Windburn

I smiled, and rolled my eyes. “We were ten. I knew what the lash felt like all too well. If I remember right, I’d taken a licking for you the day before.”

“You think I didn’t know what the leather strap felt like?” He fell back into his seat. “I’m quite sure I have the scars to prove I was well acquainted. I could show you, if you don’t believe me.” His green eyes locked onto mine and he gave me a slow wink. No, I was not going there.

“I’ll pass.”

“The offer stands, princess.”

I widened my stance and slowed my breathing. Using the power of another element was not something I took lightly. But our time was slipping away and we had to get to Greece. “Tell me why I don’t take us straight to the Namib Sand Sea?”

“Because it’s huge, Lark,” Peta said. “We could search for weeks and not find her, and then she could be gone. We need a faster way to sweep the area. Besides, I have a feeling about The Bastard.”

I looked down at her. “What do you mean?”

She rolled into a ball, her tail wrapped around her nose. “Trust me. We need him.”

There was no way she was going to say anything if she wasn’t ready to. Pressing the smoky grey diamond hard, I focused on calling up a wind to fill our sails and push us toward Greece.

The power of air was strange on my skin, the feel of it so light, as if it could sweep me into the sky. I held my arms out in front of me and watched the foreign lines of power as they crept up my arms. White, misty tendrils wrapped me tight and beckoned me to use them.

Acting on instinct, I pursed my lips and blew out a breath as softly as I could.

The water ruffled and a blast of air slammed into us, scooting us forward. Cactus and Peta let out twin yelps.

I wobbled but balanced myself quickly. The sails of the boat were full and I pointed at the rudder. “Steer us, Cactus.”

“Aye, aye, captain!”

I didn’t look back at him but kept my eyes forward as I breathed through the power. Each exhale sent the boat scooting forward. So as long as I could breathe, we could make good time.

I only wished I didn’t feel so threatened by the simple thought of trying to make sure nothing stopped me from breathing.

CHAPTER 11

Boating wasn’t as bad as Peta made it out to be. I even caught her once or twice with her eyes closed as she breathed in the clear salty air. We stopped where we had to for food and water. Rested only when necessary. No trolls showed up, no more banished elementals lost their minds and lives. If it weren’t for the fact that we were searching for my father, it would have been enjoyable.

The first day, Cactus told dirty jokes.

The second day, Peta told stories of her past and the stupid things her charges did until we howled with laughter and cried bullshit on the ridiculousness of her tales.

The third and what would be final day on the water, they both looked at me in perfect unison.

I arched an eyebrow. “What?”

Cactus grabbed the heel of the bread we’d snagged at our last stop and tore it into pieces, handing one to me. “We’ve been doing all the talking. Now it’s your turn.”

“Nothing to say. You two have had interesting lives. I haven’t.”

Tipping her head to one side, Peta blinked up at me. “That may have been true in the past, Lark. But I think the last while has been anything but quiet.”

“But you know about that. Telling you about being in the Pit . . . you were both there.” What were they getting at, anyway? What did they want me to say?

Being who she was, Peta braved the waters of my past first. “Tell us about Cassava. Why do you think she’s the one behind your father’s disappearance?”

I sighed heavily and the wind whipped up around us. I eased off on the diamond so my breathing would not be connected to it while we had this discussion. The last thing I wanted was to have the power of air running though me as I raged about Cassava. About how she’d destroyed my family.

I tore the piece of bread into bits, one for each thing Cassava had done.

The bottom of the boat gave a thump and the water around us rippled. I froze. “Peta. Tell me you didn’t see that.”

“Sorry.” She shifted into her snow leopard form. Worm shit.

The boat swayed to the left, out of the current as though something were pushing it. Cactus stood and I waved him back down. “Standing is a bad idea. Don’t rock the boat.”

He clutched the edges of the boat. “Then what do we do?”

I dared to lean over and stare into the water. Scales undulated around the hull, twisting and turning. A flicker of deep green against the blue, and here and there flashes of yellow.

“Peta. Snake-like, big coils. Green and yellow.”

“Sea serpent,” she said. Her words were like a trigger. The water around us erupted and a serpent burst out. Its head was easily fifteen feet in the air, with an elongated jaw like a crocodile and teeth the size of my hands. The thing’s body was easily as big around as the boat and there seemed to be no end to it.

It snapped its jaw once and dove back down under the water. The boat rocked and swayed; the water stilled as if there had never been anything there. I hunched my shoulders.

“That was easy,” Cactus said, and my muscles tensed further. Peta’s eyes met mine. She dug her claws into the bottom of the wooden boat.

“Hang on,” I said.

“What? Why?” Cactus spit out.

Heartbeat.