Calling his pack to him.

Calling them to help us.

I turned and looked at Eve, my right eye already swelling closed. I gave her a thumbs up.

She snorted and ruffled her wings. “Boys, I will never understand them.”

Laughter spilled out of me. “Probably not.”

Did I care that I’d been beaten up? No, not really. The wolves were already gathering, getting ready to follow us. I couldn’t ask for more than that.

I only hoped we could convince more than a single pack to step up.

CHAPTER 25

LARK

PAMELA WAS ON her knees beside me, panting for breath. I wasn’t in much better shape, but we’d held the demons back, and except for a few burning trees, we’d done well. Thick smoke curled between the redwoods, wrapping through the crowd like a creeping, climbing fog. The Enders barracks was still burning, but it wouldn’t take much to tamp it down, so for the moment we’d let it go. For now, the demons were gone. That was all that mattered.

Beside me, Peta was bloodied, her white coat spotted with red. My familiar let out a cough. “Demons taste horrible, Lark. I hope you know how much I care for you to sink my teeth into those things.”

A small smiled tugged at my lips and I dropped a hand to her head. “I know, my friend. I know.”

Around us, my people stood, their hands raised and shaking with fatigue as if expecting another attack. They’d done well, repelling the invaders to the point no one else was lost.

War had given up not long after Rylee left. He was here for her, and no other reason. That had been the only reason we’d survived, and I knew it.

Bella was on my right, the emerald stone still glowing with power.

“Are they really gone, Lark?” Pamela whispered up at me.

“For now.”

Around us, the murmurs started.

“What do you mean for now, are they coming back?”

“No, they only wanted the Tracker. She’s gone, we’re safe.”

I spun and faced them. “You are not safe. Those demons will come back, it is only a matter of time.”

My people—Terralings—stared at me as if I’d sprouted a redwood from the top of my head.

Bella gave me a nod, then turned to face her people at my side. “Larkspur is right. The demons will be back. Unless we stop them.” She paused, letting her words sink in. “We have a choice. We can stay here and hide in the Rim as we always have and pray to the mother goddess that the Tracker is strong enough on her own to stop the demons. Or we can help her, and be assured we have done all we can to take this threat not only from our world, but the world as a whole.”

The arguments broke out in earnest then. Voices raised in anger and fear as people realized what they were being asked to do.

“The mother goddess wouldn’t like us to fight.”

“We are supposed to be neutral.”

“Larkspur is anathema. Why are we even entertaining her and her friends?”

That last stung, but it shouldn’t have. Not after all these years. Bella let out a breath.

“I will go wherever Larkspur leads. I name her as my heir to the throne.”

Oh shit, I hadn’t expected that. I stared hard at her as did everyone else.

Our people shuffled their feet. I stepped forward, and bowed my head for a moment, breathing in the Rim, letting my home sink into my bones for the first time in almost thirty years.

“Mother goddess, help me find the words.”

I am with you, child.

“Terralings,” I said their name softly, yet still gained their attention. “We are the children of the earth and the wards of all living things, more so than any other elemental family. Our blood runs in the veins of this world, and those that live off it. We have every right—no, responsibility—to fight for those in our family who are threatened with harm and destruction.” I walked toward Blossom, my old friend and the last of the Enders trained. “My friend, would you fight for your brother if he were pitted against a superior force?”

Her eyes slid sideways to look at her younger brother. “I would fight to my last breath for him.”

I stepped past her, deeper into the crowd. “And you, Hyacinth, I know you are a gentle soul, you bound up my wounds more than once. Would you stand between your daughter and her enemies? Fight for her life with your own?”

Hyacinth nodded quickly. “There is no doubt. She is my world.”

Through the crowd I moved, asking the same question over and over. They all answered the same. They would fight for those they loved. I came to Niah, the old story teller and sometimes fortune teller when the mood struck. She had no family so to speak.

“Niah. Would you fight for those who are here, those who call themselves Terralings?”

She stood straight, her eyes meeting mine. “I would fight for them even though our blood is not the same. We are family.”

“Pamela.” I called to the young witch. She walked toward me, perhaps feeling the weight of the moment hovering over our heads. I put a hand on her shoulder. “A witch, who fought at our side, and carries our blood in her veins. Is she family?”

Niah smiled and reached out for Pamela, drawing her into a hug. “She is. I see in her my long passed daughter’s eyes.”

Around us, the Terralings slowly reached out to Pamela, touching her. Acknowledging her as one of their own. I knew what they would sense. With the amount of power in the earth flowing through her, it was hard to believe she wasn’t a full elemental. The best part, though, was that she had strength in all five elements. Enough that any elemental would see her for what she was.