Rootbound (The Elemental Series, Book 5) (17 page)

“
his is a bad idea,” I muttered as the three of us left Ray behind. The plan was to break into Finley’s chambers, take the papers she’d hidden, then wait for Finley. We would surprise her, taking her down before she could react using the power of the sapphire.

No one would get hurt that way, and it wouldn’t be a public trouncing of the Deep’s queen. A win-win as far as I was concerned.

Right.

The hallways of the Deep were wide and tall and echoed my words. I clamped my lips shut as I strode forward. Confidence would take me further than looking like I was cringing. I did not want to steal from Finley, yet saw no other way to get the papers.

“It’s your idea,” Peta reminded me.

“It’s
not
a bad idea,” Bella said. “Surprising her might be the only way to get the sapphire without a battle.”

I wasn’t so sure, but I had nothing else, no other idea. And since she wasn’t the Finley I remembered, then maybe it was okay. I could almost see Ash shake his head at me, his gold eyes half shuttered and a wry smile on his lips. The image lightened the fears in me. Peta glanced up and raised both eyebrows.

“What can possibly make you smile at this moment?”

I shrugged. “Ash.”

Frowning, she turned her head forward again. “You think he would agree with this decision.”

Bella laughed. “He would. Just as I would and you do, Peta. We have all learned the hard way that Lark’s ideas are often the only way. Even if her ideas are the ones that scare us the most.”

Finley’s quarters were in the center of the Deep, not far from the throne room. I followed the curving hallway, thinking of how best to handle this. In the end, I knew there was only going to be one way and someone was going to get hurt.

A sigh escaped me and again Peta looked up at me. “It will never be easy for you, Lark.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it.” The three of us rounded the gentle curve in the hallway and Finley’s quarters were in front of us. How did I know? An Ender stood to each side of the door, both holding tridents, both wearing full-face armor so I had no idea if they were even Enders I knew. Like Dolph. Or young Sting. I’d really hoped one of them would be the Ender I had to deal with. Shit sticks, I hated those weapons of theirs. With their reach, they were as hard to fight as any spear, but with the barbs at the end, they were deadly if they pierced skin.

“Think I can talk my way through?”

“Yes, but are you willing to risk your soul? It’s already sliding; I don’t recommend using Spirit,” Peta said.

I wasn’t really eager to use it either. Spirit was not something I’d ever truly understood; mostly it came to me in moments of sheer desperation. Or anger. Neither of which I had going for me at the moment.

Bella took a step. “Let me try.”

She led the way, lifting a hand in greeting. “Is Finley in? I would like to speak to her.”

They tightened their holds on their respective tridents, lowering them toward us. The one on the left shifted his stance, widening his legs. “The queen has given orders to keep everyone away from her chambers.”

We drew closer, even as Bella nodded. “Of course. Could one of you take a message for me? I wish to apologize and ask her forgiveness.”

Peta’s shoulders twitched, and I managed to keep my face neutral. Harmless.

Lefty snorted. “Do I look like a messenger boy?”

Bella smiled as sweetly as I’d ever seen her. “No. But I thought because I said please you’d do it. Please.”

He brought his trident down so the points hovered at her chest. “I suggest you leave, Terraling.”

So we were back to that. I pulled Bella away, so fast she spun, and he shifted so the trident now faced me. I touched a finger to the middle point of the three-pronged weapon. “Really? You want to play that game with me, little boy?”

He pulled back, his body tensing. I dropped to the floor as the trident shot through where my chest had been. I kicked him in the knees, breaking one by the feel of the bones crunching. I rolled out of his way as he fell, grabbed his trident and jerked it from his hands. I spun and blocked the second Ender as he swept toward me. The tridents locked and I twisted mine hard to the right, jerking his from his hands.

When it came to strength, as a Terraling, I had it hands down against any of the other elemental families. Score one for the elemental built like a brick shithouse.

He leaned over me, bringing his face nice and close, a short sword in his hand.

With the trident out of the way, and still on my back, I kicked up and nailed him in the jaw under his helmet. His head snapped back and he fell in a boneless heap, his head clanging on the stone floor. Rolling to my belly, I stared into the eyes of Lefty. I reached out and yanked his helmet off.

He was a kid, young and probably not even finished with his Ender training.

“Don’t kill me,” he whispered, terror in his eyes.

I snaked a hand out and circled my fingers around his neck. I pulled him close to me as I squeezed down on the arteries. He scrabbled at my hand, and then slowly went limp.

I stood, dropped the trident, grabbed a leg on each Ender and hurried to the door. “Not much time. Bella, get the door.”

“How are we going to get Finley here?” She held the door open for me and I dragged the two Enders into Finley’s room.

The room was done in soft pastel colors that mimicked the ocean and the white sandy beaches. I wanted to stop and look, to take it in because there was a peace in the room I hadn’t felt in a long time. Not since before I’d been banished. I realized it was the same sensation I’d picked up in the Eyrie. A sense of belonging.

Child of spirit, you will find your home in all places.

I froze, swallowed hard, and looked around. That was the same voice I’d heard in the mountains right before I destroyed the Eyrie. I hoped it was not a precursor to what was coming.

I shook it off, rolled the two Enders off to one side and followed Peta as she sniffed the air. “This way, I can smell the salty musty papers.”

