A Shield of Glass (A Shade of Vampire #49)(38)

But I wasn’t one to endure this kind of torture for too long. I always looked at a solution, and the absence of the Daughter expedited every process in my brain—all I could think of was how to get her back. I needed, desperately needed, to feel her in my arms again, to hear her soft breathing and listen to her voice as she whispered in my ear, her skin on mine, her taste on my lips.

Maybe I could reach out to the Daughters. Maybe I could reach some sort of agreement with them. Surely they could be reasoned with. The bond that Viola and I shared was deep on such a profound level, they couldn’t overlook it. They had to take me into account, whether they wanted to or not.

I sat up, exhaling sharply. My stomach churned and my entire ribcage ached, like she’d been cradled in there and someone had simply scooped her out and left an empty and painfully raw hole behind. I paced around my room for a while, thinking of ways to reach out to the Daughters. I had to speak to them. I had to try.

I thought of the Druid, then, and the first time we’d seen the Daughters. Maybe he could help.

I left my room and went looking for Draven throughout the living quarters. I used my True Sight, scanning each chamber until I found him at the far end, alone, perched on a window ledge. I knocked on the door, but he didn’t answer. I went in anyway. I wasn’t going to let common courtesy stop me from getting what I wanted, what I needed the most.

He looked at me with an eyebrow raised, but didn’t say anything. He waited for me to speak, and he didn’t bother to hide his emotions. I couldn’t tap into his mind like Serena, but I could still feel the dread, the anger, and the helplessness that simmered inside him. I couldn’t blame him.

I even got a whiff of guilt when our eyes met. I assumed it had to do with Vita’s vision of him killing me and the Daughter. I’d set that whole notion aside from the very beginning. I was already dealing with the loss of Viola; I had neither patience nor willingness to worry about a possible future. The only thing I knew for sure was that I was ready to do anything to protect the Daughter, including ending his life. I acknowledged it rather matter-of-factly and left it as such in the back of my head. I needed to get Viola back first.

“I need your help,” I said.

A shadow passed over his face before he looked away, focusing on the nightscape outside.

“You’ve reached out to the Daughters before. You’ve been rummaging through Druid spells here in Stonewall for days now. Can you help me get in touch with them? I need to get Viola back,” I continued. “I need to talk to them.”

A minute passed in utter silence before I opened my mouth to speak again.

“I would never put you through such an ordeal,” Draven answered before I could say anything. “There are other ways through which one could reach out to the Daughters. But they all involve a sacrifice of some kind. You saw yourself what price I paid after our first encounter with them. They are mean; they are cold, selfish, and capricious. I can’t put you through that, Phoenix. I am sorry.”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it,” I burst out, no longer able to control my broiling emotions. “I need to get her back. You don’t understand—it’s like torture without her. I can’t…”

My voice trailed off as Draven let out a long sigh and looked at me with a pained expression.

“No, you don’t understand, Phoenix,” he replied. “You’re extremely important to me, to Serena, to all of us. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you. They wouldn’t kill you, of course, but they could do other, terrible things to you. Or worse, they could come after Serena just to teach you a lesson, if you manage to irritate them in any way. We can’t risk it.”

I couldn’t respond. Everything he said made perfect sense, but it contradicted my feelings. It didn’t stifle the dread, it didn’t swat my fears away, and it didn’t stop the walls from closing in on me, nearly suffocating me.

“Think about it this way, for now,” he said then, watching me carefully. “Wherever Viola may be right now, she’s with her sisters. They’re teaching her to control her powers, but she won’t be able to stay away from you for too long. Chances are she will come to you once they deem her ready and no longer a liability. You two share an incredibly powerful bond that even her sisters can’t break. You know as well as I do that they would’ve severed it already, if they could.”

Once more, what the Druid said made sense. But it didn’t stop the knives from puncturing my heart, twisting and stabbing viciously whenever the thought of her popped into my head—and that was every other second now.

My head felt heavy, and my shoulders sagged. I nodded, defeated and finally exhausted.

Without another word, I retreated to my room.

I lay in my bed again, feeling cold and empty on the inside, as the walls continued to slowly close in on me. It didn’t seem like I had another choice. I had to find a way to tough it out instead. My sister needed me. My friends needed me. The whole of Eritopia needed me, and so did Viola.

I’d find my way back to her sooner rather than later, but in the meantime, I had to hold on.

I had to get used to spaces feeling smaller in her absence.

For now.





Serena





My eyes were starting to burn, as it was well past midnight and I was still rummaging through a forbidden Druid spell book, looking for something that could help us conceal Aida and Phoenix from Azazel. My heart was a blob of lead, hanging heavily in my chest, as I thought of Draven and what he was going through. The guilt was going to eat away at him in the end, and I figured I’d at least try to keep the Oracles safe until the alliance meeting—hoping it would remove some of the pressure keeping Draven down.