From the corner of my eye, I saw Raven nod. "What are those places the humans stick their mad ones?"
"Asylums," I said. "That's a good point. Perhaps we should send him to one of those."
"Yes, they could let him think he's in charge there."
I barked a laugh. "In charge. Please. He'll be trying to convince all the humans they are really elementals who need to save the world."
Raven burst out laughing and I couldn't help joining in. Peta's concern came through loud and clear. "Are you all right?" she whispered in my ear.
I couldn't help myself. "It's a sibling thing." And it was. This was how Raven and I had always bantered back and forth. Ganging up on the other kids in our family and making them look like fools.
Talan frowned at us both. Like an adult dealing with naughty children. Which only set me laughing more. A part of my brain realized it was a combination of shock and sheer overload. Because even though Talan hadn't proven anything, what he said made a wicked sort of sense. Which brought me out of my laughter as fast as I'd started.
"Wait," I drew a sharp breath as I struggled to form the question that slammed me between the eyes, "why do you not just get your other siblings then and deal with Viv?"
Raven's laughter died as suddenly as mine had. "Now that is a good question."
"You two are going to be the death of me," Talan muttered. "I told you I would show you the story. Will that suspend your disbelief of who I am?"
I shrugged. "Maybe."
"Then we will start there. We start with a girl named Vivica." He reached up to the waterfall and ran his fingers through it, his arm coated in pink lines so bright that I wondered just how I had not noticed before. And then I remembered. Shit, he could hide his power from me. He'd done it before. Had I forgotten or had he taken that knowledge from me? Fear slid down my spine like droplets of icy cold water.
"Put your hands in the water," Talan said, "and you'll be taken to the past."
"You mean we'll see the story," Raven said.
"No," Talan shook his head, "your spirits will go into the past and you will see how things happened. What brought Vivica to become Viv, then to become an effigy of the mother goddess."
Peta butted her head against my cheek. "I will be with you."
I was not afraid, not really. But I was unsure I wanted to send my spirit anywhere without my body. "I thought we were on a time crunch."
Talan smiled. "The story happened in the past. Here in the present, the time that will lapse will be less than a few seconds. A heartbeat or two."
That didn't make me feel any better. "Can we be trapped there?"
He shook his head. "No. If you become afraid, you need only take a step back. As long as you walk forward, you will see the story unfold."
His instructions seemed simple, and yet, I was not sure. "All of us are going?"
Talan shook his head. "Just you and Raven."
I fought not to hunch my shoulders. "And you are staying behind why, exactly?"
"Suspicious much?" He smiled at me, but it wasn't mean. "I stay behind because if something were to go wrong, then I can pull you both out."
"So something has gone wrong before?" Raven asked. I was glad it was him and not me.
Talan rolled his eyes as though we were being ridiculous, but I saw the motion for what it was. He was avoiding the question.
I took a step, closing the distance between him and me. "You might be the last born of the true mother goddess. But don't you dare lie to us now. You want us to work with you, then you'd better think about how you want us to see you. As a liar? Or someone we can trust?"
He rubbed a hand over his face. "Damn it. You are too perceptive by half. Yes, this has gone wrong once before. But we both survived, so I am being cautious now."
"What happened?" Peta asked.
Talan shook his head and then slowly answered. "The one who went with me tried to interfere. We both did, thinking if we could change the past, then things would be better. It doesn't work that way."
"What happened?" The question came from Raven and me at the same time.
Talan let out a groan. "Mother, help me not kill them all."
Peta hissed at him. "Don't you take that tone with us!"
Talan looked at her. "Fine. We were both hurt, the injuries were not life-threatening, but we struggled to connect with our ability for a time."
"But you got it back?" Raven asked.