Azazel had captured all three Oracles now.
Grief didn’t even begin to describe what I was feeling. It was something much worse, cutting deeper than anything else. I felt torn on the inside, a throbbing pain stabbing through my temples as Draven put me down.
I simply couldn’t stand anymore.
“This can’t be,” I mumbled, mostly to myself. “I… No, this… This can’t be…”
Azazel had done it.
“Bijarki,” I gasped and pulled my satchel forward.
Draven dropped to his knees to look at me. He could feel everything I was going through and I was too numb to feel him. He watched me carefully and quietly as I took out the last of the telepathy spell ingredients and quickly drew the symbol I needed to reach out to the incubus.
“Bijarki,” I called out, but there was no answer. “Bijarki! Bijarki! Answer me, man! Bijarki!”
Rage took over so quickly, I didn’t even see it coming, I only felt my cheeks and throat heat up with every second that passed and I didn’t get a response from Bijarki. I couldn’t reach him anymore.
I looked up at Draven. Tears rushed up and rolled down my cheeks as I stared into his grey eyes, flickering black.
“I can’t reach him… Phoenix is gone… Aida is gone… I don’t know anything about Vita and Bijarki…”
“Serena,” he said cautiously.
“I… My brother… My friends…”
I looked at Jovi. He leaned his back against the wall he’d been punching, swallowing back tears that kept coming up and eventually streamed down his face as he shuddered. Anjani went up to him, her hands inches away from his arms, not sure whether she should touch him or not.
Field was drowsy but I could see the pain flickering in his eyes, while Rebel cleaned his wound and patched it up with a needle and thread. One of the Bajang cubs brought over another pitcher of water and several satchels with healing herbs.
If I’d taken Vita’s abduction hard, this time around it was much, much worse. My body caved in and went into a continual shudder.
Draven’s hands grasped my shoulders, squeezing firmly, enough to draw my focus to his face.
Jax stopped and crouched by my side.
“Azazel found a way to come in and take what he wanted,” he muttered. “We obviously don’t know what happened to Vita and Bijarki yet either. But I’ll tell you one thing I know, Serena. We’re not backing down. We’re getting them back, one way or another. We have to keep fighting.”
I listened, sobbing, while Hansa came closer.
“Our allies are out there getting ready,” she said. “We can’t slow down or pull back; we’ve come too far.”
“He has the Oracles,” Draven hissed over his shoulder. He was frustrated and in pain. On top of that, he could feel the horror rumbling through me in that precise moment.
“But we have a plan,” Jax interjected, standing. “And dammit, we can’t stop now! My people are out there, waiting for a signal. The Dearghs are ready to sacrifice their own to turn the volcanoes down and cut off some of Azazel’s power supply. We still need to get the little Daughter out of there. We have to keep going. Yes, he has the Oracles, but we all know he won’t get anything out of them over the next few days! Let’s be realistic here… At least we know where they are. We know where to find them. And we’re going there anyway.”
Several moments passed as it all sank in. We looked at one another, our minds attempting to process everything that had happened over the past few hours. In the fuzz of my lethargic state, even I knew Jax was right.
“He has a point,” Field rasped from the side.
I stilled, looking at the Hawk with wide eyes, thankful he was still conscious.
The Bajangs started bringing out more cloths, water, and healing herbs to treat all those wounded in our group, as well as their own garrison. The cubs came into the courtyard, watching quietly.
“We need to keep moving,” Field continued. “We can’t stop now. We need to get them back, but we can’t do it on our own.”
“We’ll bring the war to his doorstep.” Jovi took a deep breath, willing himself under control as he wiped his tears and came to my side. He then frowned at the mutated shifters. “There are only four of them…”
We all glanced at the creatures below, busy licking their wounds and growling at the flames. Two of them were missing.
“Maybe they died in the attack?” I asked, my voice barely audible.
