Authors: Shannon Mayer

Tags: #Fiction, #Fantasy, #General, #Contemporary, #Urban, #Paranormal, #Romance, #New Adult, #Occult & Supernatural, #Paranormal Urban Fantasy Romance

Breakwater (30 page)

A flush of pride filled me with the words and I turned, expecting to see my father smiling.

He was not. In fact, he was frowning. “Ender Larkspur, to my private rooms. Now.”

I knew what was coming. We were not supposed to interfere. Head held high, I strode toward the door on the side of the throne room that would take me to my father’s private rooms.

The moss under my feet was no comfort as I waited.

He burst through the door, raging. “Of all the things I said, I told you not to interfere!”

“You told me to protect my sister at all costs; helping Finley was a part of that!”

“Blatantly disregarding my command, insolence on a scale I’ve never seen . . .”

The main door burst open and Belladonna burst in, hair and skirts flying behind her. “Don’t you reprimand her, Father! Don’t you dare. She kept me safe when any other Ender would have given up on me!”

He raised his free hand and pointed at her. “Belladonna, you are as much at fault as she is! I should banish you both.”

“The other families already believe you are weak, how much worse will it be when you banish the two daughters the Undines are hailing as heroes,” she said, her voice remarkably even for the flush of color in her cheeks.

Father’s jaw twitched and for just a moment, I thought I saw the pink glow of Spirit around his eyes. But that was impossible, I’d buried the ring Cassava had, there was no way she could be controlling him still.

Which meant he was just being horrible all on his own.

He pointed at me, then Belladonna. “For now, you may stay.”

I wasn’t done, though. I steeled myself for what I was going to say and do. “We sent you a message. Did you get it?”

He nodded. “I did.”

A tiny piece of my heart broke. “And were you going to send help?” Please, please let him say he would have.

Our father said nothing, only spun on his heel and walked out. Confusion rocked me. I didn’t understand how he could go from one extreme to the other. It made sense when Cassava controlled him, but not now.

“It is the damage done to his soul, splitting it in the middle. The dark on one side, the light on the other.”

The mother goddess’s voice flowed into the room and Belladonna gasped. A glittering, glowing woman, her features indistinct but somehow still familiar, stepped through the wall, her body emerging from the tree before pulling away from it. Where her feet had walked, flowers erupted in every color I’d ever seen. I went to my knees and Bella did the same.

“Mother,” I whispered.

She placed a hand on my head. “His heart is broken in pieces, and he does not know how to heal it, Lark. Your mother always did that for him, helped him hold Cassava’s taint at bay. Now you must be the one to guide his heart until it is whole.”

Her hand drifted from my head and went to Belladonna. “Child, the baby you carry will be the new life you need to find your place in this world. Love her as you wished to be loved.” Bella sucked in a sharp breath and my eyes prickled with tears.

I reached over and took her hand. “I will stand with you, Bella. No matter what comes.”

Her gray eyes filled with tears that trickled down her cheeks. “And I will stand with you, Larkspur. No matter what you face.”

The room was empty, the mother goddess gone as quickly as she came.

I walked Bella back to her rooms. “We never asked him if he was trying to kill us.”

She shrugged. “Does it matter? We know someone was, and that just means we have to be on guard.”

Before I left her, I made sure she was okay. After our time together, I was reluctant to leave her on her own. “I’m worried you’ll get into trouble,” I said.

Laughing, she shook her head. “Not here, not at home.”

After Dolph left to return to the Deep, I headed out of the Rim, jogging south. Looking for Griffin. As it was, he found me, long before I ever reached his home. A big black wolf with midnight black eyes waited for me at the top of a small ridge.

I held up the necklace. “Thank you. It saved my life.”

He shifted into his human form, tall and broad, black haired with dark eyes. Handsome, I suppose, but his coloring made me think of Coal which only made my stomach hurt. “Yeah, it probably will again. Keep it.”

Tucking it back into my vest I nodded. “I have a question for you, since you know the mother goddess maybe better than I do.”

He snorted and reached for a long stalk of fern. “Viv can be a sassy wench. What did she do this time?”

Viv? The mother goddess had a name and Griffin knew it? Another time I would have to ask him about it. “She took away my ability to use the earth, and then when I wanted it back, made me swear my life to her.”

His jaw dropped. “She didn’t.”

“She did. But I don’t know what that means.” I rolled my shoulders, fatigue and frustration vying for my attention.

Griffin let out a long low whistle. “Means a lot of things. One of which she can take your life away for no reason other than she chooses to. Or she could force you to do her dirty work, yeah?”

I blinked several times, not comprehending his words. “Dirty work?”

He froze, his nostrils flaring. “Later, we’ll discuss it later. But be wary, yeah? She’s got her hooks into you good now.” In a flash, he shifted back to his wolf form and bolted away. The forest around us, though, was far from silent. I heard the footsteps and recognized the cadence. So, he’d followed me here. Interesting.

“I’m beginning to think he doesn’t like me,” Ash said.

I turned to face him. “Maybe you just smell bad. Maybe I should be upping your pedicure to a full day at the spa.”

He laughed, reached out, and took my hand. A single tug and I was in his arms. “Enough talking with those lips. They have better things to do.” He kissed me, his mouth sweet like the honey his eyes made me think of.

I dug my hands into his hair and held him tightly to me, his touch making my skin sing. I pulled back, and took a slow breath. “Where do we go from here?”

His eyes searched my face. “I don’t know. Our lives will always be on the line; that is our job.”

“And you can’t always protect me,” I said. “I am no longer a little girl needing to be watched over. I am not the heir to the throne. I am not a princess.”

Ash didn’t let go of me, and through our hands I could feel the tension rise in him. He glanced over his shoulder. “Things are about to get ugly, Lark. Whatever happens, just follow my lead.”

Through the trees, four Enders ghosted toward us. Dressed in black leather with bright red hair topping each of them off, there was no doubt where they were from.

The Pit.

“Do we fight?” I tensed, reaching for my weapons.

“No. Your father has commanded us to go with them.”

And suddenly I understood the kiss.

Ash was saying goodbye.

They surrounded us and it took everything I had in me to hold still, to allow them to stand behind me. My shoulder blades itched as though a knife blade were being held there, just a hairsbreadth from my skin.

Manacles were clamped over my wrists as my arms were jerked behind me. I was spun around to face a very familiar face. Red flaming curls and orange eyes glittering with barely suppressed hatred.

I gave her a tight smile. “Hello, Magma.”

“Ender Larkspur, you are to be tried for the murder of three Enders hailing from the Pit.” She yanked me forward forcing me to stumble. A steady calm flowed over me.

I looked at Ash, his hands behind him in manacles too. “Looks like your pedicure will have to wait. I think we’re going back to finish what we started.”

Whoever was trying to kill me from the Rim was going to have to get in line, because Fiametta was about to get her shot at me first.