A Valley of Darkness (A Shade of Vampire #52)(12)

I couldn’t help but take another look in the mirror. The dress itself was a sartorial work of art. Wynona had already told me that Exiled Maras all over the city used the Spring Ball as an excuse to compete with their most artistic and flamboyant fashions, and that all the outfits the tailors had brought over for us were meant as a more introductory line, to help us blend in, not necessarily stand out.

That was a good premise for us as GASP agents, but, as I glanced at my reflection, I wondered what the socialites amongst the Exiled Maras were going to wear, if this masterpiece serving as a dress was intended to help me blend in. I’d never been to such a sumptuous event before. Most of our parties involved cocktail dresses in the supernatural settings, and jeans and crop tops in the human nightclubs.





Harper





(Daughter of Hazel & Tejus)





Avril was taking a little too much time trying on dresses for the Spring Ball, so I went ahead and found the city library, up on the fifth level of Azure Heights. It was a majestic construction, stretching over three floors and half of the carved terrace, and was filled with ancient scrolls, leather-bound books of both fiction and nonfiction, history manuals, civic registries, and a plethora of newspaper-style publications. It turned out that the city ran a reputable news source, though it was small and mostly focused on local administration issues.

The library had a white marble fa?ade and ebony wood interiors—as well as hundreds of bookshelves arranged over three floors, plenty of comfortable seating and reading tables, and even a small yard with a café at the back. It was a place of study and silence, and was home to a number of Maras who curated and looked after all the books written and stored by the people of Azure Heights over the course of thousands of years.

I pulled out the Five Lords’ family registries first, armed with a notebook and a pen for the copious notes I knew I’d be taking from those pages. I focused on House Kifo first. I needed to learn as much as I could about Caspian, his family, and their law enforcement efforts. My Mara tailor had been gracious enough to give me a brief history of the Five Houses and the fields they covered, from arts and infrastructure to laws and their enforcement.

Somehow, seeing Caspian in charge of correction and policing made sense. He had the brooding down to a dramatic level, and he was ridiculously protective of his people and traditions.

Fiona, Avril, and Heron soon joined me. We occupied one of the reading tables on the ground floor and spent a few good hours in there. Fiona and Avril researched the other Houses, while Heron browsed through the news articles, jotting down a timeline of how the disappearances had been reported. We were still looking for patterns, and our best bet was to look at historical records, including news coverage.

I managed to find out more about Caspian’s ancestors, including Lord Teller Kifo, the original Exiled Mara of the House and a good friend of Emilian Obara, the only living first generation Exiled Mara. Caspian had been orphaned at a very young age, according to his family registry. His parents were brutally murdered, but the culprit was never apprehended. Caspian was raised by his father’s best friend, Dillon, who had been reported missing a couple of years back.

He could potentially be counted as one of the daemons’ victims, but I figured it would be best to ask Caspian to confirm, rather than to assume. From what I could tell, the Kifo family had always been of military discipline, and Caspian had been raised in the same spirit.

“Here, there are a couple of editorials on Caspian, if you want to read through them,” Heron said, and handed me a book with article clippings.

“Thanks,” I muttered, and scanned the text columns, realizing they’d developed a printing press for higher volume publishing. It didn’t exactly come as a surprise, given how advanced and crafty their civilization was.

According to the editorials provided by Heron, Caspian didn’t like being involved in the public life, despite his lordship. His Correction Officers were best known for their covert operations, barely recognizable while out on patrol. They never divulged the officers’ names to the people of Azure Heights, either, and they didn’t talk about law enforcement much.

I couldn’t find any specific details on how they conducted the corrections part of House Kifo’s department, either. It was as if they were deliberately keeping this stuff away from the public eye. Not even my tailor had been able to tell me more about the detainees after they were taken and their families were served with a legal notice of their imprisonment.

“Avril, do you think you can try to find out more about the Correction Officers tonight, when you speak to Arrah?” I asked, nervously chewing on my pen. I didn’t have enough data, and it made me feel like I was swimming in murky waters.

“Yeah, it’s actually one of the main topics I want to approach with her.” She nodded with a smile. “Wynona, my tailor, told me a little about the Corrections Department, but she didn’t know much. Apparently, they’re all happy with obeying the laws and never seeing the criminals again. Which is basically what’s happening around here.”

“My tailor said the same thing,” I mused. “But they must have a prison or a detention center somewhere. It’s not like they feed them to the daemons…”

My voice trailed off as I considered the possibility of the Exiled Maras doing precisely that. Chills ran down my spine, and Fiona, Avril, and Heron stared at me. I had a feeling they were thinking the same thing.