Rootbound (The Elemental Series, Book 5) (10 page)

I swallowed hard. “Why might he wake?”

“If the stones are all brought to him, together, the curse will be broken. And that would be a very, very bad thing. Because then he could attack any elemental directly with no more need to work in the shadows.”

We stepped into the Rim as he finished speaking.

Shazer’s words were heavy on my mind, adding to the weight on my shoulders. “One more reason then to find the stones and take them to the mother goddess for safe keeping,” I said.

He nodded. “Agreed.”

Peta bobbed her head too. “Agreed.”

So many swirling pieces, it was hard to make heads or tails of what was truly going on.

“As long as we get the five stones first, none of that will matter.” Peta swayed on Shazer’s back and he glanced at her.

“She’s right. Deal with the stones so we can find Ash. Deal with everything else later,” Shazer said.

“Nice, we are all in agreement,” I mumbled.

I approached the steps of the Spiral and headed up. Peta leapt from Shazer’s back. “How are you going to get . . . it . . . from your sister?”

I kept my face smooth. “Simple. I’m going to ask.”

“You think it will be that easy?” Peta kept pace at my side.

“Hoping.”

Really, how attached could Bella be to the emerald? While the ring had been in her possession for twenty-plus years, she’d only worn it since she’d taken the throne, as the mother goddess had reminded me. Surely a few weeks wasn’t long enough for madness to begin.

I chose not to consider her behavior earlier, chalking it up to stress. The soft gong of the dinner bell brought my head around; the day had flown by, my time in the grave taking longer than I’d realized.

“The dining hall then.” Even better. Bella was not one to make a scene, so taking the ring would be even easier if I asked for it in a public place. I fished around in my leather pouch as we walked, finding the emerald by feel. I paused and then let it go. There was no need for swapping it out; taking the ring would be as simple as a request.

We approached the open dining hall. Guards stood at the door, but they were relaxed and nodded to me in recognition.

The one on the left gave me a tentative smile. “Will you start the Ender program again, Larkspur?”

Startled by the question, I stopped and faced the guard who’d spoken. “Perhaps. I have tasks ahead of me, but when I am done, it would seem prudent to flesh the ranks out again.”

He slipped his helmet off and held out his hand. “Name is Arb. I’d like to take part when you open the training again.”

I took his hand and shook it once. “I will let you know.”

Stepping through the doorway, I headed straight for Bella, my heart rate climbing with each footstep, tension mounting across my shoulders.

“Peta, be ready.”

“I thought you said this was going to be easy?” she whispered.

“Well, this is my family. Who the hell really knows?”

She laughed and I smiled down at her.

“Lark,” Bella called to me, laughter in her voice. I looked up and she waved to us. “Come, sit with us, eat with us. Tell us what you’ve been up to today.”

I smiled at her, noting her daughter to her right. River was as stunning as her mother, with her perfect soft curves, high cheekbones, and delicate features. Her coloring, though, set her apart among the other Terralings. As a half-breed, her father’s Undine bloodlines showed clearly in her Caribbean blue eyes which were offset by her nearly black hair. Her coloring was not far from Raven’s. I had to fight to keep my smile on my face. River waved at me. “Auntie.”

The words slowed my feet. Damn, she was my only niece and she’d never called me auntie before. Not that she’d had much choice, it wasn’t like I’d been around a lot since she’d been born. I slowed as I approached the table. “Bella, a quick question before I eat.”

“Of course.” She raised a spoonful of soup to her mouth, the emerald ring glinting on her third finger.

“May I inspect your ring? I am concerned with a flaw in it.” The lie was smooth and easy. River didn’t look up from her meal; no one took notice. This was going to work.

Bella lowered her spoon and frowned at me. “A flaw? There is no flaw in this emerald. It is perfect.”

She dropped her hands to her lap and covered the ring with her other hand. I continued to smile even while the tension grew. “But a flaw in the setting that would allow the stone to fall out would be an easy thing to have fixed.”

“Mother, she’s right. Let her see it. You’d be frantic if the stone were to go missing,” River added absently.

Bella’s eyes hardened as she stared at me. “You would take it from me?”

“Of course not,” I said, feeling the air between us shift. I held up both hands, palms facing her. “Bella, I would never take it from you.”

The moment stretched and I saw her weigh my words.

“Lies,” she snapped, suddenly and with such force she actually spit. “You would take it for your own. You want it for yourself.” She stood and the lines of power curled around her arms in a slow deadly march. I made myself stand there, made myself allow her to sink me into the ground to my waist. I had to continue the charade that I didn’t want the stone.

River stood.

“Mother, what are you doing?”

“She’s here to take the throne from me. She has been waiting for this moment.” Spit trickled from her lips and my heart clenched.
Mother goddess let me not be too late. Let her not face the same fate as our father.

“Bella, do not do this.” I shifted, pulling on the earth and pushing myself out of the ground.

