"Really?" Flint stared hard at me. "You need to change clothes before you see Fiametta?"
"No." I bent to one knee and grabbed the bottom edge of Bella"s full skirt. "I need to prepare myself before we deal with her." I cut off a strip and laid it on the ground. I poured out the fake stones onto the material and wrapped them tightly. If I needed to grab the real ones, the last thing I needed was to scramble and waste time sifting through the fakes. I tucked the bundle into my leather pouch and then set the real stones on top.
"Now I am ready."
Flint raised an eyebrow but didn"t question my actions further. "There is no way to get my people out without alerting her. And you need someone to lead you in and out." He took Bella"s hand and strode ahead. "I think the best way would be to get Bella out, and you and I will face my mother. I won"t risk Bella being hurt."
My lips twitched. "Bella, I approve. And you should probably tell him."
She swung back to me, her mouth an O, her eyes filling with tears. I blamed those on the hormones.
Flint didn"t slow, typical man didn"t even seem to hear me, or get the undertones of my words. "We have to hurry. Tell me on the way," he said.
I laughed. "Oh, I think this might slow you down."
Bella shook her head, and I knew what she was wondering. Why now? Why tell him she was pregnant now of all times? And then I saw the understanding sweep over her face.
There was a chance he would not survive what was coming. It was why we wanted her moved to safety. My mistake was thinking it would help her say her piece and move to safety.
"No, I"m coming with you." She slid to a stop. "I am coming with you. I am queen of the Rim, and I will not run from a battle."
"Peta cannot come with us, she"s still healing," I pointed out.
"Then we will put her outside and Shazer can pick her up."
Worm s.h.i.+t. "Bella, there is no time to argue-"
"Which is why you should stop trying to protect me. I"m not an invalid," she snapped.
I put a hand on her shoulder and physically dragged her toward the entrance, which I could see now glimmering in the darkness. The black obsidian rock s.h.i.+ned in the flickering torchlight. "It"s my job to protect you. You are my sister and my queen. You are the important one in our family. My life for yours. Always."
Flint nodded. "Listen to her, my love. Being queen does not mean you must always fight. Your sister is doing her job. You must do yours. My people will need to be organized as I send them out."
He kissed her softly then and all her resistance faded. Peta raised a sleepy eyebrow at me. "You going to kiss me goodbye?"
I snorted a laugh, and rubbed one of her ears. "No, your breath smells like fish."
Flint opened the door, and it was only then I realized there were no guards. We probably could have walked right in the front entrance without being stopped. Bella stepped into the forest of ever-blooming cherry trees. The soft pink petals floated around her, some sticking in her hair. She raised a hand and we all took a step back.
The obsidian door slid closed and I turned to Flint. "Don"t you dare hurt her."
He grinned. "I"m defying a world of rules, of expectations, just by being with her. The last thing I would do is hurt her."
"Good. Just so we"re clear. I"ll cut your b.a.l.l.s off and dice them into a puree if you so much as make her cry."
His grin faded. "That I believe. Sister." He winked, and I saw the same charm Cactus had worked on me for so long. I only hoped Flint turned out better than Cactus in the end.
"Let"s go."
Flint led the way, and I thought he would keep to himself.
"Do you know what she was going to tell me?" He glanced at me and I shook my head.
"I do, but it"s not my place. Certainly not now." Because I didn"t want him to turn around and run back to her. He was right, I needed a guide here in the Pit. The twists and turns of the labyrinthine place were the same as before. There was no way I"d find my way without help.
And after my run-in with Scar, I wasn"t sure any of my old friends would be the ones I could go to. I slid to a stop as the realization hit me.
"What?" Flint stopped with me.
The people attacking me, the people causing problems were all those who"d helped me in the past. Whoever was controlling the stones knew me far better than I knew them.
"Nothing." I waved him off. "Keep going."
He gave me a look but said nothing more. "How do you want to do this?"
I swiped at my face, wiping the sweat from my eyes. "How well does she trust you? At all? Can you get close to her?"
"Closer than you," he said. "Maybe ten or fifteen feet."
I nodded. "I want you to do that. Get as close as you can and be ready to tackle her."
"And get the ring."
I nodded. "Toss it to me immediately. You can be controlled through it." The last thing I needed was for Flint to put the ring on and make it so I had to deal with him too.
"Lava p.i.s.s, then I was right? I"d hoped . . ."
I nodded. "Yes. But if she"s used the ring a lot, her mind will be chewed up. Just like Ca.s.sava." I hadn"t meant to say that last bit.
