A Valley of Darkness (A Shade of Vampire #52)(61)

“Watch over Minah,” Jax replied. “I don’t want anyone outside of GASP to come near her body. Someone might decide to make it disappear without a trace. We’ll need to give her a proper burial in the morning, and, most importantly, our Druid needs to keep an eye on the protection spell, and be kept out of the Exiled Maras’ reach.”

“He’s right,” Patrik said. “This magic circle cannot be tampered with, or the protection spell breaks…”

With our tasks set out, we agreed to meet back at the infirmary by three in the morning, and Heron and I parted with the team and went into the city, actively looking for Correction Officers. I was determined to find that prison and untangle this whole mess revolving around Sienna, once and for all. My stomach was tied up in knots, as I had trouble getting my mind off Fiona, but I had no choice but to stay on course and let Blaze and Caia do their thing.

No creature in its right mind would dare cross a fire dragon.





Avril





(Daughter of Lucas & Marion)





It didn’t take us long to find Correction Officers in Azure Heights. It did take us about twenty minutes to shake the ones we had tailing us, “for our protection”, as Lord Kifo had put it. Once we got rid of our followers, we snuck down to the first level, to the so-called “slums” of the city. I’d found the term to be an exaggeration, as the lower parts of Azure Heights were simply more modest, with fewer architectural embellishments and more Imen living in three-level townhouses.

We were walking down one of the main alleys, keeping a low profile between the dozens of Imen going home. The two moons above reminded us that it was almost midnight.

“There’s one,” Heron said, his voice low. He was looking somewhere straight ahead. I followed his gaze and saw a Correction Officer talking to an Imen couple in front of their home. They both looked intimidated by the Mara: the husband held the wife close, his arm around her shoulders in a protective manner.

We moved closer and stopped around the corner of a neighboring townhouse, watching as the Correction Officer asked the couple some questions.

“Wait, I know this street,” I muttered, remembering Caia’s list of interviewees. “The families of Imen abductees live here.”

“What’s the Mara doing, then?” Heron frowned. “Interviewing them again?”

We tailed him for a while, and it turned out that Heron had guessed it right. The Correction Officer was asking them questions, mostly about the GASP agents and the interviews they’d had with them. I noticed the Mara using his mind-bending abilities on the Imen, his eyes glimmering gold.

“He’s mind-bending them, too,” I whispered as we got closer, and hid behind a large potted fern. The big, dark green leaves did a good job of concealing us while we continued eavesdropping. It sounded as though the Mara was basically asking the Imen to tell him what Caia and Blaze had asked them, and what answers they’d given.

“You know what, this whole illegality of mind-bending is starting to sound like a crock of nonsense to me,” Heron grumbled. “Just look at how he’s leaving them, all blank and pale.”

I followed Heron as he went up to the last Iman that the Correction Officer had interviewed, just before he closed his door.

“Sorry,” he said to the old Iman, “but can you tell me what that Correction Officer wanted from you?”

The Iman raised his eyebrows at Heron, confusion imprinted on his wrinkled face.

“What Correction Officer?” he asked.

“The one that was just here,” Heron replied, pointing down the street at the Mara, who was busy talking to another household.

“I don’t know. I just thought I heard a knock, but there was no one here. I didn’t talk to anyone.” The old Iman shrugged and shut the door in front of Heron, who cursed under his breath.

“They’re even mind-bending them into forgetting they ever spoke to Correction Officers,” he muttered. “This is really annoying…”

“We clearly can’t trust House Kifo and their officers,” I replied.

We’d both seen the Mara interview the old Iman; we knew for a fact that they’d spoken. Why would he mind-bend him into forgetting he was ever there, unless he had something to hide?

“We’ll keep tracking him for now,” Heron whispered, then took my hand as we rushed from one shady corner to another. “Let’s see where he takes us.”

I nodded and followed, light on my feet, my arm tingling from the feel of his skin against mine. I kept my eyes on the Correction Officer at all times. I couldn’t let him out of my sight. Not until he led us to the prison. My nerves were jittery in Fiona’s absence, but I had to keep my head in the game. At least four lives depended on me for that—Arrah, her brother, Demios, Fiona, and even the still-missing Sienna.





Caia





(Daughter of Grace & Lawrence)





We reached the east side of the mountain, and I looked up at a sky darkened in shades of tourmaline and black, sprinkled with stars, with two moons glowing above the ocean, and a third one slowly rising from below. It all looked so quiet and peaceful—it continued to contradict the underlying problem of people disappearing and bloodthirsty daemons.