Azazel left me alone for the rest of the day. On one hand, I was relieved to not have to see him again. My skin crawled whenever he was near. But on the other hand, I feared he was already devising new ways to disrupt the alliance that was rising against him. And as long as he could feel Aida and Phoenix out there, he could track them.

I sat by the window as the sun set outside, glazing the hills surrounding Luceria in a warm, reddish light. My mind went to Bijarki. I worried about him out there, on his own, but I knew he was strong and fast, and intelligent enough to keep out of trouble. On top of that, he had the invisibility spell. It was only a matter of time before I’d see him again, and my heart jumped at the thought.

The memory of our night together was permanently seared into my soul, sparking fires in my ribcage. The taste of his lips, the weight of his body over mine, his fingers drawing invisible lines on my skin—all moments in which I found refuge while captive in Azazel’s castle.

My heart throbbed at the thought of Bijarki and Anjani agreeing to a marriage for the sake of their people. My Oracle gift had been so cruel to show me such visions, but I could only react by finding a way to stop them from coming true. It tore me apart to think about what Serena would go through with Draven—I’d seen the look in his eyes as he struggled with his Destroyer form, the anguish and the desperate need to have her with him.

It hit me then that there may be a way out of it. I thought of Patrik and Kyana, and his love for her fueling him as he gradually worked to break Azazel’s spell. I figured Draven could do the same through Serena. The love he’d shown for her in my vision was so powerful, so intense, that, if nurtured properly, it could help him push the darkness away. It could stop him from turning.

I heard a key twist in the door, and I turned my head to see Patrik come in with a food tray. He gave me a polite nod as he locked the door and put my dinner on a nearby side table. His side was still covered in thick palm leaves, but he seemed to have regained some color in his cheeks.

“Where’s Damion?” I asked.

“He’s been demoted to kitchen ranks for now,” Patrik replied, the corner of his mouth twitching. “His aggressions toward you cost him his position up here, and since I’m still healing, I offered to bring your food instead.”

I was tense around him, but I wasn’t scared. I knew he was trying to break free, and it somehow made him seem like less of a threat than Damion, whose downright maniacal behavior had nearly killed me. I gave him a curt nod, then gazed out the window.

A minute passed in absolute silence. I waited for him to speak up because I knew he’d bring up Kyana.

“Vita,” he said slowly, prompting me to look at him. He was a couple of feet away from me, his yellow eyes fixed on my face, hands behind his back while the tip of his lower snake body jerked nervously. “I want to thank you for setting Kyana free. I appreciate the risk you subjected yourself to in order to do so. You have no idea how much good you’ve done me with this.”

“I know exactly what I did, and why I did it. I even know what you do when none of Azazel’s green fires are watching,” I replied bluntly.

“Shut up,” he hissed, his expression darkening.

I stilled, fearing I’d brought out the beast in him. He raised his index finger to his lips, then slithered around the room, checking behind every curtain, in every box and drawer, every nook and cranny. I watched quietly as he got down on the floor, then hissed again.

He emerged with a green firefly stuck between two fingers, looking at it with an eyebrow raised before squishing it. I shuddered at the thought of having Azazel’s version of a spy cam in my bedroom. Then I froze, wondering how long that little bug had been there. Had it heard my conversations with Aida?

Fear trickled through my veins. Patrik noticed my reaction and gave me a reassuring half-smile.

“It’s okay,” he said. “Unless Azazel is actually watching in his pool of green fire, he probably didn’t hear or see everything you’ve been up to since you’ve been here. If he had, you never would have made it downstairs into the dungeons to release Kyana.”

He had a point. So, the green fires only worked in real time. I clung to that thought for the time being, as there were already so many horrible things wrong in my life at that point that I simply didn’t want to deal with more.

“How much do you know about what I’m doing?” he asked, watching me curiously.

“As you probably know by now, there are three of us Oracles,” I explained briefly. “But we don’t all see the same. One sees the past, one sees the present, and I see the future. One of us saw you a few days ago, a couple of times, as you attempted to break from Azazel’s control. I know he infected you with his darkness the moment you joined his ranks, and I know you and Kyana are in love. I assumed he was holding her down there as leverage. How am I doing so far?”

Patrik pursed his lips and raised an eyebrow, nodding slowly.

“Surprisingly accurate,” he replied, his shoulders slumping. “I was a good Druid, and a faithful one, too. After I earned my fiftieth circle, Almus offered me a position in his kingdom. I was one of his top lieutenants, and was in charge of diplomatic missions across Eritopia. I believed in him, and I held the Grand Temple Druids in high regard. When Azazel first started acting—”

“Crazy? Maniacal? Genocidal?” I interjected sarcastically.

“All of the above,” he huffed. “I was one of the first to warn Almus of the potential dangers we faced with him on the loose. But even I saw the signs too late. By the time we realized what was going on, the Grand Temple had been destroyed, Genevieve had died in childbirth, along with the child, and Almus had vanished.”

I wanted to tell him about Draven, but kept my cards close to my chest, aware that he was still subject to Azazel’s control spell and couldn’t do anything against his master. Besides, I wasn’t sure how much they actually knew about him, and what they’d uncovered in the mansion after the shield came down.

