A Tangle of Hearts (A Shade of Vampire #44)(58)

“Hope you slept well.” Hansa saluted me, and her palm landed heavily on my shoulder.

“I did, I did, thank you,” I replied, smiling.

“Let’s go to the bridge on the other side. The scouts are coming back.”

She didn’t wait for me to answer. Instead, her arm on my shoulder pulled me in that direction. It felt awkward, like she was crushing my masculinity. She was a seasoned warrior, and I was still technically a puppy.

Halfway through our walk to the bridge, I decided to ask about Anjani’s glow. It fascinated me the way she’d literally flared up.

“Why do succubi glow?”

“You mean our skin color?” Hansa frowned, confused by my poorly composed question.

“No, no. I mean really glow. Not your usual shimmer. I saw Anjani light up like the moon last night. I’ve never seen that before.”

Hansa laughed all the way to the foot of the bridge, where we met Draven, Serena, and Bijarki, who already awaited the scouts’ return.

“You saw her blush, which is quite rare. Tell me later how you managed to do that,” Hansa quickly explained and dismissed me with a slap on the shoulder.

She turned to speak to Draven, and I was left with more questions than answers.

Serena and I greeted each other.

Anjani joined us. “The scouts were seen by our guards earlier, coming in from the southwest,” she explained and pointed at a slim tower fifty feet east of the bridge.

It was a simple construction, made of solid wood and large palm leaves that served as a roof. It was occupied by two succubi with crossbows. We’d come in from the other side of the camp yesterday, and I hadn’t paid much attention to this side of the settlement. Nevertheless, it told me that the succubi were always on their guard, always keeping an eye out over the jungle.

I looked at Anjani, but she avoided my gaze, focusing on Serena instead. Hansa’s words rolled through my head. I had made her blush. I felt a self-satisfied smirk lifting the corners of my mouth, but the sound of hooves broke my line of thought and made us all turn our heads toward the bridge.

The jungle fanned out beyond the stream in its dark hues of green and purple, its foliage dense with thick shrubs. The leaves rustled as a large figure emerged from the depths of the wild forest. We watched quietly as one horse stepped into the clearing, followed by two more.

There was something wrong with this image.

Anjani gasped.

The horses had returned, but the scouts—the three succubi I’d seen yesterday— were slumped over. Long arrows had been lodged in their backs and sides, up to six each.

“NO!” Hansa shouted, her voice thundering across the entire camp and echoing into the forest.

The three black stallions clamored over the bridge, neighing and shaking their heads. Hansa, Anjani, and Bijarki grabbed the reins of each horse and pulled them into camp. Serena stood by Draven’s side, her eyes wide with horror. She mumbled something to Draven. I figured she was describing what she was seeing.

“No, my sisters, no!” Hansa’s voice trembled as she pulled Kalli from her horse.

Her body slumped on the ground covered in silver blood. Her shimmer was gone, her skin pale and nearly transparent. Hansa knelt in front of her and pulled the arrows out, cursing under her breath. My stomach churned at the sight.

A few feet over, Anjani pulled Thenna’s body down, laying it on the grass. She hadn’t made it either. Tears ran down Anjani’s face, her lips trembling as she whispered something into the dead succubus’s ear. She dropped a gentle kiss on her forehead before she removed the arrows.

We heard Riga moan as Bijarki lifted her off the horse and laid her down. I darted over to them, landing on my knees next to her. I ripped off a large piece of my shirt and pressed it against her stomach where an arrow poked out. She had been hit from different angles.

Riga coughed, her glimmer dimming as she struggled to keep her eyes open. Her lips and chin were glazed in silver blood. Anjani and Hansa rushed over to help.

“We need help here!” Hansa shouted over her shoulder to the succubi washing clothes in the stream.

The young ones ran off to one of the nearby tents while the others sounded the alarm, a loud guttural shrill from horn-shaped instruments I had never heard before.

Soon enough, we were surrounded by the entire tribe.

Serena and Draven stood helplessly to the side.

I kept the pressure on Riga’s wounds while Anjani slipped her legs under so she could rest the scout’s head on her thighs. She gently caressed her face.

“You’ll be okay, Riga, we’ve got you,” she said, her voice trembling.

“Who did this to you, sister? What happened?” Hansa barked.

Another succubus pushed Bijarki away and pulled out rolls of white linen and several flasks of dark blue liquid. She poured it onto the linen rolls and applied one to each arrow wound without removing the projectile. She gave me one to place on the wound I had been covering, and I followed her lead.

“It should stop the bleeding before we can pull the arrows out,” the succubus said. She pressed against a hip wound, making Riga moan and cough.

“They have a message,” the scout managed to say between coughs. She tried to inhale but instead wheezed and spit out more blood.

“Who? What happened?” Hansa insisted, trying to keep Riga’s focus on her.

“Arid… They joined Azazel’s army…”