“And these Daughters are dangerous, right?” Field asked.
Before Draven could reply, Bijarki interjected.
“Very. They’re deadly creatures,” the incubus spat.
Draven looked annoyed at his friend’s outburst.
“They’re complicated,” he replied tersely. “But yes, they can be dangerous. Which is why, tomorrow, I want you to listen very carefully to what I say. You’re all going to have to trust me, something you seem to have difficulty doing.”
“Not fair,” Serena replied calmly. “You took us from the fae star against our will—we weren’t exactly inclined to trust you.”
Draven nodded, accepting the accusation.
“All right,” Field replied, trying to break some of the tension that had started building in the dining room. “We trust you. Now, tell me where you learned to fight like that?”
Jovi and Field both grinned, waiting expectantly for Draven to answer them. I rolled my eyes. Typical that both of them would warm to him after they’d had a training session together. Serena had told me how he’d beat them both pretty soundly.
Draven looked amused at their interest.
“It’s science,” he replied simply.
“What do you mean?” Jovi asked. “You’ve got some awesome strength. I felt it, and I’m still feeling it.”
“I’m no stronger than either of you,” Draven replied. “But I lose less energy by aiming my blows better. If either of you bothered to study anatomy, you’d be the same.”
“We have studied anatomy,” Jovi replied in confusion.
“Perhaps not the way I have. My study of the body, both humanoid physiques and animal, was all aimed to be used in battle. I can teach you, if you wish?”
“Yes,” Field and Jovi replied in unison. I smiled, looking over at Phoenix. Why wasn’t he joining in? He’d appeared at dinner, not saying where he’d been, and throughout the meal had sat in near silence, looking like he was a million miles away.
“Phoenix?” I prompted.
“Yeah?” he replied, looking up and around, not aware that it was me who had called his name.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
He looked around—all of us were staring at him. He gave a weak smile. “Sorry— yes to the lessons. If you’re as good as these two say you are, I’m all in.”
Draven nodded, looking pleased.
“What about you, Bijarki?” Field asked.
The incubus sighed. “I don’t think so.”
“You think you’re too good for us?” Jovi asked jokingly.
“He is,” Draven replied with a small smile. “Trust me. The incubi are some of the most fearsome warriors in Eritopia. They can move faster than the undead, be more vicious than the shape-shifters Serena met in the swampland. And that’s without their added abilities.”
We all turned to Bijarki with a mixture of amazement and trepidation.
“Added abilities?” Vita asked.
It was Bijarki’s turn to cast a glance of annoyance.
“Really?” he asked the Druid.
Draven just smirked, leaning back in his chair, evidently enjoying his friend’s discomfort. Everyone else was waiting for Bijarki to continue and he looked around at us all with helpless irritation.
“I can affect the thoughts of others,” he muttered.
“What do you mean?” Serena asked, her tone sharp.
Bijarki glanced up at her with a wary expression.
“You might understand it as hypnotism, but it is a little subtler than that. It doesn’t work on all species—not Druids, for example, much to everyone’s disappointment.” He glared at Draven before continuing. “But it is effective on a few who prove dangerous to our kind—like the Deargs, Sluaghs, and some others.”
Whatever those creatures are…
“Can you hypnotize someone who’s sleeping?” Serena asked hotly. I looked over at her, wondering where the question had come from, and why she seemed so flustered. Vita looked at the incubus with wide eyes, a flush appearing on her cheeks.
Bijarki met Serena’s gaze head on, his face also appearing unusually heated.
“Yes,” he snapped.
Serena fell silent, but she didn’t stop glaring at him for a good few minutes, while the rest of us continued to eat in a confused, awkward silence. Thankfully, it was shortly broken by the Druid rising to his feet and wishing us all a good night.
Once again, he hadn’t eaten a thing.
Phoenix
My sister, Aida and Vita left the dining room first, muttering about Bijarki, Serena shooting the incubus a dark look before she left the room. I didn’t understand what had happened there, but I almost felt sorry for Bijarki as he drew himself away from the table and left through another doorway.