Peta (An Elemental Series Novella, 3.5) Read Online Free PDF

they are invincible. One of my charges was just such a child.”
    Ahh, my little red headed darling. She would have been a mighty Salamander if she’d been able to keep her temper in check. A dare. She’d jumped into the deep end on a dare from a boy she’d had a crush on.
    And I’d been too far away to prevent her from doing it. Only by a few inches, but it was enough that she’d succumbed to the lava before I could reach her. Screaming for me as she sank down.
    Peta. Save me.
    Breaking my heart for the third time. Breaking my soul for the first.
    “Peta—”
    The sound of feet clicking on the stone snapped my head around and pulled me out of my memories. “Shhhh.” I hissed, twitching my ears. “Hide. Someone is coming.”
    Lark slid under one of the beds and I crouched in a shadow on the floor against the counter.
    The doors opened and in swept a dark cloaked figure. There was no scent to the person, no hint as to whether it was a man or a woman.
    The dark cloaked one searched the room and then paused. “Who is here? I can sense you.”
    This person started toward the bed Lark was crouched under. I let out a meow, pitching it high and loud as I leapt onto the counter. Trotting along the length of it, I made sure my asshole was pointed right at the dark cloaked one.
    “Damn cats. I hate felines. The first thing I’ll do when I rule the Pit as queen is kill all you snotty creatures.”
    Female. And not a nice one by the sound of it.
    She left and Lark crept out.
    We found the papers that listed the Enders Lark had injured and their wounds. How they were fine but then found dead on the morning check by the healers. This proved her and the other Terraling weren’t guilty of killing those Enders. Hurrying, we headed back the way we’d come. The torch went out but we were close enough that I could lead her.
    “This way,” I called to her.
    “This way, Larkspur.”
    The voice was not one I recognized.
    “Dirt girl!” I yelled.
    “This way, Lark,” the voice said again.
    She didn’t answer. I flicked an ear back and the sound of feet shuffling told me she was close, despite the other voice. Keeping my pace up, I took the turns, calling back to her at various points.
    The other voice faded and then so did the sounds of footsteps.
    Breaking out of the tunnels, I turned.
    Lark was not behind me.
    Heart thumping, I stared into the dark tunnel. “Dirt Girl, that is not funny. Come out.”
    Nothing.
    I reached for the bond between us.
    Nothing.
    Panic set in. How could I have lost her? She was right behind me?
    Diving into the tunnels again was stupid. I might be able to scent her but I was no wolf with the ability to track. Meowing softly to myself, I paced back and forth in front of the opening.
    A torchlight behind me spun me around. The prick was headed my way.
    “What are you doing?” I snapped at him, my fear for Lark making me prickly.
    “I woke up. I think Lark did it. She used to call me like this when we were kids.”
    Spirit. She was alive and using Spirit to bring Cactus to her. But why not me?
    The answer was simple, she was not sure she could trust me yet. And I couldn’t blame her.
    “Can you find her?”
    “I think so, but she’d deep in the tunnels.”
    He led the way, but I walked right beside him. There was no way I was going to tell him I couldn’t feel the bond between Lark and me. “Do you really love her, or are you playing with her heart?”
    “Playing matchmaker now?”
    “No. I’m her protector.”
    “I’ve loved her since we were children, Peta. I would do anything for her.”
    “Even give her up when she loves another?” I was guessing, but whenever she thought of her fellow Ender, her heart and soul beat a little louder. Not that I was telling Cactus her feelings for the other Terraling was not that different from the way she felt when he was around.
    The sounds of voices echoed through the tunnel and Cactus smartly put the torchlight out. We ducked into a side tunnel