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

as Fiametta and two guards passed by.
    “I don’t care if it is the middle of the night, I think she has something to do with this,” the queen snapped.
    There was only one she that would have the queen up and moving at this hour.
    Lark.
    As soon as they passed, I bit Cactus on the leg. “Hurry, prick.”
    He lit the torch and we were off once more, taking turns and corners as fast as we could.
    When we rounded the last corner and Lark was ahead of us, I couldn’t help myself. With a burst of speed I bolted toward her, leaping up and into her arms. We had to hurry, but I needed to feel that she was okay.
    Clinging to Lark, I questioned her. “Dirt Girl, who was that calling to you?”
    She looked at me, then then back to Cactus. “You heard him too?”
    “Yes.” I dug my claws deeper into her clothes, the tips brushing along her skin. She wasn’t going to disappear on me again. “I tried to stop you but you couldn’t hear me and then . . . I couldn’t find you.” I couldn’t help the full body shiver that ran through me.
    “I don’t know who he is, but he can manipulate Spirit; he made it sound like you were calling to me,” she said.
    A low rumbling hiss escaped. “But you stopped him?”
    “For now. He took the papers.”
    Of course he did. The only proof we had that Lark and her fellow Ender were innocent. “He will be back, you think? We will get the papers from him then.”
    I had to believe it. But for now, we had to get Lark back to Brand’s home without Fiametta knowing that she’d ever left.
    The prick had a hidden tunnel all picked out and we scurried through it. Past the houses with only a little difficulty, we were back in Brand’s home only moments before the queen.
    “Just hurry!”
    She flopped into the bed and pulled the sheets up seconds before the queen banged the door open and began her accusations of Lark’s whereabouts.
    I leapt to the floor, stretching. “My queen, Dirt Girl has been here all night and I have slept beside her. What you are suggesting would imply that she has some sort of strength against our magic.”
    Fiametta’s eyes flicked between me and the Terraling. She bent and scooped me up, shocking me. Mouse turds, I knew what was coming.
    She held me up to her face. “And why should I believe you, bad luck cat?”
    “Because my heart is here in the Pit, no matter where I am assigned by the mother goddess.” I tried to imbue my words with as much sincerity as I could.
    The queen’s hands began to put pressure on me, her eyes never leaving mine as my ribs cracked under the strength of her fingers. Heat flowed from there through my muscles, breaking apart tendons and tearing at my ligaments. This was a trick I knew all too well.
    Once before she had questioned me like this.
    I’d broken under her hands, the pain had been so unexpected. But not this time.
    She lowered me to the floor, then left the room. I could barely breathe past the injuries.
    “Pick me up, Dirt Girl.”
    She bent and did as I asked. I curled onto her shoulder with a sigh.
    Her feet stopped in the threshold of the room. “Peta, did she hurt you?”
    “It is her way with familiars, to get them to be honest.” My breathing was ragged and I knew several of my ribs were out of place. I expected her sympathy. But not what came next.
    Rage flashed through her; anger on my behalf. She strode out the door and through the house.
    Fiametta stood waiting with her arms crossed but Lark didn’t slow. She all but slammed their faces together, using her body to push the queen back. “If you touch my familiar again—ever—I will pull this mountain down on your head. Do you understand?”
    I let out a whimper. Not fear, but disbelief. She was not only standing up for me, but standing up for me against Fiametta. The person who held more power over her than anyone else. The person who held her friend’s life in the balance.
    I told you she was worth it.
    Stop gloating, you were right was all I could