“Focus on the diary, Serena. I saw the visions of the Oracle for a reason, and I’m not sure why. She obviously meant a lot to Draven and his father, so I can’t imagine they would have deliberately let anything happen to her. Maybe Azazel and his Destroyers somehow managed to get her out of this house.”
“You don’t believe him about Azazel not being able to see us here?” I asked, surprised. From Aida’s vision, I had felt secure that at least the Destroyers definitely didn’t know we were here—obviously, they realized we were in Eritopia, but didn’t seem to have any other clues as to our whereabouts.
“No, I believe him,” Phoenix corrected me. “I’m just saying she was caught somehow. If we’re going to escape the same fate, I want to know how.”
I felt relieved that my brother was starting to trust the Druid. I was certain that I did—to an extent. He was secretive, and I was sure there was a lot he wasn’t telling us, but I did believe his intentions were good.
“All right, I’ll get on with reading the diary. But I think you should ask Draven again about the tree. Maybe he was just preoccupied with the other stuff. It must have some relevance.”
“Maybe,” my brother agreed. “By the way, did you warn the other girls about Bijarki?”
“Oh, no—not yet. I forgot. There’s been so much going on,” I replied, mentally kicking myself for still not mentioning it. It wasn’t Aida I was worried about though—she was more than capable of handling herself. It was Vita I had concern for.
“You should. He can’t keep his eyes off Vita. If Draven needed to warn him away from them, then you need to alert the girls.”
“I know,” I replied. “I’ll tell them. Do you think he means any harm though?”
Phoenix shook his head. “Not harm exactly, I just don’t think he can stop himself. It’s his nature, right?”
“Right.”
I wished I knew more about the incubus species. It was all well and good warning Vita about him, but we were sharing a house with the incubus for the foreseeable future, and so it would have been helpful to know exactly what to warn her of. As far as I could tell at the moment, he just seemed to radiate a particular type of charm, and with his good looks, it could be overwhelming. Even I couldn’t help but be hyper-aware of his presence physically. I had met a couple of nymphs when I’d visited Ruby and Ash in Nevertide, and noticed the overwhelming attraction that was totally hypnotic when I’d been around them, but the incubus’ charms were far subtler…you didn’t lose your head or reasoning, but it was like my whole body just seemed to be drawn to him, no matter how many times I shook it off or outright ignored him. The nymphs could be deadly—Ash and Ruby had only kept them in Nevertide after they’d promised not to mess around with the sentries, but even then, it had been a reluctant agreement. I wondered if incubi could be just as deadly.
“Don’t worry too much,” my brother remarked, noticing me worriedly speculating. “I’m sure he doesn’t mean anything by it. Just make them aware.”
I nodded, flopping into the vacated chair.
“I miss home,” I sighed. The heat was instantly unbearable by the fire, but I felt too drained to move. “Do you think Mom and Dad are okay?”
“I guess so,” Phoenix replied quietly. “They don’t know we’re missing. So I’m assuming that they’re fine.”
“But how can they not know? We’re their children…I mean, they must somehow be able to tell. Feel that something’s missing, at least? How can we be completely eradicated from our homes, The Shade?” I still couldn’t get my head around the concept that we could be missing from The Shade and have no one notice our absence.
“Obviously, these Daughters are powerful—I can’t understand how else they’d manage to fool jinn and witches. The only thing that makes me a bit hopeful about the whole thing is that the Nevertide Oracle managed to break the magic somehow, so there is a way.”
“Yeah, if you’re an Ancient,” I groaned. “It’s not like there are any of them about anymore.” And even if there were, they’d be the last creatures I’d ask for help.
“Which is why we need to rescue the Oracle,” Phoenix replied firmly. “I’ve been thinking about it, and it seems to be the only way we can get out of here. It also fits in with the Druid’s plans about making sure Azazel is robbed of that power…I’m hoping he’ll agree to it, and help us.”
“Slight drawback is that we can’t actually leave the house,” I replied.