A Meet of Tribes (A Shade of Vampire #45)(48)

Vita mixed a few herbs together, following Anjani’s instructions, and brought me some in a small wooden bowl.

“Put it on his cuts. Follow the length,” she said and rushed another bowl of the same to Anjani.

The Daughter hid her face in the pillow to stifle her whimpers.

“A shape-shifter attacked her,” Phoenix added.

I wasn’t done applying the herbs on his back when he sat back up.

“Hold still, Phoenix! I’m not done here!”

“You can do it later. I’m fine,” he mumbled and got off the bed, as if entranced by the sound of the Daughter crying.

Anjani was busy covering her cuts with the same plant mixture.

Vita brought a few rolls of clean bandages from the medicine cabinet.

My brother leaned over and whispered something in the Daughter’s ear. Whatever he said, it instantly calmed her down. The creases faded away from her forehead. He brushed a hand over her temple and caressed her cheek with his knuckles.

Anjani watched the exchange between them while her hands were busy treating the Daughter’s wounds.

“There’s something very strange going on between the Daughter and Phoenix,” the succubus said.

“What, you mean besides the fact he’s basically brainless when he hears her voice?” I replied sarcastically, frustrated with how vulnerable my brother seemed around the Daughter.

To most people, it might have seemed endearing, but to me it was cause for concern. After all, she was of the same cloth as the cruel goddesses who had blinded Draven and refused to help us against Azazel. We didn’t know how much she really knew and what powers she held. I already had suspicions about the depth of this connection between Phoenix and the Daughter, and I wasn’t eager to see them confirmed.

“Unfortunately, yes,” Anjani replied.

I sighed, watching Phoenix whisper into the Daughter’s ear, occasionally stopping to stroke her forehead again. She was in a lot of pain, but he seemed to be doing a very good job of comforting her. I waited patiently by the bed for the moment he’d remember that he, too, was in the same tremendous amount of pain.

“Remember yesterday when she fainted as soon as Phoenix went under?” Anjani jogged my memory, and I nodded in response. “Well, the cuts on your brother’s back weren’t caused by the shape-shifter that attacked the Daughter. They appeared on their own as soon as the shape-shifter slashed the Daughter’s back. They were yards away from each other. I was right behind Phoenix. I heard him shout after her and decided to come out and make sure they were okay. I saw the blood spread across his back through his shirt. He was on his own with nothing and no one close enough to touch him, let alone cut him like this.”

She paused for a moment, applying the rest of the herb mixture. I watched my brother and the Daughter, utterly transfixed. Somewhere deep inside I had an inkling as to what was going on between them—I just didn’t think it was possible, even though all the signs pointed to it.

“They are connected,” I said.

Anjani stilled and looked at me.

I continued, “If one experiences something, so does the other. If one gets hurt, so does the other.”

A few moments passed before the realization sank in properly. Vita was speechless, watching Phoenix and the Daughter with the same amazement. My brother heard us, but didn’t reply immediately. He straightened his back and looked at Anjani, then at me, a frown pulling his eyebrows together.

“We’re connected?” he asked, his voice low and raspy. “But…”

He seemed as baffled as I was. My heart stopped as one thought in particular started knocking around in my mind. After having recently been so close to losing my brother, it was a thought I wasn’t ready to consider again.

“We already had some suspicion about this since the Daughter passed out at the same time as you did yesterday, but this confirms it. I believe your connection runs quite deep,” Anjani replied. “Your reactions and your wounds are mirrored accurately. I’m starting to think that if one of you dies, so will the other—”

“Don’t say that!” I immediately rejected the very idea that had been bothering me. “It can’t be!”

Anjani sighed and nodded, an expression of pity softening her face.

“I’m sorry, Serena, but all signs point to that.”

I took a deep breath, leaning into my fists as they sank into the mattress in front of me. We stood there for a while, watching each other.

“I had a vision outside, just before this happened, all on my own,” Phoenix broke the silence, his eyes set on the Daughter. “I watched her picking flowers, then all of a sudden it wasn’t her anymore, it was Elissa. I was reliving a scene with her and Draven’s father, sitting next to me. Thing is, the Daughter didn’t pass out this time, so I’m not sure how this connection really works…”

“Technically speaking, you didn’t pass out today, you only had a vision, so there was no reason for her to pass out either,” Anjani mused. “The other day, you were under the effect of some very potent herbs. It was your body that was affected and it’s your body that’s connected to her.”

Phoenix nodded slowly, running his fingers through a flowing river of reddish pink hair.

The Daughter slowly relaxed under the effect of the healing herbs. The dynamic between Phoenix and the Daughter had taken a very dramatic turn, and I feared it could spell trouble for my brother, the kind I’d be unable to protect him from.