A Shade of Vampire 43: A House of Mysteries(23)

“Are you okay though, after the visions?” he asked, unexpectedly turning to stare at me.

“Um, yeah,” I replied, kind of dazed. I wasn’t used to having Field’s full attention. I looked toward the house, hoping that someone would emerge from it—I was even willing for it to be the Druid or Bijarki. A conversation with them would be less awkward for me than this one.

“It sounded intense, the torture vision,” he clarified. “I wouldn’t want you—any of you—to think that you couldn’t talk about it, share the burden. It must be tough, seeing someone else’s pain that way. Knowing you can’t do anything to help.”

I nodded. Field had hit the nail on the head. That had been the most difficult thing with both the incubus and the tortured Druid. How helpless I’d felt just watching, knowing that we were the cause of both those incidents, in a way. If Draven didn’t insist on keeping us hidden here, perhaps we’d be able to provide the remaining incubi with hope, and if the Destroyers knew where we were, they wouldn’t be torturing someone for the information.

“I was terrified. Even if I hadn’t just been watching, and unable to do anything, I doubt that I would have been brave enough to stop it. You hear all these stories about our parents doing these amazing things, sacrificing themselves to help a loved one or an innocent…but if it came down to it”—I hesitated—“I don’t know if I could do what they’ve done.”

“You don’t know that,” Field replied softly. “No one knows what they’re capable of until it actually happens. And our parents have made mistakes. We all do, it’s part of being human.” He smiled then, correcting himself. “Well, supernatural, but still human on the inside, despite our abilities.”

“I guess,” I replied, not entirely convinced. I thought that deep down you always knew what you were capable of—what kind of person you were. I knew that I could act tough, and train with the rest of GASP’s members with confidence, not afraid of a few bruises or on one occasion, thanks to Phoenix, a cracked rib, but I didn’t seem to have that steely metal inside me that I saw in my dad, my mom, my kickass grandparents Vivienne and Xavier, Tejus, Derek, Sofia, Ben, Rose…the list went on.

Jovi appeared from the smashed doorway of the greenhouse and made his way across the garden. His hair was slicked back and wet—he’d obviously just had a shower, and I suddenly found myself longing for cold jets of water and some fresh clothes. The first was thankfully possible—the latter not so much.

“You’re going to get burnt, Aida,” he said as he approached. My skin wasn’t as naturally tan as Jovi’s, so I was more susceptible to being burnt.

“I was in the shade,” I replied, pushing my fingers into my arm to see if I’d caught the sun. They left marks. Oops. Perhaps I had overstayed my welcome out here. I wondered if Draven would have some kind of herb around, like lavender, that Vita could turn into a paste for me.

Field rose to his feet, offering an arm to help me up. Trying not to blush, I took it, allowing him to pull me up, but making sure that he didn’t have to take my full body weight.

Get a grip, girl.

I really needed to start having some stern words with myself about my general levels of confidence around guys. It was fine when I was going through puberty, it was kind of the norm, but now it was just getting ridiculous.

As my hand came into contact with Field’s, my whole body felt like it had been electrified. I dropped it as instantly as I stood up, surreptitiously rubbing my palm on my sweatpants to try to shake the feeling away.

“I was thinking we should continue our training sessions while we’re here,” Jovi was saying to Field. “At some point, hopefully sooner rather than later, we’re going to leave this house—and I want us to be ready for whatever we face when we do.”

“Good point,” Field agreed, glancing over at me. “We should all do it. Oracles included.”

“Of course,” I replied, privately wondering how I would have the energy. The visions had taken a lot out of me—not just physically, but mentally too. I only hoped they would get easier as time went on.

“See you both later,” I added, moving toward the house. I’d had enough of weird feelings for one day—first the visions and now with Field. I was done in. I didn’t want to feel anything, and the only way to accomplish that in this place would be to take the world’s longest nap.





Serena





After speaking with my brother, I went back upstairs to read more of Elissa’s diary. The house was still and quiet, but I could hear the muffled conversation of Aida, Jovi, and Field outside. I looked in our room, checking to see if Vita was okay, thinking it would be a good time to talk about Bijarki, but she was fast asleep. I let her rest. After what the three of them had been through today, I wasn’t surprised that she was exhausted.