He looked at me strangely. I realized that my reply had been too swift, too dismissive.
“Sorry,” I replied, trying to smile. “It’s just frustrating. Anyway, I should get some sleep.”
“You look tired,” agreed Field, looking like he wanted to discuss the tree in more detail, but left it, appearing to ignore my odd behavior and put it down to exhaustion.
“See you in the morning,” I said, leaving him standing by the tree. I made my way back around to the greenhouse, hearing the flap of his wings as he ascended to the rooftop. The moment I had left the tree, I felt horribly guilty for lying to him, and not even sure why I’d done it. I wanted to call him back and explain, but something stopped me. I didn’t want to share her existence yet, I just wasn’t ready. I felt so possessive of her, and protective in a way I couldn’t really even begin to explain, not even to myself. I just knew I was supposed to find her. That somehow, we were connected.
I went back inside the house, bewildered and confused. But as I sank into bed, too tired to shower, I realized I felt happier than I could ever remember feeling—like suddenly everything made sense, like I truly belonged somewhere, with someone. With her.
I slept soundly that night, a dreamless sleep that felt closer to death than to life.
Serena
I was up early again the next morning, anxious to begin our trip to the Daughters. Like Aida, I was eager to get out of here, even if it was to face creatures that the incubus had deemed ‘deadly’.
The incubus in question was starting to become a major problem. Last night, while we’d been having dinner, I’d worked out what he’d been doing up on our floor. As soon as he’d mentioned hypnotism, I recalled what I’d read about incubi in one of Ibrahim’s human-written books back in The Shade. It had been an old book on the mythology of supernatural creatures. The author had gotten a great many facts wrong about vampires, werewolves and fae, but I recalled that, as the stories went, incubi usually appeared to their prey in a dream, making humans feel attracted to the creatures before they finally appeared—usually to procreate with them.
A shudder ran through my body. If that was what Bijarki had been doing, then he was in major trouble. I would need to speak to Draven about keeping his friend on a leash. I didn’t care if it was his ‘natural’ inclination—he was to stay as far away from Vita as possible. I’d told both Aida and Vita about my conclusions, but they didn’t seem as convinced as I was, though, predictably, Vita had blushed a bright red. Clearly it was up to me to safeguard her against Bijarki. He might have been handsome, and unrelentingly polite and courteous on the surface, but I wasn’t convinced. Not by a long shot.
As if I don’t have enough things to worry about already.
I waited for the others at the breakfast table, pouring myself a steaming cup of coffee. Field was the first to arrive.
“Did you sleep okay?” he asked, removing the jug of coffee from my place setting with a wry smile.
“I wasn’t going to drink it all, but yes, I had a good night’s sleep.”
He nodded, grinning.
“Before we leave, do you need to syphon off me?” he asked.
I shook my head. I hadn’t really had any need to use up my energy here, and when I’d syphoned the pain away from Phoenix, I must have taken a good deal of his energy too. It was my brother I was more concerned about.
“I’m fine, but maybe you could check with Phoenix?” I asked.
“Will do.” He nodded. “Did you know he found the tree?”
“No!” I exclaimed. Why hadn’t Phoenix mentioned it to any of us?
“Yeah. I saw him crouched in the soil beneath it. To be honest, he was acting oddly. I hope he’s all right. He said he didn’t see anything beneath it, like the shell—or rather, the egg…but I don’t know.” Field shook his head, frowning.
“What?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s nothing… just keep a close eye on him today. He certainly seemed a bit ‘off’, almost like he was lying to me…But it’s Phoenix. He doesn’t lie.”
I nodded, worried. My brother didn’t lie, but then again, neither did Field. He wouldn’t say something like that unless he thought he had good reason to.
“Shall I say something?” I asked.
“Maybe wait till after we see the Daughters. It might be nothing, and I don’t want him to think I was spying on him or anything.”
“He wouldn’t think that,” I replied. My brother had a very high opinion of Field and Jovi. He would know that Field was only concerned. Still, perhaps it was best to drop the matter until later. We would have enough to deal with today.