A Shield of Glass (A Shade of Vampire #49)(42)

I couldn’t blame Zeriel either: he was only looking to find a solution, a way to stop Vita’s visions from coming true. But the very notion of betraying those close to him pushed Draven back over the edge and into a sullen state that was hard to come back from.

Nevertheless, I persisted, summoning every ounce of patience I had in me, and talked Draven back into focus—the day of the alliance meeting was finally upon us, and we had a lot of work to do.

I used the telepathy spell ingredients to reach out to Tamara and Bijarki. The Lamia was the first to respond.

“Serena, nice to hear you’re still alive,” she said, with no feeling in her voice. “I’m close to Stonewall now. I should be there shortly. A trail was left for Kyana as well, so she knows where to find us.”

“That’s good to hear,” I replied. “Good to hear you didn’t get stomped by a horse.”

I heard her laugh lightly in my head. She’d caught the gist and seemed to appreciate the dark humor.

“Clearly, you give as good as you get.” She snickered. “You will make a fine leader one day.”

Tamara was like that, I realized. With one hand she patted your back and encouraged you, while she used the other to slap you hard before comforting you again. There was a strategy behind her demeanor, but I’d yet to figure out its purpose. All I could do was appreciate her compliments and brace myself for the day Draven would tell her there was no way in hell he’d mate with Eva. Our group had already kept Eva safe despite dozens of Destroyers chasing them, and Vita had set her sister free. The balance had moved slowly in our favor.

“Bijarki, are you there?” I called out to the incubus.

“Here,” came his raspy reply. “I’m on my way to Luceria. Got side-tracked by former soldiers who thought they could cash in on the reward on my head. I had to put on the invisibility spell to keep others from doing the same. I’ll reach the castle by sunrise.”

“Please be safe,” I told him. “Vita is counting on you…”

“She’s the only reason I’m still topside, Serena,” Bijarki said, breathing heavily. He was most likely running through the jungle. “Do you have an exact location for her?”

“Yes,” I said. “Aida has been checking in with her every few hours, just so you know. She’s on the seventh level, east wing, the summer suite just below the throne room.”

“Thank you, Serena.”

“Bring her back, please,” I mumbled, a claw gripping my heart. I missed my little fire fae so much.

“I promise,” came his solemn reply.

All I could do was wait and hope that everything would be okay, that I would see Vita soon enough. Bijarki had the invisibility spell to his advantage, making this a relatively simple extraction mission. Given our twisted track record, however, I couldn’t help but worry that something might still go awfully wrong.

I took comfort in words my mother had once said: “If you think the worst will happen, you’re nudging the universe in that direction.” I took a deep breath and followed her advice, focusing on the positive possibilities. I missed my parents. I missed The Shade.

Someday soon, this would all be over and we’d see our families again. I’d feel The Shade’s warm, fragrant breeze against my face, and our beloved island’s beauty would ease the ache in my heart.

I could only be grateful that at least back home they didn’t know we existed. They didn’t suffer in our absence like we quietly did in theirs.





Vita





I hadn’t seen Azazel or Damion for well over a day, and it had made my involuntary stay slightly more bearable. I spent most of my time thinking of ways in which we could prevent the future I’d last envisioned. I went over all possible scenarios, but, since I didn’t know everything about Azazel’s true capabilities, I wasn’t sure how many of my ideas might actually work.

Nevertheless, I focused on a solution and hoped Patrik would be able to uncover something about Azazel’s snake pendant. From what Aida had told me during our private sessions, the pendant held Asherak’s curse and could not be destroyed. The only question that lingered in my mind was: What if it could be destroyed?

No one had asked the Daughters about it. What if they could destroy it?

The doors to my room opened, and I stilled on the bed, watching Damion as he slithered in with a breakfast tray. He looked sullen but calm, but my dislike of him didn’t falter. It was all still there, I realized, as the urge to smack him came burning back up. I tightened my hands into fists and measured my breaths, instead.

“Where’s Patrik?” I asked.

“He’s busy, and I’ve been reassigned to the upper levels,” came his dry reply.

“You sound upset,” I said, stifling a smirk as he put the tray on the chest of drawers by the window and turned to face me.

“What did you expect? I got sent to hard labor in the kitchens because of you!” he hissed.

“You tried to strangle me!” I shot back.

“You’ve been getting me into trouble with Azazel from the moment you arrived! Your little trick with the Lamia nearly cost me my life.”

I weighed my response carefully. I didn’t need a hostile guard around, not with Bijarki so close to Luceria. I swallowed my pride and went down the amiable route.