Bat Out of Hell (Promised to the Demons #2) - Lidiya Foxglove Page 0,68
sand from his eyes while I whisked a new outfit into existence. Impulsively, I changed my style and cut the neckline lower, to show off my neck and just a hint of cleavage, and I made it red and white instead of brown.
Well, I hope it looked all right because I didn't even stop at the mirror for a second. I left Piers struggling into his human clothes and rushed after Variel.
Cash, Finn and Lorian seemed to be sleeping. There was one crew man on lookout duty, keeping an eye on the island.
"Have you seen anything?" Variel demanded of the crew man. "Any lights of a fire? Magic?"
"Nope."
Variel turned to me and gingerly rested his talons on my shoulders. "I'm going to try and go there. I'll protect him."
"You can't fly!"
"We don't really know if I can't fly. We just know I've never been able to practice," Variel said. "I'm a strong swimmer as well."
"Variel!" Piers said. "Take me with you."
"How? I can't turn you into an avornax now. Bevan ran off with my specialty gifts."
"I can work wind magic," Piers said. "You're not going to fly so much as hang glide to that island. The wind is already steady. I can steer it. I'll just have to be tied down on your back. It's not the most dignified look, but then, I've had worse moments..."
"If you're going, Piers, I want to go too!" I cried. "You can carry me in your hand!"
"I think you're all insane," the crew man said.
"Well, no one asked you!" I said. "I'm going to pack some food and healing balms. We can carry that too. Just give me two minutes."
"Celeste--"
"I'm doing it," I said. "I bet you're all as terrified as I am, deep down, but he's my Bevan."
"I've learned not to argue with you," Variel said. "So go on.”
“I’ll pack a survival kit,” Piers said.
I scrambled to fill a small pack with food and medicine, and Piers was very insistent that he carry a real coat for me to put on when we arrived. It all came together so quickly that we forgot to say goodbye to Cash and the rest.
It hardly seemed to matter anyway. They would know, and either we would come back in a reasonable time frame, or they would have to give up on us, and that would be the end of us.
Then again, Variel is a good fisherman, and I'm sure we could build shelter, so maybe we could live on the island if we had to, I tried to tell myself, but for once, a good sturdy plan was no use. I was terrified of that island.
I had never seen a place I couldn't seem to like. Even Variel's swamp that had nearly killed me, I thought was still very enchanting. But that island… Something about it...
I turned into a toad and Piers nested me in a pocket inside his wool coat, so I was very warm but I couldn't see a thing. I didn't like it at all.
"I told you to hold me in your hand!" I cried.
"I'm keeping you safe, and you're safe in my pocket," he said, and I knew he wasn't going to budge. The crew man helped tie Piers to Variel's back, grumbling all the while that we were all going to die.
"Silence, or I'll toss you into the sea," Variel said.
"That's rude, eh?"
The man wasn't wrong about Variel, I thought, but I was very glad he stopped talking about our impending doom after that.
"Just spread your wings," Piers said. "And try to get yourself leveled out when the wind catches you. I'll take care of the rest. Rafale de vent!" He said quite a string of French from there, and I certainly didn't pay attention because I was feeling suffocated and flipped sideways as Variel's wings caught a strong wind and it felt like we were nearly thrown into the air by some hand of a god.
"Are you all well, little toad maid?" Variel called back over his shoulder.
"I--I'm alive!"
"Good!" He let out a whoop. "This is an amazing feeling! More thrilling than riding! This is not a bad sort of monster to be!"
Piers was shouting in French, sounding tense, calling out spells to keep the wind going in the right direction. I don't think anyone but Variel was having fun. I shut my eyes and huddled in Piers' pocket, just riding it out.
“C-cold," Piers said. "But I do believe we've reached cruising altitude. The wind is good and steady."