He took it and meticulously swallowed its content, one gulp at a time. The grimaces he made in between servings made me think that the smell was not the worst part of it. I gave him a glass of water to wash it all down.
Then I leaned against the desk, thinking about other ways to approach him tonight. The sleeping Daughter was out of the discussion for now, but I still needed him to open up some more. Maybe softening him up a little would work. He’d shown me his gentler side before, even if only briefly.
“Sorry if I’m being pushy, Draven,” I spoke quietly, trying to infuse remorse into my tone. “It’s just that with everything going on, with my brother downstairs, I need to think about something else. I need a distraction.” I cautiously watched as his expression changed.
He pursed his lips and breathed out.
“Help me sit in my chair by the fireplace. I need the heat to speed up my metabolism and get the herbs absorbed into my system,” he replied.
I nodded, forgetting momentarily that he couldn’t see me, and helped him. Being so close to him again made my stomach churn as he leaned against me. He was heavy, but supporting him brought me a sense of satisfaction; his broad figure weighing against me made me feel like I was his anchor, that he relied on me, trusted me.
I sat him in his chair by the fire and seated myself on the floor next to him.
I gazed up at his stoic face. He had such a solid composure even when surrounded by chaos, even when everything in the world seemed to be going wrong. I realized that there was something about him that anchored me, too, despite his elusiveness. With my brother wounded downstairs and the prospect of Destroyers out to get us, Draven kept me on my toes and my mind away from dwelling on worst case scenarios that would have otherwise overwhelmed me.
I leaned my head against the wooden arm of his chair, careful not to touch him. I wasn’t sure how aware he was of my proximity in this moment. We sat in silence for a while. I listened to the wood crackling in the fireplace and the sound of our slow breathing. A thousand other questions ran through my head, but they would have to wait. I’d clearly used up all my tokens for today.
Jovi
[Victoria & Bastien’s son]
My legs gave out at some point during the afternoon. I sat down on the floor next to Anjani’s bed, just to rest my eyes for a moment. I must have dozed off, despite the tornado of guilt and concern rattling me on the inside.
I opened my eyes and found myself looking at the ceiling. The once-white paint peeled off in curled crusts here and there. The dim light from the oil lamps gave everything a warm orange glow that melted into dark corners. It was quiet and, judging by how stiff my back and neck were, I must have been lying down for a couple of hours at least.
A flashback of Phoenix getting thrown to the ground by the shape-shifters hit me, making my chest tighten. I took a deep breath. Despite Serena’s reassurances, I still felt directly responsible for his condition.
Then I remembered why I’d done it. Anjani, the dangerously beautiful succubus who had almost become shape-shifter food. A burst of pride made me look up to catch a glimpse of the silvery damsel.
She looked down at me, leaning on her side. Whirpools of gold and emerald lit her eyes, which grew large when they met mine. She quickly looked away and shifted on the bed to lie on her back. I guessed she hadn’t wanted me to see she was looking. A smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth.
Maybe she’s not made of stone after all.
I stood up and straightened my back. My bones crackled, and my muscles were uncomfortably sore, the result of the morning’s strenuous activities.
I took a deep breath and felt my ribcage expand and relax. Soft scents of grass and spices flooded my nostrils, and I traced them back to Anjani. I’d caught her scent, and I had a hard time letting go.
But we still didn’t know whether she was friend or foe. I mentally slapped myself and decided to try and engage in meaningful conversation.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
That’s the best you’ve got?
She looked away and said nothing.
“Do you need anything?”
I got the silent treatment and felt strangely offended. I’d just saved her life. The least she could do was give me some common courtesy. I’d earned it.
“You know, I don’t deserve you treating me like this,” I said.
She shot me an angry look, her lips tight and slim eyebrows frowning.
“I don’t deserve being tied to the bed like a criminal either,” she retorted, and it hit me that she felt offended by our suspicion. There wasn’t much I could do to change that, at least not until the Druid and Bijarki confirmed that she was telling the truth.
I'd try lightening the mood instead.
“In all fairness, you can’t tell me this is the first time a man has tied you to a bed,” I quipped and followed up with my signature smirk, hoping to illicit at least a half-smile from her.
Anjani kept her face straight, but her beguiling eyes narrowed a touch. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, boy. You would be physically unable to handle me.”
I swallowed. Something told me she was right, and it stung.
Even worse, my cheeks heated, and my mind went blank. I had absolutely nothing to say in return, no way of soothing that burn. She was a whip.
Vita
[Grace and Lawrence’s daughter]
Later that night, I took my turn watching over Phoenix. I’d managed to steal an hour’s worth of sleep upstairs, but the most recent vision of myself and Bijarki kept bothering me, replaying itself as a dream on a loop, making me wake up all heated up and sweaty.
One cold shower later, I was downstairs in the basement on a stool next to Phoenix. I’d checked his head wound; the herbal mixture stank less now that it was drying up. My heart tightened in my chest as I felt for his pulse. It was slow but steady. Nothing had changed in his condition. He was still deep under.
I saw his eyes move beneath their eyelids, a sign that he was most likely dreaming. It was an encouraging step forward, despite his overall unresponsiveness. At least there was brain activity. Maybe the herbs were doing a better job than I’d initially thought.
