A Gift of Three (A Shade of Vampire #42)(30)

“I’m a Druid,” he replied evenly, “and that’s what you can call me. I doubt that you have come across my kind before. We live in the In-Between, and there are too few of us left.”

“Is that like a warlock?” I asked, trying to ascertain exactly how much danger we had gotten into.

“No.”

I waited for him to elaborate further, but he remained silent. In frustration, I turned away from him, helping Jovi to his feet. The werewolf was almost shaking with rage.

“When will they wake up?” Jovi demanded, his jaw clenched so tightly he could hardly speak.

“That I do not know,” the Druid replied. “I haven’t seen the transformation take place before—this is as new to me as it is to you.”

“What transformation?” I replied angrily. “Stop answering with riddles we don’t understand! You claim you’re helping them—explain to me how? Explain to me how they weren’t safe on a star, surrounded by some of the most powerful supernaturals in existence?”

“If you think for a moment that ‘GASP’, or whatever your band of merry supernaturals call themselves,” he bit out, “are more powerful than what will be coming for your friends, you are a fool.”

I laughed at the Druid, so incensed by his dismissive attitude that I half felt like I’d gone completely mad. Who the hell did he think he was?

“You have made a huge mistake,” I replied once my hysteria had calmed. “Whatever you are, whatever this place is, whatever is happening to my friends and my brother—you are going to pay. You obviously don’t understand who you’re messing with. My family will hunt you down, and they won’t rest until you’ve been hung, drawn and quartered at their hands!”

“Enough,” Jovi murmured to me, clutching my arm. I hadn’t realized that my body had started to shake. “Take it easy,” he continued in a soothing voice.

I looked back at the Druid, expecting a stream of anger in retaliation. Instead, something that resembled pity flickered across his expression. It was so swift I thought I had imagined it.

“I wouldn’t count on it,” he replied softly.

I shook my head, dismissing him. He didn’t know our families. Whatever he thought he knew was wrong. They would come for him, and us. It was just a matter of time.

“You may remain here, with your friends, if you wish,” the Druid continued. “All I ask is that you don’t venture outside. It is not safe. Trust me when I say that you don’t understand this world—Eritopia is deadly.”

“Eritopia?” Jovi questioned.

The Druid nodded.

“The most cursed land that ever grew in these worlds,” he spat. “Don’t underestimate it.”

And with that, he was gone.





Serena





[Hazel and Tejus’s daughter]




Still trembling, I approached the figures on the beds. I still couldn’t quite relate them to my brother and friends. These still bodies terrified me, and I felt like their faces were only the masks of those I loved. This time, I stood by Vita, wanting to smooth her pale brow, but unsure if I should touch her. Their breathing still echoed around the room, the horrible, rasping pants matching my own accelerated heartbeat.

“Have you ever heard of a Druid?” Jovi asked, his voice making me jump.

“Not really… well, nothing other than human druids you read about in fairytales. You know, the kind who hang out at summer solstice wearing long beards and white robes.” I tried to keep my voice as calm and reasonable as possible. I turned away from Vita and focused on Jovi.

“What do we do?” I asked quietly, hoping that the Druid wasn’t able to hear us. “I don’t trust him in the slightest, and the fact that I can’t syphon off him makes me even more nervous.”

“I know,” he agreed. “At least we know we’re in the In-Between. There must be fae or other species around here that we recognize. They might know Sherus and be willing to help.”

I nodded, but wondered if Jovi was being overly optimistic. I recalled the conversation I’d had with Corrine—how vast the In-Between actually was, how much of it was unknown to her and any other supernaturals we knew. On the other hand, we had few options before us—it was either getting out of here, or waiting for the Druid to decide our fate.

“What about them?” I asked quietly, my fingers flitting across the sheet that covered Vita.

“I don’t know,” Jovi replied, raking his hair back in frustration. He let out a growl and started pacing back and forth across the room. “I don’t even know how we ended up here. The last thing I saw was you and the girls, but why is Phoenix here? He wasn’t in the room, right? And where’s Field? He was with us.”

“I don’t know,” I replied. “Phoenix was in the room next to us—I know that much. But you’re right, why us, why not Field?”

Jovi cursed, kicking the damp brickwork in disgust.

“I say we get out of here,” he replied a moment later. “Let’s see what’s around at least—get our bearings. We can come back for them, once we find a way home.”

I fell silent.

“I’m worried about the Druid doing something…leaving them like this—they’re completely defenseless.” I shook my head. Could I leave my brother here, and my friends? I wasn’t sure I could.