Destroyer (The Elemental Series #7)(40)

“We have orders to shoot all supernatural creatures on sight, Captain,” someone else said.

Did they? Well, we were going to see about that. I didn’t have time to deal with the humans and the demon at the same time. But at the first sound of gunfire, I realized that was exactly what I was going to do.

“Peta, Shazer, keep the demon busy a moment.” I flexed my fingers and called the sand from the ocean floor faster to me. Up and up until it was right under the ship. I kept pulling on the earth, kept solidifying it until the ship rocked, listing to the left as I built a sandbar underneath it.

“You’ll stay out of my way,” I glared at the human captain, “or I’ll tear this ship apart like blowing on a dandelion.”

He glared at me, sweat dripping down the sides of his face, fear written in every twitch of his skin. “Stand down, men.”

I could only hope he would hold to it.

Screams and shouts erupted from the humans, but they were the least of my concerns now. At least that was what I thought. Which was stupid, so stupid of me.

The demon beast landed as the ship lurched again under our feet. Sweat rolled down my face from the exertion of pulling on so much sand from so far away and the blast of humid air that surrounded us.

The demon threw Raven at me, his body limp as it hit the deck and rolled several times before it came to a stop. Alive or dead, I couldn’t help him until I had this monster chained or dead himself. I snapped my fingers at it. “Let’s do this.”

The maw opened and shocked me as it spoke. “The witch has unlocked the Veil. I am the Guardian of the Veil. My job is to kill those who would keep it open. You helped him, so you are to die. Then the witch will die.”

“I never wanted it open, but I can’t let you kill him or the witch,” I said. “So maybe you should just go back to where you came from.” I smiled and its eyes narrowed. With one claw-tipped hand, it pointed at Raven.

“That one helped her, gave her a way to break open the Veil.” The demon’s body shimmered and shifted, and for just a moment, it looked like its skin was made of overlapping stones.

Could it be made of earth?

The demon dog stalked toward me. “You would keep the Veil open?”

A sure-fire way to keep him coming at me presented itself.

“Yes.” I moved sideways and the beast followed. On all fours, its hunched, spine-covered back was above my head. Each foot had three large claws like a raptor, and the mouth, well, I’d already seen all the wicked tongues protruding between the jagged teeth.

It tipped its head to one side, seemingly tasting the air. “You have killed demons.”

“Yup.”

I had no idea exactly how I was going to do it without my spear. Damn, Talan, I would blame him for that too. Then again, I was a weapon unto myself. I just had to fully put my faith in my own abilities.

The demon dog opened its mouth, dug its claws into the metal deck of the ship and let out a roar. The tongues snaked toward me, and I threw myself to the side, rolling across the ship, then leapt to my feet once more, only this time as a snow leopard. The shift between one form and another for me was smooth, seamless. I crouched where I was, tail lashing. The power to take down a demon was no small thing. What I didn’t understand was why Raven hadn’t been able to send the demon back to where it belonged. Spirit was the key and Raven had killed demons before.

What was different about this one?

The demon dog barked a laugh. “My friends will join me and then we will see who wins this match, cat.” It shook its large head, and rolled its wide shoulders.

The sudden rat-a-tat-tat of a gun going off sent me to the deck of the ship, my belly flat to the ground. The demon bucked and shuddered and then blew the few bullets out of its body with a grunt. “Nice try, humans. I’ll deal with you next.”

I pushed myself to my feet and circled the demon. That was the problem with humans. They thought they could handle the supernatural, and the reality was, they couldn’t. Not unless they wanted to break out their big bombs which would just end up killing us all.

The big bombs… those were coming next. Truth slid through me as Spirit helped me make yet another connection, putting pieces of a complex puzzle together.

The demon didn’t give me a chance to get very far into my musing. The creature leapt, its wide body blocking the sun for a brief flash. The wings that had carried it across the sky were sealed to its sides now. I shot a paw out, and sent a pulse of Spirit through my claws as I slashed them across its wings. The demon’s wings were not fine in their makeup at all, but hard beyond belief and acted like an extra layer of armor. My power slid off it.

That was how it kept Raven away. Its armor was too thick, which meant I needed to find a weak spot.

Worm shit… I dodged the tongues as they reached for me, and spun to the side. The demon slashed through the air where I’d been only a moment before. Irritation flickered over its features. “Damn elementals, always interfering.” It slammed its front foot into the decking of the ship. I stared at the imprint its foot made. That was some serious power to dent the solid steel.

I was going to have to watch that it didn’t get a solid hold on me.

Demon dog stepped out of the hole and leapt at me again. I shot out of the way, but it twisted in midair, following me with its three-pronged talons outstretched. This time I couldn’t dodge it, the thing was too damn fast.