Destroyer (The Elemental Series #7)(63)

“Where is your leader?”

A burly man pushed through the throng. “I am Admiral Epson. We have orders to wipe you out.” He yanked out a gun, fast for a man of his size, and pulled the trigger. I snapped my own hand up and sent a blast of fire to meet the bullet midair. The flames were so hot, the metal munition melted and fell to the ground.

“I think perhaps you should have a discussion with me before you decide to follow through with your orders,” I said, venom in my voice.

As I spoke, I sensed a great… change in the world. My connection to the earth flared, screamed, and flickered. I slammed a hand into Talan. “Viv has Frost.”

He groaned softly.

We were running out of time, but I had to deal with this now.

“Admiral Epson. Let me be very clear. I could destroy all your ships and kill all your men without breaking a sweat. Whoever sent you on this mission did so to make sure war was started between your people and mine. We do not want war. But if it comes to us, we will defend ourselves, and it will be you left on the bottom of the ocean floor.”

His eyes narrowed and sweat slid down the sides of his face into the high collar of his stuffy shirt. “I have my orders.”

“And they are wrong,” I snapped. “Continue arguing with me and I will sink this ship, right now. I will end this conversation and go to the next in line to see if he has more brain cells in his fat head than you do. Because apparently, you are not grasping the severity of the situation.” With each word, my voice rose in volume. Fury and fear tripped through me, feeding the emotion with every syllable. “There is more at stake than a few lives. This is the world we are battling for. I am battling the one who would cause war, the ones that would enslave you and your men. Would you stand against me or with me?”

I could have used Spirit to impress on him the importance of my words, but I couldn’t make myself do it. Either he grasped what I was saying or he wasn’t worth my time.

He swallowed hard. “I cannot disobey my orders.”

“Then hold off. Stay where you are, but send in your torpedoes no more,” Talan said. “Give us time to prove that you have been played falsely.”

Admiral Epson looked at him, then slowly bowed his head. “Time. I can buy you some time. Twenty-four hours.”

It wasn’t a lot, but it would have to be enough. I had to believe it would be. I nodded and flicked my hand again, lifting the boat out of the water, holding it on the edge of a wave. The humans screamed and clutched at the ship. “If I hear of any breach of your word, I will sink your entire fleet. Are we clear on that?”

The admiral’s face paled. “Clear as a bell.”

I let the ship slide slowly into the water. “We will be back in fewer than twenty-four hours.” I brought a wave over the edge of the ship, holding it steady so Peta and Talan could step onto it next to me, then carried us back to the Deep.

“That was an impressive show,” Talan said. “But how tired are you now?”

I gritted my teeth and took us to the center of the Deep, depositing us on the steps of the doors that led into the throne room. I sent the wave away and sagged as I released the power of the water.

“Exhausted. But if I hadn’t done that, they would have fired on the Deep for sure.”

Talan nodded and then shook his head. “Are you sure Viv has Frost?”

Frost, the Original Terraling, the one who stood at the head of my family. I didn’t know how to tell Talan the full truth. “She doesn’t just have him, she’s killing him.” I paused at the doors with my hands against them. I bowed my head and searched out my connection to the earth. The feeling of coming home, of being where I belonged was no longer there.

But I wasn’t entirely sure Frost was dead. There was a flicker still in him, a flicker of life. I put a hand on Talan. “We have to go now.”

“Wait, can you find him?” Talan tightened his hold on me.

“If she’s killing him, he’s no longer in the oubliette,” I said.

Peta shifted into her housecat form and leapt to my shoulder. “You think it’s possible?” She picked up on my thoughts before I voiced them as so often was the case.

“This is the only hope we have.” I pulled Spirit around us and locked onto the image of Frost as I remembered seeing him. Ash’s talons dug in hard to my shoulder.

“Can I take them both?” I asked Talan.

He glanced at Ash. “Set him on my shoulder. That may be enough to even it out.”

I nodded and offered my wrist to Ash. “Ride with Talan. And peck his eyes out if he is an ass.”

Ash butted his beak against my head and then hopped to my wrist, and from there to Talan’s shoulder.

Once more I wove Spirit through the four of us and set after Frost.

I braced myself for Talan’s memories, so when none came I was pleasantly surprised.

A simple thought rolled from him to me.

I know how to keep my memories to myself. Most don’t as they have no control over Spirit.

We swept through the world, across so many miles like they were nothing, and then we were no longer moving. But neither were we with Frost. At least, not that I could see.

We stood on the outskirts of Death Valley.

A place I knew all too well.

This was where Vivica had taken Frost down. A place I’d called home for several years. There had always been a strange vibration in the valley, a sensation that I was being watched. I’d chalked it up to my father keeping an eye on me, making sure I didn’t break any more rules. But what if it was because Frost had been there, nearby in an oubliette?