"You will become a true hybrid, Lark. You will have all of us with you, in spirit to face her. You will not be alone. It is the only way to stop Viv."
"This isn't really about Viv anymore, is it?" I asked. Frost's words reverberated through me and I could not deny the truth in them.
He shook his head. "The world needs you, Lark. Viv was the catalyst. She's set the humans against one another and against us. You must find a way to stop it, to undo all the damage she's caused. Even after she's dead, the threads of deceit and death she has woven will continue. The humans are already using the weaponry the world fears. There will only be you to stop them."
I swallowed hard. "How?"
He shook his head. "That I do not know. Perhaps my mother will guide you."
I nodded, feeling the weight of the world, in the most literal sense, lay across my shoulders. "You trust me enough to go on my own?"
He shrugged and then smiled. "Raven was right. You figured out most of this on your own and I just ended up getting in your way, thinking I knew better. It's a problem I've had for years."
He leaned in and kissed me softly on the lips. There was not the heat that had resided in Realm's kiss. With his lips on mine, he pushed the blade into his heart. His body jerked and Spirit in all its terrible beauty cascaded over me.
I didn't know what to expect. With the other three elements, their power had been obvious, keeping in truth with their strengths. Spirit lay over me like a warm blanket, a security I could not see, but only feel. Talan's voice whispered softly in my ear.
We are with you, Lark. You are not alone, and to the end we will see this through together.
I caught his body as he slumped toward me, his eyes closed, his heart no longer beating. Peta cried out, her sobs filling the air. My own emotions were all over the map. I had every reason to hate Talan, yet I couldn't. I could feel his loss like the sharp edge of a blade, like losing someone I thought invincible.
I held his body a long time, at least an hour, while Peta cried softly. I cried with her, not only because of what was lost, but because … a part of me had thought he would be there at the end with me.
And now … now it would just be me and Viv.
I laid Talan next to Frost and called the earth over them, putting their bodies deeply within the rock where they would never be disturbed. Peta lay on the spot where I'd placed them, one paw over her head, her shoulders shaking. Her pain suffused me and tears leaked from my own eyes. "I am so, so sorry, Peta. I know you loved him."
"It is not your fault. But I thought … I lost him once and it gutted me. To lose him a second time even though I am not his familiar any longer, it is a pain I would not wish on anyone."
I bent and scooped her into my arms. There were no words that would soften the blow to her heart. Ash landed on my shoulder and ducked his head, pushing his beak into the circle. She reached around him with one paw and tugged him into the cradle of my arms. He stretched a wing out and spread it over her back. The closest thing to a hug he could offer, and the sight about broke what was left of my heart.
We stood there for a few minutes, but I knew we didn't have long. We'd waited too long as it was. We had to go.
"Peta, we have to find Raven. He is the last one who can help me with this madness."
"Then let us go. Let us leave this place of death." She pressed her tiny cold nose against the hollow in my throat, her hot tears tracking down my skin.
I wove Spirit through our three bodies and swept us away, toward Raven, wherever he was.
I wanted to believe there would be no more death, that I was done with it for a time. But I knew better. I knew these deaths and this pain were just the beginning.
CHAPTER 23
I braced myself for the memories from Peta or Ash. They were Peta's this time, and they came softly, gently. Her laughing with Talan, her time with him, and all he'd taught her. All she'd given him. She'd tried to find him after he "died" the first time. She didn't have it in her to believe he'd been truly gone. Through the memories, I felt the threads of love so strong and bright that I knew no matter how long it had been, she would always have a special place for him. A first love, her first charge. Her first loss. And now a loss again, this time in front of her eyes.
We stepped out of Spirit's embrace and I looked around, totally confused for a moment as to just where I'd taken us. The room was well furnished with chairs and a long table-a human room somewhere within a city, if the hum of vehicles outside was any indication.