A Den of Tricks (A Shade of Vampire #54)(50)

We walked back toward the city, moving through the tall grass. Jack stayed by my side, constantly looking around and sniffing the air. Once we reached the main road, however, the pit wolf wavered and yelped, shaking his head.

I looked at Patrik, then patted Jack’s back as he sat on his hind legs.

“I think it’s best if you stay out of sight, buddy,” I said gently. “The Maras, the Imen, they don’t know you like we do… They will get scared and try to hurt you. Stay in the shadows, okay, Jack?”

As if understanding everything I’d just said, the pit wolf licked my face one more time, then shuffled through the grass until he disappeared behind a thick layer of shrubs climbing up the mountainside.

Patrik and I returned to the main road, heading back to the Broken Bow Inn. We’d done everything we could for one day. The rest of our mission revolved around the Spring Fair, opening the next day.

I occasionally glanced over my shoulder and caught flickers of Jack’s red eyes in the dark woods beneath. This time it wasn’t a feeling—I knew for a fact that I’d see him again, and soon.





Harper





(Daughter of Hazel & Tejus)





Several hours passed as we waited in Mose’s hut, but there was no sign of him. I kept scanning the area, watching daemons as they moved around, but I couldn’t see Mose anywhere.

“What if he’s not coming back?” I asked, breaking the silence that had settled over us for about ten minutes. “What if they’ve detained him? Has he told you anything about why they might come looking for him in the first place, Lord Kifo?”

“No, and that’s what bothers me the most,” Caspian replied, leaning against the wall as he peeked through the window. “He is leading an underground resistance, of sorts, but they can’t possibly trace it back to him. He’s been extremely careful until now… I don’t get it.”

“A resistance?” Jax frowned, still sitting next to Hansa by the small firepit in the middle. “A resistance against what?”

“Against King Shaytan,” Caspian explained. “Believe it or not, there are plenty of daemons out there who don’t agree with this… lifestyle of theirs. They’re not all monsters.”

“No, only the ones in charge.” I scoffed, shaking my head slowly.

“Daemons are not born evil, Miss Hellswan.” Caspian’s jade gaze pierced through me like an intense laser beam. “They are made evil by the system in which they’ve been raised. However, there are daemons who reject the doctrine, who refuse to hurt other creatures. But soul eating is a powerful tool that the king uses to enslave his own people. All it takes is one taste, and that’s it. It becomes nearly impossible to break free. You have to feed again. And again. And again. The hunger manifests in the form of excruciating pain, and it takes a lot of strength and support from others in order to break free. And what support can these creatures get from a society that is convinced there’s no other way besides eating souls in the first place?”

“You talk as if you’ve experienced this firsthand,” I muttered, watching the colors around him change to a deep red with waves of dark gray. Something bothered him. I’d struck a nerve.

“I’ve seen the effects of it. I’ve seen what it looks like when the soul courses through your veins, and I’ve seen what it does to your body once you deprive it of such powerful energy,” Caspian replied, shifting his gaze to what lay beyond the window.

“What do we do, though?” Blaze interjected, while Caia played with the flames in the pit, her fingers moving as she raised little swirls of fire from the pile of burning wood. “We can’t just stay here forever…”

“I agree, we should go out.” I nodded. “Maybe check their military resources… their prison… They must have one.”

“They most certainly do,” Caspian replied, then straightened his back as he saw something outside, something worthy of his full attention. “Wait. There’s movement in the main square. They’re all rushing to it…”

I used my True Sight, confirming what Caspian had just observed. Daemons of all shapes and sizes were pouring down the alleys leading into the city center, where the palace and giant tower awaited.

“Should we go see what that’s about?” I asked Jax and Hansa, who noticed the enthusiasm in my voice.

“You sound excited.” Hansa raised an eyebrow.

“More like bored.” I shrugged. “I’m tired of waiting around.”

“Let’s go,” Jax replied, then stood up. “But we’ll have to use the invisibility spell. We can’t risk being in the middle of a daemon crowd without it.”

Hansa, Blaze, and Caia sprang to their feet, and Jax dispensed portions of what was left of our invisibility spell paste. We had to swipe some from hunter daemons the first chance we got, if we wanted to leave the underground city without letting the dragon loose and getting into a fight we may not be able to win.

We swallowed the paste and held hands, waiting for the spell to kick in. Caspian took one of my hands, while Hansa held onto the other, with Jax, Caia, and Blaze following closely. We left the hut and snuck through the narrow streets leading into the city, staying close to the walls to avoid the engorging crowd, and occasionally hiding in various nooks and side alleys to calculate our next steps.