"You have two seconds to leave, Talan." I bit the words out. "And then I will kill you."
He shook his head, but left.
She arched an eyebrow. "You've learned a new trick then, Planter girl?"
I took a step and then another, pushed Raven to one side, and stared at Cassava. "Do you hate me?"
Her eyes widened. "You ask that after all this time?"
I drew a breath before speaking so I could gain some control over my emotions, in large part, because seeing Talan and hearing his words had thrown me.
"I saw you with my mother. I saw your love for her and that she asked you to end her life. She asked you to protect me at any cost, to make me hate you. So, my question is, do you hate me now because I cost you so much?"
A tremor rippled through her body as though a miniature earthquake had started in her center. "You are very like her, Lark. It pains me to look at you."
"Do you hate me?"
Her lips trembled and she slowly shook her head. "I have never hated you, though there were times I wanted to. It would have been far easier to do what I did if there had been true hatred in my heart."
"You stole the damn stones from me!" The words erupted from me as I shoved her hard, forcing her back from me. "If you didn't hate me, why would you do that? Why would you give them to Viv?"
Peta let out a hiss but kept herself silent; otherwise, her own emotions only strengthened mine.
Cassava shook her head slowly. "It is a deep game that has been played, Lark. And I know that better than anyone. I did what I had to do for the next step. To keep you safe a little longer. With the stones in hand, Viv thinks of you as less of a threat now. She is wrong, of course, but her belief is what matters."
Raven grunted, but we both ignored him.
She went on. "We have all lost ones we loved in an effort to find the person who would stop Viv." That husky voice of hers dropped from the sneering quality that had always been present when I was around to one that sounded truly … pained. "I knew the moment I met Viv that she was not who she said she was, that Ulani had been right about her. Still I found the Spirit stone for her, and protected it from her, because she could not force me to give it to her. I could hide in the madness she believed me to have. We need to find the original elementals; we need them to be free so together they can stop her. That has been the plan all along. Once they are free, then you will stand with them."
"The prophecy in Olivisha's book, it said I was to reign freely. So, that matters not now?" I was as confused as a tangle of ivy vines wrapped around a climbing clematis flower.
She shrugged but didn't look away from me. "What does your heart tell you? You've never been one to believe lies easily, not even when Spirit was used on you."
I frowned. "We find the original elementals and I help them stop Viv."
"And the only way to find them was to give Viv a reason to go after them. I planted the idea in her head that she needed to check on them. To ensure they weren't stirring before she made her last big move to take their power." Cassava frowned and a heavy sigh slid from her. "Only she took it a step further and decided that if they were dead, then the power in the stones would be solely hers. That there would be no turning back for them then. Which would be true."
"Can you find her?" The question flew from my mouth. "Are you bound to her still?"
I could feel Peta and Raven stiffen behind me. Cassava gave a tired smile. "I am bound to her, yes."
Raven pushed past me and Cassava went to her knees, her head bowed. Brilliant lines of pink rushed up and down his arms as he put Cassava into a deep sleep. "Shit. I knew she was playing both sides, but for her to have a connection to Viv … that is very bad indeed."
My mind clicked several times, almost like one of the human machines as they hummed and worked. Raven spoke to me, but his words filtered through in bits and pieces because I could not stop thinking.
Cassava not being loyal. What to do with her. Where was the Spirit stone? That last question brought me out of my own thoughts.
I took a step to one side and held my hand out to Peta. She leapt up into my arms. A dangerous idea had begun to form, but also a truth I'd not considered.
Both Raven and Talan could train me with Spirit, but Raven had pointed out I was better learning things on my own, to not be constrained by things I was told were possible or impossible.
Both had told me the only person who might be able to guide me in how to connect Spirit to the other elements was Cassava, as she was the only one besides Viv who'd done so and was still alive.