“Are we all ready for the trip?” asked Jovi as he entered the room.
“Ready to get out of here,” I muttered.
“The girls and Phoenix not up yet?” Jovi asked me. Before I could reply, Phoenix walked in, looking fresh-faced and clearly in a good mood. I glanced swiftly at Field, who smiled. Clearly whatever had happened last night was in his imagination. I felt it was fine to bring up the subject of the tree, and so I asked my brother about it.
“Yeah, I found it last night,” he replied. “I still have no idea what the vision was meant to be showing me, it was just a tree… No shell or egg or anything. Maybe it will all become clearer later.”
“Right,” I replied, relieved. He seemed perfectly fine, and Field gave a quick nod. We were back to normal.
“Shall I wake Vita and Aida?” I asked, wondering where Draven was. And the incubus…
“Has anyone seen Bijarki?” I asked sharply, rising up out of my seat.
“Here,” he replied, appearing behind us and glaring at me. I guessed he picked up on what I’d been thinking—that he was back up in our bedroom, placing dreams inside Vita’s subconscious. “Draven requests that you join him in the basement,” he added.
“I’ll get my sister and Vita up,” Jovi said. “Better that my sister’s morning mood is inflicted on me.”
He left the room, but I stayed seated, wanting to wait for Vita and Aida before we went down.
“We’ll be along shortly,” I snapped at Bijarki.
“Of course,” he replied. “I’ll just tell Draven that he needs to wait to begin the perilous mission because some of you can’t be bothered to get up.” He left the room, banging the door behind him.
“What’s his problem?” Phoenix asked, frowning.
“Don’t ask,” I replied, staring at the closed door.
“Go easy on him, Serena,” Field said, his voice gentle but firm. “We can’t afford to have friction in this place, we’re cooped up in here. If we’re at each other’s throats, this isn’t going to go well.”
I bit my lip. I didn’t want to tell the boys what I thought he was actually up to. Field had no idea how restrained I was being. I was only keeping quiet because I knew the boys would rip him limb from limb if they knew what he was doing. I wouldn’t divulge what I thought until I had some concrete proof.
Soon, Vita and Aida joined us and we all made our way down to the basement. The ‘secret’ room that led on from the main basement was open, and Draven was already in there with the incubus, deep in conversation. As soon as they heard us approach, they fell silent, and Draven nodded in greeting.
“The process of travel to the Daughters is a fairly complicated one,” Draven began, “but if you’ll just be patient, I’ll explain everything shortly.”
I nodded, and we all fell silent, letting the Druid do what he needed to without interruption. I was actually fascinated to see how he did travel. Taking us from the fae star must have required a lot of magic and energy to accomplish.
My lips parted slightly as Draven removed his shirt. He had his back to us, and his muscles rippled with the movement over his golden skin. I heard a hiss of breath, but couldn’t see what he was doing. Silently, so as to not distract him, I walked around the room, hoping to get a better look. I gasped out loud when I was facing him. In his hand, he had a sharp stone, and was carving symbols across his chest. Blood seeped from each one, but he continued to carve, only the slight flinch of his muscles giving away how painful it must have been. The others followed me, and Bijarki frowned in our direction, warning us to remain silent. Vita and Aida paled, but Jovi looked reluctantly impressed.
When he was finished, Draven let the stone drop to the floor. He held out his hand, and Bijarki quickly handed him a small, stone bowl. Draven held it to his waist, the blood slowly pouring into it.
“W-What are you doing?” I asked, unable to stay silent a moment longer. Draven looked up, surprised to see us all watching him. He turned back to the bowl.
“I’m drawing a map,” he replied tersely. “The symbols act as directions. They’ll guide us as we travel.”
I hadn’t a clue what he was talking about, but I decided not to push it. When the cup was full, he moved to a table, emptying another substance in with his blood.
“This is ash,” he explained before I could ask. “It’s from a tree out in the garden—centuries old.”
“What tree?” asked my brother.
“The one I think you saw in your vision,” Draven replied, glancing up at Phoenix. “It belongs to the Daughters.”