The Druid shook his head.
“We don’t have time, Jovi,” he bit out. “We’re all in danger. I’m not just protecting my own interests, I’m protecting theirs as well! How many times do I have to tell you that?”
Jovi stayed silent, still glaring at Draven. He shook his head, leaving the rest of us as he made his way over to his sister and Vita.
“Let me help you up,” I said, turning to Phoenix. I couldn’t even look at Draven. My brother rose to his feet, and silently we walked toward Jovi, Field joining us, and leaving Draven and Bijarki behind.
“They’re waking!” Jovi called out, beckoning us over.
I hurried to his side, just in time to see Aida’s bright golden eyes open, staring up at the sky. A few seconds later, Vita joined her, sitting bolt upright, her chest heaving as if she’d been running.
“Are you okay?” I asked, crouching down next to her.
We were joined by Draven and Bijarki, both looking expectantly at my friends. I frowned at them both, wishing they’d give us some space.
“I saw the Oracle again,” Vita burst out, “it was the same vision as before.” She turned to the Druid, her face solemn. “We need to get to the Daughters. The Oracle says you’re not safe. We need to find them, they’ll help us.”
“Are you sure?” Draven asked, his expression perplexed—and worried.
“I’m sure. The Oracle spoke to me directly. I think it’s what she wanted to say that time in the bathroom…” Vita trailed off, realizing her mistake. We had kept that information from Draven, not sure whether or not we could trust him.
The Druid’s face darkened.
“What time in the bathroom?” he asked, looking around at us all. I sighed, irritated at myself for not telling him earlier. It was something that, on reflection, we probably shouldn’t have withheld. I told him briefly what had happened to Vita, and his face darkened further.
“Do you know how much magic she would have used to get in contact with you?” he growled. “More than you could possibly imagine. I would have known from that alone that whatever she was trying to tell you was a life-and-death matter. You fools.”
“Well, now we know,” I replied heatedly. “We didn’t know what she was trying to say before—there can’t be much harm done.”
“I agree with Vita,” Aida said, breaking the tension slightly. “We’re not safe. In my vision, I saw the Destroyers preparing to hunt. They were given orders from Azazel—he knows we’re in Eritopia, and he won’t stop searching till he finds us. I know you say this house is safe, but…I don’t know. It’s just a feeling I have that something’s going to go horribly wrong.”
Aida’s words chilled me to the bone.
“What about you, Phoenix?” I asked quietly. “Did you even have a vision?”
“What happened?” Aida asked, before my brother could reply. I glared at Draven, waiting to fill her in, but he just stared back at me with equal ferocity. I told the others what had happened, and was only slightly rewarded when both Vita and Aida shot Draven looks of disgust.
“It was an accident,” Phoenix replied, placing a hand on my arm. “He didn’t mean it. And yes, I did have a vision, another dud though. This time I was underground, standing in a chamber of soil—I could even see earthworms moving about in it. It was pretty repulsive, actually. But in the middle of the chamber, there was a huge shell. Like a regular snail’s shell, except it looked like it was made of pearl, all pink and white. It glowed, I think.” Phoenix shook his head, “it was weird. But nothing else happened… That was all I saw.”
“I wonder why you saw her,” Draven breathed.
“Huh? Her? What do you mean?” my brother replied, looking bemused.
“You saw the last Daughter of Eritopia. The Daughter I am sworn to protect, in payment for the security of this house.” Draven replied slowly. His gray eyes seemed to dull, as if he was a million miles away, remembering another time.
“I don’t understand,” I replied, feeling utterly bewildered. So many questions crowded my mind that I was momentarily paralyzed as to which to ask first. “Phoenix said he saw a shell. What are you talking about—‘last Daughter’?”
“As I said,” Draven said, almost growling in impatience as he returned to the present, his eyes piercing mine. “There is much, much that you are still to learn about the In-Between and the species that inhabit it—especially the Eritopian galaxy.” He paused, drawing in a breath through his nose. “The Daughters are… almost like the harpy species you might have come across in your dimension, in that they are not birthed normally, but rather hatched. That shell Phoenix saw is in fact an egg.”