My mind went to Serena, wondering how she was holding up. Knowing her, I figured she’d stuck close to the Druid to keep herself distracted. She hated feeling useless.
I sighed and leaned against the wall behind me. It was cool and comforting at the same time. Aida slept in the bed previously occupied by Field. She was exhausted, and I couldn’t blame her. She’d watched over Phoenix throughout the entire afternoon. She needed a break.
Field had gone out for a quick flight, just to give the surrounding area a once-over and make sure no other creatures were lurking in the darkness. It was a useless endeavor, I thought, since we were under the protective shield. But, then again, Field seemed to have made a habit of flying away every time he and Aida got too close, at least that was the pattern I’d noticed, anyway.
I’d glanced at them during the morning chaos. She’d been livid and soft at the same time, carefully cleaning his cuts while her cheeks were flushed and her fingers trembled uncontrollably. Despite the gravity of the situation, I couldn’t help but smile. She probably never expected to end up so close to him.
But then Field’s attitude had changed a little as well. I’d seen the way he looked at her while she struggled to keep her composure and treat his wounds. I wondered if Aida had noticed it as well.
I watched Phoenix’s chest rise slowly with each breath, and my mind wandered. It inadvertently flew back to Bijarki holding me while I was half-asleep in his bed. The feel of his shimmering skin against mine. I was so soft and small, while he was nothing but strength and hard muscle. We fit perfectly against each other.
I remembered his breath on my neck, followed by fluttered kisses as he drifted in and out of sleep. Heat rose up to my temples.
Snap out of it!
I tried hard to think about something else, but I kept w
ondering why the future showed me and him at such a high degree of intimacy. How could we get so close when I’d repeatedly pushed him away, treating him like he was some kind of AMBER alert offender? Why would he still want me, after all the things I said to him the other day?
And there it was, the realization that it wasn’t the vision of us getting together that baffled me. It was my own insecurity creeping up to the surface, that question of why he would want to be with me anyway.
The more I thought about what the future seemed to hold for me and Bijarki, the more confused I became. Did I want him? Was I developing feelings for him? Was I okay with the prospect of intimacy between us?
I took another deep breath, shoving the entire idea to the back of my head. I had a long night ahead of me, and I had a responsibility to look after Phoenix. It was pretty much the only thing I could do to avoid thinking about my fate as an Oracle, about Azazel and his Destroyers, about Bijarki, and about everything else that was wrong in this world.
I noticed Jovi get up from the floor and exchange a few words with Anjani. She was still tied to the bed and didn’t seem comfortable. I felt sorry for her. She’d been viciously attacked and nearly killed by shape-shifters, lost her sisters, and had wound up tied to a bed in a Druid’s basement. But, until we knew for sure that she was telling the truth, we couldn’t risk having her roam the mansion freely.
Not after all the horrible things I’d seen were coming.
I watched Jovi’s playful smirk leave his face. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but judging by his expression, he’d most likely said something stupid, and Anjani had shot him down.
His playful behavior and ability to take everything in stride were endearing. I didn’t want him to change.
I didn’t want him to die.
My mind returned once again to the terrifying vision of my cousin being impaled by a spear.
How can I stop it all from happening?
Serena
[Hazel and Tejus’s daughter]
“Serena, wake up.” Draven’s voice rumbled through my dreams.
It was well past midnight when I woke up. My lips were dry, my throat was parched, and my back hurt like a thousand knives had been jammed into it—the perks of falling asleep on the floor in front of a fireplace in the middle of a hot summer day. Druids be damned.
I slowly got up, adjusting my eyes to the dim, yellow light. I straightened my back and moved my head around in an attempt to relieve some of the tension that had gathered in the back of my neck.
I’m so thirsty.
I looked up to find Draven sitting in his chair. The fire threw shadows across his face. I had a prime view of his profile from my new angle. The blade of his nose stood out, reminding me of relief sculptures from Ancient Greece. I had to give him credit; for all his faults, Draven was one of the most beautiful creatures I had ever laid eyes on.
He was still and quiet, and I wondered whether I’d just dreamed him calling out to me.
“Did you say something?” I asked and rubbed my eyes. I passed my hands through my hair. It felt heavy and tangled. A bath was very much needed, especially after all the involuntary sweating during my snooze-fest by the fire.
“I said, ‘wake up,’ ” he replied. “Glad to see you listened to me for once.”
“Hey, that’s not fair.” I got up. There was some water left in a jug on his desk, and I gulped it all down without bothering to get a glass. The liquid was room temperature, but it still soothed my parched throat.
“You’re right. I was being unnecessarily mean. You’ve come a long way since you first got here.” A smirk quirked the corners of his mouth.
“How are you feeling?” I asked, wondering whether his super secret special herbs had done something or not.
“Still blind,” he quipped.
I had no response to that. A moment of awkward silence passed before he spoke again.
“But the herbs are working rather well,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
I leaned against the desk, my legs still weak and half-asleep. It had been an excruciatingly long day.