He opened his mouth, but I beat him to it.
"Yes. She had a ring like the one your mother is wearing." A ring I"d buried in the bottom of Griffin"s hut years ago. I swallowed hard, suddenly realizing I"d not checked to make sure it resided there still. Worm s.h.i.+t, I forgot to grab it before I left the Rim, but in the grief of having to end my father"s life, it had slipped my mind.
One thing at a time. I would go back for the pink diamond at the end of the journey. There was no way Blackbird would find it.
We reached the end of the tunnel we were in and Flint held out his hand to stop me. He put a finger to his lips and peered around the edge. His whole body stiffened. I hurried to his side and looked out.
The main floor of the living area was a wide plateau, and in the center was a living oasis I"d created with Cactus"s help. That had been my gift to Fiametta and the Salamanders before I"d left.
Where it had stood was a monstrous fire that licked the ceiling of the cavern, thick black smoke filling the room. The fire crackled and hummed, happily destroying every living thing in its path.
"She has everyone here," Flint said quietly. I put a hand on his arm.
"Where is her familiar?" Fiametta had had a black panther named Jag as her familiar the last time I"d been in the Pit. I"d hoped she would listen more to his advice, but it looked like he was being ignored once more.
"She killed him," Flint said, his voice flat.
Holy h.e.l.l on fire, she was as lost as my father. I could not understand how either of them had the ability to kill their familiars. The thought of Peta dying had sent my mind into a state of sheer panic, but to be the one who"d killed her? What had that done to Fiametta when she realized she was the hand of death? I remembered all too clear my father"s attempt to destroy the Spiral and the Rim.
There were more children than Flint who belonged to Fiametta. I didn"t want to ask, but I made myself spit the question out. "And your younger siblings?"
He shook his head and his eyes blurred. "She sent me to the Rim. She knew I was interested in Bella. When I came back they were buried . . . I should have been here, Lark. I could have stopped her."
"Why would she send you away?"
He squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them once more. "I have always led her to believe I am weak, uninterested in the throne. She has believed me all these years. The others openly spoke of being the ruler one day. It . . . saved me, even while it d.a.m.ned my brothers and sister. If I had known what she was about, I would have taken them with me and left them in the Rim, come back and faced her on my own."
I put a hand on his shoulder, feeling the loss of Bramley and understanding all too well the desire to protect your siblings-and failing.
"I doubt that. You would have died too and then where would your people be? You are here now. We can make this right. Or as right as is possible." G.o.ddess, I hoped we could. "What are the chances we"re going to make this happen without a full-on war? You know her mental state, if she killed her own familiar and children . . ."
He drew in a slow breath. "I think we will have to kill her. I don"t see her backing down, or seeing any sense."
That was what I was afraid of. "And are you ready to lead your people if that happens?"
He nodded. "I am."
"And marry my sister, uniting two families?"
His eyes widened. "Pushy much?"
I tightened my hand on him. "For her? Yes."
He grinned. "Yes, I plan on it. She and I will change things."
I nodded. "Good enough for me. I want you to go to the other side of the plateau, get your mother"s attention and keep it. I"m going to hit her from behind."
Flint clapped me on the back, turned and disappeared into the tunnel we"d just left. I crept out and onto the ledge. s.h.i.+mmying down the rock face, I dropped to the main floor with a soft thud. No one looked back at me. So far so good.
Fiametta was yelling at someone, and though I couldn"t hear the words, I knew it wasn"t good. The tone was that deadly mixture of anger and calculation that only she had, of fire and ice that made you want to s.h.i.+ver and melt away at the same time.
I hurried along the curve of the room until I was as close as I could get without exposing myself. Crouching next to the edge of one of the living quarters, I peeked around, trying to get a look without being seen myself.
Fiametta strode back and forth in front of her people; I could only catch glimpses of her.
"Time and again, I"ve protected you, and what do I get for it? Suspicion, my own people plotting against me, my own son defying my commands!" Her deep red hair flew behind her, she strode so fast. "And then, a spy is sent, a spy that tried to use my love for him against me."
Worm s.h.i.+t, that had to be Cactus. The crowd in front of me s.h.i.+fted and for a split second I saw my childhood friend on the ground, a pool of blood around him, before the crowd closed again, hiding him from view. My heart clenched at the thought of him dying. No matter that we would never be a couple, I still cared for him. He was still my friend.
Fiametta spun suddenly and the crowd gasped. Whatever Flint was doing, this was my cue. I sprinted through the crush of bodies, pus.h.i.+ng elementals out of my way as fast as I could. I broke through, and saw Cactus. There was nothing I could do for him if I didn"t stop her. I leapt at Fiametta.
