A Ride of Peril(13)

He stilled, his breath stuck somewhere in his throat. His eyes were wide, watching me as I threw him a lazy smile and left the room. I closed the door behind me and nearly collapsed, shocked and exhilarated by my decision to take our relationship to another level.

My heart throbbed, violent butterflies wrestled in my stomach, and my lips were tender. I could still taste him, and I smiled as I realized it had all been worth it. I would do it again. He would crumble, and I would melt into him. We would forget about the world for a minute.





Serena





After searching through a couple of bedrooms with no luck, Draven and I started looking through his study. The fire was out, and I was thankful to not be boiling while rummaging through shelves and drawers of Draven's most precious belongings. This was his safe space, his haven when everything else was dark or dismal around him.

On many levels, my presence there felt as intimate as being in his bedroom, in his bed, sleeping in each other's arms. I found myself treating each object I touched with absolute reverence, out of respect for him and his Druid craft. Draven sifted through one bookshelf, while I took the other one, our backs to each other.



      ///
       
         
       
        
We'd been at it for a couple of hours.

Talking through things with Draven had yielded results in the past, and it often gave me the resolve I needed to keep fighting the possible future described in Vita's visions. While he wasn't exactly the most optimistic creature I'd ever met, talking to him did help me find solutions to problems that were critical for our survival in Eritopia that I would have missed otherwise.

"So, once we find the third book, what do we do next?" I asked.

"We put the three together and decrypt their pages. They're broken in three, hence there's a high probability that we'll have to do a little mix and match between them," he replied, moving his attention to another shelf.

"Do you think that will be enough?"

"I don't, actually, but it's a good place to start. The swamp witches were known to walk through fire without ever getting burned, along with other equally stunning accomplishments. Finding that spell and figuring out how it works is the only way for us to reach Mount Zur, the volcano closest to Azazel's dungeon. You know, since we're not made of lava and limestone like the Dearghs."

I found his sarcasm endearing. I looked over my shoulder to find him smirking at me and gave him a brief eye-roll in response before I resumed my search. We had a way of saying more to each other without words, sometimes.

"And once we make it that far, what next?"

"There's approximately one mile of jungle and hills up to Azazel's castle from there," Draven replied. "We'll have to sneak through and infiltrate the dungeon. But there are spies and hostile elements all over that stretch of land. It will be extremely dangerous."

I had a feeling he'd oppose me coming with him on this mission, so I decided to stomp that flame before it turned into a full-blown argument. "Yeah, not the first time or the last," I shot back. "You'll need me there, and you know it."

He said nothing for a while, and I didn't challenge him further. I'd made my point. Persistence would have dismantled my stance, making it seem like I was trying to convince him to let me come along instead of stating it as a fact.

I could feel his gaze drilling into the back of my head, but I didn't look at him. I focused my attention on another shelf stacked with leather-bound books.

"Why are all your books leather-bound, Draven?" I asked sarcastically, changing the subject before he could ponder it too long. "Do you not realize how difficult it's making this task of finding a specific leather-bound book if they all look the same? Hm?"

"Unfortunately, I was not responsible for the printing and binding process," he replied, his voice tinged with amusement. 

"Of course you're not responsible," I sighed, continuing the ruse and flipping through another book, this one a brief history of Lamias.

I'll read this one later. I put it back and moved on to another shelf.

Draven changed the subject. "We need to get Sverik out of that dungeon in one piece, alive and motivated to cooperate with us. It's not just his intel that I'm after. He's known well enough in these lands to rally the few remaining incubi and succubi who have yet to swear fealty to Azazel. He's essential to our cause, especially now with the Red Tribe decimated to a bare dozen."

I sighed, remembering the harrowing scene we'd witnessed the day before. A thought occurred to me, given that Sverik's father was still a traitor to Eritopia.