A Meet of Tribes (A Shade of Vampire #45)(25)

Azazel laughed with great satisfaction, and I knew that all three of us were experiencing visions against our will.

“Vita, listen to me,” the Nevertide Oracle called out to me again.

But before I could look at her again, I watched Azazel slither up to her and caress the glass between them with one hand.

“You wonderful, wonderful creature,” he hissed at her. “I wouldn’t have gotten the whole set of Oracles without your…assistance. So, thank you, my darling. You’ve been a great asset!”

I froze at his statement, then looked at the Oracle. She looked so miserable, but what did it mean? Was that real suffering or just the guilt she felt for having betrayed us all?

My anger burned like fire until everything went dark. I wanted to stay longer, to see more and find out whether she really had played a part in our capture or whether she’d just been an unwilling pawn in Azazel’s game, but my vision faded and took me deeper into the future.



The darkness dissipated, and another place came into focus. The black stone architecture made me think I was still somewhere in Azazel’s citadel. Everything exuded suffering and doom. A nearby window revealed that the sky was a dark purple now, riddled with black and gray clouds that occasionally glowed from the electrical storms they carried.

My gaze immediately fixed on Serena, and my heart stopped for a moment. She was slightly older, her eyes wearing decades of experience more than the Serena I knew. Her skin was tanned, and her body was clad in black leather and silver armor, reminding me of Anjani and her warrior succubi sisters.

Her hands were tied behind her back. Her torso was chained and hung from the tall ceiling above a massive fire pit. Green flames licked at her naked feet. She kept pulling them back to avoid the burns. She must have been in a lot of pain, but she didn’t show it.

I looked around to see the rest of the hall, square and spacious with massive torches mounted on the walls.

Azazel stood by the edge of the fire pit, hissing with delight as he enjoyed the heat. His serpent tail twitched, and his fingers caressed the moving serpent medallion hung around his neck.

I saw two massive doors open into the room. In came two Destroyers dragging Draven along in heavy black chains. There were symbols carved into the cuffs, and it made me wonder whether they had some binding spell that forced the Druid into submission. My heart twisted at the sight of Serena crying out his name.

“Draven, no! What did you do?!”

The Destroyers pulled him closer to the fire. Azazel slithered around the pit to get a better look at his face. His grin made me nauseous. I took a few deep breaths to keep myself under control, telling myself that this was still in the future, that it hadn’t happened yet, and that I would do everything I could to stop it from happening altogether.

“I’m here, as you can see,” Draven said to Azazel. His tone oozed sarcasm as the Destroyers forced him to stand.

His ankle was swollen, and blood drizzled from his temple, where he’d been recently hit. Nevertheless, he leaned into his other leg, unwavering in front of Azazel, who took his chin in his scaly hand and turned his head to one side, a pensive look on his face. I could see black and brown scales spreading out from Azazel’s neck onto his cheeks on both sides. His eyes glistened red.

“Hmm. You do take after your father,” Azazel mused, then pulled the Druid’s hair painfully to one side, jerking his head.

Draven winced but kept a straight face.

“I’m here, as per the terms of our agreement,” he said, his voice low.

I froze, as did Serena, who stilled against her restraints, her cheeks red from the flames below. Tears welled in her eyes, and I understood then that she had developed feelings for the Druid. It broke my heart, but I kept my composure and continued watching the exchange.

“Draven, what did you do?” Serena cried out.

“What I had to do to keep you alive,” he replied, his gaze softening as their eyes met.

“No, no, no, Draven, no! You can’t! We need you! Eritopia needs you! I’m not important. I’m not worth your sacrifice. Don’t!”

Azazel roared with laughter as he snapped his fingers, and the chain keeping Serena attached to the ceiling moved and threw her backward against a wall. She hit the floor with a thud, coughing and struggling to stand.

“When will you understand, Serena, that you are worth everything to me?” Draven said before shifting his attention back to Azazel. “She lives. You guaranteed it.”

“I’m a Druid of my word,” Azazel hissed and grinned, snapping his fingers again.

Another Destroyer emerged from the darkness and dragged Serena out of the hall, despite her flailing legs and screams.

“Draven! Draven!”

The vision faded into darkness again, but Draven’s response echoed anyway.

“You’re not a Druid anymore, Azazel, you’re a monster.”



I drifted further into time. This was immediately clear from the moment the image before my eyes came into focus. The sky was black and heavy with thick clouds above Eritopia. The thousands of acres of lush jungles had been burned down and stripped to charred trunks and blackened dust. I was on the same platform where I had seen our capture and the Nevertide Oracle, but the arches had been torn down, and rubble was spread at my feet.

I stood above a lifeless wasteland on the edge of the circular terrace. Glass spheres were shattered, shards scattered around. A pang in my heart drew my focus to the center of the scene, where I found Azazel.