A Meet of Tribes (A Shade of Vampire #45)(37)

“I swear, I won’t let anything happen to you. And whatever I cannot control, I’ll do my damned best to make it easier for you. You are one of the most important people in my life. I don’t know what I would do without you. And honestly, based on all this Oracle stuff, I’m pretty sure you’ll end up saving our asses someday soon.” I chuckled, and she laughed, her face nestled in my hair.

We parted, and she wiped the tears that had filled her eyes during our hug.

“I probably wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for you, Serena,” she said with a smile. “Which is why I have to be one hundred percent honest with you. There’s something I didn’t tell Draven about my visions.”

I watched the corners of her mouth drop as she said that. Concern started chipping away at my demeanor. I counted my breaths in an attempt to prepare myself for whatever she had to say.

“What’s that?” I asked, my voice but a whisper.

“When Draven traded his freedom for your safety, there were certain words between you. Like you had feelings for each other. You know…love,” she replied.

“Oh,” I blurted, not sure how to react.

It brought back the pain of Draven’s potential death, and I wasn’t ready to deal with that yet. My heart twisted in my chest, wondering why Draven would completely surrender himself to Azazel just to keep me alive. Why he’d give up this fight to keep me safe. I was a complete stranger, an otherworldly creature that he knew little to nothing about. Regardless of the attraction that surged between us, Eritopia was his world, the core of his existence, his reason to keep fighting.

“I don’t know what to say, Vita,” I mumbled. “It’s a possible future, but I don’t know what to tell you.”

I did have an inkling, but Vita’s mention of the word love sort of freaked me out. The attraction between Draven and me had become undeniable. It was a fact. I had made my peace with that and relished every second of it. But from that to Draven sacrificing himself for me—it seemed like a long road ahead, a product of time and factors I had yet to fully understand.

“I know. I’m aware of that,” she replied. “But it has to start somewhere, right?”

I nodded.

“Do you two have feelings for each other, maybe?”

I sighed.

“There’s definitely something going on between us,” I finally answered. “I might as well admit that there has been a substantial shift in how Draven and I interact, so to speak.”

“So to speak?”

Her left eyebrow was lifted, and her lips slightly pursed, as if telling me she wasn’t buying the brief explanation I’d tried to give her.

“Well, neither of us expected this to happen,” I said, feeling my cheeks flame. “We don’t really know how to react to it, to each other even. So, we’ve taken it one step at a time, I guess.”

“Just so you know, I’m pretty sure we’ve all noticed it.”

“Noticed what?”

“That there’s something brewing between you and Draven.”

Leave it to Vita to put me at a loss for words as wave after wave of embarrassment hit me. Was it that obvious? Was I that obvious?

“Oh yeah, I saw it too,” I heard Aida say as she walked up to us.

I hid my face in my palms, suddenly feeling like I was in a bad dream where I stood naked in front of a crowd of strangers. Aida grinned and nudged me with her elbow. I looked up and saw her winking at me.

“It’s okay, Serena, I can’t really blame you,” she said. “The Druid is hot. Like midday in August hot.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, heat still sizzling beneath my skin. We all seemed to agree on that particular aspect, given the way we all nodded simultaneously.

“Well then, what about you and the incubus, huh, Vita?” I quipped, eager to shift the girls’ focus away from me.

I had a lot to deal with regarding Draven, so I wasn’t really ready to talk too much about him and about what had happened between us. Based on how he’d just rejected my company earlier, I didn’t want to talk about something that had the potential to fizzle out with just one argument. The Druid and I were very good at arguing.

Lucky for me, Vita blushed all the way to the tips of her ears. I’d caught her with her guard down, and her expression confirmed my suspicions.

“There’s not much to talk about,” she replied, but I didn’t want to let her off the hook so easily.

“No, no, there’s definitely something to talk about!”

“Don’t think we haven’t seen the way Bijarki looks at you,” Aida chimed in with a half-smile. “Although that probably is just his incubus nature.”

“Okay, fine!” Vita conceded, raising her arms in a defensive gesture. “I’ve been having some trouble acknowledging it, but I think there’s definitely some kind of attraction between us.”

“Hah! I knew it! But is it real?” Aida asked. “I mean, does he affect you with his incubus whatever?”

Vita laughed, and I felt the mood lighten between us. So much had happened. We’d forgotten how to be just girls. We needed this.

“His incubus whatever?” Vita replied, still laughing, then took a deep breath. “He swears he’s not using his nature on me, and I believe him. He’s been nothing but honest and kind so far, so…I don’t know.”