“Lark, how are we going to get Finley here?” Bella asked again.

I glanced at her. “If she knows I’m here for the sapphire, she’ll find me, I think. Whoever is controlling her doesn’t like me much and seems to think I can be taken out. I’m banking on that arrogance.”

Peta trotted through the room to a door set into the wall that would have been easy to miss. The wall was covered in sand that shifted under my hand when I touched it, the warm granules all but vibrating under my touch.

Bella moved up beside me. “You are putting a lot of weight on mere possibilities.”

“I don’t want to fight Finley if I don’t have to. She’s a good queen, and once upon a time, she was a good friend to us both.”

The edge of the door shimmered and showed itself as I passed my hand over it. Pressing against it, I was surprised when the door slid inward, opening up into a glass dome, one of the sparkling tower tops seen from the water.

“You say that like . . .” Bella trailed off, took a breath. “Like you would kill her if you faced her.”

“If I have to, I will. Because if I don’t and Blackbird gets a hold of that stone, we are going to have to face him. And I know he is stronger than me even without the stones. Better that she die, than you and me.” I stepped into the small room and leaned over a table where three pieces of paper lay and chose to ignore the horrified silence from my sister.

The papers were ancient. So heavily salt-encrusted, the words were barely legible. They lay in a shaft of sunlight coming in through the dome. A faint breeze from the ocean floated through. As though they were placed deliberately to disintegrate under the weather.

Bella and I leaned over them, and Peta stood up on her back legs to peer at the papers.

“Can you read them?”

Bella nodded. “It’s very old script. You two keep watch, I’ll read.”

I put a hand on her shoulder and turned.

At least I was right about one thing. Finley had found me, though I’d hoped we’d have more time.

Her blue eyes flashed with anger and the blue stone on her finger caught the light. Damn it, I was in trouble. With the blue sapphire, Finley had access to even more power within water, and more speed.

I had to end this fast.

“Peta, stay with Bella.”

“Lark—”

“Please.”

She let out a pitiful mew and hurried back into the room. I pulled my spear from my side, linking the two pieces together.

“Finley, I am leaving, and I’m taking the ring with me. I don’t want to hurt you, so please give it to me.”

“You think you can face me when I wear this?” She lifted her hand, a haughty look in her eye. That was not the girl I’d known. Damn the sapphire, and damn me for giving it to her.

The bed to the right of me shimmered and water spilled up and out of it. Shit sticks, this was going to get ugly fast if I didn’t do something.

“Bella, stay where you are!”

Gritting my teeth, I pulled the spear back and threw it at Finley. I didn’t want to hit her, only wanted to distract her. The spear shot forward, to the left of her head. She jerked away, her eyes wide.

She might be a ruler, but a true fighter she was not.

I leapt at her while she was distracted, tackling her to the ground. If I could knock her out we’d be gone before she woke up. Sure, she’d be pissed as hell, but when had that stopped me before?

Finley rolled with me across the floor as she flicked her one hand at me. Lines of power raced along her skin and I clamped my mouth shut. The water from the bed roared out and filled the room in a matter of seconds. Finley floated in front of me, a smug smile on her lips. Again, not something I’d ever attributed to her.

I swam for her and she easily dodged me. There was no choice, I had to tap into the earth or Peta, Bella, and I were dead. I held my hand out to the wall where the sand gathered and beckoned it forward. Spirit and Earth roared through my mind and I fought it, focusing on what I had to do. Balance. Talan had said it was about balance.

Easy to think, not so easy to put into practice. The sand floated through the water to me. Finley threw her head back, laughing soundlessly. I pulled the sand together, crushing it into a tight bond so it became shards of glass. Staring at Finley’s middle finger where the ring rested, I prepped my aim.

Power roared through me as I flicked my fingers toward her hand. The shards of glass shot forward, slicing through the water and into her finger. Blood spurted in a pink bloom and her finger fell, floating side to side.

I swam forward and grabbed the finger, and the ring. Gripping the ring, I felt the pull of the ocean and sent the water in the room to it. A ripple ran through my body, like the water took a part of me with it as it left. I slumped to the floor, gasping for air as I looked for Peta and Bella.

Sodden, and in her snow leopard form, Peta stepped out of the smaller room first. Bella was right behind her, gasping for air as well, green lines of power hovering over her arms.

“Easy, Bella. It’s done,” I said. I pushed myself to my feet, and glanced at Finley who clutched her hand to her. “I’m sorry, Finley, but I can’t leave this with you.”

I backed away, and Peta hurried to my side.

Finley lifted her head, her blue eyes watering. “Wait, Lark, please wait! I can’t rule without the ring. I’m not strong enough.”

“You are, but you’ll never know it as long as you wear this.” I pulled the ring from the finger.

“There was a voice in my head, I couldn’t stop what he wanted.”

Finley’s words sent a shiver down my spine and I paused in mid-stride. “Who?”

“I don’t know.” Her whole body shook. “I couldn’t stop what I was doing. I sent that assassin to kill you. I know I did. But I didn’t want to. The voice made me.” She burst into tears.

I glanced at Peta, unsure of what to do. The words didn’t feel like a lie, and Finley sounded more like herself than she had since we’d been in the Deep.

Bella went to her side. “The same thing happened to me. The stones are dangerous, and Lark is making sure this doesn’t happen again.”