“No, you don’t,” Cactus said, his eyes strained at the edges. “Fiametta is on her way to Brand’s, we saw her in the tunnels. We were just lucky she didn’t see us.”

Oh, that was not good in any way, shape, or form. “Then I guess we’d better get our asses in gear.”

“You don’t understand, Lark. We are all supposed to be asleep. And if you are not in your bed, asleep when she gets there. . .” He shook his head.

He didn’t have to finish his sentence, I understood all too clearly.

If Fiametta had even an inkling I was doing what I shouldn’t be, I would be toast; perhaps in the most literal sense of the word.

CHAPTER 13

Peta clung to me as Cactus ran ahead, the torchlight flickering. “Dirt Girl, who was that calling to you?”

I glanced at her then back to Cactus. “You heard him too?”

“Yes.” Her claws dug into my clothes, the tops of them brushing against my skin. “I tried to stop you but you couldn’t hear me and then . . . I couldn’t find you.” She shivered, her whole body twitching.

“I don’t know who he is, but he can manipulate Spirit; he made it sound like you were calling to me.”

Peta let out a low rumbling hiss. “But you stopped him?”

“For now. He took the papers.”

She meowed softly in my ear. “He will be back, you think? We will get the papers from him then.”

We took a hard left turn and I nodded. “I’ve no doubt about it.” I had to believe hope was not lost.

Cactus slid to a stop and I almost slammed into him. “Why are we stopping?”

He pointed to a hole in the wall, the edges jagged and crumbling, the opening not very large. “Crawl through here. It will take you into a deserted home three doors down from Brand’s place. Hurry.”

I didn’t question him, and neither did Peta. “Dirt Girl, go ahead of me this time, I don’t want to lose you again.”

Dropping to my knees I leaned into the opening and then lay flat on my belly as I shimmied forward. “How far?”

“Fifty feet.”

“Wonderful,” I muttered, pushing myself in. There wasn’t a lot of room. It wasn’t like I could really build up speed, but I had to try. Frantic to get to Brand’s home ahead of Fiametta, I shoved myself along, my elbows and knees scraping in the dirt; my skin tearing open and filling with bits of rock. Sweat rolled down my face, and for the first time since I’d been in the Pit, it didn’t evaporate right away. Which meant it acted as a perfect fluid for all the dust I stirred up to stick to me.

“Peta, she’s going to know,” I breathed into the shadowy darkness. Ahead of me there was a dim glow that had to be the way out.

“Just keep going. If you’re in bed, she can’t accuse you of being out.”

“I’m covered in sweat and dirt; she isn’t that blind.”

“Dirt Girl, just go.” She swiped a claw at my bare foot and I did as she said and concentrated on the exit. I fell through—finally—and quite literally. The tunnel opened four feet above the ground and I tumbled out, landing in a heap.

Peta leapt out after me and ran for the open door. She peered out and a low hiss escaped her. “Hurry, she is on the bridge.”

Scrambling to my feet I lurched forward as I untangled my legs. Reaching the door, I took a quick look. Fiametta was at a distance, but no way would she miss me if making a run for it. If I could see her, she could most assuredly see me.

Pressing my back against the rock, I slid out the door toward Brand’s home.

“Run, Dirt Girl,” Peta snapped.

“If I run, her eyes will be drawn to me,” I answered quietly. “You’re a predator, surely you know that.”

She snorted and then pressed herself against the wall. “I don’t like when you’re right.”

“I don’t like that you didn’t argue she wasn’t a predator.” My back scraped along the wall, my heart hammered and my mind raced. We passed the first two homes with no problem, but Brand’s home would be the clincher. I stood in the shadow of a low overhang between Brand’s home and the one beside it.

“We need to distract her; find a way to get her to look behind her.”

“Can you reach your earth powers?” Peta asked.

“If I’m angry enough.” I looked across the cavern. With each moment that passed, the light grew and the shadow I hid in shrank.

“If you can do anything at all, now would be the time,” Peta quipped. Damn it, she was right. I focused on Ash being locked away, on Fiametta and her games . . . but it didn’t work. “Peta, help me out here.”

“Cactus slept with Maggie after he kissed you,” she said.

And there it was. A fierce hurt arched through me and I grabbed hold of the anger that flowed with it.

Behind Fiametta was the stone statue of the firewyrm that epitomized their family. I focused on it, thinking about how I’d broken down the sandstone doors in the Deep, and how shocked Requiem had been. Maybe that would work here too.

Pressing my hands into the ground, I pushed my power through the earth toward the statue. A wave of the earth rippled out from me—“Shit, she’ll see where it came from,” I growled.

Fiametta seemed oblivious to the wave until it hit the statue. The large obsidian fire lizard groaned as it rocked on its base. She turned and put her hands on her hips. The two Enders flanking her turned also; this was the moment I needed. I urged my power into the stone, finding the particles and pulling them apart bit by bit. Gritting my teeth, I focused.