Windburn(11)

The bear rushed me, his fur rippling in the spots of sunshine that cut through the trees. His name was Karhu.

I sidestepped the first swipe of the brown bear. Barely. He roared, his lips rippling with the force of his battle cry.

I could fight him, wound him, and take him from Vetch. I could cut him apart and Peta would help me; I knew it in my gut. My eyes and his met.

Pain. Shame. Fear.

I swung the spear around and planted the haft into the ground, going to my knees in a choice that could spell my end. But I believed Spirit when it recognized the emotions flowing from the bear.

“Karhu, he does not deserve either of you.” I held his gaze. “He has forgotten you are a companion, a mentor, the one he should turn to as a friend and confidant. Just as my father forgot.”

The bear stopped and let out a grunt, his nose twitching. “What do you know of familiars?”

“Do you not know Peta? She has been assigned to me.” A part of me had assumed all familiars knew each other, seeing as how few there were.

The bear turned his head to look at where Peta and the husky circled one another. “A cat?”

“A long story,” I said.

The bear backed away. “This time, I will spare you. For the truth you speak. Hercules. Let’s go. Leave Vetch to his stupidity. The girl is right, he needs to learn our value.”

The husky turned his head and lifted his dark eyebrows. Peta swatted his ass with his attention off her, and sent him tumbling toward the bear. “Do as you’re told, mutt.”

Hercules bared his teeth, but followed Karhu into the forest.

Vetch shook with rage. “Then I will kill you myself.” He lifted his hand, lines of power coursing along his skin.

“Not this time.” Peta leapt at him, taking him down in a single blow. Her mouth clamped around his neck, her long canines breaking the skin. The thought in my head was crystal clear. Let her kill him. End that trial. Bella could take over as she had and we wouldn’t need Father at all.

A strange urge came over me to do that. Blood lust roared through me and I struggled to push it down, to keep myself in check.

No, that wasn’t me. Fear trickled with the blood lust. I knew what was happening. This was the result of using Spirit. This was the beginning of the price I would pay for using an Element destructive in its very nature.

“Don’t,” I said. “I have to believe he’s being manipulated by Cassava.”

Peta spat him out. “Doesn’t make him any less dangerous to you or the other half-breeds.”

Vetch lay panting on the ground. His green eyes widened as if he suddenly realized he’d been outmatched. “What are you going to do to me?”

That was the question of the day. “The dungeons will block him from his power, and from whatever manipulation laid on him. We could stick him there. Someone would find him eventually.”

I didn’t think his eyes could widen further. I was wrong.

“You wouldn’t dare. I am the heir to the throne!” he spluttered as he scooted away. Peta snarled.

“Shut up, this isn’t up to you, worm.”

Worm. Yes, that was what he was. The fact that he’d attacked me using the power of the earth said it all. He was not playing by the rules. We could try and drag him back to the dungeons, but he’d fight us and fight dirty.

I swung my spear, aiming for his head. He screamed like a child, shrieking at a pitch I was surprised he could manage at his age. At the last second, I spun the spear so the haft caught him in the side of the head, the momentum knocking him out.

“What a baby.” Peta snorted. I bent and picked him up, slinging him over my shoulder. The dead Rim guard though . . . would prove a problem if he was found. I flicked my hand over his body and let the ground suck him down.

“They will think you killed him.”

“Of course. Might as well put off the inevitable as long as possible.” I adjusted Vetch on my shoulder and started back to the Rim. Keeping to the edges of the homes and buildings, I made it to the Barracks before someone stopped me.

Thank the goddess it was Ash. He met me on the steps of the Enders Barracks. “Usurping thrones again, are we?”

“No. Just putting him in a safe place for a bit. Did Bella make it to the Traveling room?”

Ash nodded. I followed him through the main hall and down the long stairwell that took us to the dungeon. As if this was something we did every day.

“She said to tell you she would wait on your word to come home. What happened?”

As we hurried toward the dungeon, I filled him in on Vetch’s plan to wipe out half-breeds in the Rim. Starting with Bella and me. Ash shook his head as he held the cell door open. “He’s always been cruel. But even for him this is a new level.”