A Valley of Darkness (A Shade of Vampire #52)(44)

A moment passed in silence as we processed the amplitude of the spell.

“This is impressive, Patrik,” Jax said slowly. “Well done!”

“Let’s hope it works,” Patrik replied.

“Okay, so you need us to put the satchels into four walls, and someone to paint the symbols throughout the city,” Hansa reiterated. “Jax can take one wall, Heron and Avril will take another, Blaze and Caia will be on the third, and I’ll take Fiona for the fourth—l don’t want her alone.”

Jax didn’t seem happy with the decision, his brow furrowed as he glanced at Hansa, but he didn’t object.

“Afterward, we’ll work our way up the mountain and get as many flower specimens as we can, for Avril to identify the odor she caught on Minah,” she added. “The wearer of that scent either came from a specific area of the city or uses it as a fragrance. It’s a lead we must follow. Everyone clear on that?”

We all gave her a brief nod, then patiently waited for her to continue her instructions.

“Harper will paint the symbols throughout the city,” Hansa said. “I think it’s safe to say she can be trusted on her own, given her performance in the Valley of Screams. She’s downright vicious, and I know no one will dare get near her. Provided she doesn’t go around pulling her swords on the Five Lords again.”

She gave Harper a warning glare, prompting the sentry to shrink a little. I stifled a chuckle, then stilled at the sound of my name.

“Scarlett,” Hansa addressed me, “you’ll be staying here with Patrik at all times. At least for now. Preservation spell or not, I don’t want anyone near Minah’s body, and I certainly don’t want our Druid on his own, surrounded by mind-bending Maras.”

I held my breath for a second, glancing at Patrik. Given his earlier mention of his dream, I had a feeling there would be some awkwardness between us.

“Okay,” I murmured, bracing myself for when I’d be left on my own with Patrik.

“We’ll reconvene in the infirmary by sundown, after we complete our tasks,” Jax said, looking at Hansa. The tension between them was as heavy as ever. “Be careful out there.”

“I’m a big girl, Jax. Don’t worry about me.” Hansa scoffed, then pointed at the map. “Now, which of the teams I nominated wants to take the south wall?”





Caia





(Daughter of Grace & Lawrence)





Blaze and I took the south wall. We headed down one of the two side alleys leading to the base of the mountain. Tree crowns stretched overhead in crude shades of green, but this part of the city was no longer protected by awnings, so there were no Exiled Maras around. We passed a few Imen on the way down, and they all gave us curious looks, but we kept moving.

The alley became narrower toward the bottom, carved into the limestone wall, which grew taller on both sides as we descended and turned the road into a tunnel. A small, wrought-iron fence stood at the end.

“This leads nowhere,” Blaze said as we reached the fence, overlooking the strips of pebbled beach and rocky shore that cut through the middle of the landscape, with green fields to the right and a dark blue ocean to the left

I looked around, craning my neck to take in the full height of the mountain’s limestone walls, along with the curved ceiling. The Exiled Maras had probably spent some time carving this out in the early days of their city.

“I wonder why they left it like this,” I muttered, then bent over the fence to get a better look at what was below.

“Careful, Caia.” Blaze held my arm, and, despite the layer of leather between his fingers and my skin, I still felt tiny electric currents flowing through me.

“I’m okay,” I replied, pointing at the view below. “Look… I think that’s why they stopped carving.”

We both glanced down and saw a very steep trail leading toward the base of the mountain, with nothing but shrubs and the occasional small tree scattered around. The wall ended abruptly with the fence, and there was nothing but the stony ridge on this part of Azure Heights.

“We need to get down there, huh?” Blaze said.

I nodded, and he took his backpack off. The actual base of the mountain was about seven hundred feet down from where we were. If we wanted to make sure Patrik’s spell worked, we had to put his satchel in there. I heard a zipper go down and glanced at Blaze, then immediately turned my back on him, my face flushed.

“What… What are you doing?” I stammered, as Blaze took his clothes off and shoved them into the backpack, which he handed over to me. I took it, struggling not to look over my shoulder and see him in all his naked splendor.

“Sorry, but I need to go into dragon mode,” Blaze replied, matter-of-factly. “It’s too steep to climb down. I can fly us there.”

“Oh… right.” I tried to sound casual, but my cheeks were on fire, my heart galloping and kicking my ribs like a tempestuous mare... I was going to literally ride Blaze.

“Unless you want to wait for me here?” he added.

“Oh, no,” I said quickly. “I’m not staying here by myself.”

“Okay, then hop on my back once I’ve shifted,” he replied. I heard him skip the fence and move forward on the ridge, enough to give himself the space he probably needed to shift without breaking anything. I put his backpack on, then waited for him to shift.