A Ride of Peril (A Shade of Vampire #46)(65)

Jovi was the first to get off his horse and run straight to me, taking me up in his arms and laughing.

“There he is, my little trouble maker!” I laughed as he spun me around.

“I told you I’d be back!”

“I’m surprised they put up with you for that long.” I grinned.

“Trust me, we got very close to dumping him.” Anjani joined the joke, as she got off her horse with a playful smile on her face.

I noticed the change. Something had shifted between Jovi and Anjani. There was more there than before they’d left. I had a feeling they’d gotten closer. The looks they exchanged weren’t difficult to recognize.

“See?” Field said to me, chuckling. “I told you he’d be trouble.”

I shouted after Vita and Phoenix over my shoulder, positive they’d be as happy as I was to see half of our group back with what seemed like good news.

Bijarki stepped forward, his eyes darting around as if looking for someone. His expression brightened as he saw Vita emerge from the house to join us. He brought the two Lamias forward, introducing them to us.

“This is Tamara, Mother of the Lamias, and her Daughter, Eva,” Bijarki said.

I looked at the two creatures, both incredibly beautiful, clearly related yet quite different. Unlike her mother’s platinum hair and yellow-green scales, Eva’s rich locks flowed black on her shoulders, her skin pale and scales black. They both wore soft silk dresses in shades of white and pale green, complemented by emerald collars and bracelets.

“They’ve come to speak with Draven regarding our alliance against Azazel,” Bijarki added as we all gawked at them.

“It’s an honor to meet you. I’m Aida,” I said with a polite smile. “This is Vita and Field. Phoenix and the Daughter should be with us soon.”

Tamara looked us over, measuring Vita and me from head to toe before she gave us a warm and charming smile. There was something about snakes that made me wary, even when they were nice and smiling. I had a hard time trusting anything that slithered, and my previous experiences with their distant Destroyer relatives had not exactly helped.

“You must be the Oracles,” Tamara guessed with surprising accuracy. “And you, Field, you’re just as strange as Jovi, yet different. What are you?”

Field smirked, running a hand through his long black hair. I didn’t like Tamara much. She was far too confident in her own ability to seduce any living creature, and watching her set her sights on Field with her soft looks and sweet voice made me growl on the inside.

“It’s kind of a long story,” Field replied, giving me a sideways glance.

“Where’s Draven?” Bijarki intervened, cutting the awkward exchange short, to my relief.

“He’s not here yet,” I replied.

But before any of us could say anything else the sound of thundering hooves and neighing horses made us look out toward the bridge again. Hope blossomed in my heart that I would get to see Serena, Draven, and Hansa next.





Serena





We’d made it back with no major incident through the jungle. A few mindless shape-shifters had been brazen enough to try and jump at us, but Hansa swatted them away with a couple of poisoned arrows, leaving them writhing in the pain of death.

We darted through the woods, beckoning our horses to go as fast as they could, until we reached the protective shield.

“We’re here,” I gasped, as we passed through the barrier.

I nearly collapsed from my horse by the time we reached the front steps.

Vita, Aida, and Field waited with Jovi, Anjani, Bijarki, and two gorgeous creatures, briefly introduced as Tamara, Mother of the Lamias, and Eva, her daughter.

I sprang from the saddle right into Vita and Aida’s arms, overwhelmed with joy and relief to be with them again.

“You made it back in one piece, you devil!” Aida grinned, kissing my cheeks.

Draven stepped forward, followed by Hansa, Bijarki, and Sverik. Aida’s eyes glimmered with recognition at the sight of Kristos’s brother.

“It’s good to see you alive.” She smiled at him.

“You know me?” Sverik asked, confused.

“I saw you in my visions,” she replied.

“Ah, so you’re one of the Oracles then!” He beamed and shook her hand.

We introduced them to each other, and I shouted after Phoenix and the Daughter, eager to hug him. The intensity of everything I’d been through was suddenly starting to weigh on me. The adrenaline still pumped through me.

We caught up with one another briefly.

Tamara and Eva watched quietly with fascination. We were the foreign ones in their eyes, creatures they’d never seen before.

Phoenix emerged from the mansion, followed by the Daughter. He came down the stairs, and I jumped in his arms. He laughed and held me tight, and the world seemed right again.

“I told you I wasn’t going to accept any outcome other than you coming back to me in one piece,” he whispered in my ear. “The universe listened.”

The Daughter then jumped between us and hugged me, much to my surprise. I looked at Phoenix, and he shrugged, laughing lightly.

“I’m glad you’re back,” she said. “Phoenix has been worried sick about you!”

I loved seeing our group back together with a handful of new allies added to the mix. We’d had a successful mission, which gave me more hope. On top of that, after I’d launched that barrier at Azazel, I’d tapped into a previously undiscovered resource of courage. The initial gloom was slowly dissipating.