Rootbound (The Elemental Series, Book 5) (29 page)

I closed my eyes and let my mind relax, thinking about where I needed to go. I had all the stones, all of them. That was a lie, but it didn’t matter. I knew she would believe me. I’d never tried to lie to her before. A picture floated across my mind, the hanging trees, the thick moss, the stagnant water and rotting trees. Why was I not surprised at what I was seeing? Finley said Cassava took Ash to the same place. The irony was not lost on me.

“The cypress swamps.”

Shazer didn’t argue, just swept us back to the North American continent. I pulled Peta into my arms and buried my face in her thick fur. Her front legs swept around my neck in a hug, her paws kneading the back of my head. “Lark, I have never felt fear like this in you.”

I lifted my head. “Shazer.”

“Yeah?” He was oblivious to my distress. That was about to change.

“When we land, I want you to fly back to the Eyrie.”

“What? Why?”

I locked eyes with Peta and she slowly nodded. “I am with you, Lark. Never doubt it.”

Shazer shook his head. “Talk, woman, or I’ll dump you off my back right here.”

“I think I know who is behind everything. I know who made the stones, I know who made you. And she’s still playing us.” I whispered the words, as if she could hear us. For all I knew, she could.

He seemed to stall mid-air, his wings stilling as he stared back at me, understanding slowly dawning. “No. You can’t possibly mean her.”

I nodded slowly. “Yes. I think . . . I think the mother goddess is not who she seems to be.”

And I was about to face her not as a child of hers, not as a favored chosen one.

But as an opponent and a rival to her power.

hazer flew hard and fast, never stopping once. As if we had a demon tailing us with our names engraved on his sword. Yet it wasn’t what was behind us that hurried his wings.

My request for speed was the only reason he flew as fast and as hard as he did.

“Why would you hurry?” he called out between gulps of air.

“Because she thinks I believe we are on a deadline, and that Raven is behind us, chasing us. I doubt that is the case now, but I need whatever surprise I can get. I will pretend I know nothing.” I had a hand on the leather pouch at my side. Four of the five stones rested there. The fifth was still buried under Griffin’s hut—the pink diamond that controlled Spirit.

The cypress swamps swept into view on the horizon as the sun rose behind us, dispelling the long night. My legs ached from gripping Shazer’s sides and the anxiety that filled me was almost too much to contain. For a split second, I wished I could have someone at my side. Not Ash, though, and that surprised me.

Raven. He was strong enough that maybe with the two of us working together we could stop her.

What the hell was I thinking? Exhaustion was making me stupid, that was the only answer. Shazer brought us to a bare section of beach, landing and dropping immediately to his knees. He blew out a long breath.

“I cannot fly back to the Eyrie. I must rest.” He groaned and flopped onto his side, his wings stretching out behind him.

“Go as soon as you can. At least . . . get away from here.”

He raised his head. “Ash will be trapped forever as an eagle if you die here.”

I took a deep breath. “Then I leave that in your charge. Tell Samara, maybe she can help . . . if I don’t make it.”

Peta stood in the sand beside me, shifting into her leopard form. “We must hurry.”

Her unspoken words were as clear. If we wanted the ruse to hold, we had to move as though we believed we were being chased by Raven. I had one more thing to do, though. I went to my knees beside Shazer and opened the leather pouch. From it I poured all the stones, sorting them into two piles.

“What are you doing?” Shazer asked.

“If I die, you hold the key to defeating her,” I whispered. “I do not know who you will trust, but I trust you.”

I hurried, my hands shook, and I knew this was the only chance I had to beat her. A gamble was ahead of me, and I was banking everything on it.

A curse.

The stones.

The mother goddess. I prayed I was right.

I nodded and we jogged across the small patch of sand and into the cover of the trees. The dense vegetation pulled at me. I let it for a bit before connecting with Earth to move things enough that the path was clear. Peta frowned up at me. I couldn’t explain now, we were too close.

But if I was truly in a hurry, I wouldn’t think about my connection to the earth, not right away. At least, that was the game I was playing. We sloshed through the water. “Peta—”

“I know, Lark. I know.” She pressed herself against my leg. We could both die, we both knew it. At least . . . at least she was with me.

The anxiety eased when the truth of it settled on my heart. I would never be alone, Peta would never cast me away as so many people had done in my life. Not even for Talan.

A soft rumbling purr rolled through her and into me. I dropped my hand to her head and let the last of the anxiety flow out of me, and in its place my confidence grew.

I had a plan, it was a good one. Maybe we could pull this off.

My next step sunk me in brown swamp water up to my chest. I sucked in a sharp breath as something slithered between my legs. Peta swam ahead of me, her ears pinned back. “Keep an eye out for logs with eyes.”

She grunted and kept swimming. The pull to the center of the swamp didn’t let up, and I followed it.

