The Elemental: Rootbound Part 21

That was an unusual request. "Why would I care who she's got in her bedroom?"

Ryk looked around like he expected someone to pop out and point a finger at him. "Because we all think he's controlling her."

I struggled to swallow around the sudden lump of certainty in my throat. "What is her consort's name?"

He took a breath and shook his head. "If I tell you, you might not remove him."

"Why wouldn't I do that?"

"Because he's your brother."

CHAPTER 18.

"aven is Samara's consort?" I spat the words out, horrified that they could be true. He was the only brother I had left alive. Unless Bramley was out there, waiting for me. I wasn't going there. Not yet.

Suddenly the strange attacks that didn't fit into the pattern I'd been seeing made sense. The Sylphs had been sent by Raven to kill me and take the stones I'd collected so far, rather than do it himself, the lazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d. But why then were all the Sylphs that had come at me weak, and easily dealt with? Could Samara be trying in her own way to keep me alive, by sending her youngest, most inexperienced Enders after me?

The thought had enough merit for me to hope it was the case.

I grabbed Ryk by the arm and dragged him close. "I will get rid of Raven, and keep your queen alive."

He grinned. "Then you need to let me tie your hands together. I'll carry you over my shoulder; pretend you're unconscious. I'll drop you right at his feet."

I wanted to laugh at his eagerness, but I couldn't get over the fact that Raven had ingratiated himself into Samara's life. She knew who he was; she'd fought at my side against him.

"He has to be using Spirit on her," Peta said. "You know that."

I did know, but my mind revolted at the incredibly strong Sylph queen being sucked under his spell and controlled so completely.

Ryk turned me around and looped a thin rope over my wrists. "I won't tie it, so don't tug until you're ready to stand."

I nodded. "Drop me at his feet and back far away."

"Why?"

I didn't want to say because there was a good chance the Eyrie would be destroyed again. No, that was not the way to make sure Ryk continued to help me. "Because there will be a fight, and you need to stay out of it."

I turned and he lifted me over his shoulder with a grunt. "You Terralings are d.a.m.n solid."

Peta took a swat at him. "Don't insult someone who could kill you with the snap of her fingers, airhead."

I grunted. "Peta, you and Shazer follow as if you're trying to catch up."

She bobbed her head and ran out of my line of sight. Ryk held onto me with one arm, and though I couldn't see the lines of power on him, we rose. The wind whipped in a snarling whirl, carrying us high above the first mountaintop and into the thin air.

"You killed the two Enders who came at you in the Deep, didn't you?" he asked, surprising me.

"One of them, yes. The other fell on his blade."

Ryk shook his head. "I tried to go on that mission."

"You wanted to kill me?" That was not a good sign when we were this far up. Mind you, Shazer could probably catch me, but he was no dragon with claws to reach out and snag me from the air.

"No, I wanted to be the one to bring you in. You're legendary here, you know. The Destroyer." He tightened his grip on me. "We're getting close."

"How old were you when I demolished the Eyrie?"

"I wasn't born yet."

I crunched my eyes shut. A baby indeed. He'd not have even seen his thirtieth year. Younger than I was at the time I'd destroyed the Eyrie.

"My queen," he called out as we hovered. I struggled not to react, but to keep my body still. "I bring you the Destroyer. My comrades were sunk deep into the earth, but I survived."

The sound of clapping and cheering rose into the air around us, and I dared to peek with one eye. The Eyrie was no longer high in the mountains, but deep in the valley I'd created. From the glimpses I could see, the layout was similar, with pillars, and open to the sky rooms.

"Bring her to me, Ender Ryk," Samara called. "I want to see her face before I kill her."

Worm s.h.i.+t, I was hoping I could talk her out of that part. "Remember, drop me and back the h.e.l.l up."

"Please don't kill her. She is a good queen." Ryk gave me a squeeze and we dropped from the sky like a stone. He landed and threw me forward. I kept my eyes closed and let myself go boneless. I hit the solid stone floor and bounced, rolling several times before I came to rest with my hands under my back and my face to one side. Through narrowed eyes, I took in what I could. The crowd of Sylphs, rimmed with Enders, filled the small section I could see. Samara had not wasted time building their ranks.

"How is it, Ender Ryk, that you, the greenest of my Enders, managed to stop her, the one who decimated our mountain?" Samara didn't sound like herself. Her voice had a strange wispy tone as though she was out of breath while being angry.

"She attacked Aryl and Vista. She turned her back on me and I was able to take her down."

"Yet, she still took out Aryl and Vista? You weren't able to save them too?" Samara crooned the question.

A soft laugh rolled through the air, the laugh of someone I knew all too well. "My sister is playing possum, my love."

Worm s.h.i.+t. I jerked my hands, breaking the loose tie Ryk had done. I rolled to my knees and faced Samara.

I barely glanced at her, my eyes instead going to the man at her side. Raven's black hair was slicked back, and his blue eyes were as bright as ever. Full of laughter.

Or maybe that was madness.

"Sister, sister. Did you come to congratulate us?" Raven tucked his hands behind his back. As though we were on good terms.

I frowned as I slowly stood. "Congratulate you on manipulating a queen and making her your wh.o.r.e?"

The crowd sucked in a collective breath, and Samara's Enders began a low rumble.

