A Meet of Tribes (A Shade of Vampire #45)(56)

“Not that great, but I’m alternating the sessions,” Vita replied with a sigh. “Mornings seem better for fire play. I need more energy to harness the flames and make them obey. I’m making progress on that end, but I think I still have a long way to go before I can do serious damage.”

“And the visions? Anything new?”

She shook her head, a frown pulling her slim brows together.

“Not much, just loose little snippets, nothing concrete. Draven said it’s natural for the process to be slow, and that I must keep at it. But I admit I’m lacking patience.”

The sound of Draven’s name made me feel uneasy. My soul was still healing from our last encounter in his study. I had a hard time accepting the situation, and the recurring memories of our moments together weren’t helping.

“I’m not fully focused,” Vita added. “Bijarki’s been gone for two days now, and I don’t know if he’s okay or when he’s coming back. I’m starting to get worried.”

Her confession made me push whatever frustration I had with Draven to the back of my head. She was suffering as well. I didn’t like seeing her like this. I stood.

“I’ll go check with Draven, to see if he knows anything,” I said, bracing myself to face him.

Vita looked up, surprise brightening her turquoise eyes.

“Are you sure? You’re not on the best terms with the Druid right now. I mean, there’s enough tension between the two of you to cut with a knife. It’s made breakfast quite awkward over these past couple of days.”

“Yes, it’s fine. Don’t worry about that. I can’t do anything about me and him, but I can at least do something about you and the incubus.” I sighed and went inside the mansion.

I reached the door to his study and paused, taking a few deep breaths for control. I had to play it as cool as I possibly could. Go in, ask the question, get the answer, leave. It was easy.

I walked in without knocking, as usual. The thought of irritating him even in the smallest of ways gave me some satisfaction. But I stopped as soon as I registered the scene before me.

Draven stood before his desk, a map unraveled beneath his fingers. In front of him stood Hansa and Bijarki. The fire burned hot in the fireplace, making me break into a sweat. Hansa wore her black leather garments with silver plates, and the red cape hung loosely from one shoulder. Her sword’s hilt poked out from underneath. She turned around to face me and gave me a beaming, enthusiastic smile, as if I were the best thing she’d seen all day. Bijarki looked over his shoulder and nodded politely.

“Serena!” Hansa exclaimed.

She reached me in two steps and nearly crushed me in a bear hug, holding me against her toned curves. She was such an impressive creature. I found myself always in awe of her. I hugged her back, taking comfort in her unconditional affection while I caught a glimpse of Draven. Our eyes met for a brief second before he turned his focus back to Bijarki. A muscle danced in his jaw.

“It feels like I haven’t seen you in forever,” Hansa said and stepped back to look at me.

She scanned me from head to toe and frowned slightly. “You’re not eating much, are you?”

“I’m all right. Not much of an appetite, that’s all.” I blushed and gave her a weak smile. “It’s so good to see you. I had no idea you were here or that Bijarki was back.”

I made sure to accentuate the incubus’s name enough to make him feel singled out. I knew Vita had been worried about him, so it didn’t feel right to know he’d been here in Draven’s study for who knows how long.

“When did you arrive?” I asked Hansa. My gaze found Bijarki, who was giving me a wary sideways glance.

“Oh, about an hour ago. We had to organize everything back at the camp before I could come here,” she replied. “I was just briefing the Druid on what we’ve learned so far.”

I nodded and focused on Hansa, unwilling to look at Draven again. I feared that if I saw his deep gray eyes, I would lose control over my senses and cave in. I had to bottle it all in.

“So, what’s new?” I asked, a tinge of faux excitement in my voice, as if engaging in the most trivial conversation possible.

“Well, I met Urdi on his mountain. It took me a while to convince him to agree to a meeting with Draven,” she said. “He wasn’t so happy about Azazel draining his volcanoes of energy for his dark magic, but he was still clinging to that ridiculous pacifist approach of his, according to which everything is the will of Eritopia and Azazel was most likely part of it blah, blah, blah. Long story short, I eventually presented him with the argument that he needed to get really angry and literally catch fire.”

She chuckled, remembering the scene. I felt a smile tug at the corners of my mouth. Hansa had that effect on me, apparently.

“They’re such peaceful creatures, these Dearghs. Such slow and gentle stone giants…until you make them mad. They light up from the inside like beacons of fire. You must take a few steps back so as not to get scorched. I made him understand that Azazel’s use of the volcanoes for his dark magic wasn’t natural at all, that it was a Druid-made intervention that contradicted the nature of Eritopia. I had to give him a few examples from the Druids’ history for him to better understand what dark magic did. And once he realized that Azazel was killing the Dearghs out of nothing but greed, he lost it,” Hansa laughed. “So, Urdi has agreed to meet with Draven at Mount Inon. It's the closest active volcano from here. It’s a half-day trip on foot,” she concluded.