A Valley of Darkness (A Shade of Vampire #52)(6)

Harper opened her mouth to protest the decision, but gave in and simply nodded instead. I stifled a grin, as I knew she wanted to be in the middle of the action. She’d always been like this. Inquisitive, active, persistent. It was what made her good at her job as a GASP agent. But I had to admit, Jax had a point. It was too early in the game to stalk the Lords and Ladies of Azure Heights. We needed to better understand their origins, their society, and their laws, while staying equally focused on the investigation and the Valley of Screams. We had our work cut out for us.

“Caia and Blaze can do more interviews today,” Jax added, looking at the fire fae and the dragon. “You can get Rewa to help you again, as many of these families aren’t too keen to talk to strangers like us.”

They both nodded, but I saw the slight frown on Caia’s face. She still didn’t like Rewa much. I could tell even from our night in the Druid Archives. To be fair, I couldn’t blame her, given the sweet eyes the young Exiled Mara had for Blaze. Caia could deny it all she wanted, but that look in her eyes whenever she stole a glance at him said it all.

“Avril, Fiona, and Heron can move ahead with Arrah tonight. Fiona will keep Vincent busy, while Avril and Heron will sneak back to the Roho mansion and try and speak to the Iman girl,” Hansa said. “We need more info on what’s going on in this city, especially where the Imen are concerned.”

“We’ll be on it tonight.” Heron nodded. “But what do you want us to do in the meantime?”

“You can help Harper with research in the library,” Jax replied. It hit me then that he wasn’t in the best of moods. It was often difficult to read him, but sometimes his irritability was obvious. I had a feeling it could be related to the tension between him and Hansa, but since neither of them ever talked about it, there was no point in asking questions and getting myself thrown into the library with Harper and the others.

“Why? I mean, why?” Heron rolled his eyes, clearly displeased. “I asked how we could help, not how to get bored while waiting for the Spring Ball.”

“You are helping. We need research.” Jax raised an eyebrow. “Still allergic to books, huh?”

“You suck,” Heron shot back.

“Maybe, but I’m in charge.” Jax smirked.

Avril and Fiona glanced at one another, trying hard not to laugh, while Heron crossed his arms over his chest. Hansa cleared her throat, then nodded at Patrik.

“Patrik, Jax and I need to talk to you,” she said. “We need that beautiful Druid brain of yours to give us some protection spell options for the entire city. Swamp witch magic, too, if anything comes to mind.”

“For the entire city?” Patrik scratched the faint stubble on his chin, and I couldn’t help but stare at his lips, until he saw me. I quickly looked down at my hands. “I can think of a few, but they’ll require some materials and some team effort.”

“That’s doable, I hope,” Hansa replied. “Whatever you need, we’ll help. I’m thinking we could first protect the city, then go into offense mode on these… daemons.”

“Makes sense,” Jax agreed, then looked at Blaze and Caia. “Based on the info you gather from the families today, and on what we already know, we’ll put some pins on a map of the city and its surrounding areas. Hopefully, we’ll identify an attack pattern and radius.”

“Uh, guys?” Fiona said, demanding our attention. “I think we need to get back to the inn. Vincent said he was sending his tailors to help us with our outfits for the Spring Ball tonight.”

Hansa groaned, obviously displeased with the concept of dressing up for a ball.

“Patrik,” Jax said, “we’ll go and get this fancy dress business out of the way first, and then we’ll come back and talk about those protective spells. Do you need us to bring you anything from your room?”

“Yes, my travel bag,” he replied. “There are things in there which I’ll need for the spells.”

Jax nodded, then headed for the door.

“Coming, Scarlett?” Hansa asked. “Bet you’re tired of this infirmary by now.”

“No, I’m good.” I smiled and shook my head. “I’ll keep an eye on Patrik and Minah.”

“There’s no need,” Patrik replied bluntly, deliberately not looking at me. “I’m fine. I’m conscious and able to move—I can watch over Minah. The team needs you more than I do right now.”

I couldn’t help but feel rejected, and I wasn’t sure I was good at hiding the stinging disappointment that he’d caused in me. I looked at Fiona and Avril, who were both smiling knowingly at me.

“Come on,” Avril said. “Time to get you all dressed up for tonight. We’ll need to blend in and observe the hell out of these Exiled Maras.”

“The more we understand, the less weird they might seem.” Fiona giggled.

I forced myself to smile back and got up without bothering to look at Patrik again. I was afraid he’d be able to see right through me if I got trapped in those intense blue eyes of his.

I followed the rest of my team outside and up the stairs leading back to the Broken Bow Inn. Whatever happened next, I had to be on my toes and ready to perform. My team needed me; my friends and my family depended on me. Most importantly, that fragile, wounded Iman girl in the infirmary needed me.