A Den of Tricks (A Shade of Vampire #54)(30)

Hansa





More than half an hour had passed since I’d plopped myself down in the middle of the clearing and cut a six-inch gash across my left thigh to draw out a hunter daemon. It was getting dark, and my boredom was starting to set in. The mild rain hadn’t helped either, as water had soaked into my hair, making my head feel heavy. On top of that, water removed the daemons’ invisibility spell, so, if they were going to attack me, they had to wait it out. Fortunately, it had stopped raining for the last ten minutes. I let out an occasional moan of pain, looking around to catch signs of any movement. But nothing happened.

I stretched my arms out and glanced to my left. Jax was beneath the thick crown of a bent tree, quietly watching me with a rope in his hand. We hadn’t spoken about the kiss, and I felt a little disheartened—not because of him, but mostly because of how the universe had stopped us from talking about it, first by nearly killing Avril and then by blowing up the top level of the mountain and killing dozens of Maras and Imen.

Nevertheless, something had changed between us. I could tell from the way he looked at me. There was a more permanent softness lingering in his jade eyes whenever he did so—a softness that wasn’t there before. I wondered if he would finally get over whatever insecurities were hounding him, and come to me. I’d made it clear that I was waiting, so the ball was basically in his court. The waiting game was a pain, though…

I picked up a handful of pebbles and started tossing them around, moaning louder—but with less conviction. It felt like I was dragging it out, but I figured making some noise might get the attention of one of the horned bastards lurking nearby.

“Somebody help me… Please… I’m in so much pain!” I cried out.

Jax raised an eyebrow at me, and I gave him a shrug in response.

Hey, whatever works, buddy!

One of my pebbles hit something in the air, twenty feet away from me. I stilled, watching the invisible form ripple closer, moving toward me. I cleared my throat, then gave Jax a sideways glance. He nodded briefly and waited for the daemon to get inside the snare trap hidden in the dirt.

I caught a glimpse of the fiend’s glimmering red eyes.

“Oh no,” I said, my tone much too flat. “Please don’t hurt me…”

It stepped inside the snare trap, and I immediately pushed myself back and out of its range. Blaze, Jax, and Harper pulled the strings back, and—snap! We got him, the ropes tightening around his large form as he struggled against their hold.

Caia came out and tossed water from her flask, revealing the daemon in his full, savage splendor. Jax flashed behind him and brought his knife up to his throat, the white blade digging into his tanned skin and drawing a droplet of blood.

“Got you,” Jax breathed. The daemon stilled, cursing under his breath.

Blaze and Harper came out, along with Caspian, and used the lengths of their ropes to further restrict the fiend’s movements. They tied his hands behind his back, wrapping the rope tightly around his wrists.

“Make sure you really tighten those wrist bindings,” Caspian told Harper. “You don’t want him to bend his palms for his claws to reach the rope. It’ll cut off his blood circulation, but you really shouldn’t care about that.”

“You’re all going to die,” the daemon hissed.

“I’d be more worried about yourself, if I were you,” I shot back with a grin.

“Duly noted.” Harper smirked and jerked the rope even tighter, prompting the daemon to grunt from the pain. She measured him from head to toe, and frowned slightly. “He’s not as big as the others.”

“No, he isn’t.” Caspian nodded.

“I can still slit your throats!” the daemon growled, prompting Caspian to give him a hard backhand in response. His head jerked to the right, and he groaned from the pain, his lower lip split. He then opened his mouth, letting out a cricket-like sound, quickly muffled by Caspian, who tied a long piece of torn fabric over his mouth.

“You’re not calling for help,” the Mara said, then glanced at us, while I sized the daemon up for a brief moment.

Harper was right. The daemon was some inches shorter than Tobiah, and his muscle mass was substantially reduced, too. I had a feeling he was a weaker specimen.

“The lower-rank hunters, the weaker ones, that is, hunt on the outskirts of the Valley of Screams. The bigger and stronger they are, the easier their access to the main gorges, where most of their victims travel,” Caspian explained.

Called it.

And then it hit me.

“Damn it, Lord Kifo, you could’ve said something sooner.” I scoffed. “Preferably before we dragged our asses through the main gorge yesterday!”

“I agree, and I do apologize for that.” Caspian nodded, grabbing the daemon’s chin to get a better look at his face. “However, you were following a tracking spell yesterday. I don’t think a side road would’ve made any difference. But I will be more than happy to make it up to you all, and take you to an access point leading to the underground. This fellow here will help us get through.”

That didn’t sound right. I’d thought we were going to compel the daemon to show us the entrance to his city. It turned out that Caspian had known all along where to go. I crossed my arms over my chest and scowled at him, just to get my point across. The Mara gave me an apologetic shrug.