Rootbound

I gripped her tightly. “No, I don’t think so.” At least not right away, but I wasn’t going to worry her with that now.

Samara slumped farther, then slowly straightened herself. “The stone?”

I lied, knowing it would be easier for her to give it up. “I believe it was how he manipulated you. I didn’t know it was possible.” I didn’t want to tell her that she’d been manipulated not only by Raven using Spirit, but by some other unknown elemental that had his own agenda via the smoky diamond. No need to have her panic that there was more than one manipulator of epic proportions out there.

With a quick nod, she held her hands out to me, and I helped her stand.

“Larkspur has once more saved our family. If ever she needs help, you are to give it. If ever she is in danger, you will try to save her. She is a protector not only of the Rim, but of the Eyrie as well. Raven will be killed on sight.”

The crowd murmured and agreed, though I saw more than one pair of eyes narrow on me.

I moved away from her, hurrying to Shazer. I laid my hands on him, not caring how much of my soul darkened to heal him. Spirit flowed through me and into him, weaving the bones back together. Shazer let out a low groan. “Damn, that hurts almost as much as breaking them.”

“I could leave them as is,” I said through gritted teeth.

He lurched up to his feet. “Thanks, but I rather like being able to stand.”

The Sylphs who’d been so reluctant closed ranks around him, petting his side and touching his feathers. He gave me a wink. “I think they like me.”

“Vanity will get you nowhere,” Peta said. “You’re still a horse’s ass.”

He let out a whinny and the Sylphs around him giggled and sighed.

I took a few steps back, allowing Shazer whatever hero worship he had coming.

Samara stepped beside me once more. “He is legend here. The soul of air made flesh.”

“He’s a good friend,” I said. But my mind was already away from Shazer and whatever legend he represented.

Unfortunately, I knew Talan was right. For some reason, Raven left rather than battle me. Whether it was out of some sort of kindness or a way to drag things out between us, I didn’t know.

At least Raven had spilled his proverbial guts, and now I knew what his plans had been, not that it was likely to help me any. The thing I couldn’t figure out was that while he’d asked for the stones, it had been . . . offhand. And he’d not tried to really fight me for them.

I looked around for Talan, but he was gone.

They were a couple of cowards as far as I was concerned. I walked away from the crowd, Peta with me. A thought I didn’t like rolled around in my head, making me question not only what I’d learned, but the premise I was running on.

“Did you notice Raven didn’t talk much about the stones? He asked, but he hadn’t even taken the smoky diamond from Samara,” I said.

Peta glanced up at me. “What does that matter?”

I frowned. “The mother goddess said Raven wanted the stones for himself, that I was hunting them at the same time as him. But he was never really hunting for them. He was just hanging out in the Eyrie, sending Enders after me, waiting for me to come to him. Causing trouble, yes, but . . . it just doesn’t add up. If he’d wanted the stones, why didn’t he fight harder?” I rubbed a hand over my face, a new line of thought making me break out in a sudden cold sweat.

What if I was wrong about Talan? What if I was wrong about Raven?

What if there was a third player I’d not truly ever considered? A person I trusted, a person who’d guided and at the same time manipulated me all along?

Horror clutched at my belly as the pieces fell into place in a wicked, dangerous way. An impossibility that I’d never considered before rose and looked me straight in the eye with the malevolence of a red-eyed demon.

“We have to go, right now,” I whispered to Peta.

“What? Why?”

I opened my mouth to tell her, but the horror of the words was too much. Too much and too painful to truly believe.

But the more they rolled around in my head, the more I knew they were the truth.

The truth hurt, and this burned like a thousand hot pokers being jammed into my belly. I’d been a fool, a stupid trusting fool, and the hurt slowly formed into an anger that burned away the pain.

“Lark?” Peta clawed at my leg in an attempt to slow me.

“Now, we have to go now,” I said again.

She let go of me. “If you are sure.”

“I am.” I strode across the Eyrie toward the Pegasus. “Shazer, are you ready to fly?”

“Yeah,” Peta snipped. “You done with your fan club?”

Surprisingly, the Sylphs laughed as he backed away from them. “Don’t blame me for being beautiful.”

I leapt onto his back, Peta right behind me. Samara hurried to my side and put a hand on my leg. “Lark, will you come when the baby is born?”

I didn’t want to make promises I couldn’t keep. What I was about to do was beyond dangerous; it was downright suicidal, and I knew it, no matter how much my anger fueled me.

“I will try.”

“I want you to be his guardian. To be his protector as you’ve been mine.” Her eyes welled and I placed a hand on hers. It occurred to me then that the next generation was going to be full of half-breed royals. More than ever before. They needed the elemental world to be ready for them and their strength.