She spun at the last second and raised her hand to me. Brilliant red lines of power rippled up her arms and the blast caught me mid-air. I was flipped over backward, the front of my vest on fire.
I hit the ground, rolled and put the fire out. "Fiametta, you are going to kill your own family!"
She didn"t answer me. Flint crept closer, but she seemed to sense him. She spun and flicked a hand at him. A pure rope of lava sprang from her hand and wrapped around his waist. If it tightened . . . he"d be cut in half.
I called up my connection to the earth and opened the ground under Fiametta, drawing her attention back to me. She snarled and dropped her son. I closed the ground around her feet and drew her further down into the stone until only her head was visible. The same trick I"d used on her the last time I"d been in the Pit.
Only this time, it didn"t work the way I"d hoped. The lava and fire didn"t stop. If anything, it ramped up to an even greater rate of death and destruction. The lava that cut through the plateau rose and swept toward me at an unnatural speed, heating the air to the point where breathing was a serious effort.
Flint and Cactus would be hit first, and I wasn"t sure they"d survive the lava in their injured states, despite their bloodlines.
I didn"t have time to consider the consequences, it was either act now or die as the lava closed in on me. I grabbed my leather pouch and pulled out the sapphire. Gripping it, I tapped into the water available, the river that ran perpendicular to the lava flow.
Using all three powers open to me, I poured Spirit into Earth and Water, boosting what I could do with them. I opened the earth in a line in front of the oncoming lava. Diverting the river, I flooded the banks and drew it toward the burning oasis, putting the fire out.
Fiametta stared at me as she pulled herself from the stone inch by inch, dripping with sweat, and I realized how she"d done it. She"d melted the stone around her, softening it so she could free herself.
"You lying little b.i.t.c.h. You are taking the stones for yourself. You think you can rule our world? That isn"t possible. None of it is possible, no matter what he says."
At the far edge of the plateau, four Firewyrms emerged from a sidewall entrance I"d not seen.
Flint groaned and pushed himself to his feet, one arm clutched around his middle. "Lark, you must end this now. They will kill us all if she gives the word."
Fiametta snapped her fingers as if his words had reminded her that she had that ability. The Firewyrms surged forward, teeth snapping, scales sparkling. The crowd didn"t move, though, as if they were held by unseen bands.
"Run, you idiots!" I yelled, and the spell over them was broken. They scattered.
"The main door!" Flint commanded. They listened to him, and the Firewyrms seemed uncertain about whom to attack-the Salamanders, or me. The pause gave me a chance to stave them off.
I spun my spear out and sprinted toward Fiametta. Weaving Spirit and Earth together again, I used them to tear up the ground in front of the Firewyrms. There was no finesse needed here and my elements reveled in the lack of control. Chunks of rock and dirt exploded in a line, smas.h.i.+ng into the big lizards. At another flick of my hand the ground rippled and threw them to the entranceway. I couldn"t stop them completely, but I could buy some time.
Flames burst up at my feet, burning the side of my leg. I jumped to one side, rolled in the dirt, and up onto my feet again. But the flames did not slow. I spun and saw Fiametta through the fire, and another figure behind her.
I threw my spear, deliberately aiming to one side. Fiametta dodged the weapon easily and laughed.
"You are a failure, just like your friend." She motioned to the ground behind her. Only he wasn"t on the ground.
From behind her, my spear was shoved through her back. She stiffened, a scream on her lips, but no sound came out.
Cactus caught her as she slumped. "I"m sorry, Fiametta. It had to be done."
"And so did this," she whispered. Her hands clutched his face and they lit on fire. He screamed, and I ran to them. I tackled Fiametta away from Cactus, slamming her against the hard-packed dirt, which jammed the spear in further. She laughed, blood flowing over her lips. I grabbed her hand and pulled the ring off.
Not that it would do us any good now.
Flint was at my side, tugging at me. "We have to go."
"She"s dying."
He jerked me hard. "She"s unleashed the lava."
I snapped my head up as the lava burst out of the seam in the earth I"d sucked it into. "Worm s.h.i.+t." I considered putting the ruby on.
This world is dying, child. Let it die. Let us start again, fresh and new.
The voice was the same as the one from the Deep. The same voice from the Eyrie when the mountain had spoken to me, told me it was time to take it back from the Sylphs. A s.h.i.+ver rolled through me. I was not going to argue with something that felt as though it was every element in the world wrapped into one consciousness.