“Nah.” He shook his head. “They were chomping Sluaghs’ heads left and right, and we would’ve found their corpses before we burned them all. They’re not here.”
“You said they’re wired to protect you,” Jax mused. “Chances are they went after Aida and Phoenix…”
We all nodded slowly, still adjusting to the new situation. The young Druids had quickly gotten themselves busy, tending to the wounded Bajangs. Hansa watched them for a while before she turned to me and gave me a reassuring smile.
“At least you brought the Druids back with you,” she said.
“We need to rehash the plan.” Draven sighed and stood up, looking around.
“Yeah, we do,” Jovi replied. “We don’t know what happened to Vita and Bijarki. Which means it’ll be plan B on the Daughter’s extraction. I’ll take two of the shifters with me for this.”
“I’ll do my part with the signal.” Field coughed and winced from the pain.
It hit me then that we had the alliance connection—the spell that had bound us together, to be precise. I closed my eyes and decided to try it, to reach out to Aida or Phoenix.
“Telluris Aida!” I called out. “Telluris Phoenix! Can you hear me?”
I was met with silence. Jovi’s shoulders sagged as he swallowed back a new round of tears.
“I tried that already. I can’t reach them.” He exhaled sharply.
“They’re probably knocked out,” Jax replied. “You know they wouldn’t have gone down without a fight.”
Once again, the Lord of Maras had a point. For a moment, I felt grateful to have earned his allegiance. He’d only been with us for a few days, yet he’d proven himself to be invaluable, and a solid voice of reason.
We were extremely fortunate to have some experienced warriors like Hansa and Jax in our group. They had the composure, the patience, and the years of battle required to look at every situation with a clinical eye, while we were still struggling to see clearly through our emotions.
“So what now?” asked Malachy from the side of a collapsed Bajang he’d been treating with cold water and clean bandages.
“Aida told me about the last visions she had,” Jovi said. “Kyana’s with Jasmine and the White Tribe succubi. They know we’re launching the campaign against Azazel. They’ll send troops in to help us, even though we’ve obviously never spoken to them. Chances are we’ll see Jasmine on the battlefield.”
Ori scoffed as he moved on to another wounded Bajang, whose shoulder cuts needed stitching.
“Don’t rely on her much,” he muttered. “She was great at leaving us stranded without so much as a goodbye…”
“Nevertheless, it’s nice to have the extra bodies fighting with us,” Draven replied, then crouched in front of me, cupping my cheek and sending me all his emotions and bright energy. He could feel my misery, and he focused on channeling everything he could give me in order to lift me up.
Much to my surprise, it was working. My body buzzed as he pulled me back to my feet, and I took several breaths to recover my composure. Anger still boiled beneath it, but I grew determined to put it to good use this time.
“We also know where he’s keeping the little Daughter, thanks to Aida and Vita,” Jovi added. “So I know exactly where to go.”
I straightened my back, my resolve finally kicking in, hitting me like a cold shower.
“That’s it, I’m done,” I said firmly. “I am done letting this asshole get away, and I am done letting him take the people I love away from me. I am itching for a fight, and I h
ope you’re all with me.”
Jovi put his hand on my shoulder, his fingers digging into my skin. His eyes flickered with the same anger broiling inside me.
“You’re damn right we are,” he replied, his voice low.
“We’re taking this fight to him, now.” Draven took my hand in his and held it firmly. “He’ll pay for everything he’s done. It’s time we take Eritopia back.”
I looked at Jax, Hansa, Anjani, Rebel, and Field. The wards. The Bajangs. The shifters below, their eyes glowing violet, eager to rip into the Destroyers who threatened our lives and our freedom.
They all burned with the same fire. They all wanted a piece of Azazel.
Which was good, because I was going to slice him up and serve him to everyone who had a bone to pick with his evil, perverted, maniacal ass.
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Bella Forrest, A Shield of Glass
(Series: A Shade of Vampire # 49)
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