A Shield of Glass (A Shade of Vampire #49)(69)

He bawled mockingly, then pulled me closer, painfully jerking my neck in the process.

“You should’ve stayed on my good side, little Oracle,” he hissed.

I glanced around and saw Patrik as he slithered out by the wall, undetected. To my right, the little Daughter stood by the bed, paralyzed and wide-eyed as she understood what kind of “father” Azazel was. My heart tore apart as I looked at Bijarki out cold on the floor and the little Daughter unable to defend herself from this monster.

“You’ll never win,” I said through gritted teeth. “You will die, and I will be there to watch you burn.”

“We’ll see about that, little Oracle. I could see your boyfriend coming as soon as he set foot in Luceria. Do you really think I would let you just waltz out of here with my most prized possessions—which include you, by the way? You must be as foolish as this incubus to think I’m that easy to fool.” Azazel chuckled. “The only thing you’ll get to watch is your friends burning, including Patrik. That spineless worm… I know he helped you. I could feel him slipping away sometimes. I never should’ve let him near you. I don’t know what you did to him to get him out of my control, but you will pay.”

I looked at Thadeus and Damion, who stood there motionless, their yellow eyes darting from me to Azazel, then to Bijarki and the Daughter.

“I helped Patrik break free from your sick control.” I raised my voice to make sure his Destroyers heard me, to plant the idea in their heads. “You’re not invincible, Azazel. If Patrik could break free and return to his Druid form, so can the others. You won’t win this one. Sorry.”

“Oh no, honey, you’re the one who’s going to be sorry.” He grinned.

He brought his hand down hard, slapping me out of consciousness.

He was right. I was in trouble, and so was Bijarki.

Darkness swallowed me.





Serena





We crawled behind a black stone boulder as arrows kept swishing past us.

“It’s the Druids,” I breathed.

“Would you like to do the honors?” He raised an eyebrow at me, the corner of his mouth twitching.

“Don’t mind if I do,” I replied and rose to my knees, pushing out a powerful barrier.

It was enough to knock them off their feet. I heard them grunting and panting as I stood and moved closer to the rocks from which they’d been shooting their arrows. Draven came to my side, his arms raised in a defensive gesture.

“We mean you no harm,” he said. “We come in peace!”

The young Druids got up and scrambled to get their bows and arrows off the ground, but I pushed out another barrier and knocked them back down.

“We’re not here to hurt you!” I shouted.

“Then… Then what do you want?” one of them asked, short of breath. “And how did you do that?”

“You’re Ori, Malachy, Flynn, Mason, Cassin, and Dain, are you not?” Draven asked.

“How… Do you know us?” Another one stood, dusting himself off.

“I’m Draven. I’m a Druid, like you. This is Serena.”

“Not from around here,” I added.

“Yeah, I can tell,” the first one shot back. “I’m Ori.”

“And I’m Flynn,” the second one said. The others stood up and came closer, looking at us curiously but warily. “This is Malachy, Mason, Cassin, and Dain.”

Draven gave them a curt nod and a half-smile.

“I must say, it’s an honor to meet you all,” he replied.

“I didn’t think there were any Druids left, besides us.” Malachy frowned.

“I thought the same thing, until our Oracles saw you in their visions,” Draven said.

“You have Oracles?” Mason was stunned.

“And an alliance of the free rebel nations rising against Azazel. We’re ready to take the snake down,” I replied with confidence. “What do you say, Druids? Ready to kick some ass?”

They all went silent, staring at us. A good minute passed before either of them spoke.

“We’ve been stuck here for a long time,” Ori sighed. “We haven’t heard from Antara in decades. We’ve lost some of our own to Destroyers. We didn’t think there was any hope left…”

“I know, and I am truly sorry for your loss,” Draven said solemnly. “But we need you. We need Druids to fight with us. We need your power, your natural magic, your willingness to defend this world and take it back from Azazel.”

“But he’s so powerful,” Malachy replied.

“True, but we know where his power stems from, and we’re already taking measures to cut him off. There is hope, Druids, believe me. Our armies are moving in on his castle on Antara, but I need you to join me in a direct attack on Azazel himself. If we come together, we will bring him to his knees. His hubris has blinded him. He’s made mistakes.”

“Such as?” Malachy pursed his lips.

“Not killing me when he had the chance.” Draven grinned. “You can’t spend the rest of your lives cowering in this desert. You might lose but at least you’ll go down swinging or, even better, you’ll win. Either way, Azazel will come after you eventually. And he will kill Thadeus and Damion, too, once he’s done with them.”