eeth and muscles clenched, I had to fight the response that rose to the tip of my tongue.
“Tell her you’re a witch. It will explain any usage of your elemental power around her,” Peta said.
Elle’s eyes never wavered from my face. I mimicked her head-tipping motion. “I’m a magic user, as you thought.”
“Weird fucking way to say witch.” Her eyes narrowed until they were mere slits.
“Not as strange as a Tracker having a Slayer’s dragon with her as protection,” I countered.
She grinned, a flash of white teeth and a smile that softened her face immensely. “Ah, Ophelia isn’t mine. She belongs to my husband, Bram.”
Bram . . . could it be? No, I must have heard wrong. “What is his name?”
The smile disappeared and her gaze darkened once more. “Bram.”
I gripped the spear until I was sure I would break it in half. “Is he here?”
Her frown deepened. “Why?”
Calm, I had to remain calm. The chances that my brother had somehow survived Cassava’s attack were slim, and the rational part of my mind knew that. But my heart . . . ahhh how my heart hoped it was possible. “I knew someone by that name. It is an uncommon one. I wonder if he is the same Bram.”
“A lover?” Her eyebrows went up at the same time. She tried too hard to look like it wouldn’t bother her if that were the case. I shook my head and laughed quietly.
“No. Someone I knew a long time ago.”
“Couldn’t have been that fucking long, you aren’t much older than me.” She turned as she spoke. It was only then I realized I’d lost Cactus somewhere along the way.
I turned to see both Ophelia the dragon and The Bastard staring toward the water’s edge, away from Elle and me. Shit on green sticks . . . I had a bad feeling about what exactly they were staring at. A shout floated down to us. I looked at Elle, our eyes met, and we scrambled up the slippery slope at the same time.
We reached the top, me a few steps ahead of the Tracker. Cactus and the man I assumed was Bram circled one another with their fists up.
“Bram, what the fuck are you doing?” Elle hollered. Bram glanced at her and it was enough of a distraction. Cactus shot out a fist that caught Bram in the side of the head and he went down in a heap. “Hah! You owe me.”
What in all that was holy was this nonsense?
“Cactus,” I strode toward him, “what is going on?”
“Oh, well, it’s funny really.”
Bram let out a groan from where he lay in the wet sand. “Not all that funny, if you ask me.”
I allowed myself to really look at him now that I was closer. His hair was a dark auburn, and his eyes were hazel. Nothing like my Bramley, who’d been blond-haired and blue-eyed. Disappointment, and at the same time relief, flooded me.
Introductions were made all around.
“Cactus, what were you two doing?”
He grinned at me. “It’s funny, really.”
“That’s what you said, but I doubt it.” My tone was about as dry as the desert sand we stood on.
Not that it stopped Cactus from grinning like a fool. “I could have killed him, but I knew you wouldn’t want that. He really wanted to fight. I suggested fists only. Loser buys drinks.”
Elle rolled her eyes heavenward. “Bram, seriously?”
He shrugged. “He’s scrawny, I figured I could take him. Little buggar is fast, though.”
Little was not the word I would use for Cactus. Then again, Bram was a big man, solid muscle, and probably had two stones on Cactus and a good four inches.
“Fine, we’re all getting along now,” I said. “Elle, I need you to Track for me.”
She folded her arms and squinted her eyes. “Your father is missing, that’s what you said.”
“Yes.”
She held a hand out, palm up. “Fees are steep. A thousand dollars a day, bonus for bringing him home alive. No deductions if he’s dead.” Her eyes were hard with no sign of mercy in them. That was not going to be good, since I had no idea what she was even talking about, dollars and bonuses.
“A way of paying for things, Lark,” Peta said, and from my other side Cactus nodded.
“I have no money or bonuses to give you, but—”
Elle shrugged and walked away, speaking over her shoulder. “Then you’re wasting my fucking time and yours.”
Damn her and her greed. Obviously she had too much human blood running in her veins, and whatever Spirit she had in her was not enough to combat it. But I needed her, which meant I had to play by her rules.
“I’ll give you something better than money.”
She stopped, turned, and looked at me. Between us something shifted, like a cog slipping loose. Spirit flickered through me, reaching for her. As if it recognized one of its own. I did not want to use Spirit on Elle to get her to do what I wanted. I fought the panic and Spirit at the same time; neither listened to me. This was not in the plan, and yet I couldn’t seem to rein in the damn element. It wrapped around her and slid past whatever defense she might have had.
Worm shit. I held my breath, praying Spirit didn’t rape her mind as it had done to my sister Keeda.
Elle’s face softened and her lower lip trembled so slightly I would have missed it if I hadn’t been staring at her. Yet Spirit did not force her hand. I let out the breath I’d been holding.
She took a step toward me, her fists raised. “What could possibly be better than money? Let me tell you, not all that fucking much, Larkspur.” Her tri-colored eyes welled with tears. “You grow up without food, without anything but the clothes on your back, your family and the fucking world trying to take you out at every turn and you’ll learn fast enough. You’ll learn the only thing that will keep you safe is money.”
