Tamara shrugged and walked away, followed closely by Eva, who gave me a death stare over her shoulder before they both left the banquet hall.
Draven pulled me closer, his hand still on my back. He used his index finger and thumb to lift my chin and look me in the eyes. I lost myself in his metallic gaze, and he pressed his lips against mine in a single, most comforting kiss.
“Don’t mind them,” he whispered. “They’re venomous creatures. It’s in their nature to be unpleasant.”
“I know. They’re just making it hard for me to tolerate them on the premises,” I mumbled.
“They now know not to mess with you. You’ve held your ground well. Don’t think for a second that a seasoned Lamia like Tamara doesn’t appreciate that. She does. She just won’t show it.” He smiled at me, a hint of pride in his eyes.
My chest felt a little lighter at his words. Not that Tamara’s opinion mattered, but I did care what Draven thought. Besides, I wasn’t just speaking for myself in this entire campaign against Azazel. I was carrying the Novak torch, and there was no way a young and sharp-tongued Lamia would get the better of me.
Phoenix
The Daughter was busy browsing through spells. I asked Aida to help her write them down. Given everything that had happened, I needed to make sure that Field was all right. The whole green firefly issue had really rattled him. As a promising future leader of GASP, I knew he’d set some high expectations for himself, and bringing Azazel’s spies beneath the shield counted as a dismal failure for him. I’d been around him long enough to know what he was thinking.
I looked around for him, eventually climbing up on the rooftop through the attic to find him sitting there quietly, watching Destroyers fly above.
“Mind if I join you?” I asked and didn’t wait for an answer.
I pulled myself out of the window and sat next to him. The sky was turning pink and orange as the afternoon set in, sprinkled with thousands of green fireflies.
“How are you holding up?”
He shrugged. A man of few words, as usual.
“Listen, you should stop beating yourself up over those fireflies. You couldn’t have known. I probably would’ve done the same if I saw them and didn’t know what they were,” I said.
Field let out a sigh and looked at me with a pained expression.
“I put everyone at risk, Phoenix, including you.”
“Will you snap out of it, already? It wasn’t your fault.”
He didn’t say anything for a while, as we watched the Destroyers together.
“We’ve got our hands full now,” I said. “We should find weaknesses in these monsters. They must have some soft spots.”
“I heard Sverik say that fire kills them, as does decapitation,” Field muttered.
“Have you picked up any patterns so far in how they operate?”
He pointed at Goren down below, who was slumped against a tree, sharpening his sword with a black rock.
“He’s the leader. That I can tell you for sure. The others don’t do anything without his consent. They all look at him when they talk to each other. I think they fear him.”
“Given the size of the guy, I can’t really blame them,” I said.
I instantly thought of everything we stood to lose if Vita’s vision came true. My sister, my friends, the Daughter—they all represented pain points that throbbed at the thought of Destroyers getting past the protective shield.
“One of Vita’s visions showed Destroyers getting inside the house,” I told him.
Field’s gaze darkened as he nodded slowly.
“I heard Vita say it. How?” he managed to ask.
“I have no idea. She couldn’t see more than the actual invasion,” I replied. “But I know one thing for sure, Field. We can’t let these monsters win. We’ve got to win— not just for Eritopia, but for The Shade and for GASP.”
A moment passed before I spoke again, since I wasn’t done with the gloom and doom just yet.
“Vita saw Jovi die, as well, in the battle against Azazel,” I said, my voice barely audible.
Field turned his head, staring at me in disbelief.
“What did you just say?”
“Jovi will die, according to Vita’s visions. I guess we have our work cut out for us…”
“There’s no way I’m letting anyone die. Not on my watch they won’t,” he shook his head vehemently.
“I completely agree. We are fighting this all the way through, man.”
Given the stern look on his face, I knew he’d found the determination he needed to move ahead. The mention of our home and family was more than enough to snap him back into action.
“We have to make our parents proud and protect the women we’re so mindlessly in love with,” I added with a smirk.
I was telling the truth, though. I was in love with the Daughter. There was no doubt left in my mind. As for Field, it wasn’t difficult to see he was head over his heels whenever he was near Aida. The simple mention of her made him beam like a lighthouse.
He smiled, watching one Destroyer trying his luck with a large hammer against the shield. The creature failed miserably, the blow throwing him back a few feet as golden sparks shot out.
“I think it’s fair to remind you that the women we’re in love with can pretty much take care of themselves without our assistance,” he replied, his tone playful.
I could feel the Field I knew rising back to the surface, and I knew I had the right guy at my side to fight whatever came at us, as always.
“I can only imagine what would happen if someone tried to mess with the Daughter.” I chuckled.
She’d come a long way since her brief encounter with that shape-shifter. The trauma had strengthened her in ways I hadn’t thought possible but welcomed nonetheless. She was sure of her words, she communicated more, and she asked more questions. With each step she took she came closer to the knowledge and godlike power surging inside of her.
“A Daughter can kill you with a single touch.” Field grinned. “You might want to be careful, Phoenix. Do not forget her birthday. That’s all I can say.”
