Free 03] ES) Firestorm by Shannon Mayer

was a tough row to hoe.
    “I hate to disappoint her, but I don’t plan on dying anytime soon,” I muttered as I walked after my familiar. My familiar. That had a nice ring to it, even if Peta hated me. Maybe I could get a new familiar once this was all over. One that could tolerate me and would be nice.
    Peta waited quietly outside Smoke and Brand’s house. She sat and stared past me, her green eyes unblinking, and she said nothing. Fine by me.
    I put a hand to the edge of the door and peered in. “Smoke?”
    Not Smoke but their youngest boy, Tinder answered me. “Hi, Terraling. My mom isn’t here right now.” He grinned up me, two front teeth missing on the top of his jaw. I smiled back.
    “Actually, I was wondering if you knew where your dad was?”
    He bobbed his head several times and for just a moment I saw Cactus as he’d been as a child. Always eager to be a part of whatever was going on. “Yup. He’s down by the edge of the Pit. But I think that’s too hot for you. You’ll burn up.”
    I forced myself to smile, because he was right. I had no protection from the heat and flames. “Thanks, I’ll be careful.”
    “I could take you there. I was just swimming there with my brothers.” He slapped a hand over his mouth and I remembered Smoke told him specifically not to swim at the Pit. I shook my head. “It’s okay. I’ve got Cactus here to take me.”
    Cactus gave the boy a wink. “Besides, you wouldn’t want your dad seeing you find your way to the Pit on your own when you aren’t supposed to even know where it is, right?”
    Tinder nodded, his eyes solemn. “You’re right.” He spun and ran back into the house before I could say goodbye.
    Beside me, Cactus chuckled. “They all find their way to the Pit before they’re supposed to.”
    I glanced at Peta. “You coming?”
    She flicked an ear at me, stretched and sauntered out in front of us. I lifted an eyebrow at Cactus. “You still want to come with me? I’m sure Peta can take me there with no problem.”
    His green eyes sparkled. “You’re going to need me, Lark. I just know it. So yes, I’m coming with you.”
    I wasn’t arguing with him. He had gained strength in his abilities in our years apart and now was the queen’s threat against whatever they were afraid of. Not a bad guy to have on my team while I attempted the impossible. We walked the length of the cavern, and at the far end, a cut in the rock opened. Stairs led downward, and the same light reflecting in tunnels that I’d seen in Cactus’s home and the main cavern were used to illuminate the darkness.
    “How far down?” I put my foot on the first step, the rock warm under my bare feet.
    “Long,” Peta said. “It will take at least half an hour to get to the bottom.”
    Damn, that was a long ways down. But if I hurried, I was sure I could cut the time in half. Jogging down the stairs, I easily kept pace with Peta who was running ahead, the white tip of her tail twitching side to side as she leapt down each stair.
    “Lark, slow down.” Cactus caught up to me and touched my arm. I glanced at him.
    “What are you talking about?”
    “You’re running as if you’re in a hurry,” he said, his own pace slowing, his hand dragging at me.
    Frowning, I didn’t slow. “We are in a hurry. Ash’s life is on the line and I was just lying on my back in your room as if there was nothing in the world to—”
    “Easy, easy. I know. But you had to heal and that was as good a place as any to let your body pull together while we waited for Peta. The thing is . . . if you look like you’re in a hurry, people are going to notice you more. You don’t want that, Lark. You don’t want to be noticed here.” He stared straight ahead, his thumbs hooked into his belt as he walked slowly.
    Painstakingly slow. Peta turned her head and let out a sneeze. “He’s right.”
    Damn it, I just wanted to get to Brand before the day was over. That was the other part of being in the Pit that