A Call of Vampires (A Shade of Vampire #51)(51)

“Most importantly,” Farrah added, “we aren’t the monsters you might think we are. The reasons that brought us to Neraka no longer define our kind. We’ve learned from our horrible mistakes, and we’ve adapted to a new way of life, as I’m sure Rewa has already explained. So, please, let us welcome you into our world, and show you the beauty, the artistry, and the joy of life that animates us, to help you understand why every Mara who has gone missing over the past two years is a dagger piercing our collective heart.”





Harper





(Daughter of Hazel & Tejus)





Personally, I wasn’t a fan of Darius. He’d been too quick to spot Hansa’s potential purpose as a Mara deterrent. It made me think he’d considered our worst-case scenario and need to defend ourselves. But it was too early to pass any judgment.

They all looked like decent people who liked pretty things and fancy titles. Nothing wrong with that, as far as I was concerned. They seemed a little too picture perfect for my taste, but, then again, I’d never met an entire civilization dedicated to sensible clothing, shiny jewels, and idyllic architecture. Who was I to judge?

But the one thing that bothered me wasn’t Emilian or Farrah’s statements—they both made a good case for their people and backed all of Rewa’s accounts of the Exiled Maras. Their calm demeanor and soft voices seemed to even have an effect on Jax and Heron, who were both now slightly less tense and no longer on edge.

The thing that bothered me was Caspian’s glare.

There was so much fire in those deep jade eyes, it made it hard for me to breathe, and it sent chills down my spine. He didn’t seem at all happy to see us. On the contrary, if we were to change our minds and go back to Calliope, he probably would’ve been the first to see us off, with a “So long and see you never!”. There was a strange darkness oozing out of him, a shadow drawn between his eyebrows that served as a warning sign, sort of telling me to keep my distance but also not let him out of my sight.

He was also drop-dead gorgeous, his high cheekbones and dark stubble making his gaze cut deep into me. His shoulders could hold a mountain, and his long legs were packed with muscles beneath the midnight blue fabric of his pants. But there was something off about him. Something that triggered alarms in the back of my head, sensors I didn’t even know I had.

“How do you intend to assist us, specifically?” Emilian asked. “And how can we help you?”

“We’ve been sent here to investigate,” Jax replied. “First, we need to verify the validity of your claims. Interview the victims’ families and establish a coherent timeline. We also need to draw a map of where the victims were last seen. It will help us get a better idea of the threat’s reach on your land. We will then have to check the areas of high risk, where most abductees were last seen.”

“That makes perfect sense.” Emilian nodded. “And whatever you need, we will happily provide. We are not trained, or skilled as you are for this. What we have been able to do is ask some questions, make sure our people only travel in groups, and impose a curfew. None of these measures have helped, however, and those we’ve sent outside of Azure Heights to investigate did not return.”

“I understand,” Jax muttered, scratching his stubble. “Before we proceed, I need to ask you: how did you know to reach out to Calliope?”

Rowan gave him a faint smile, one that echoed sadness and longing more than anything else. I couldn’t read the Exiled Maras’ emotions, but I could at least pay attention to every detail in their expressions.

“We never forgot where we came from, Jaxxon of House Dorchadas,” she said slowly. “We saw what world we left behind, and we took small pieces of it with us. It turns out they came in handy when we needed to reach out to Calliope.”

She took out a dark red mineral from a secret pocket in her skirt, holding it up with two fingers.

“As long as you have a physical item from your destination, the swamp witches’ spell will take you there,” Jax remembered.

“We didn’t know that at the time,” Rowan explained. “We just took little pieces of Calliope with us, chunks of its earth, tiny crystals such as this to remember it later… Memorabilia, if you will. When the Druid delegation crash-landed here and the swamp witch was kind enough to repay us for our hospitality, we knew we had the option to come back home whenever we wanted.”

“But we stayed here,” Emilian added. “This was our new home. Eritopia no longer knew or wanted us, and we were understanding of that.”

“Why didn’t you come to us sooner?” Jax asked.

“Frankly, your presence here isn’t actually necessary,” Caspian interjected suddenly, his low, husky voice igniting fires in my stomach. “Chances are that this is just a case of people gone to live elsewhere, perhaps people unhappy with our way of life. Worst-case scenario, something is out there in the Valley of Screams, where most of our folk went missing. We didn’t want to reach out to you in the first place but, as the Five Lords, we put the matter to a vote, and the majority chose to contact Calliope.”

“That is enough, Caspian.” Darius cut him off with a heavy tone and a frown, then gave us a polite smile. “Please forgive him. Caspian is convinced that we can solve this on our own, when clearly we can’t.”