I snorted in response. “You deal with yours, and I’ll deal with mine, Field, because I’ll bet you anything that Aida’s wrath could be just as deadly. Remember that time I stole her clothes while she showered after practice, like two years ago?” I grinned as I recalled the race over the training grounds with a fired-up, towel-clad Aida on my trail.
“Yeah, I think you broke the speed record then.”
I laughed. “Those were good times.”
Field’s tone suddenly went serious. “More good times will come once we get rid of these overgrown snakes.”
Our moment of levity was over. I took a deep breath and got a better look at two Destroyers riding their flying horses overhead. I still couldn’t fathom how they would get past the shield.
“If they do get in,” Field said, “we’ll need one of us to draw them out. Distract them.”
I glanced at him and noticed a shadow swiftly passing over his face. “What do you mean?” I asked.
“I’ll fly out and draw them out. I’m the only one capable of giving them a good run for their money, given my wings,” he replied. “Should worse come to worst, I’ll take one for the team.”
“Field—”
“Listen to me, Phoenix. It’s settled. Nothing more to talk about. Just promise me you’ll look after Aida if I don’t make it. That’s all. Just take care of her.”
I didn’t want to consider one of my best friends dying. That wasn’t on the menu. It wasn’t part of the plan, and I would never allow him to do something so foolish. But Field could be stubborn as hell, and once he set his mind on something, it was nearly impossible to convince him otherwise.
But that was the old Field, I thought. The Field who hadn’t discovered Aida yet. I knew something had changed inside of him from the moment they got closer, so I decided to exploit that and persuade him to think twice and not throw himself
into death’s arms so easily. He had noble ambitions, but there had to be a better way.
“Hate to break it to you, my friend, but Aida will never let you perish like that.” I smirked. “She will rip you out of the leathery claws of death herself and beat you to a pulp, if she has to. She won’t let you die.”
Field gave me a sad smile, his turquoise eyes glimmering with what might have been tears. I couldn’t be sure, as he looked away for a moment.
He turned his gaze on me again. The glimmer was gone. I had a feeling I’d managed to pluck a more sensitive chord in him, so I decided to double down, just to be sure he got my point.
“She’d never forgive you, Field. Don’t mess with Aida, man. You’re stuck with her.” I grinned.
He finally mirrored my expression and nodded. I felt relieved I’d won that little battle.
Vita
As everyone was focused on Draven and Serena’s impending excursion, I decided to tell Bijarki the whole vision of the Destroyers invading the building. I’d deliberately left important details out—important to me and him, but not to the group. I needed to tell him the whole story.
He was talking to Sverik on one side of the table, while Draven, Serena, and Hansa conferred on the other side. I walked up to him, feeling my palms sweat.
How am I going to tell him?
“Can we talk for a moment?” I asked.
He looked up at me, then at Sverik, who nodded and moved to a seat closer to Draven to join their conversation. Bijarki waited for me to speak.
“Not here,” I mumbled and walked out.
I looked over my shoulder and saw him stand up and follow me. We went upstairs, to the study room where we’d first kissed. The memory instantly invaded me with warmth as I remembered the way he had responded to my kiss.
I leaned against the writing desk.
He closed the door behind him. His silvery eyes glimmered, as if he was thinking about the same moment, but his expression was still.
It took me a minute to gather the courage to tell him the whole account of my vision, during which time he waited patiently, his body inches from mine. I could feel his incubus nature unravel slowly. A pleasant lightheadedness took over. I shuddered, trying to keep a clear head.
He noticed my reaction and instantly brought himself under control.
“I didn’t tell them everything about my vision,” I started. “The one with Destroyers invading the mansion. I left out some details.”
“What is it you left out, then?”
He wasn’t making it any easier, looking at me the way he did with desire oozing from his every pore even with his incubus nature turned off. I had to figure out a way to tell him that we’d end up in bed together and that I would, for one brief moment in my existence, feel like the happiest creature in the world with his body so close to mine. I’d never experienced that kind of intimacy before, and despite the novels I’d read growing up, I still had a hard time finding the right words to describe it.
“I wasn’t alone in the room when they came for me,” I mumbled. “I was with you.”
Our eyes met, and I could see his gaze soften as he lowered his head. The silver pools surrounding his pupils seemed to ripple outward, as he pictured the scene for himself.
“What was I doing in your room in the middle of the night?”
A playful smile passed over his lips, a mere flicker of intentional humor meant to remove some of the stress. I’d seen the way he’d looked at me when I spoke of Destroyers taking me. I could tell he’d been floored by the thought of losing me to Azazel’s monsters. I couldn’t blame him for attempting to make light of the situation.
Nevertheless, it didn’t stop my cheeks from catching fire as I tried to find the appropriate words to describe our bare bodies together, tucked away beneath the sheets while the moonlight poured through the windows and made his skin shimmer even more beautifully.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, as if delaying the inevitable.
“We were in bed together. No clothes. I… I think we… You know…”
I sounded more coherent than I’d expected, given my natural shyness. It wasn’t something I was used to talking about, not even with Serena and Aida. And I told them everything.