“My other senses are heightened. I can hear your heartbeat, for example,” he replied, his voice low and wavering. “Ba-boom… Ba-boom… Ba-boom…”
I put a hand on my chest and found that he’d perfectly captured the rhythm of my heartbeat. It was a very intimate observation, I thought, and I felt my heart pump faster.
“Now it’s beating faster,” he noticed. “Have I upset you?”
I shook my head and took a deep breath, willing myself into control. His accuracy was alarming, and it made me feel defenseless in front of him. Even vulnerable.
“No, not at all. I was just testing your hearing,” I retorted.
He smiled again. “I can hear all the hearts beating in the house,” he said. “Vita is awake in the basement. Phoenix is still asleep but stable and steady. Aida is sleeping. Bijarki, Jovi, and the succubus are also downstairs. Field is outside. I can’t hear him.”
I was officially impressed.
“Wow. What else can you do now?”
Draven cocked his head to the side, and his nostrils flared. “Did you know we all have our own individual scents?” he asked softly.
I waited for him to continue, unsure of where this was going.
“Like chemical reactions deep within our layers of skin, specific aromas that define us as individuals.”
“I’ve never really considered that,” I said.
“Well, we do. We all smell different, but with a little bit of practice, a Druid such as myself can use his amplified olfactory sense to identify a person based solely on their natural scent.”
I had an idea as to what he was about to say. Unsurprisingly, my body immediately responded by flaring up, flooding my limbs with liquid heat.
“You, for example. You smell like summer by the sea. I’ve only been that far out once, years ago, but I remember it to this day. Driftwood and a subtle layer of blossoming lilies. That’s you, Serena,” Draven continued, his tone low as the amber light from the fireplace danced on his jaw.
I had nothing to say to that. I felt naked, raw, and like I was his to play with. I’d never taken my own scent into consideration. I’d never smelled myself to recognize what he described as being the proprietary fragrance of my skin. It was such an intimate thing to say. It went far deeper than his interpretation of my heartbeat.
My knees weakened, and I could feel my breathing staggering. But leave it to Draven to ruin the moment.
“There’s a plethora of scents coming from downstairs as well,” he continued matter-of-factly. “Jovi and Aida share a common whiff of wet dog, but it’s extremely subtle. She’s more towards a bergamot, while Jovi leans into prairie grass and morning dew. Vita is a little fireball, soft layers of spices. I could go on, if you’d like.” He smirked.
“No, no, I’m good. You lost me at wet dog anyway.” My reply was blunt and followed by a sigh.
It felt good to see his spirits higher than before. He’d hated feeling useless, being unable to do everything he was used to doing. Until the Daughters returned his eyesight, Draven had to find other ways to stay active and protect us from Azazel and the Destroyers. I understood his frustration, but I was unable to fully understand his impairment. So it warmed me to see him cracking bad jokes and exploring his heightened senses to such impressive levels of detail.
My train of thought derailed completely as he stood up.
I rushed to offer my shoulder for support, but he raised his hand to stop me.
“Don’t. I’m adjusting to spacial perception now. Sounds, smells, vibrations—they’re telling me where everything is around me.” He took a few steps.
I felt the need to remind him of my usefulness. “I’m right here if you need me.” I was still on a mission to unlock all the mysteries that made Draven who he was. The more I learned from him, the better my friends, my brother, and I could defend ourselves against everythin
g that wanted us dead in Eritopia. I hadn’t forgotten about the last Daughter, either.
Draven walked toward the door, and his hand reached the doorknob without hesitation. Before opening the door, he turned his head to me.
“I’m not sure I should move around by myself. It might take a while for me to adjust to my surroundings. This is all quite new to me. I’ve never experienced the world in such detail without my eyesight.” His honesty disarmed me and jolted me into action.
I moved to walk next to him, and his hand rested on my shoulder again. I was so used to this by now—it felt right. It felt natural.
We walked slowly toward the basement stairs, and I was impressed by his unwavering stance. He didn’t need me for guidance. His steps were firm, and his direction was accurate and determined. Nevertheless, I kept myself at his side as we reached the basement room.
Phoenix was still unconscious, as I’d expected, with Jovi watching over him. Vita lay in a spare bed, as did Aida, while Bijarki stood by Anjani’s bed. His gaze lit up when it found us at the bottom of the stairs. We reached him swiftly to find the succubus still tied to the iron frame, as beautiful as ever.
“We need to talk, Anjani.” Draven addressed the succubus, who shot him an irritated look, not bothered by the bandage on his eyes.
She sighed.
“Bijarki and I found your tribe. We know where they are. We’ve seen some of your other sisters keeping watch over the camp,” he said, and Bijarki nodded in confirmation.
I figured Draven had made Bijarki peer through the same fire I’d seen our families through. A pain of longing shuffled through me, but I tucked it away.
“You said you would ‘verify my claims.’ How’d that go?” Anjani sneered as she quoted Draven. Despite her feral demeanor and unknown intentions, I kind of liked her.
Both Bijarki and Draven paused for a moment.
“Point is, we are safe because nobody knows we are here, particularly Azazel. So, you should be able to understand why we don’t take kindly to strangers,” Draven said.
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