Bram slipped an arm around her waist and whispered in her ear. She pressed herself against him.
Keeping my voice below a whisper, I barely moved my lips as I spoke to Peta. “What just happened?”
“Spirit opened her and she spilled her beliefs,” Peta said. “Spirit sometimes acts on its own, at least until you figure out how to make it work for you. That’s what . . . my other charge always said, anyway. Use it, Lark.”
Fantastic, that was just what I needed. An element that acted out on its own. “Elle, if you help me, I will owe you a favor. I know that may not sound like much perhaps in comparison to—”
“You’re right, it doesn’t. It isn’t. A favor is worth shit in this world,” she snapped.
I barreled ahead, knowing I had one shot at this. “I am the strongest of my people, Elle. If you are ever in real trouble, I will get you out of it. Is that not worth something to you? Money won’t always buy your way out of a tangle of thorns.”
She shook her head, her face closing off. “No.”
There was no one else who could help me, if the other Tracker had been telling the truth about his abilities.
I needed her . . . but she needed me too. A different tack, then.
“We killed a troll looking for you. If you have trolls after you, then they are working for someone. Which means you are going to need that favor sooner rather than later. Whether you want to believe it or not, Tracker.”
I lifted my spear from the ground and turned away. “Cactus, let’s go.”
From behind me Bram argued with her. “Take the offer. We need to move on anyway, and why not do a job on the side?”
“You can’t be serious?”
“I know you don’t want to believe her, but I think she’s right. A favor from someone powerful is not a bad thing.”
It took everything in me not to turn around, but to keep walking and act as though I couldn’t hear their discussion. Cactus fell into step beside me. “We aren’t really leaving, are we?”
“What choice do we have? If she refuses to help, you know what the other Tracker said. He can’t find someone without a picture, and neither can the other Tracker he mentioned. She is the only one who can find my father.”
Peta swayed on my shoulder. “Be quiet, they are coming.”
I slowed my steps as Elle called out, “Prove it.”
Eyebrows high, I turned to face her. “Prove what?”
“Prove you’re as strong as you say. I see a weapon, and a friend who can control fire, but I’ve seen no magic from your fingers. I think you’re a fucking liar.”
A low hiss escaped Peta, but she otherwise kept her thoughts to herself. A liar, was I?
I glanced to where the dragon sat, dozing in the sun on the high ridge of sand. I could sink Ophelia under the sands, bury her and then bring her back up, or I could create an oasis on the sands as I had done in the Pit.
The chance to do either was taken from me.
Ophelia snapped her head up, and her mouth dropped open as she let out a roar along with a burst of flame. War cries cut through the air along with bursts of lightning, flame, and power bolts.
“They found us, Elle.” Bram spun and ran toward Ophelia, Elle on his heels.
I didn’t move an inch. This was my chance to do exactly what Elle needed to see. The Bastard bolted to my side and pushed me with his big nose. “Time to go. Those witches aren’t playing around.”
“Cactus, you first. And don’t help me. Elle needs to see what I can do. Unless, of course, I ask.” I shoved him onto The Bastard’s back, then handed him my spear. She wanted magic, I would show her nothing but. “Hang onto this for me.” Cactus frowned as I stepped back. “Take him out of range, Bastard.”
“Wait, stop!” Cactus yelled, but The Bastard was already galloping away, his wings taking them into the air within a few strides.
“You don’t have to prove anything to her,” Peta said.
“I do. If she doesn’t believe in me, this negotiation is over.” I walked toward Elle and Bram’s attackers, the sand tugging at my feet with each step. I opened myself to the power of the earth and pulled it toward me. It filled me, making my skin tingle and my muscles quiver. The desire to run, to feel the wind in my hair and the sand beneath my bare feet, called to me, begging me to be a part of the earth once more.
Around us, the sand trembled and shifted. Peta swayed on my shoulder, wrapping her tail around my neck for balance. “I don’t like this.”
“Neither do I. But the choices are limited at best.”
As I drew closer, I sucked in an angry breath. The attackers were none other than the coven from Greece. I looked for Winters, searching for his demon-infested body. But he, at least, was missing from the group. They fired balls of flame and burning arrows up into the sky, while a portion of them manipulated the winds, driving the dragon and The Bastard closer within range.
Ten of them, working in concert to bring down a Tracker. What could Elle have done to piss them off? Sure, she had an attitude, but I doubted that was enough to cause this sort of problem.
Something else then.
“Focus, Lark, or you’ll get us both killed.”
Peta was right.
I stopped behind the witch closest to me, leaned in and whispered in her ear, “I warned you not to cross my path again.”
She spun, her blue eyes wide. I softened the ground under her feet with a thought, sucking her down into the sand. The others turned one by one by one.
“I wondered if you’d be here with the winged Bastard.” A man, warlock, stepped forward. “I will deal with her. The rest of you, capture Elena. Orion wants her alive.”
