Destroyer (The Elemental Series #7)(44)

Raven closed his eyes. "Yes, you were there too, Peta. Talan took your memories. Even if you could unlock them on your own, they just aren't there. That is a downside to a familiar's connection to a Spirit Walker. He can truly wipe your mind if he chooses."

I turned my back to him, because if I kept looking at him, I might've pushed him off Shazer's back, and that was if I was being kind. I still needed him. At least for now. "You were there, but you can show me how to bring him back?"

"In theory, yes."

"Then we will start with Shazer when we land," I said.

Below me the Pegasus grunted. "And then you will have no way to travel."

"Raven's going to show me how to Ride Spirit, aren't you?" It was not a question, not really. Because I was done with waiting. I was done with putting up with Raven and Talan dodging questions, dodging the answers I needed.

But as always, it seemed nothing would go easy for me. I waited for Raven to say something, then finally twisted around to give him the stink eye to hurry him up. But when I turned, it wasn't Raven who caught my eye but the things winging toward us through the clouds.

"What the ever-loving seventh veil is that?" Peta climbed up and peered past me. "Is it a flying dog?"

Raven jerked around so fast, he wobbled on his seat and I grabbed hold of him to keep him from falling off. He grunted. "Shit, I thought I'd locked that beasty up good."

"What?" I tightened my grip on him. "Raven, we are above the Atlantic Ocean. We can't land!"

"Why do we need to land?" He held up his hand and both the wind around us and the water below rolled at the same time while my skin prickled. The lines of power raced up and down his arms, blue and white and terribly beautiful because I could see the damage he was going to unleash on the creature behind us.

The thing, or dog as Peta called it, was huge, and a strange dark gray that blended into black. The hide shivered and shimmered with a dull pulsing light. I realized as I stared at it, as it drew closer, it was more than just a big-ass flying dog.

It was a demon. The brilliant red eyes glowed as they locked on us, but particularly when they locked on Raven. 

"What the hell did you do that got a demon on your ass?" I whispered, then remembered what Pamela had said.

A Guardian had come through the Veil, and Raven had lured it away. This was what I'd seen the end of when I'd arrived to save Pamela.

Raven didn't look at me. "The Veil."

Shazer spun in midair, his wings beating to keep us in place. I saw the edge of his eyes, the way they rolled as they landed on the beast drawing closer and closer.

"This is the Guardian that came out after her," Raven said, confirming my own thoughts. "I locked it in an oubliette and thought I'd be able to keep it there."

A good plan maybe, but obviously the Guardian was stronger than he'd realized.

"Your tactic didn't work, Raven. Let's try another." I drew a breath and wove my fingers through Shazer's mane. "Can you lose that thing?"

Shazer bobbed his head. "You bet your sweet ass I can."

"Hang on," I said.

"I can handle this," Raven bit out, but the words were lost as the demon dog beast picked up speed, and yet the world slowed around us. The creature's maw opened and a multitude of tongues shot out of its mouth, reaching for us. Shazer tucked his wings and twisted his body. Peta dug her claws into my leather vest. "Shit, this is going to bring up a juicy hairball."

I tucked my head down tightly to help keep from being a pull on Shazer. But even so, I knew something was wrong. Raven was no longer behind me.

"Hold up!"

"Too late!" Shazer called back as we raced toward the surface of the gently rolling ocean, the waves growing louder as we drew closer.

At the last second, and I mean the very last second, he pulled up by snapping his wings out to their full spread. He groaned and I could almost feel the strain against his muscles and tendons, could feel his body working to keep us from slamming into the water that would not be soft like a cloud but more like solid cement.

"There!" Peta cried out. "We can land there!"

My eyes watered from the rush of wind as I tried to see what she was looking at.

A ship. A human battleship, to be clear.

Another look around and the Deep came into view. We were in the middle of the war zone between the Undines and the humans.

How was I not surprised?

I looked behind us into the air. The demon beast was coming at us, even though Raven was tangling with it. The flashes of color around them showed me how much power he was using. His strength wasn't enough to kill this demon.

If the demon would come at me, though, I could stop it. I was sure. I'd killed my share of demons at the Battle of the Veil. There was nothing stopping me from doing it again.