A Valley of Darkness (A Shade of Vampire #52)(20)

“We knock.”

“Oh, okay. We… knock,” I muttered, then followed Heron around the house to the front door. He knocked, and we could see a light go on in the lobby and move toward us. The door opened, and an Iman servant holding a single candelabra greeted us with a surprised look on his face.

“Milord, milady,” he said, “the masters of this residence are not here right now.”

“I know,” Heron said, and his eyes burned gold as he mind-bent the servant. “We need to speak to Arrah. You should take us to her.”

With the suggestion planted, the Iman servant nodded slowly, then walked toward the kitchen at the back of the mansion. We followed quietly, passing several maids. Heron gave them all a brief, golden glance.

“We were never here,” he said, and they nodded, then walked away and returned to their chores.

I couldn’t help but marvel at Heron’s smooth ability. I couldn’t get tired of watching him influence other creatures like this. I wondered what it would be like if he did that to me. I’d never know, of course, since I was immune to his mind-bending skills.

We reached the kitchen, where a teenage Iman girl fitting Fiona’s description of Arrah was wiping plates with a dry cloth and storing them in an overhead cabinet. She stilled when she saw us, her eyes a quiet shade of jade green.

“Arrah, our unexpected visitors would like a word with you,” the Iman servant said, his voice low and soft, as he was still under Heron’s influence.

“Of course,” Arrah replied, and put the plate and cloth away, then moved forward with her hands behind her back, looking like a girl who’d gotten into some mischief and now had to answer to her parents.

“You never saw us here tonight,” Heron told the Iman servant, slowly pressing his shoulder. “You should go to sleep now. You must be tired after such a long day.”

“I should. You’re right, I’m exhausted.” The servant nodded and walked away, leaving us alone in the kitchen with Arrah.

A couple of seconds passed in an awkward silence.

“Arrah, we were here yesterday with Fiona, if you remember?” I asked, putting a warm smile on.

“Yes, milady,” she replied, her gaze darting between Heron and me.

“Fiona told us you might know more about Sienna’s disappearance than your colleagues, but she feared you couldn’t speak up because of the others present, including Vincent. Is that true?”

“No, milady. I told her everything I knew.” She shook her head.

“You shouldn’t lie to us, Arrah,” Heron replied, his eyes glimmering gold again.

Arrah gave him a stern look, as if unaffected by his mind-bending ability. She even raised an eyebrow in response.

“Milord, that trick won’t work on me,” she scoffed.

Neither Heron nor I saw that coming. She was an Iman, and the entire species was subject to a Mara’s hypnotic skills, with no known exception. How was she doing this?

“What if I try a little harder and ask you to tell us the truth?” Heron persisted, and I could almost feel the air thicken between them as he intensified his suggestion.

“I’m sorry, milord.” Arrah smirked. “But I seem to be immune. No one has ever been able to influence my mind.”

“But you’re an Iman,” I said. “You’re all subject to a Mara’s abilities…”

“I am an Iman, milady, but for reasons unbeknownst to me, I am not affected.”

A few more seconds went by. Both Heron and I analyzed the unexpected situation. We had been banking on mind-bending Arrah into telling us the truth, whatever that was.

“Great.” Heron sighed, then looked at me. “What now?”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged, then shifted my focus back to Arrah. “Listen, we’re here to help. We don’t wish to hurt you, nor do we want to get anyone in trouble. We’re just trying to find out what happened to Sienna. Can you please help us?”

Arrah studied us carefully, then exhaled sharply and leaned against the counter, her shoulders dropping.

“I know you’re genuinely here to help. It’s why I told you that you cannot manipulate me,” Arrah said. “No one else knows, and I’m quite good at feigning being hypnotized. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone.”

“We won’t, I promise.” I gave her a reassuring smile. “Arrah, please help us. There are so many people missing, and our friends had a terrible encounter with what we think took them. We rescued an Iman girl from the Valley of Screams last night. Her name is Minah.”

Arrah’s face lit up at the sound of her name.

“Is she okay?” she asked, suddenly looking worried.

“Mostly, yes,” I replied. “She lost a lot of blood, but we managed to stabilize her. One of our team is looking after her. Do you know her?”

“Yes, we… we grew up together. I thought she was gone for good.”

“She called the creatures taking people away ‘daemons’. Do you know anything about that?”

She took a moment to think, then shook her head.

I didn’t want to push her, as I only had her willingness to cooperate with us to work with. Whatever I could get out of her would have to do, but I quickly understood that I’d have to get her to trust us more if I wanted her to tell us everything.