A Ride of Peril(33)

Draven opened his satchel and started taking out more ingredients from their small leather pouches, along with the Daughter's notes. I watched as he followed instructions and mixed everything into another bowl.

"This is the invisibility spell," Draven said. "It will keep us cloaked throughout this mission. We should ingest it, to be safe."

"Oh good, another delicious midnight snack," I replied, and Hansa chuckled at my side.

"Whatever it takes for us not to get killed, I will gladly eat," she said, a shadow passing over her face beneath the giant moon above. "I have a score to settle with the Sluaghs, and I'll be damned if I'll die before I get to crush their wormy heads with my bare hands."

Zur and Inon nodded.

"We heard the Destroyers as they returned from the northern mountains. They were quick to boast about how they had wiped out the entire Red Tribe," Zur said to Hansa. "Little did they know then that the Red Tribe survived, for here you are, standing before us."

She looked up at the stone giant and grinned.

"It'll take more than a handful of snakes and worms to kill this succubus, Deargh. Don't you forget that!"



Half an hour later, the invisibility spell was ready. Hansa was checking our supplies and weapons, stocking up on poisoned arrows by dipping their tips in the purple toxin she'd brought from the mansion. I was filling up the water bladders for the road while Draven was busy sharpening his knives, when he looked up, his gaze finding mine. He stood up, took my hand and pulled me away from the center of the grassy plateau, leading me to the edge.

We were slightly obscured by darkness, as the camp fire's light faded with the distance. Before I could open my mouth to ask what this was about, Draven wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close to him, his expression firm.

I felt his heart thudding in his chest as he tightened his grip on my body.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Absolutely nothing," was his reply.

"Then why did we stop?"

"Because I might not get to tell you what I want to tell you later." His voice was low and raspy in my ear.

My breathing accelerated as I felt his lips on my neck. His mouth moved upward along my jawline, until it found my lips and ravished me with a hungry and unapologetic kiss. I lost myself in the moment, grateful for a few minutes in his arms. Draven's hands gripped my hips and pulled me closer, beckoning me to feel every hard line of his body.

"I need you to be careful, Serena," he said hoarsely, breaking the kiss for a moment. "I simply can't fathom the thought of you getting hurt on this mission, and I need you. I desperately need you to make sure you come out of this alive and unharmed. Do you hear me?"

"I hear you, Draven," I whispered, my breath ragged, and my lips tingling for more.

I raised my hands to his face, cupping it firmly. His words plucked invisible strings in my chest, and I wrapped my arms around his neck, our bodies melting in a long embrace. I realized I'd started having a hard time picturing my life without him in it. The thought was frightening, because I'd never been so close to someone before. But, at the same time, my whole being was exhilarated by him.

"It's becoming increasingly difficult for me to keep myself away from you, and I can feel you going through the same thing. Your body and your soul talk to me in ways I'd never thought possible, and I … " He drew in a breath. "I want to hear the whole story," he whispered. His lips moved down my neck until they reached my collarbone.

"I'm still trying to figure out the whole story, Draven," I replied.


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My heart pounded, and I wanted to tell him everything that was weighing on me in that moment, especially the idea of never seeing him again. He belonged in Eritopia. He was fighting Azazel so he could free his home, restore order, and lead it back to prosperity.

Where did I fit in? What would happen if we defeated Azazel? Did we mean enough to each other for one of us to follow the other into a foreign world, or would it end here? And if the answer to whether we meant enough to each other was yes, which of us would be the one to leave their world for the other? These questions had started to eat away at me since Mount Inon.

"Tell me," his voice trickled into my ear, his breathing heavy.

"I don't belong here in Eritopia. I'm from a different world," I sighed. "But, at the same time, every time I see you, everything makes sense, and I don't feel like a stranger anymore, like there could be something here for me other than death and cruelty."