Well, that was interesting. The warlock stepped toward me and I softened the ground enough to slow him down. One warlock was going to prove very little problem.
He flicked all his fingers at me and a burst of light shot at my face. I closed my eyes and dropped to my knees.
“Lark, I can’t see!” Peta yelped.
I blinked several times. I couldn’t see either, but Peta didn’t know that. “Hang onto me.”
Straining to hear his footsteps over the sounds of battle and the roaring of a dragon above us was useless. I stood and took a few steps back as the warlock laughed. “You can’t run away. I have you now. Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you. I think Winters would like to get to know you too.”
He was moving, walking as he spoke until he was right behind me. I spun and kicked out, my foot connecting with his soft midsection by the feel of it. He let out a grunt and I dropped to my knees. “Peta, do you trust me?”
“Mother goddess, what are you going to do?”
I swallowed hard. “Something new.”
She shimmied off my shoulder and into my arms. I grabbed her and tucked her inside my vest. “No matter what happens, don’t let go.”
A whimper escaped her, but that was it.
I buried my hands into the sand and called the earth up.
All of it, every last piece I could reach. Power roared through me and bit back the scream that built in my throat. Sand whirled around us, but in my mind all I could see was a wave of the earth pouring over the witches, burying them deep into the ground where they could no longer harm anyone.
In my mind, I saw the sands turn into an ocean that raged on the winds of a storm, a hurricane of the earth that would wipe out those who would do us harm.
Screams erupted around us, cries for help as the world bucked and writhed under me, rising to my call.
I ignored them, feeding my power into the wave I saw in my mind, crashing it over them, swallowing them up. Hands wrapped around my throat. “You fucking bitch!”
The warlock squeezed and I buried my hands deeper into the earth, softening it under us both. I could survive being buried, I was sure of it. Him, not so much. A wave of sand pulled him away from me in a jerk as we sunk past my waist.
The world trembled with the power that surged through me and I reveled in it, feeling . . . unstoppable.
I kept my mouth and eyes shut but the sand still got into them. I didn’t ease off until I could hear nothing but the whisper of sand on sand. Slowly I pulled my hands out, laying them on top of the tiny grains. My face was covered in grit, glued on with sweat.
“Thank you.” The ground seemed to answer with the slightest of rumbles. Not the mother goddess . . . but the earth itself.
From inside my vest Peta shifted, breaking my concentration. “Are you done?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“I have sand in places no cat should have sand,” she spat out, literally, as she climbed from my vest. I was more than a little afraid to open my eyes. What if I still could not see? How in the seven hells would I find my father then?
I opened my left eye first and a sigh of relief slid from me. Though my eyes were gritty with sand, and the backs of them ached from the flash burn, I could see again.
I stood and dusted off my pants and vest. Around us the world was silent, the sand flat and unmoving, though the landscape had shifted. It looked as though I’d pulled the sand out of the desert toward the ocean, creating a new peninsula.
“Holy fucking shit. Was that for real?”
I turned to see Elle approach me, Bram beside her and Cactus pulling up the rear. Elle’s eyes were wide.
“Did you have a good enough view of what I’m capable of?” I crossed my arms, mimicking her earlier stance.
She glanced at Bram, then nodded. “Yeah. You’ve got yourself a deal. A favor then.”
Peta cleared her throat. “Technically, you just did her a favor. You wiped out those looking for her.”
I didn’t answer Elle right away but then said, “You sure that’s what you wanted to say?”
Her lips tightened. “Fine, you fucking well saved our asses. That what you want?”
I nodded. “Yes. Now we can look for my father.”
“You got a picture?”
“No, Jack said you didn’t need one.” My legs trembled and I locked my knees in place. This was not the time to show weakness of any kind. Not to this woman. Whatever her past had been, it had hardened her to the point of seeing others’ plights and feeling no empathy. That was not good.
“Jack? You spoke to that dick?”
My eyebrows shot up. “He spoke highly of you. Said you were the only one with the skills I need.” Okay, so maybe those hadn’t been his exact words, but she was still on the fence. Even after I saved her ass.
“That doesn’t sound like Jack.”
“He said you owed him cookies,” Cactus offered.
Elle glared at him. “I’m not baking any fucking cookies. Do I look like a—”
Bram blew out a sharp breath. “Enough, Elle. Enough. Do this job, you know you want to.”
She glared at him, but there was a twinkle in her eyes too. “Pushy man.”
“You love it. Now let’s do this. We have other tasks ahead of us.”
I liked him, maybe better than I liked her. Or maybe it was because he seemed to be working in my favor.
“I need you to describe him to me, think you can manage?” Elle asked, once more crossing her arms. Defiance radiated from her.
I nodded. “Yes, I can do that.”
“Well, let’s get this fucking show on the road then, shall we?”
Indeed. Time to find my father and straighten out the Rim once and for all.
Yet, I had a feeling our journey was far from over.
Looking back, I had no idea just how accurate that hunch was.