I continued. "Congratulate you on hiding your true motives yet again as you attach yourself to a powerhouse?" I put my hands on my hips. "You were always a coward, Raven. I should have seen it sooner." He had to have the smoky diamond already, which meant he would be even more dangerous than before.

His eyes didn't narrow, didn't tighten with anger. "You don't understand, Lark. We are not so different, you and I. I've been pus.h.i.+ng you, trying to get you to see what has to be done. To train you."

I burst out laughing. I couldn't catch the sound before it escaped me. I bent over, I laughed so hard. Sucking in a deep breath, I finally calmed myself, though I couldn't keep the smile off my lips. "You were training me when you sent Enders to try and kill me in the Deep?"

"Yes."

One attack accounted for.

"And when you manipulated Scar to attack me?"

"Yes."

"And when Father attacked the Rim?" G.o.ddess, let that not have been- "Yes, then too. I knew you wouldn't actually be killed. You're too strong for that. I've been trying to help you. He asked me to."

"Father asked you to?" I was confused. Why would Father have asked Raven to help me?

Raven shook his head. "No, not anyone related. Come on now, don't be thick, you're smarter than this."

My mind rolled. He asked Raven . . . oh h.e.l.l . . . "You don't mean . . ."

"Please, you can say his name." He gave me a half bow, mocking me.

"Talan."

Raven grinned. "You see, I don't need to manipulate you, Talan's doing it enough for the both of us."

I was not truly surprised. I knew there were two people working against me, but for Peta's sake a small part of me had hoped Talan was not involved.

I took a deep breath. Shazer and Peta landed a few feet behind me with a thud and a ruffling of feathers. The crowd gasped and pulled back, a low murmur rolling through them.

The last time they'd seen him was when I'd sunk the Eyrie, and it had been momentarily. We'd not stuck around long enough for anyone to really be star struck.

Samara sucked in a sharp breath. "Pegasus? I thought we were seeing things before. We thought you were an apparition in the aftermath of the destruction."

Shazer snorted and trotted past me. "My queen. I did not have time to chat last I was here."

I stiffened where I stood. He brushed past me as if I didn't exist. Peta whispered to him as they pa.s.sed me.

"The necklace."

It felt as though the Sylphs had stolen my air as I watched him trot forward and bow at Samara's feet. She fluttered a hand to her chest as her eyes filled with tears. What in the name of the mother G.o.ddess was going on?

"If you are here, then our world is coming to an end," she whispered.

"I don't believe any of that horse s.h.i.+t," he said, flicking his head up once, but otherwise remaining on his bent knee. She approached him slowly, and it was only then I truly saw her.

The way she walked. The heavy slow steps, the swell of her belly, the way she cradled herself.

I whipped my head to the side and glared at Raven. He grinned and shrugged like a little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

To fight with Samara was one thing; to battle her for the stone when she was pregnant-and obviously close to her time-was another entirely. He was banking on me being soft.

I hardened everything in me and slowly shook my head. His grin slipped, the silent communication only siblings had making my thoughts clear.

I would not back down. I would not hold back.

Samara s.h.i.+fted, drawing my eyes back to her. "Pegasus, the legends speak of you coming home." Her hands fluttered to her belly. "Of you being the messenger before the world is broken again. Is . . . that why you are here?"

Each word she spoke was weighted with a fear that was nearly visible in the thin mountain air.

"Nope." He lurched forward as he moved to stand, his muzzle grazing the flat of her chest. She didn't flinch, but closed her eyes as if she were in awe of him.

His velvet lips brushed her skin, and a sigh slipped out of her. He grabbed the necklace, the smoky diamond dangling from it, and reared back, s.n.a.t.c.hing it from her neck.

The stone glittered as it sang through the air.

"Don't say I never gave you anything," Shazer crowed as he spun, spreading his wings and essentially blocking Samara from seeing what he'd done.

I took two steps and held my hand out for the necklace.

Easier than any of the other retrievals, and no one got hurt.

And that's where I was so very, very wrong.

CHAPTER 19.

aven whipped a hand out as the stone flickered through the air. "I think not."

The stone froze, above my head. I could have easily jumped and grabbed it. Could have fought him right there.

I lifted an eyebrow, though my heart pounded. I knew I couldn't beat him. We'd been down this path before. Raven was too strong; he had too much power in all five elements for me to face him again. But he didn't need to know how I felt.

"No? You need another boost of power to face me?"

He grinned, his eyes d.a.m.n well sparkling. "Oh, I think you and I both know how that will end. You on the ground. Me sparing your life. Or not, maybe. I don't know exactly how that part would end." The necklace floated slowly to him. Shazer lunged for it and Raven flicked his fingers at the Pegasus.

His legs were sucked down into the stone as he leapt, the momentum of his body bending him forward. The snap of bones as he fell rent the air. He didn't scream in pain, but grunted as he slumped. Peta snarled, leapt from his back and s.h.i.+fted. She crouched in front of Shazer, snarls rolling from her lips.

Raven snorted. "You want to play, kitty? Then let's play."

He grabbed the diamond from the air and snapped the fingers on his other hand. The stone disappeared, and Raven s.h.i.+fted. Literally s.h.i.+fted.