Rootbound

Talan stood there, watching me watch him. “Your time to take the stones from the elemental leaders is coming to a close, that much is true.”

A chill swept through me. “How did you know?”

He didn’t directly answer me. “They are far more addictive in their power than even you understand. Your sister rarely wore hers, and you saw how she fought you. You, someone she loves dearly, she would have killed you. You did them all a disservice giving them the stones in the first place.”

My jaw dropped. “It’s not like they came with an instruction manual. And the battle against Orion and his demons would never have been won without that extra strength.”

I felt as though I was in a battle of my own, one where I was rapidly losing ground. He was wrong. We’d needed that strength.

He shook his head, his eyes incredibly sad. “More people would have died, yes, that is true. But the battle itself did not weigh on your shoulders, Larkspur. It weighed on the Tracker and her heart. Your pride made you believe you were integral to a battle that had nothing to do with you. Your battle is yet to come.”

His words cut through me, like a spear thrown by a giant, piercing me through my chest. “What are you saying?”

“The battle would have been won without you, Lark. You think too highly of yourself, and it will be your downfall. Pride . . . you have seen how it destroys leaders. And whether you like it or not, Destroyer, you are a leader of a sort.”

He took a step back, then another, while I fought with my emotions.

Humiliation, heartsick, physically sick. I went to my knees and gagged, unable to stop my body’s reaction to his words. What if he was right? What if I should not have been at that battle?

My whole body shook as his words circled me like vultures waiting for me to lie back and let them pick me apart. I gripped the haft of my spear, as if that would ground me.

I closed my eyes and replayed the battle in my head, seeing it piece by piece, the steps we’d taken to survive, so that more would survive than would die.

So not all hope was lost.

“No, he’s wrong. The help was needed.” But was I? Or was I fooling myself so I didn’t see he was right? That I was too full of pride to realize the damage I’d done?

I couldn’t shake the possibility he could be right.

With my eyes squeezed shut tight, I stayed where I was, fighting the emotions that would turn me into an indecisive mess. I jerked, my spine snapping straight. I would not be turned into a weak, fearful girl again.

Never again.

My father’s final words soothed me. Do not hesitate.

I opened my eyes, and of course, Talan was gone. I scooped up the object he’d tossed to me, as Peta padded back in. “I didn’t see anyone out there. Did you hear something? Is that why you sent me outside?”

My heart clenched. He’d played with her mind, and I knew if I questioned her now it would only make me look crazy. Damn him.

“I thought I did.” I hurried to the door, visually sweeping the area. There was no sign of Talan, no sign he’d ever been there. Damn. “I guess I was hearing things.”

Her eyes filled with concern and I glanced at the object in my hand. A thick bracelet made of a clear, foggy material. I rubbed my fingers over it, knowing the sensation the second I did it. I flung the plastic bracelet across the room, bouncing it off the far wall. Fear and horror sliced through my gut. The bracelet was made of the same material as the oubliettes that had held me for so many years.

Talan had given me a piece of my prison to wear.

“I’ll be damned before I ever put that on.” I didn’t care that Peta looked at me like I was losing my mind.

“What is it?”

I closed my eyes and took in deep, long breaths as I fought to calm my heart. I had to be smart about this, I needed to be realistic no matter how difficult it was. No matter how much I might hate Talan for his words, for the doubt he set to spout in me and the fear the bracelet raised.

Though it took everything I had to make my feet move in the direction of the bracelet, I walked across the room. With a swift movement, I bent and scooped it up a second time, sliding it into the leather bag at my side. “It’s a tool, and one I hate,” I said, “but I am not the child who throws a tantrum and cuts her nose off to spite her face. There is a chance I might need it at some point.”

Peta’s eyebrows rose, as did the fear in her. I held a hand out to her. “I know it doesn’t make sense.”

“It’s a piece of plastic,” Peta said. “How can it possibly help you?”

I tightened the loop on my leather bag so the bracelet was no longer visible. Even so, I couldn’t help the shudder that rippled through me. “I will explain . . . later.”

Her shoulders drooped and true sorrow passed through the bond between us. I went to my knees and held my arms out wide. She rushed into me, knocking me off balance.

“Please trust me, Peta. Please.” Talan obviously didn’t want her to know he’d contacted me, and while I didn’t completely trust him, for now I had to agree with him on that. I didn’t want Peta to know he was around either.

Mostly because a part of me feared he was wrong and that she loved him best and always would.

That she would leave me to be his familiar again.

“It is not you I don’t trust, but the things that have been done to you. The things you’ve faced without me at your side to buffer them,” she said.

I closed my eyes, burying my face in her fur. “I know, Peta. I know.”