A Ride of Peril(19)

I pulled the cover away and revealed the swamp witches' third book, identical to her sister volumes, bound in leather with off-white pages and incomplete scribbles and pentagrams.

Warmth enveloped me as I looked at the Daughter and found her smiling, lit up with joy and excitement. She'd helped us. I knew it made her happy that she was able to help me, to help us. I felt her glee in my heart, and I swore I'd do everything I could to always help her feel like that.





Serena





Later that night we all gathered in the banquet hall for dinner. The table was rich in delicious smelling food, from grilled dishes and vegetable stew to baked breads and sumptuous fruit platters. Crystal pitchers of water infused with different berries and leaves glistened under the candelabra, and I was surprised to see a fine set of silverware and porcelain with gold filigree designs.

The candles from both chandeliers above were lit, along with every other wall sconce in the hall, bathing everything in pleasant amber light. It looked like a celebration.

Vita, Aida, and Phoenix sat next to each other, while the Daughter, Field, and Bijarki faced them on the other side of the table. Jovi and Anjani had taken their seats closer to the grilled platters, and Draven sat at the head of the table with Hansa to his right. 

I sat to his left.

I couldn't help marveling at how beautiful it all was.

"This looks like quite the feast. What happened?" I asked, smiling and eager to enjoy a bit of everything on display.

"I asked the wards to prepare for a celebration," the Daughter said, helping herself to a spoonful of vegetable stew.

"I cannot express how grateful I am to have you here with us," Jovi quipped, already stuffing his face.

I nodded my appreciation to the Daughter, and she responded with a smile. I looked at Draven and found him already watching me, candlelight reflections flickering in his gray eyes. I filled my plate and ate quietly.

The rest of the group talked about the books, the swamp witches, and what we could do next.

Draven stood and took the lead in the conversation. "First, let's see how the books come together." He fetched the books from a cabinet nearby and placed them on the dinner table next to each other.

We were all silent, watching as he flipped them open, one by one, and frowned.

"Something's not right," he mumbled.

"What do you mean?" I asked, gazing at the first pages.

They didn't seem connected at all. The symbols from one book didn't match any of the other two. He shuffled them around, changing their position, trying a horizontal and vertical order, but still, they didn't say anything.

"They're not making sense," Draven groaned. His jaw muscle tightened.

Hansa stood up and came to his side, looking at the pages with identical befuddlement. She turned several pages and moved the books around again.

"He's right. They're not linked in any way. The half-symbols and sketches in one book don't match any of the other two. It's not supposed to be like this," she muttered.

One by one, we all stood up and inched closer to get a better look.

"This can't be happening," Draven hissed and sat down with a defeated expression.

"Why don't we just finish dinner, go to sleep, and look at them again tomorrow with fresh eyes?" I said.

I took my seat and ate a bite.

Draven nodded, then put the books one on top of the other and poured himself another glass of water. Once again, his plate was empty.

"Out of curiosity, when is it that you actually eat?" I grinned, hoping to steer the conversation away from the books for a while.

"Once a day, but I don't like to be seen when I feed," he replied, staring absently at his plate.

"Why not?"

"Druids are, in many ways, like snakes," Hansa interjected as she sat back down. "They don't eat cooked food. They only tolerate raw meat."

Draven cut her off. "She really doesn't need the full graphic description."

"She's a big girl. She can take it, especially after everything she's seen so far!" Hansa shot back with a smirk, then looked at me. "They eat like snakes, basically. Swallowing large pieces of flesh, which they gradually digest over the course of the day. In the old days, they used to gobble up entire animals, spitting the bones out after a couple of hours, but they've come a long way since then."

A moment of silence passed as I looked at him and noticed he was avoiding eye contact. I couldn't help but wonder whether he was embarrassed. Judging by the flush in his cheeks, I guessed he was.

Hansa seemed to notice as well. "He's ashamed," she chuckled.

"What's there to be ashamed of? He eats raw meat. I literally suck the life out of people. We're all weirdos here," I quipped.

I didn't want him to feel like a misfit, not in my presence, not with my family or friends-particularly when we were all hybrids of sorts, crosses between sentries, vampires, witches, Hawks, werewolves, and fae. He looked at me, and his gaze softened, a faint smile animating his features.