A Clash of Storms (A Shade of Vampire #50)(3)

“I’ll miss you in there,” he sighed, his gaze locked on mine.

“It’ll be over before you know it,” I whispered encouragingly.

He gave me a weak smile, then planted a kiss on my forehead before he took his satchel, filled with spell scrolls, and walked into the dome. The young Druids followed, and they all disappeared inside.

I took a deep breath, partly impressed by how much he’d been able to learn over the course of a few days, and partly eager to see how much they’d manage to cover while inside that time-cheating spell.

A couple of minutes went by before Rebel walked out of the grand hall, heading toward the living quarters.

“I’ll go get the cubs ready,” she said over her shoulder. “And get some shut eye.”

“We can’t just stay here and wait for the Druids,” Field grumbled. “We should get ready for tomorrow.”

The Hawk was right. I could replenish my energy from anyone willing to “donate” in Stonewall, and Field and Jovi just seemed too restless to sit still.

“We could train a little,” I suggested.

“Read my mind,” Jovi replied. “Anjani, Hansa, and the others will want to join in.”

“Do you want to go get them? They’re still outside,” I said. “Field and I can bring some more weapons from the armory, and there’s plenty of room here for sparring.”

Jovi nodded and closed his eyes for a moment.

“Telluris Anjani!” he called out. “We’re about to do some training here in the grand hall. Do you want to join us? Okay, cool, and get anyone else who’s feeling up to it. We need to be ready for tomorrow.”

He smirked, probably in response to whatever Anjani had told him, then exhaled.

“Really, Jovi? Telluris, when they’re literally outside on the front steps of the citadel?” I raised an eyebrow at him.

“I’m trying to preserve my energy.” He shrugged, an innocent expression on his face, making me smile.

I took a deep breath and mentally prepared myself for what was coming next. I’d attempt Telluris later in the evening—hopefully either Aida or Phoenix would be conscious and able to respond. But until then, I had to train. I had to get ready. The fight of our lives was tomorrow, and we had a demented overlord commanding an army of bloodthirsty Destroyers to obliterate.





Jovi





We spent a couple of hours training, but the energy I’d had left after the Druid’s spell was beginning to leave me. My punches got slower; my kicks no longer reached the height needed for maximum impact. I was getting sloppy and frustrated.

I decided it was time for a break, but I didn’t want to be on my own. The thought of Aida, Phoenix, and Vita in Azazel’s clutches was messing with my head, and the more time I spent dwelling on it, the worse it felt.

I had my own mission to deal with tomorrow. I was going to take two shifters and extract the little Daughter from Azazel’s castle. It only occurred to me around dusk to actually check this with the shape-shifters myself. So many things had happened since this morning, I’d completely forgotten that the creatures might not be able or willing to help. Sure, they’d been extraordinarily supportive so far, but they were still mostly a mystery to me.

I found all four of the creatures crouching on the edge of the front steps outside the citadel, quietly licking their healing wounds and watching the embers glowing in the pile of ashes left from the funeral pyre below. The smell of burnt flesh had dissipated, but the smoke lingered, marring the pure orange sky.

They turned their heads to look at me with glowing violet eyes. Whatever was in their saliva was toxic to their prey—I’d seen it clearly during battle—but it seemed to do them good, rapidly speeding up the healing process and turning gashes to fine white lines on their pale skin.

“I’m really not sure you understand what I’m saying,” I spoke up. “But thank you all. My sister and friends would be dead if it weren’t for you.”

I didn’t expect them to say anything, but I was surprised when they didn’t even react to my words. They just stared at the stone slabs beneath them, breathing heavily. I wasn’t ready to give up, though.

“I need your help,” I continued. “I need two of you to come with me to Luceria. One of you can shift into a flying horse and the other into a Destroyer. I’ll teach you how to act if we run into actual Destroyers. I’ll pretend to be your prisoner.”

They stared at me, expressionless and still. At least they weren’t looking at the stone slabs anymore, which I thought meant progress.

“We have to get a Daughter out of Azazel’s castle. He’s holding her hostage and draining her energy for his dark magic. If we’re going to destroy him and save Aida, Phoenix, and Vita, we need to cut off his power supplies, and that Daughter is one of them. You’re excellent shifters—I’ve seen you morph into Destroyers and flying horses before. We could totally get away with it.”

Still nothing, just my levels of frustration spiking.

“Two of your own are probably in Luceria already. I’m thinking you could help us rescue your friends… And mine, too, including my sister.”

A minute went by, but none responded in any way. I was beginning to think it would be too difficult to include shifters in my extraction plan. They’d morphed into Destroyers and flying horses when they were under attack, but we’d never tried something pre-planned with them before. Maybe they didn’t understand what we said after all. Maybe they just reacted to their environment, their circumstances, all for the sake of keeping us safe, as that was how they’d been rewired by Viola.