CHAPTER 9

Cactus pointed a single finger at the Troll and a thin bead of fire raced from him to slam into the wrinkled orange skin. The Troll, however, didn’t seem bothered by the flames. He grinned at Cactus.

“Witch, I’m going to enjoy eating your skinny ass.”

I grabbed Cactus and yanked him behind me. “You can’t help with him.”

The hurt on his face should have bothered me, but all it did was irritate me. I didn’t need anyone saving me.

My back was to the Troll and I held still, knowing he wouldn’t be able to resist. Predators always thought they were clever bastards.

Peta watched from under the window ledge and I kept my eyes locked on her for a sign. She blinked and I spun with my spear arced outward in a sweep. The blade buried into the Troll’s side. He let out a roar and swiped at me with his oversized mitts. “Sneaky bitch!”

Peta shot in between us and swiped at his legs, taking him out at the knees. He dropped to the floor, clutching his side. Peta danced back from him, her tail lashing.

I yanked my blade out of his hide and held it to his neck. “Easy or hard, Troll?”

“What are you? Humans don’t move fast like that, and you don’t smell like anything but trees and dirt.”

I pressed the blade harder until it cut through the first layer of flesh, peeling it as though I were fileting a fish. Fire raced up his arms and he flicked them at me. I held my ground, knowing Cactus would . . . the fire slammed into me and threw me backward, all the way to the window. The glass dug into my back and hands as I scrambled to keep from falling out.

“Cactus!”

He stood to the side, his arms folded. “I can’t help with him.”

Peta grabbed the Troll as he got to his feet, jerking him back to the floor. Fury like I’d never known ripped through me. “Good way to show you’re a better man than Ash, Prick.”

I tumbled off the ledge and into the room, grabbed the table and flipped it onto its side. Cactus let out a sigh, “I’m sorry, I just—”

“Now is not the time,” Peta said. The Troll lurched to his feet, bleeding but otherwise not bothered by the injuries we’d inflicted. He backed up and I shot forward. We needed to get moving, and obviously the Troll wasn’t going to have any answers.

I drove my spear into his neck and jerked it to the left, cutting his head most of the way off. Cactus gagged, and from Peta through our bond came a definite sense of satisfaction that lasted a split second.

The Troll was a Firestarter, which meant his death was not going to be as easy as taking his head.

His body combusted as it fell, bright orange flames the exact shade as his skin curling up in the doorway, completely blocking it. The flames were so hot, I had to back up as they reached for the ceiling.

Worm shit. I refused to ask Cactus for help. Which only left the window option. Peta nosed the book on the floor that had the least amount of troll shit on it. “I think this actually might help us.”

I scooped the book up and tucked it into the back of my pants under my belt.

“Peta, you ready?” I tapped my shoulder. She shifted and leapt into my arms. I put her onto my shoulder and went to the window.

“I can stop the flames, Lark,” Cactus said, his voice contrite.

“No, please don’t bother yourself. I’d rather climb than put you out again.” I kept my voice as neutral as I could make it.

“Don’t be like that.”

I spun and jabbed a finger into his chest. “Be like what? Expect you to be a team player? To know your strengths and mine? To think you would be there to help me when I did need your help? Pardon me for thinking you were adult enough to actually be a help and not a hindrance.”

I turned away from him and pulled myself into the window. Anger fueled me, which made it easy to manipulate the stone the tower was built of—at least that was what I was banking on. I knocked the last of the glass out of the window and then eased out so I hung by my hands.

I placed one hand on the stone wall a foot down from the window ledge. The rock eased around my fingers like soft clay before firming up.

“Tell me again why I shouldn’t be able to do this?” I asked Peta as I made my way down the wall, handhold by handhold as I created them. The last thing I wanted was a lecture from her about being nicer to Cactus.

“From what I understand, what you are doing is manipulating the material down to its most basic matter. As a Terraling, you can move sand the way sand moves, you can encourage plants to grow, you can communicate with animals. But taking a hard stone and softening it to the point of reforming it is something not done since the beginning of Terralings. It is an ability thought to be lost.”

I dropped to the cobblestone at the same time Cactus stepped out of the main doors. He wouldn’t look at me, and I was glad. I strode toward the side wall of the courtyard and flicked my hands at it. The stone blew apart and I walked through, ignoring the humans staring at me as I strode out.

“He’s making it easier on you to choose Ash,” Peta said.

“That he is.” I stared straight ahead.

“I hate to be the voice of reason, because I do not think Cactus is the right one for you . . . but does it seem like him to pout? To put you in danger?” Her words were soft, and they gave me pause.

“Why would he do it, then? Why would he put me in danger?”

“I can only think of one reason.”

I glanced back to see him trailing behind us, his hands stuffed in his pockets and his head lowered. “What reason?”