A Valley of Darkness (A Shade of Vampire #52)(25)

“Do you still practice Pyrope here, today?” I asked.

“Between you and me, I don’t know of anyone, personally, who does it.” He winked. “But I wouldn’t be surprised. It was deemed illegal once we established the rule of law in Azure Heights. We didn’t want any of us to be tempted, in any way. Once you’re cut off and reduced to animal blood, there’s a withdrawal period. It’s like an addiction, I suppose, so we didn’t want to enable relapses, which is why we forbade Pyrope. But unless those engaging in it come forward or they are caught in the act, we cannot press any charges.”

“That’s interesting,” I murmured, then gasped and laughed as he spun me around a couple of times, then pulled me closer and went on leading me to the rhythm of the music.

“How is life on Calliope, these days?” he asked, his gaze settled on my face.

Where could I start, when so much had happened? I glanced around while my mind tried to summarize the past ten thousand years, and saw Jax glaring my way as he walked onto the dancefloor with Farrah, wrapping one arm around her. They started dancing.

My stomach churned and my heart thudded, watching him move so smoothly. He shifted his focus to Farrah, and a charming smile bloomed on his face. He’d never looked at me that way. I huffed, then smirked at Emilian.

“Let’s just say a lot has happened since you left,” I finally replied. “We had a Druid go dark and haywire, wreaking havoc and trying to take over the galaxy… It was messy and bloody. Millions died. But we had some unexpected help from outsiders, and we were able to vanquish him. Then we established GASP in Eritopia, and things are finally falling back into place…”

“You mean to say you had another Asherak situation?” Emilian raised an eyebrow, surprised.

“Worse, actually.” I sighed. “Azazel was his name, and he used Asherak’s soul to gain power. Got his filthy hands on a Daughter of Eritopia, forced her to hatch prematurely, and drew energy from her. He even sourced power from the Dearghs’ volcanoes. He was nearly unstoppable at one point, and brought down all the Druids. Well, except for a handful… It’s a long story, Emilian… One I don’t wish to retell just yet. It still hurts.”

I tried to ignore the dull pain in my chest, remembering the day I’d found my whole tribe slaughtered by an alliance of Sluaghs and Destroyers of Azazel. All the blood, the charred remains of my sisters, my daughters, the black smoke billowing from still-burning tents… The smell of death. It was all still too fresh in my soul.

Emilian noticed my underlying grief and frowned gently. “I am sorry for your loss, Hansa.” His voice dropped. “War is never easy, nor free of pain. I take it you lost some loved ones?”

I nodded my response, fighting back tears. He tightened his grip on me, and lowered his head enough for his forehead to touch mine.

“I apologize,” he muttered. “I see the subject is still sensitive.”

“It’s fine.” I gave him a weak smile, then changed the subject, as my eyes were getting too wet for my liking. “Tell me about your lives here! How did you end up building this stunning city?”

I caught another glimpse of Jax dancing with Farrah. She had her back to us, while Jax wore a concerned look on his face, his eyes finding mine. I focused on Emilian with a broad smile, hoping it would be enough to show Jax that I was having a good time, and that I was doing a fine job of charming the Lord of House Obara.

“Oh, it wasn’t easy.” Emilian laughed lightly. “We toiled for months to carve every level. Years to build our homes here. But we all pitched in. There wasn’t a single first-generation Exiled Mara who sat back and let others work for them. It was a group effort.”

“What about the rule of law?” I asked. “How did your legal system come to life? How does your enforcement work?”

“We looked at what we already had on Calliope,” he replied, a shadow passing over his face, “and restricted it further. We knew that if we wanted peace, we had to work hard against our own instincts to make it happen. It was difficult in the beginning, especially with the Imen already living here. I’ll admit, even I fed on them a couple of times during our first weeks on Neraka. I’ve spent my whole life paying their people back for my lapse in judgment. We needed firm laws and even firmer punishments, so House Kifo came forward with their Correction Officers. The first couple hundred years were tough, but we all got in line. It worked. There’s been minimal use of the prison since. But, to this day, we do not forget, and we do not forgive those who break the law. We’ve achieved a precious balance here, and we won’t let anyone destroy it. Not even one of our own.”

I nodded slowly. We continued dancing, and I scanned the dancefloor again. Jax was still with Farrah, and she seemed to thoroughly enjoy his company.

Guess he’s doing his part, too…

“The Valley of Screams,” I said, drifting to another burning subject on my list. “It was always like this, you said…”

“Sort of, yes.” Emilian’s brow furrowed. “Since before the gorges emerged, we could hear the occasional screams. There were many Imen tribes on the other side, and we always figured they were getting killed by wild animals in there. But they weren’t as frequent as they are today. When we started hunting in there, we found some large predators… Giant felines and wolves, mostly. We figured they were the ones making some poor lost soul scream once in a while. We tried to focus our hunts on those beasts, hoping we’d act as some sort of deterrent and maybe spare some Imen lives in the future. But it’s gotten worse over the last couple of years, as we’ve previously explained. It’s gotten to the point where we’re afraid of going in there to hunt, and we’ve stuck to our locally sourced blood. The herds have been enough.”