She circled me, the emerald flashing. “I will make sure there are no threats to this family, however I must. Even if it means your death, Destroyer.”

And there it was. Inside my heart, I cried at the loss of my sister. Outside, I gripped my spear and swung it in a low, lazy circle.

“Then come for me, if you dare.”

ella lifted her hands, intent clear as the lines of power raced up her arms. I buried my spear into the ground at my feet.

“Lark, you don’t know if you have enough control, you can’t use your connection to the earth to fight and be sure you won’t topple the Rim.” Peta spoke low, but Bella heard.

“You would not fight me? Then you are the fool, aren’t you?”

Jaw tight, I reached for the connection to the earth, demanding it bend to me, weaving Spirit around it and boosting the power. The last time I’d faced someone who wore the emerald stone, I’d destroyed the Eyrie. I wouldn’t do that here. This was my family’s home and I didn’t want to kill Bella; I didn’t want to hurt her at all.

But I could not leave the emerald with her, that much was obvious. To save her, I was going to have to hurt her. I hardened myself against the grief that would stop me from doing what I must.

I pushed my power into the Spiral, solidifying the cracks Bella tried to exploit. We stood, facing one another as sweat dripped down our faces. She sought to pull the Spiral apart and I patched it together. Back and forth the Spiral groaned, the earth shuddering now and again. To any watching, they would see us in a standoff, but not understand.

I was the only one who could see the lines of power on another’s arms.

Peta paced in front of me. “Lark—”

“No, leave her to me,” I said through gritted teeth. It wasn’t that she was that much stronger than me, but Bella had control and practice with her abilities that I’d never had. I’d never been trained with either Earth or Spirit. I’d always just used sheer strength to overwhelm my enemies.

And for the first time in my life, that truly meant something. I couldn’t just overpower my sister. I would end up killing her, which I wasn’t willing to do—not even for Ash. Not even to save the world.

But the control it took to chase the destruction she tried to bring down on us was beyond me.

“Give up, half-breed,” she snapped, taking a step toward me.

I tapped deeper into Spirit, feeding it into my words. “The ring, Bella, give me the damn ring!”

She wavered, her eyes fogging long enough for me to hope that she would hand it over.

“NEVER!”

So much for that idea. Spirit flowed through me, tugging me in three different directions. I stumbled and went to one knee. The room shook and dust fell from the ceiling as I was pulled away from my connection to the earth, and Bella ripped at the Spiral without me as an obstacle. Those in the room stood, and a few cried out.

“You have to end this—now.” Peta ran across the room, and leapt onto the dining table, right in front of River.

Peta looked at me, then dipped her head to River. I knew what she wanted me to do, and I was loathe to even take that measure.

“And if it doesn’t work?”

Peta had no answer, and I knew she was right. The Rim trembled as Bella and I waged a war no one else realized was happening. I had maybe a minute left before I lost control of my power and it ran away with me. I could feel it slipping with each breath I took.

I stood and bolted across the room, leapt up on the table and landed on the other side behind River. “Trust me, niece.”

“What?”

I jerked her out of her seat, even as I wrapped my free arm around her neck. I scooped one of the dinner knives from the table and laid it across her throat.

“Your daughter’s life for the ring, Belladonna. Now.”

Bella’s jaw dropped, River drove an elbow back into me, and I pressed hard enough with the knife to draw a thin line of blood, stilling her.

“You wouldn’t dare!” Bella snapped. “I see it in your eyes, it is a ruse.”

“We have been apart a long time.” My voice was deadly soft. “Perhaps you don’t know me as well as you think.” I took the knife from River’s neck and drove it into her thigh, twisting it, cutting through muscle and flesh.

River screamed and convulsed against me, and I whipped the knife back up to her throat. “The ring, Belladonna. Throw it to me.”

Bella stared, her eyes wide and glassy.

River sobbed. “Mother, please, give her the ring. Please don’t let her kill me.”

A tiny piece of me died knowing nothing would ever change River’s view of me after this. That I would be the one who haunted her nightmares for years.

Trembling, Bella shook her head. “I—”

I dug the rough, serrated edge into River’s collarbone.

“MOTHER!”

Bella cried out, ripped the ring from her hand and threw it across to me. I let River go and caught it in mid-air.

River fell to the floor. I could heal her, but I doubted she would let me touch her. Bella ran forward, tears streaming down her face as she sobbed her daughter’s name.

River clung to her, then pushed her away. “You would trade my life on a ring.”

“She would never have killed you, I—” Bella looked up and I saw my sister in her eyes. The sister I trusted. And so I told her the truth.

“If I had to, I would have.”

Bella blanched. “If you had to?”

River’s blue eyes were full of fury as they turned to me and for a moment I caught a glimpse of her father in her. I shuddered with that quick reminder of Requiem and the man he was, and answered honestly. “If you had not given me the ring, would you rather I tear the Rim apart and kill many, or kill one and in your grief make you weak enough to take the ring from you?”