A Ride of Peril (A Shade of Vampire #46)(68)

“You’re not helping!” Aida snapped at him.

“He’s right. I’ve basically brought Azazel in here,” I said.

“Don’t beat yourself up,” Draven said to me. “The worst part is that Azazel now knows our location, but the Oracles are beneath the protective shield, so he can’t feel them. Technically speaking, he shouldn’t know they’re here, unless the Nevertide Oracle told him.”

“But the fireflies were in here. They’ve seen us all,” Serena frowned.

“True, but our Oracles don’t look like regular Oracles, and, besides, the spies were in a jar. I don’t think any sounds went through. I’m thinking that even if Azazel has seen our faces, he wouldn’t be able to spot an Oracle without having heard something specific,” Draven replied.

A moment passed before he spoke again.

“We should expect company soon, nonetheless.”

“Draven, I’ve seen swarms of these green fireflies a couple of miles north of here,” I said. “That’s where I snatched the ones I brought in. They sort of tagged along.”

He nodded slowly, then looked up. His eyes widened, prompting me to follow his gaze.

Soon enough, we were all staring at the same thing. A thick swarm of green fireflies hovered above the mansion, trying and failing to pass through the protective shield, which glimmered outward in ripples each time a little spy touched the Daughters’ spell.

The Druid had been right. The fireflies I’d brought in had come with me. The swarm, on the other hand, could not get through the shield.

“They found us,” Draven breathed.





Vita





My heart froze in my chest, my stomach reducing itself to the size of a walnut. Cold shivers ran down my spine. I stared up, watching thousands of green fireflies buzzing around, trying to get past the protective shield.

Bijarki stood next to me, the back of his hand brushing against mine. Our eyes met, and he seemed to understand the fear I exuded. Azazel’s spies had found our safe space.

“I suggest going inside, away from this sight, to think things through. The Destroyers can’t get past the protective shield and can’t see inside either, so at least that gives us an advantage, still,” Draven said.

I then remembered my vision of Bijarki and me in the upstairs bedroom and Destroyers crashing through the window. I’d kept it to myself at first, having considered it a bad dream, but the vision had been clear the second time around. The monsters were going to invade the mansion. It was a fact.

“I need to tell you something,” I said to Draven, my voice trembling. “I had a few visions while you were away, and one, in particular, will be of concern.”

He looked at me, his eyebrows drawn into a frown.

“I was in the upstairs bedroom, and Destroyers crashed through the windows, capturing me and dragging me away,” I omitted the part about Bijarki in bed with me. I felt like I could keep that to myself for a little while longer.

“Destroyers will come in here at some point,” I added. “I don’t know how or when exactly, but they will.”

Everyone looked at me in disbelief. I hated giving such horrible news, especially when our safety, our lives, were directly affected. But I had no other choice now. The only thing I could do was find a way to stop that from happening. If I could at least find out how the Destroyers would manage to get past the protective shield, we’d be able to take action and prevent it.

Hissing echoed through the sky from beyond the jungle.

We froze, our eyes up, watching as dozens of Destroyers emerged from all directions, riding their black-winged horses. They started circling the mansion, slowly descending. One tried to get through the protective shield, but the spell flickered and threw the monster back. It cursed and tried again but failed.

I gasped, my whole body trembling. Bijarki’s arm reached around me, pulling me closer, enough to give me a small sense of security and prevent me from spiraling into a full-blown panic attack. Our mansion was surrounded by Destroyers.

Our worst nightmare was coming true.

We were all petrified, but none of us could speak.

Draven’s eyes flickered black as he watched the Destroyers fly around.

The Mother of Lamias hissed, her tongue flitting in the air as she held her daughter’s hand.

“You’ve exposed us to death, Druid! This wasn’t part of the deal!” she snapped.

“There is no point in arguing now, Tamara.” Draven was quick to politely dismiss her. “It’s not like you’ve been great at negotiating an alliance anyway, so let’s save our critique and alliance conditions for later. For now let’s focus on the dozens of Destroyers circling the mansion.”

My blood ran cold. Sweat beads dripped from my temples—I could feel them slipping down my skin. Bijarki’s grip on me tightened, his eyes scanning the Destroyers’ movements. We were all out of words.

“What do we do?” Serena asked, her voice faded.

“There isn’t much we can do right now,” Draven replied. “They can’t see us, and they can’t get in.”

One by one, the winged horses landed around the mansion. The monsters slithered off and began circling the protective shield, occasionally slashing at it with their swords and generating shimmering ripples. They were stuck on the outside, indeed, but they had already figured out the size of our perimeter.