The water stunk, the rank, acrid scent of death that had resided for too long above ground filled my lungs. I hurried to get out of the water as much as to reach my destination.

“Almost there.” Peta tipped her head at what was in front of us.

A curtain of moss curled down from the trees in various shades of pale green. Situated out of the water, the land looked solid, though I had no doubt there was more water than soil under it.

I approached the moss divider, each step bringing me farther out of the water until I stood on—somewhat—dry land. I glanced at Peta, she nodded, and I stepped forward, my hand lifted to the moss. It parted on its own, without any direction from me. Beyond the moss was a crystal clear pool of water. Even at that distance I could see it was pristine, unlike the rest of the swamp. The mother goddess sat beside it, her back to me.

Once more she had taken the image of my mother. I swallowed hard.

“Lark, you have the stones? Did you use the fake ones to replace the real ones?” she asked softly, though she already had the answer.

“Yes.” I didn’t dare take another step. She raised her head and smiled at me, my mother’s smile, my mother’s face. “You put the fake stones in the grave then? The grave that was Ash’s.”

She tipped her head to one side. “I knew you would not just believe he was gone, that you would find a way to prove to yourself he was alive if I sent you in that direction. I had your father place the stones with the body when it was buried. You are, if nothing else, predictable.”

I gave a slow nod, doing my best to school my face. “Did we make it in time?”

“Yes, barely, but yes. Raven is close behind you.” Her eyes crinkled with pleasure. My heart and gut lurched. “Bring them to me, let me see them.”

With leaden feet I did as she asked, walking until I was only a few feet in front of her. I undid the leather pouch from my belt and handed it to her. “What happens now?”

She opened the pouch and peered in, the smile widening on her face. “Oh, little Larkspur. Your desire to fit in, to be the good girl. It will be the death of you, I think.”

I took several steps back, hating that I’d been right. A minuscule piece of me had still believed I could be wrong. That my mistrust was misplaced. It died with nary a whimper.

Peta stayed at my side as I moved back, sticking to me like a burr.

The mother goddess glanced up at me. “Do you know the stones can be manipulated by those who control Spirit?”

What was she trying to say? “The one who created them, you mean.”

“Not just the creator.” She clutched the bag close to her. “No, they can be used by anyone who is strong in Spirit.”

“Like Raven.” I spat his name out.

“No, he is not strong enough with Spirit. I think you could do it if you put your mind to it, and had the training. Talan, of course, is the one I speak of. He can use the stones to control things.”

Her words were yet another nail in Talan’s coffin. “He warned the rulers I was coming?”

She nodded. “And told them to fight like demons.”

“Why would he do that?” I truly didn’t understand him or his intentions.

She jiggled the leather bag, the sound of the stones clinking softly in the air. I held my breath, but she didn’t seem to notice anything. “He believes the stones are dangerous and should not be held by anyone. I, on the other hand, believe they are the tools they were created to be.”

I shrugged, trying to act like I didn’t feel the undertones to her words. “I’m not terribly surprised he did that. He’s an asshole.”

Her eyebrows raised in tandem. “You don’t like him?”

I shook my head. “No. I don’t.”

“Pity, he could have helped you, if you’d let him.” She smiled again, but the smile darkened until it was no longer my mother’s smile. I gritted my teeth.

“I want to tell you a story, Larkspur. It will help things make sense to you. Many years ago these stones were created by an elemental who was more than she seemed to be.” Her eyes glossed over a little. “She was punished by those who sought to take away her power. As you know, being the strongest of our people is a dangerous position to be in.”

I nodded, and struggled to swallow past the growing tightness in my throat.

She held the leather pouch. “She was punished for being strong, Lark. Cursed for it. The stones were taken from her, and a Spirit Walker convinced a witch to weave a spell. Only when all five stones were brought back to the elemental would the curse be broken. She tried once to bring the stones back to her, but the draw to them was too strong for those elementals she asked for help. Cassava. Raven. They both kept the stones when they were to give them to her.”

I frowned, though her story lined up with what I knew. Of course, I was the tool she’d been waiting for. The elemental who would be obedient even when it took power from me. “And the curse? What was it?”

“That she could not attack another elemental. She couldn’t use her power to directly influence anything.” She smiled at me, and gave a slow wink. “That will change now. I needed you and Raven both in the beginning, Lark. I played you both, using you to do my work for me. But now that I have the stones, I can take my rightful place. I do not need you anymore.”

I took a step back and reached for my two elements. They slid through my fingers like water through sand. A block, she’d put a block on me. I took another step back.

The mother goddess smiled at me. “If you’d been more obedient, I’d let you live. But you are a typical child of Spirit. Always looking for trouble. Helping the supernaturals, stopping the demons with them. I’m sorry, Lark, but you are going to die now. Raven, of course, will take the blame. Or perhaps Talan, since you so dislike him.”