Confusion filtered through me and on its heels sharp irritation. “Well, I was brought here to be executed by your queen. So . . . yeah, I didn’t have much choice in the matter, fool.”

He shook his head, his dark red hair slicked back as if he’d come from bathing. With his green eyes, it was easy to see why the ladies flocked to him. Except for my disastrous foray into the Pit that had started this whole fiasco, I hadn’t seen him since we’d been children. I realized I really didn’t know if I could trust him. I didn’t even know if he’d helped or deliberately made it harder for us—Ash and me—to survive our last visit. I took a step back, suddenly reconsidering my decision to ask him for help.

Smoke let out a soft snort. “You could at least show us some manners, boy.”

His jaw tightened. “It’s really not a good time.”

I knew it. “Too many women in there? It’s not like I’m going to be shocked, Cactus.”

His mouth tightened farther and I wondered at how I’d possibly upset him. He’d bragged as a kid that he’d have all the ladies fawning over him one day. So now he had what he wanted, what was the issue?

Beside me Smoke snapped her fingers. “Cactus, this is ridiculous. Invite us in. You do not want to have this conversation outside.”

He swiped a hand over his face, clearing away the irritation, replacing it with a false smile that almost trembled. “Would you like to come in?”

I no longer did, but I had to find a way to get Ash out alive and that meant I needed all the help I could get. Even if Cactus wasn’t the man I thought he should be.

Stepping through the doorway, I didn’t know what to expect. Filthy, dirty clothes everywhere, food piled up and rotting. My imagination did not prepare me in the least.

I had to blink several times to really grasp what I was seeing. His house was an explosion of greenery and flowers, smells that took me back to the Rim. From the ceiling, plants and flowers curled down, covering every inch of exposed rock. The walls were blanketed in ivy and blackberry vines heavy with perfect black fruit. Under our feet the moss was so thick I could believe there was no stone beneath us. Down the wall, a trickle of water ran, feeding the plants and tiny flowers, the sound a perfect, soothing echo in the small space. Was this why he didn’t want us to come in?

I closed my eyes and breathed in. “Cactus, this is amazing.”

“You like it?”

I opened my eyes to see him watching me, his look carefully guarded. “Like it? It’s just like home.”

A slow breath escaped him. I glanced at Smoke to see her eyes wide. “How did you manage to get all this to grow?”

“Oh, I still carry a little of my connection to the earth,” Cactus said softly, his hands brushing against a fern at his side. It leaned toward him and in that moment I knew something was terribly wrong. He shouldn’t have been able to use so much of the earth’s power. That was why his mother sent him to the Pit so many years ago; he had no power in the earth. That was the major drawback to being a half-breed. They were often weak not just in one of their bloodlines, but both. That Cactus had shown any strength at all was a miracle.

Yet if that rule held true, how could this be? How could he draw on both his bloodlines? Or maybe he was like me, an anomaly with that ability.

“Cactus.” Just his name and his eyes lifted to mine. What I saw made my mouth dry. He was terrified. “Smoke, would you leave us please?” I never took my eyes from his.

“Are you sure?”

“Peta and Cactus can look out for me.” I spit out the words fast, knowing the longer Smoke was there, the more fear built in Cactus. Smoke touched my arm and I forced myself to turn from Cactus to meet her eyes. I put a hand over hers. “Thank you.”

Her eyes were tight around the edges. “Lark. You may not have an execution over your head but there are those who would still see you dead. An accident can happen all too easily as you have already seen.”

“I will heed your words.” I squeezed her hand and she stepped back, pausing in the doorway, her eyes flicking over the greenery.

“You are right to hide this, Cactus. The queen . . . she is strange about other powers in her home. But your secret will be safe with me, you are not the only one who hides.” She placed a hand over her heart and then kissed her fingertips. A slight breeze lifted her hair and swirled from her hands, out and around the ferns. Another half-breed, like us. Without another word, Smoke stepped out of Cactus’s house.

Peta leapt from my shoulders onto the mossy ground. “Dirt Girl, is your home like this?”

“Parts of it.”

“I could handle being your familiar if this is what my paws get to be on.” She lifted her feet up and down in exaggerated steps several times.

Smiling, I turned back to Cactus. He took three strides and wrapped an arm around my waist. “I’ve waited all my life for this, Lark.”

He dropped his head and pressed his lips against mine.

CHAPTER 6

His hands slid up my waist to my back, tugging me closer. All my childhood feelings for him that I’d thought were gone and dead, blossomed under his touch. I could almost feel him laughing as he kissed me, his lips and tongue teasing my mouth. Making me want to laugh with him despite the fact that I was in the Pit, Ash’s life hung in the balance, and someone tried to boil me.

That was Cactus, his love of life was infectious, but sometimes it got in the way.

I put my hands on his shoulders and turned my face. “Cactus, don’t. Please.”