Bijarki smiled gently, taking a step forward and closing the distance between us. Our bodies touched. His firm and imposing frame pressed against mine. I felt so tiny and helpless.
He bent forward and caught my mouth in a soft, sweet kiss. I welcomed him as his arms wrapped around me, and he paused to look at me.
“I find your blushing endearing,” he whispered and kissed me again, briefly. “And sweet.”
“I… I’m…”
I tried to speak, but I felt tears stinging my eyes as I gently pushed him away, putting a foot between us. My body trembled as I tried to keep it together.
“I watched them attack us… Attack you… You were down, Bijarki, and I… I can’t… I’m terrified. Please understand. I am terrified of anything happening to you.”
I sobbed, no longer able to control myself. The pain caused by the mere thought of watching him get hurt tore into me worse than anything else I’d experienced so far in this world.
He let out a breath and took me in his arms again, this time unyielding when I tried to push him away. I was too weak to fight it anymore, anyway. I leaned my head against his broad chest and cried some more, letting it all out as he held me tightly.
He ran his fingers through my hair and cupped my cheek, lifting my head so he could look into my eyes. His expression was soft. His skin glowed with intense emotions that I yearned to believe involved the same kind of love that had started to bloom inside of me.
“Don’t cry, Vita,” he said quietly, dropping a kiss on the tip of my nose. “I promise you, I swear to you, in fact, that I will do everything in my power to stop that vision from coming true. Do you hear me?”
I nodded, swallowing back another wave of tears as his words filled me with something so powerful that it made every muscle in my body shudder.
“But I—”
“Nothing more to say, darling.” He stopped my feeble protest, as if knowing what I was going to say. “Nothing. Don’t think for a second I’ll be able to stay away from you, even if that future you saw could come true. There’s no way I’m keeping my distance now, not when I know that the very future that sees us die is the same that brings us together in ways I’ve been dreaming about since I first laid eyes on you.”
Bijarki let out a deep breath and pulled me even closer, tightening his embrace. I was so soft in his arms, so easy to break, yet so complete and liberated, on the very edge of bliss. Darkness loomed around us, but Bijarki was the light I followed, the beacon that kept me on track and beckoned me to stand up and fight.
“Vita,” he whispered in my ear. “I cannot wait to feel you, all of you. We’ll just have to make sure there aren’t any nasty Destroyers to ruin the moment. That’s all.”
I couldn’t stop a chuckle from escaping the back of my throat. He made it sound so easy.
The way he looked at me had a strange way of assuring me that he would certainly do everything he could to stop that horrible future from happening. It may not have meant much to anyone else, but his words of promise were all I had to go on.
And given the circumstances, I was happy to take that over the possibility of my vision coming true.
Serena
We gathered in the banquet hall once more about two hours later. The Daughter had managed to translate several useful spells, while Phoenix and Anjani helped gather the ingredients needed for each formula.
The Daughter handed us the scrolls, which I stuffed in my satchel, along with half of the herbs, powder, and various other paraphernalia required. Draven filled his bag with whatever didn’t fit in mine.
“Along with the fire protection and invisibility spells, you’ve got a light in the dark formula and several poison healing concoctions, including one that will help cou
nteract Destroyer venom,” the Daughter said.
“Light in the dark?” I asked.
“It’s what it’s called in the witches’ book. It’s a spell cast on a regular object for it to emit light, a simple verbal incantation I thought might come in handy. That’s all I could gather at such short notice. There are other spells in there, but they take longer to prepare, and some of the ingredients can only be found in specific places, from what Anjani has told me. None are close enough for us to reach in time.”
I nodded as I pulled the string on my new satchel, one of the three that Draven had brought down from the attic, with a thick textile membrane lining to help keep it waterproof. I mounted it on my back, tying makeshift bands over my shoulders and around my waist to keep it tight and fixed. Given that we didn’t know where the passage stone would take us, I had to make sure we had maximum mobility, so I’d sewn additional straps to each of our travel bags.
Draven, Hansa, Sverik, and I said our goodbyes. Phoenix came up to me and took me in a heavy bear hug, making me giggle as he lifted me off the ground. He smiled, but I could tell he was worried from the way his emotions flared at me. We’d been around each other for so long that our sentry powers were attuned to each other’s feelings. We didn’t need to reach out to understand what the other was experiencing. We just knew.
Since I’d bonded so deeply with Draven, as had Phoenix with the Daughter, we were constantly well “fed” with the powerful energy that they gave off. I could sense the Daughter’s life force coursing through my brother, and I was pretty sure he could sense Draven’s in me. As sentries, we’d found our “endless supply” of strength.
“You know I’m expecting you back in one piece, as usual, right?” he quipped, cupping my face and dropping a kiss on my forehead.
His warmth enveloped me, and I welcomed it like a protective layer that would help me against whatever waited beyond the stone.
“I’m well aware, big brother,” I said, forcing a confident smile.
I wasn’t sure it was the case, though. We didn’t know what we were walking into, but I couldn’t bring myself to share that thought with Phoenix. I needed him strong, hopeful, and focused to help the others.