A Shield of Glass (A Shade of Vampire #49)(14)

“He can’t come back from that. He’s gone.” Bijarki nearly broke down in tears, but took a few deep breaths to keep his composure, as several incubi were looking at them from across the water.

“We need to move on, Bijarki,” Anjani replied gently. “Our marriage will unite the incubi and succubi for good. We must protect our people, the handful we have left. We’ve been exiled to Marton for now, but we need to regain our strength, increase our numbers, and either find a way out of Eritopia or finally kill Draven and finish what Serena couldn’t… and cannot do…”

Their words hit me like a massive stone hammer. I could almost feel my ribs cracking. I felt tears rushing up to my eyes again, but this time I couldn’t stop them, and they streamed down my cheeks. The future was cruel, indeed. I would die. Jovi would die. Phoenix would die. And the world would burn as my Bijarki entered an arranged marriage with Anjani to keep their people united. The cruelty of the universe suddenly felt limitless and unfathomable.

“I know, Anjani,” Bijarki muttered. “I’m doing this with a heavy heart.”

“So am I, Bijarki. My soul belongs to Jovi, and he took it with him when Draven killed him. I believe the same can be said about you and Vita. But they’re both gone, and we are still here,” she said. “For now, we must keep our people united. Antara has burned. It’s a barren wasteland. Our only hope to survive is here on Marton, by the river. But they won’t stay together unless we prove we can first.”

Anjani pointed at the incubi and succubi scattered across the oasis, some occasionally glancing at them with hopeful eyes.

“You and I will lead our people further, but first we must show them that we can unite, that we can be together and coexist in peace and harmony. It is our only shot at survival,” she added with a trembling voice.

I got up, no longer able to listen. My head hurt and my whole body ached as I sobbed and walked away. I couldn’t be there anymore.

“Serena should have killed Draven when she had the chance. Then we wouldn’t be in this mess,” I heard Anjani say before the world faded back into darkness around me.



I was still struggling to cope with everything I’d seen and heard up to that point, taking deep breaths and reminding myself that what I was experiencing was merely the most probable version of the future. Nothing was set in stone.

But then the darkness dissolved again and left me on Luceria’s platform, where Oracles had once been trapped in glass spheres by Azazel.

The wind howled around me, and the skies were purple and black, blocking the sun entirely. The land was indeed barren, reduced to ashes and lifeless dirt. Broken glass was scattered everywhere across the abandoned platform.

I rushed down the stairs, my feet barely touching the stone. I ran down a wide corridor, which I remembered leading to Azazel’s throne room. Curiosity moved me in that direction, as did the voices emerging from beyond the massive, closed double doors.

I passed through them like the ghost I was, and stilled at the horrific sight before me.

Azazel’s throne was still there, but with a new occupant. Draven now rested in it, but I could barely recognize him. Were it not for his sand-colored hair and his facial structure, he could have been a stranger. His eyes were yellow, and the lower half of his body had turned into a massive, black snake tail. Black scales covered parts of his scarred bare chest and arms, while Azazel’s snake pendant hung from his neck, ever-moving with its beady ruby eyes.

Draven had become a Destroyer.

I gasped and brought my hands up to cover my mouth, taking a few deep breaths through my nose as I tried to process this dark and twisted version of him. Whatever he had done to destroy Azazel, he’d inherited the darkness, the poison, and I had a feeling the snake medallion had something to do with it all.

“Draven, please…”

Serena’s voice broke me out of my shocked state. I saw her close to the throne, trapped in a large black iron cage, obsidian cuffs locked around her wrists. She was weakened and weary, her black hair a tangled mess, while dirt and dried blood covered her face. Her bluish eyes were wide and sparkling with fresh tears, and she sat with her back leaning against the bars.

My heart was nearly torn from my chest as I took a few steps toward her.

Draven moved his head, and I froze, watching as he looked at her, his eyes flaring green for a brief moment as he bared his fangs.

“What is it, darling?” he asked, his voice sweet but deliberately fake.

“Just kill me already,” she cried out.

“What? Why?” he feigned surprise, like a little boy who had to go home too soon. “I thought your love for me would never die! Is it the tail? Is it, maybe, a little off-putting? That’s very superficial of you, Serena. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

“Why are you doing this?” she asked, her lower lip trembling. “Aren’t you tired of doing this? Aren’t you tired of it all? Just, please, kill me. End it…”

“Aw, darling! You don’t love me anymore, then?”

“My love for you died the moment you chose Azazel’s darkness over me!” Serena screamed, and sprang to her feet, gripping the cage bars with newfound rage. “The Draven I loved is gone…”

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked at him. Draven watched her for a while, his expression firm and unreadable.