“I fought for as long as I could before I was captured and brought to Azazel,” he added. “He showed me Kyana in chains, trapped in a cage, and offered me a deal. Her life spared in captivity if I accepted his dominion. I love her. I’ve loved her from the moment I caught her sneaking around the Grand Temple, eavesdropping on Druid lessons of the tenth circle. I couldn’t. I just couldn’t…”

His voice broke, and he took a deep breath.

“I couldn’t let her die. So I told him yes,” he continued. “I was forced to become what you see today, Vita. I had no other choice.”

“I understand,” I replied slowly, then laughed humorlessly. “Love, right?”

“Indeed. But it was the same love that kept me going through all these years without losing my mind. It’s been my love for her that has fueled me into fighting the control spell Azazel cast on me. I’ve been working on it from the day I was turned. Building up resistance to the pain it causes me if I do something to the detriment of my master. I’m close to breaking out, and I have to say, knowing Kyana is free is one incredible incentive.”

“Then keep fighting. Don’t stop until you break free,” I encouraged him. “Is there any way I can help you?”

“Haven’t you done enough, little Oracle?” He smiled gently. “I’ll get through it, worry not. You’ve done your part. It’s time for me to do mine…”

“I don’t get why you people keep calling me that,” I muttered, slightly irritated.

“Because you are a little Oracle.”

I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest.

“But that’s not a bad thing at all,” he continued. “You have so much courage and fire inside you that your stature is meaningless.”

I nearly smiled.

“You have no idea how much fire,” I replied. “Can you tell me about Azazel’s pendant?”

He frowned, taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out.

“I don’t know much about it, to tell you the truth,” he said. “But I suspect it’s old, forbidden Druid magic, and definitely a primary source of power for him.”

“You mean, besides the volcanoes and the little Daughter he keeps hidden somewhere in this castle?”

Patrik gaped at me for a good minute.

“You know about them, too?”

“I’m an Oracle, remember?” I winked in response.

“Fair enough,” he said. “Azazel is very attached to that pendant. He killed Lorenz, Master Druid of the Tenth Kingdom, for it. He won’t let anyone get near it. One might lose a hand if they tried to touch it.”

He then sat on the bed, a defeated look on his face as his broad shoulders dropped further.

“I haven’t been able to do much in my Destroyer form,” he sighed. “I haven’t been able to look into anything related to Azazel’s potential weaknesses. There is enormous pain that comes with each endeavor. You see, the control spell that he uses on us cuts off our Druid magic abilities; it’s like blood poison. It causes pain whenever I try to do something against him, or try to escape, or even try to take my own life. I’ve tried it all.”

“Then how are we talking about him now? You clearly know I’m not an ally here.”

“I’ve conditioned myself to withstand certain amounts of pain,” he replied. “Speaking to you about him feels uncomfortable to say the least, like a kind of headache, but it’s nothing compared to what I’d go through if I tried to attack Azazel, for example. ‘Agony’ wouldn’t even begin to describe the sensation.”

“So what, the pain is graded based on the gravity of your actions?”

“Sort of, yes.” He nodded. “The bigger the crime against the master, the worse it feels. I’ve been fighting it for years, gradually getting myself accustomed to increasing levels of pain, chipping away at his spell. With Kyana now gone, I no longer fear Azazel. He has lost his leverage over me.”

I stood up from the windowsill, the chain on my ankle rattling and reminding me of my status there. It didn’t depress me; it merely poured gasoline on the fire already blazing through me.

“Nevertheless, please be careful going forward,” I told Patrik. “Azazel is extremely cunning and might already know about your plans.”

“He doesn’t, I can assure you of that.” He winked. “I’ve been at his side, one of his most powerful lieutenants, for a very long time. I’ve done and I continue doing horrible things for him, just to keep him under the illusion of total control.”

His gaze darkened as he looked away.

“I will never forgive myself for all the lives I’ve taken, but I take comfort in the fact that one day soon, I will get to watch his head roll on the floor,” he said, his voice low.

He then shook that gloomy state off and stood up, nodding at the food tray.

“Please eat. You need your strength,” he said. “And try not to do anything else to anger Azazel. He seemed cranky enough today.”

“Ah, that was definitely me,” I replied dryly, feeling the corner of my mouth pull into a satisfied smirk. “I told him the truth from my visions of the future. I told him he will die, and he flipped out, pointing at the snake pendant and telling me that’s impossible. But I saw it. So it can happen. He’s probably spinning around like a loose wheel right now, desperate to stop it from coming true.”

Patrik listened with interest, his brows furrowed, drawing a deep, dark vertical line above his nose.

“I’m becoming more convinced that the pendant may be the key to his undoing,” he mused.

“Think you can dig into it a little bit more?”

“I can try,” Patrik said. “In the meantime, I’m serious, Vita—stay out of trouble.”

I clicked my teeth with a wink as I took the food tray from the side table. My stomach was growling, and he was right: I would need my strength when Bijarki came to get me out of this hellhole.

Patrik left, locking the double doors behind him.

I felt like I could breathe easier after my conversation with Patrik. We were on the right track, and we were dealing a great blow to Azazel from the inside. I plowed through my food with surprising relish, swatting the negative thoughts away.

Whether it was because I was hopeful or just satisfied by a warm meal, I looked defiantly into the future, with the promise to find a way to keep my loved ones safe, and remove Azazel from this world.