We should be the rulers of the world, Larkspur. Do you know that it used to be that way? That foolish storyteller had that part right. We were meant to rule the humans, to direct them and be worshipped by them. And I am not the only one who thinks so. There are others, like your mentor.”

A thought seemed to hit her. She narrowed her eyes. “Where is my general? What have you done with him?”

I leaned forward, pressing my face hard against her hand, the roots of my hair pulling. The ring was just with in my reach. “I killed him, and now, I will kill you.”

I grabbed her hand and jerked her toward me, yanking on the ring as I tucked her arm under my own. I had to move fast, there was no other way this was going to work. My ribs burst in an eruption of fire inside my chest, the broken ends splintering further, but I didn’t let her go. Couldn’t. This was our one chance.

She let out a scream, “To me!” and the throne room flooded with people. They shambled, gasping for breath, but already they were healing. The color of their skin pinking nicely, no worms dangling from their lips. And they were moving fast.

Not as fast as her oldest children, though. They ran for us too, Vetch with his sword raised above his head, Belladonna and Keeda lifting their hands, calling on the power of the earth. If they reached me, this would be over.

Two arrows flew, straight and true. One into the right shoulder of Vetch, the other into the ground at Belladonna’s feet. They spun, and Griffin stood there, grinning at them. “Right now, it’s a fair fight between those two. Let’s keep it that way, children.”