“Reproductive organs?” I asked, guessing where her mind had gone.
“Yeah. That won’t happen though, right?” she replied softly.
“Don’t worry about that,” Jovi interrupted, collapsing on the ground next to us. “I don’t think anything about you three is normal in Oracle terms. And remember what Phoenix said about Elissa—she obviously found a way to regain her sight.”
I nodded, only partly reassured.
“She’s the Oracle who wrote the diary, isn’t she?” I asked.
“I think so,” Field replied. “It’s probably what Phoenix and Serena are talking about now. Hopefully the diary will have answers about how she overcame some of the side-effects.”
“I’m starting to think this gift is more of a curse,” Aida grumbled.
“Starting to think?” I replied in astonishment. “I’ve been thinking that ever since we arrived.”
“Well, I thought it might be quite cool…who doesn’t want to see the future? But I have definitely got the dud gift. Who wants to see the present? It’s totally useless.”
I’d be happy not to see the future, I thought.
“It’s not useless,” I replied instead. “It’s helpful. Especially when we can’t leave the house. And just think how good it will be to GASP when we get home—you can see an attack, and then it will take seconds for the witches to travel somewhere. You might end up saving a lot of lives, Aida.”
The girl smiled reluctantly. “I guess I didn’t really think about it that way.”
“Because you’re never happy with what you have,” Jovi replied dryly. I laughed, recognizing the truth of the statement. For Aida, the grass was always greener somewhere else. I could promise her, if she’d seen what I had, she’d be happy to just see the present. I felt that Phoenix had the best deal out of the three of us—seeing what had once happened felt less intense. You couldn’t change it, or worry about it, because it had already happened.
“What are the other incubi like?” I asked, changing the subject.
Aida smirked, rolling her eyes. “Seriously hot. It was insane—it looked like I’d stepped into a photoshoot. I felt sorry for them though, especially Kristos’s brother. He wanted to wait to hear from Draven, but his father just wouldn’t listen. I hope he doesn’t suffer because of it,” she replied, looking downcast. “And that poor Druid who was being tortured. The Destroyers are horrific.”
“Tell me about it,” I replied with a shudder. “I just hope you never have to see Azazel. He was…something else.”
“Snakes,” Aida replied, her mouth twisted in distaste. “I’ve never liked snakes.”
Field shook his head, doing his best to hide a smirk.
“What?” Aida asked.
“Nothing,” he replied innocently.
“No, go on, what’s so funny about me hating snakes?” Aida asked testily.
Field laughed, rubbing the back of his neck as we all looked at him. “I was just remembering the time Blue caught one in the forest, and kept it as a pet.” I glanced over at Aida—I couldn’t remember this happening, but my friend had started to blush furiously.
“Then it escaped,” Field continued, “and you marched around The Shade for a week carrying a slingshot and a dagger that your parents didn’t know about—you were about nine.”
Jovi burst out laughing. “I remember that. You got in so much trouble.”
“Yeah, well,” Aida retorted. “Snakes are dangerous.”
“It was a grass snake, Aida,” Field replied dryly.
“Whatever.”
I bit my lip, trying not to laugh.
Field suddenly shot up in the air, circling us a few times before flying off up over the house.
“What’s his deal?” Jovi asked, amused. I shrugged. I didn’t really know Field that well, but sometimes I got the impression with the Hawk boys that they just needed to fly—get up in the air and away from everything. I could relate to that. If I had wings, I didn’t think I’d stay long on the ground at any given time.
“He’s gone off to think,” Aida replied, slumping back on the grass. “He always does that when there’s something on his mind.”
Jovi nodded, dismissing Field’s departure. I looked over at him, noticing how the sunlight made his hair look more brown than black. His stubble was quickly appearing after his clean-shaven appearance for Sherus and Nuriya’s party. While I was studying him, the image of him being impaled on the spear suddenly flashed into my mind, and I looked away quickly.