Firestorm

He cried out and stumbled backward, screaming. “No!”

We tumbled to the floor and his hands seemed to be everywhere, punching and hitting . . . and sliding under my vest.

With a quick snatch he had the papers along with the note from my father. “I don’t think you’ll be needing these.”

Rotten worm shit, how had he known? He had to have been spying on me in the healer’s room.

We rolled and he got loose. I didn’t stop fighting to gain a hold on him, but still I missed him by an inch, the soft material of his clothing brushing my arm and sliding through my fingers as if water. He took off running in the utter darkness. I didn’t hesitate to bolt after him. Holding tight to the pulse of his life in the back of my head, the reverberation of his feet on the stone as he ran I tracked him as easily as if I could see him in front of me.

Pumping my arms and legs hard, I closed the distance between us with each stride until his long cloak was tickling at my hands. He took a hard left and I followed but when I turned the corner, he was gone. As if he’d never been and I’d been chasing shadows.

“Son of a fey bitch in heat.” I slapped my hands against the wall and the mountain gave a low rumble in response. Breathing hard, I leaned forward, knowing whoever he was, he wouldn’t be gone long.

And whatever he was up to, no way it was good.

Other than losing him, I only had one pressing problem. Lifting my hands in front of me I fumbled forward, completely lost.

As a child, my mother always told me to sit down if I got lost, and someone would find me. Except I wasn’t supposed to be out of the house, and I’d be damned if I was ending up in prison beside Ash. Again.

I didn’t need to close my eyes to block out the darkness, but I needed to concentrate. There were only two people I could reach.

Cactus.

And Peta.

Swallowing hard I tried Peta first. When I concentrated, I could feel her emotions in the back of my head, her near panic as she searched for me poured through, and I struggled to breathe evenly. “Easy, Peta. I’m okay.”

She didn’t calm, but even worse, I couldn’t truly reach her. I didn’t understand the bond between us and how to use it fully.

“Damn.” I rubbed my hands over my face and slid my back down the wall. Dropping my hands to the floor I sent out a tiny pulse of energy, a call through the earth to Cactus. A call that would allow him to find me; if it could break through the sleep spell.

Licking my lips, a thought rolled through my brain. Maybe I could boost the call with Spirit, making Cactus hear me. A trick we’d used as children to reach one another, to sneak out at night and play under the stars.

I sent the call again, this time weaving Spirit around it. “Come on, Cactus.”

That was all I could do. That and hope if Cactus didn’t find me, Peta would. Or maybe Brand . . . anyone who wouldn’t turn me over to the queen.

I closed my eyes again and slowed my breathing. There was nothing I could do now except wait.

In that silence, I reviewed the last few months of my life. Of the things I’d done and seen, and the truths I’d faced. The friends I’d gained and lost. “Mother goddess,” I spoke into the darkness, “you said I was your chosen one. And you had me swear my life to you. For what? To bring me here and throw me into danger again?”

The weight of the darkness grew until the feeling of an arm rested across my shoulders and she whispered in my ear.

“Child, do you really want to know the future? Or would you rather live it and know each choice you make will take you to places you must be? Trust is a strange thing, so tied to fear. Let the fear go, Larkspur. Let it go, and trust not only yourself, but this world and the power of its elements.”

The feeling of her arm receded and I stood, surprised to find my cheeks wet with tears. “Thank you.”

There was a soft scuffle of claws on stone and a burst of flame broke through the darkness. Scar blinked up at me, his purple eyes dilated in the bright light. “You’re lost, aren’t you?”

I couldn’t help the bitter laugh. “I am. Think you can help me back to the main cave?”

Scar nodded, and his fire went out. “Yes, just put a hand on me.”

I touched the tip of one of his horns that arched over his neck. “Scar, how did you find me?”

“The mother goddess sent me. She said you will save us from Fiametta because you are the only one who can hear us speak.” He moved forward, his gait a smooth side to side motion.

“Why is that, do you think?”

“I don’t know, but the other Spirit Walker can’t hear us. It is like he is deaf to our words.”

I swallowed the sudden burst of excitement. “The other Spirit Walker? You mean the one in the cloak?”

“Yes, that is him. He made us do things ve did not want to. My father learned how to stop him, but now he steals us away.” Scar let out a low sigh. “There aren’t many of us left and . . .” He stopped speaking. “I must leave you here, Spirit Walker. Be careful there is much danger.”

He flicked his head and I let go of his horn. “Thank you,” I said into the darkness.

“Lark?”

I spun on as a torch flickered down the hallway. “Cactus?”

He jogged toward me but Peta blasting down the hallway caught my attention. Five feet away she leapt into my arms, her body shaking. “Lark, we have to go, right now.”

“Yes, I know.”