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. s.h.i.+t 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 s.h.i.+fted 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 s.h.i.+fted so the trident now faced me. I touched a finger to the middle point of the three-p.r.o.nged 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 s.h.i.+thouse.
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 s.h.i.+fted 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 s.h.i.+mmered and showed itself as I pa.s.sed my hand over it. Pressing against it, I was surprised when the door slid inward, opening up into a gla.s.s 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. d.a.m.n 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. d.a.m.n the sapphire, and d.a.m.n me for giving it to her.
The bed to the right of me s.h.i.+mmered and water spilled up and out of it. s.h.i.+t 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 p.i.s.sed as h.e.l.l, 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, crus.h.i.+ng it into a tight bond so it became shards of gla.s.s. 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 gla.s.s 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 s.h.i.+ver 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 a.s.sa.s.sin 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."
Finley looked up at her, still clutching her wounded hand. "Lark was the one who gave it to me."
I grimaced, Talan"s words once more making themselves known. "I didn"t know what they were. I thought they were best to be kept in the hands of those who understood the power."
A shudder rippled through her. "I ache for the stone. Give it to me, for a moment."
"No." I took a step back. The need in her eyes was something akin to the human addicts I"d come across in the few human cities I"d been in. A desire so fierce, it overcame all common sense. Bella kept a hand on her.
"Easy, Finley. It will pa.s.s."
A clatter of feet in the hallway snapped me around. I grabbed my spear from where it was buried in the wall. I dropped to a knee on one side of Finley and Bella as three Enders arrived, one of them Dolph.
She held a hand to them. "No, she has done no wrong. I think she may have saved us. Again." Her blue eyes lifted to mine. "Lark, you have cleared my mind of his commands."
"Who though? Who commanded you?"
She leaned into Bella, putting her head on my sister"s shoulder. I took her injured hand, knowing I could heal her. Wondering if I should, if the cost to my own soul was worth it.
d.a.m.n, if I wouldn"t heal her, I was losing whatever good was in me. I pulled her b.l.o.o.d.y hand out and covered it with my own. My body shook as I pulled on Spirit, weaving it through her wound and closing it. I let her go and she held up her hand, her eyes wide.
"Lark, I didn"t know you could do that."
Peta b.u.t.ted her head between us. "To truly destroy, you have to know how to heal first."
Her words seemed to s.h.i.+mmer in the air, and that same s.h.i.+ver I"d felt before crawled up my spine. The words were too close to me, too close to the truth I was learning, and I waved my hand as if to bat them away.
"Finley, who commanded you to try and kill me?"
She put her healed hand-minus one finger-to her forehead. "I don"t know. The voice was familiar and he made me do things. I think . . . I think you are right, it has to do with the ring." Her eyes flicked to my closed fist. "Take it away, Lark. I don"t want it anywhere near me." Finley pushed my closed hand away. "I don"t have the strength to hang onto it and not use it, even though I know I will be manipulated. I want the power too much."
"You see?" Bella said. "Already you are clearing from it."
Finley"s body shook. "I used it sparingly, though I wore it often. Perhaps . . . that is why it already fades from my mind."
I stood and held a hand out to her. She put her hand in mine and I pulled her to her feet. She wrapped an arm around my waist. "I"m sorry I turned on you, my friend."
"No apology needed." I gave her a squeeze and let her go. "But we must leave." I pushed away from her. The chance we"d make it to Fiametta and Samara before Blackbird was slipping away from me.
"Wait!"
I paused and looked back.
"You are seeking Ash, aren"t you?"
Staring at her, I wasn"t sure I"d heard her right. Her words couldn"t have stolen the air from my lungs more completely if she was Sylph. "What?"
"Ash, I saw him right before he went missing . . ." She shuddered. "He was looking for Ca.s.sava and he thought he"d find her in the cypress swamps. That was where he went. I did not remember until you healed my hand, like it healed a part of my mind that was meant not to recall."
"Thank you for telling me." The cypress swamps. I tucked the piece of information into the back of my mind. I would go after Ash if I thought I could find him on my own, but I knew I had to deal with the stones first, before Blackbird could get his hands on them.