Igniting Spirit (Gathering Water Book 3) by Regan Claire

sitting on my left. He had told me before that killing was necessary during war, that a leader had to make that type of sacrifice to save their people. I refused to believe him at the time, but now I knew he was right.
    Sometimes you had to do more than restrain your enemy.
    “I believe you will do just that. What happens afterwards? Will you go back to being our enemy? Will you destroy us as Kaylus intends to, under the guise of loyalty to your family?” Lena asked.
    “Honestly? I don’t know what happens next. I don’t really care, and won’t care until I’ve gotten what I came here for. All I do know is that the only people I’ve ever fought, the only people I ever intend to fight, are people who hurt me or the people I care about. Don’t do that, and I won’t have any reason to stand against you.” I crossed my arms.
    “I will keep that in mind,” Lena said. I could tell she didn’t like me. That was fine, because I didn’t like her either. But maybe now she’d shut her trap long enough for us to finish our conversation so I could get back to Cash.
    “How do I save him? Can you teach me how to heal his energy?” I asked the Elders in front of me.
    “I am not sure. I have only ever done it with another of our people. Humans are different. I would like to see him in person before I try to come up with a healing plan,” the same Elder who had spoken before said. Maybe I could get everyone name tags.
    “Deal. When can we leave?” This was more painless than I anticipated.
    “I can leave immediately,” he said.
    I stood up, but before I fully left the table Ezra gently placed a hand on mine. “Please, Della. I will leave right now with you, if you wish. But give us an hour. We need to figure out what my father is doing. An hour won’t make much difference.”
    I hated him for asking me to stay longer. But he was right. I had to trust Clara could keep doing whatever she was doing until I got back. It would be pointless to save Cash just to be bombarded with whatever Kaylus had cooked up.
    “An hour,” I said, while reluctantly taking my seat.
    “We thank you.” Peyton bowed his head, briefly. “Ezra, how long have you suspected your father was a traitor?” Peyton asked. It seemed the other Elders were content with him asking the questions.
    “I believe he considers the rest of the Clades as traitors. But I’ve known that his agenda wasn’t in the best interest of our people for quite some time,” Ezra answered, hand still on mine.
    “Why did you say nothing?” Peyton asked, though it wasn’t accusatory.
    “He is my father, and an Elder himself. As far as I knew, the rest of you were just like him. I also knew exactly what he was capable of doing to people who went against him. I had very good reason to not go against him.”
    I thought of the scars that riddled Ezra’s back. They varied in size, shape, and age — proof of lifelong torture, rather than regular beatings. Ezra once told me that his father would prevent him from healing until the scars were formed in order to hammer in the lesson he was trying to teach his son. I never wondered why he put up with it or why he didn’t seek help. The scars from my abusive foster days weren’t visible, but they ran just as deep. I didn’t need to ask him why, because I already knew what it was like to live in fear, believing you somehow deserved what you were getting, trusting that nothing would change, knowing that nothing could change. During my brief time with Dove, I felt the need to explain myself. Explain why I acted the way I acted. Explain why I flinched when he touched me.
    Ezra needed no explanations and neither did I. Of course, even my bruised psyche trusted Ezra, since I never flinched with him.
    “Do you know what your father is planning?” Peyton leaned forward ever so slightly.
    “I think so. I think he plans to open the portal to the OtherRealm. I don’t know how, but he talked about ‘going home’ often, angry that it