I smiled in amusement. Draven’s words were beginning to slur—he was definitely delusional. A small flicker of temptation unfurled in my mind. He was weak right now. I could finally mind-meld with him without him noticing, or being able to do much about it. But it was just a thought. I knew I wouldn’t act on it. I couldn’t abuse his trust that way. After all he’d done for us, I needed to start considering him as an ally, if not a friend. My rule with syphoning was that I only did it with explicit permission from those I knew and trusted. Draven would now be counted as someone I trusted—even if I still knew very little about him. I decided I would leave him to get some sleep—if his filter was currently off, then it was probably better that I wasn’t around.
I stood up, moving toward the door.
“Wait,” he said hoarsely.
I turned abruptly, an eyebrow raised. “Yes?”
“Stay,” he whispered.
A span of silence fell between us. “Uh, okay,” I replied, even as I frowned at his request. His delirium was certainly causing him to act out of character. Only recently he’d snapped at me for watching him while he slept.
I quietly resumed my position in the armchair, and watched as he began to doze off. My eyes wandered along the contours of his tall body, then rested on his exhausted, handsome face.
I tried not to think about what he’d said regarding how I ‘needed’ him… I wasn’t sure in what context that comment was meant—was it about protection, or something else?
As his breathing became deeper, steadier, I must have briefly given in to sleep too, because I woke to the sound of him groaning—trying to move the bandage that had been reapplied to his eyes as he slept. I quickly moved to the bed.
“Draven, it’s okay,” I breathed, trying to soothe him as I clutched his hands and set them down by his sides. It was difficult to do, he had much more strength than me, but in his sleeping state it was manageable, and eventually his groans gave way to regular breathing again.
Trying not to wake him, I placed my hands on his bare chest, reaching out with my mind to syphon away more of his pain. I again felt the urge to mind-meld with him, to see into his dreams, but I held back. Instead, I located the violent shards of red that seemed to be piercing into his temples, and gently took them on as my own pain. My body trembled with the effort—it was too soon since I’d done this last—but I persevered. I deserved to take some of the burden.
He didn’t wake, and after a few moments, I removed my hands. I bent double over the mattress, my head pounding and my eyes wet with unshed tears caused by the smarting of pain.
It seemed like it was getting more painful each time. But watching Draven suffer alone was worse. Once again, I felt the magnitude of what he had done for us, all he had sacrificed, and not just for us—but for the good of his homeland and the creatures in it that he was so cut off from. I couldn’t help but admire him for putting himself in danger like that. He had comfort and safety here, and while it might not have been perfect, I was pretty sure that most creatures in his position would just accept their fate—stay secluded here, and let the rest of Eritopia fall to the reign of Azazel.
When my temples had stopped pounding, I looked over at Draven. His face, glistening with tiny beads of perspiration, was lit by the fire that still burned in the hearth.
I let out a breath. There was so much I still didn’t know about the Druid and the rest of his kind—what had happened to Elissa for her to have left this place, and what Draven was doing in keeping a mission that was looking increasingly hopeless going.
Like the mysterious new world that surrounded us, clearly there was more to this young man and his life story than he’d let on… A lot more.
My core instincts told me that if there was a key to our escape, Draven was it, but only if I unraveled him. He needed to start trusting me, truly—but for that to happen, I had to pull down some of my own barriers and attempt to get closer to him…
Draven stirred, his sheets slipping down his torso to an uncomfortably low area of his waist. I swallowed.
I just had to be careful not to entangle myself in the process.
Phoenix
The moment we left the basement and entered the living room, I took Field, Jovi and Aida aside.
“I need to show you something,” I muttered.
“Can’t it wait?” Aida pleaded, her face drawn and pale.
“It can’t, sorry,” I replied curtly, but I meant it. I knew she needed to rest, but they also needed to know about the tree and the Daughter lying beneath it. Not just because I needed to unburden myself, but also because they needed to know—the information was obviously important, and I didn’t trust myself to wait any longer. If I waited till tomorrow, I could see myself changing my mind, returning to the tree on my own and falling back under the spell of her beauty.