A Valley of Darkness (A Shade of Vampire #52)(50)

“We also steal supplies when we visit,” Sinon added, making Bear groan. Despite being under Heron’s mind-bending, he seemed to still have some sense left, if he was able to react to his son revealing their operation.

“What supplies?” I asked, slightly amused.

“Leathers, grains, and spices, mostly,” Sinon replied. “There are secret routes leading into the city, so we can carry plenty and get to the plains without being spotted.”

“Secret routes?” I muttered, then looked up at Heron. “Do you think the daemons are using them to get into the city?”

“I don’t see the point, since they’re invisible,” Heron said.

“The daemons aren’t invisible unless they’re hunting,” Bear replied, leaving both Heron and I speechless.

I needed a second to wrap my head around what he’d just said.

“Wait… You know about the daemons? Did you see them? What do they look like?” I threw out the questions as they popped into my head.

Bear seemed startled. He glanced around, as if worried someone might hear him.

“Shush,” he whispered. “They could be nearby… They’re big, they’re huge, with claws and vicious red eyes and…”

His voice trailed off. He froze, staring up the mountain. Sinon, Heron, and I followed his gaze and saw two Exiled Maras watching us from above. They stood on a stone ledge, an extension of the third-level platform toward the northwest, bordered with a wrought-iron fence. They were dressed in plain dark clothes with hoods, their faces covered with smoky goggles and masks, and they had some kind of blue badge on their right arms.

Bear fell to his knees, followed by Sinon. They both held their heads, moaning and grunting.

“The pain,” Bear cried out. “Make it stop…”

“What’s happening?” I tried to touch the Imen, but they shuddered beneath my hands, in sheer agony. “What is going on?”

“They’re mind-bending them!” Heron growled. “It’s what happens when an Iman is being mind-bent by two or more Maras. The brain overloads. It’s extremely painful.”

“Oh, crap,” I gasped, remembering the blue badges. “Those are Correction Officers!”

“Make it stop!” Bear’s muffled cry came from below.

“What do we do?” I asked Heron, desperate to stop the Exiled Maras from turning Bear and Sinon’s brains to mush.

“The soul eaters will kill us,” Sinon groaned, pushing his forehead into the hard ground.

“Soul eaters? What’s a soul—” I was interrupted by Heron’s quick thinking, as he pulled one of his chest plates off and lifted it in such a way that the sunlight reflected off the metallic surface. It hit the Correction Officers in the face. They looked away, covering their eyes. They were temporarily blinded, despite the glasses. It wouldn’t do any long-term damage, but it was enough to break their hold on the Imen.

Bear and Sinon immediately sprang to their feet and vanished back inside the small patch of woods from which Heron had pulled them. We ran after them but couldn’t find them anywhere. It was as if they’d vanished into thin air. All I could see were trees and large rocks that had tumbled off the mountain, their top sides covered in moss.

“What just happened? Where’d they go?” I was frustrated at that point, because I couldn’t event track their scent anymore.

Heron cursed under his breath, then ran back out. I followed, and we both looked up. The Correction Officers were nowhere to be seen.

“Did you hear what Bear said?” I asked, staying behind Heron as we trekked back to the main road into the city.

“He said a lot of things,” he muttered.

He was angry. I could tell from his posture—his shoulders were tense and his fists closed tight.

“Soul eaters,” I reminded him. “He said ‘soul eaters’…”

“I have no idea what a soul eater is.”

“Do you think he meant the Correction Officers?” I wondered whether it was a more poetic way of referring to Kifo’s henchmen.

“What, as in a dramatic nickname?” he replied. “Like you’re called the ‘Hound Dog’?”

I poked him in the rib, prompting him to cough, then chuckle.

“I see your high spirits are back.” I smiled. I really didn’t like seeing him angry. There was still a heavy weight on his shoulders, but at least I’d made him laugh a little. “I find it amazing that Imen travel through the Valley of Shadows.”

“Yeah, that was unexpected. Do you think the Five Lords know?”

“I don’t know… I don’t think so,” I said as we reached the first level of Azure Heights. “I bet whatever secret routes Bear and Sinon are using would’ve been sealed by now, if the Exiled Mara knew.”

“Then I wouldn’t tell them, either.” Heron gave me a brief glance as we headed up the stairs leading to the second level. None of the scents in the area resembled the one I’d picked off Minah. We’d struck out on that side of the mountain, as far as tracking Minah’s killer went.

“This does leave room for a lot more questions,” I replied, catching a glimpse of geared-up Exiled Maras with blue badges in a reflection on a nearby window. I caught their scents, too. Musk and salt. “Like why are Kifo’s Correction Officers following us?”