Destroyer (The Elemental Series #7)(43)

“Mistress.” The dog bowed its head to me. “What need have you that I could fill?”

Talan sucked in a sharp breath. “What the hell?”

The men around us cheered suddenly, startling me out of the fog my body and mind hovered in. I pushed the demon aside and moved on autopilot, going to Raven’s side. I dropped into a crouch and put a hand to his chest. I sent a pulse of Spirit through him, not healing him so much as waking him. He groaned and sat up so quickly, he ended up on his side, puking his guts out.

“What happened?” he finally asked after a few minutes.

I had no time to answer because Talan was at our sides, yanking us upward.

“You two are children, and what you don’t seem to understand is that the gargoyles were only one problem out here on the ocean.”

It was a good thing he’d grabbed my uninjured arm or I would have been on my knees, puking next to Raven.

He was not being gentle and I wanted to smack him, but even with the energy that Peta had given me, I couldn’t seem to get myself together. A fog had rolled over my mind. Raven helped me to stand. “Talan. She destroyed creations of Viv.”

“And look what it’s done to her,” Talan countered. “She’s a complete mess!”

I wanted to explain I understood what they were trying to do, but I couldn’t form the words. I knew that should scare me, but it didn’t.

Talan spun and put a hand to the demon dog. “Can you track?”

It tipped its head to one side. “I can find anything. It is my purpose.”

“Then go after Vivica and kill her.”

“That is for my mistress to decide.” Again, it bowed its head to me.

“Order it, Lark,” Talan bit the words out.

I opened my mouth but no words came, so I nodded at the demon dog. That seemed to be enough.

Call me cautious, but I doubted Viv would be killed by the demon. But maybe the beast would slow her down.

Raven bent and lifted me over his shoulder. The world was gone for a moment, then back again. We were bobbing along in a boat. A boat? Why not with Shazer? Of course, the Pegasus probably couldn’t take three people. Then there was the demon dog. What about him? Had I sent him somewhere? And it was a him, not an it. Peta butted her face against mine. “Your thoughts are scattered, Lark, pull them together.”

I drew in a big breath and sat up carefully. My thoughts danced and jigged around the last hour, and slowly I did get them in order, at least until I felt more like myself. I dangled a hand over the edge of the small boat and scooped up water, splashed it over my face. The water helped in erasing the last of my confusion.

“I’m okay,” I said.

“You are not okay!” snapped Talan. He seemed more flustered than usual and I didn’t understand why. I must have whispered “why.”

“Why?” He spat the word back at me. “We have been trying to keep you and Raven away from Viv for the last fifty years and what do you do? You go and tangle with some of her creations and pull them APART!” He roared the last word and I flinched.

“Would’ve you had me leave Raven to die?”

“I’d have you run. You did the impossible, Lark. THE IMPOSSIBLE.” He was breathing hard, his hair and eyes wild like he was truly scared. Maybe I should have been more afraid, but I couldn’t pull up any fear at all.

“Talan, she is going to find us eventually,” I said.

“I wanted to train you so you aren’t such a damn sitting duck.”

Raven sat up between us. “You think she’s a sitting duck? Come off it, Talan. You want to be the one to train her so you can say that you trained the Destroyer. You want to go down in history with her. But the reality is, you can’t keep her under lock and key. She will always find a way to freedom. Be her mentor, but follow where she leads. Not the other way around.”

I could have hugged him. But I settled for a grateful look sent his way.

Talan shook his head again. “Damn you two. All these years, all this work flushed down the proverbial drain.”

He seemed to be at a loss, so I helped him out. “You created this monster I am, this wild and independent elemental who bows to no one, and now you’re surprised I won’t just let you run my life and dictate my future?”

Raven laughed. “Shit.”

Above us, Shazer circled, his tail flicking and his ears pinned to his head. No doubt being left behind had irritated him. I was surprised he didn’t try to take a shit on Talan.

I leaned forward as I lifted a hand and pointed at the Pegasus. “Shazer is taking us to Viv, and that’s assuming the demon dog doesn’t do her some damage, or hopefully kill her. Come with us, Talan. Maybe we can stop this before it goes any further if we work together.”

His jaw twitched and danced as we bobbed along in the water. We were being propelled by Raven’s connection to the ocean, the lines of blue on his arm clear and bright. I looked over my shoulder, a sudden prickling along the back of my neck making me twitch. I leaned over the edge of the boat and stared into the water. Three dark shapes shot past us and I jerked back.

“What is that?” I stared at the trajectory of the shapes that were moving far too fast for any creature. Far too fast for anything I’d ever encountered. The warship behind us. The dark shapes in the water below.