A Ride of Peril (A Shade of Vampire #46)(66)

Draven cleared his throat and bowed before Tamara and Eva. Phoenix’s eyes grew large at the sight of them, giving me the impression that he knew them.

“It’s an honor to have you here, Tamara,” Draven said. “I was hoping we’d get to discuss the terms of an alliance against Azazel.”

“I’ve heard,” Tamara replied politely. “Bijarki told me you’re in possession of three Oracles and the support of the Dearghs and that you are hoping to rally all remaining species against Azazel. That is a most noble but dangerous pursuit.”

Phoenix kept watching the exchange, frowning. I nudged him and gave him a questioning sideways glance, but he ignored me and kept watching Tamara. I could tell something was off, but Tamara’s responses quickly recaptured my attention.

“Does that mean you’ll join us?” Draven asked.

“It’s why I came to see you myself. Your plan shows promise, and the Lamias would be willing to fight for you. Under one condition,” she replied with an icy smile.

I had a feeling the conversation was about to turn bad fast. None of us said anything, waiting for Draven to respond.

“Tell me what the condition is, then, before I agree to anything,” he said.

She pushed Eva forward. The younger Lamia looked at us awkwardly. She hadn’t said anything yet, and I wondered what her role was in this alliance. Her expression didn’t give anything away either. She simply eyed Draven whenever she got a chance.

“You must mate with my daughter, Druid, and help her conceive a child,” came Tamara’s reply.





Serena





“Only then will you have our full support against Azazel,” Tamara added.

My jaw dropped, and I couldn’t hold back an outraged gasp. My expression was mirrored by everyone else in the group, with the exception of Tamara and Eva, who seemed to have thought this through already. In fact, Eva seemed quite pleased with the idea, judging by her self-confident smirk.

Draven looked baffled, his eyes flickering black as he blinked rapidly, trying to digest the Lamias’ request.

“You’ve got to be joking,” he replied, his voice dim.

“Draven, I know her,” Phoenix intervened with an alarmed expression. “I know Tamara. I’ve seen her in one of my visions of the past.”

It then dawned on me why Phoenix had been so on edge over the last couple of minutes.

“You know me, Oracle?” Tamara looked at him curiously.

“Yes. You were a servant of Genevieve. You studied under Draven’s mother,” Phoenix replied. “You and Azazel got together, but you were revealed as a Lamia and ran off, pregnant with his child.”

Silence fell between us, as all the pieces fit together neatly in a wider puzzle. My stomach churned. My heart sank. And Tamara smiled, further rattling my senses.

“You’re Azazel’s daughter,” Draven murmured, looking at Eva.

The young Lamia seemed ashamed of that association but nodded in response, then proceeded to measure him from head to toe, as if sizing up a good steak. My blood simmered.

“And you’re Genevieve’s son,” Tamara replied, a warm twinkle in her yellow eyes.

“Indeed I am. I’m just wondering how you managed to deceive her, pretending to be a Druid,” he shot back, his face hardened.

“I never lied to Genevieve. She knew exactly what I was and accepted me. She kept my secret and helped me learn the way of the Druids. She understood that Lamias had the same abilities, the same potential as the Druids, and that our taste for incubus flesh should not have locked us out of the mystical circle. We deserve knowledge, and she agreed to teach me. Genevieve was the best thing to ever happen to me, Draven. Azazel was the worst, but then I had Eva, and my life gained new meaning. If it hadn’t been for your mother, my child and I would have never survived in this world.”

“Azazel looked for you,” Phoenix said, his gaze fixed on Tamara. “He tormented an Oracle to tell him where you were. He never found you, did he?”

Tamara shook her head, her brow furrowing.

“That was Raelle you saw. She was a good Oracle, and an even better being,” she sighed. “I tried to get her out of there as soon as Azazel brought her in, but I was no match for him and his Destroyers. He beat me to a pulp, not knowing I was with child at the time. I nearly lost Eva, which was why I ran away. I’d witnessed his descent into madness, and I could no longer be a part of it. I never forgave him, and I never will.”

“Why should we trust you?” Phoenix insisted, gritting his teeth.

“My kind is on the brink of extinction thanks to that monster!” Tamara burst out, overcome by anger. “I want to see him burn! We’ve been reduced to negotiating Draven’s seed for my daughter just to help our species. Can you not see that?”

A moment passed before either of us could say anything. The gravity of the situation began to sink in. I looked at Draven, whose gaze moved between Tamara and Eva.

“You want me to give Eva a child,” he repeated.

Tamara nodded. “You are the last Druid, Draven. It’s you or nothing, as the nineteenth kingdom has fallen recently. You must help us produce offspring. Perhaps she will live long enough to find another way for our species to continue. Otherwise we’ll all eventually die out.”