A Clash of Storms (A Shade of Vampire #50)(23)

“I think Azazel felt that too,” Patrik muttered.

We ran out of the room and back around the corner in the direction we’d come from. Thadeus and Patrik took the lead, while the remaining shifter and I followed. My stomach tightened into a knot at the thought of a raging Azazel storming down here after us. We’d really kicked the hornet’s nest this time.

“Where do we go now?” Thadeus asked as we rushed down the hallway.

“The platform at the top,” I replied, breathing fast.

“Okay, I know a safer way up. Follow me,” Thadeus said before he morphed into his rather large anaconda form.

Patrik shifted into a small viper, and the shifter followed suit. We rushed up a narrow service staircase, and I reached out to Serena and Field.

“Telluris Serena!”

“Jovi,” came her voice echoing in my head. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, where are you?”

“We’re in the castle, coming up through the pipe system.”

“Oh, ew!” I grimaced. “Update—Nova’s out of the castle! The power’s cut off!”

“Fantastic!” I heard her gasp. “I’ll tell the Dearghs… You’re amazing!”

“I know.” I smirked. “See you upstairs!”

I then gave Field the signal he’d been waiting for.

“Telluris Field!”

“Wolf boy,” he muttered in my skull.

“Light’em up, Hawk! It’s go time!” I shot back, then ran faster up the circular stairs after Patrik, Thadeus, and my shifter.

“You got it,” I heard Field say before the line went dead.

That was it. The signal we needed for the alliance to begin its offensive. For the Dearghs to sacrifice six of their own and dim the volcanoes until they were rendered useless to Azazel.

The battle was about to begin. I gripped the handle of my sword, bracing myself for what we were going to find up on the terrace of Luceria. The day had finally come for us to pay Azazel back in kind for everything he’d done to us and the people we loved, our friends and our allies.

The concept of my impending death snuck into the back of my head, but I pushed it away before it could drill too deeply into my heart. I’d sworn to myself that I would do everything possible to survive, but I was also ready to die, if it meant protecting Anjani, my sister, and everyone I held dear.

We’ll cross that bridge when we get there, I thought, taking two steps at a time.





Viola





My soul had been aching since my sisters had taken me away from Phoenix. I couldn’t do anything at the time because I knew, deep in my heart, that they were right. I did not have my powers under control—it may have started out with changing the physiognomy of shape-shifters, but it wasn’t going to stop there. I could feel the energy flowing through me, and if I didn’t get it under control, I was bound to do something that would cause irreparable damage.

At the same time, I missed Phoenix. Terribly. We’d been bound to one another since before I’d hatched. I could feel his heart beating in my chest, and he could feel mine. I knew he was in distress; I sensed his emotions even from many miles away.

For days, I listened to my sisters. They helped me harness the cosmic amounts of energy inside me. They taught me how to keep my instincts under control and manage my actions. Most importantly, they taught me to consider all the factors before making a decision—who would benefit, who would be hurt, and what would happen to Eritopia, the land we’d been sworn to protect.

I crouched by the pink waters on top of Mount Agrith, looking at my reflection. I recognized the pink hair and the violet eyes. I’d seen them mirrored in Phoenix’s own eyes. My skin tightened with the memory of his touch. My lower lip trembled in desperate need of his kiss. The days were getting longer in his absence, and it was now bordering on unbearable. He was everything I knew, from the moment I’d emerged from my egg.

My sisters had been talking about Azazel and Eritopia for days, without reaching a conclusion. It was always the same vicious circle: they were angry, they wanted to act, but they feared that he was too strong, even for them, and that he would hurt Nova. They’d sworn an oath to never interfere in the affairs of Eritopians, and, by all possible definitions, Azazel was one such affair. They took their oaths seriously. Their word was their bond, and it simply went against their nature to break it. It was as if they’d been hardwired like that.

I’d told them that I hadn’t sworn to anything.

“You’re a Daughter of Eritopia. It’s part of who you are, not a string of words we utter to ourselves,” one of my sisters had said.

I glanced over my shoulder, my heart heavy, my mind wandering off to Phoenix for the thousandth time that morning. The wind howled above, and the forests dressing the mountain were restless. The smell of change lingered in the air, and I wondered if any of them felt it. It tickled the back of my throat.

“As long as he has Nova, we cannot get involved,” Rubia said.

“We should do something, still,” Ruelle replied. “I don’t like how we left the Druid and his group to fend for themselves.”

“Perhaps we rushed when we took the shield down,” Safira chimed in.

You bet your bejeweled fingers you rushed, I thought to myself.