A Valley of Darkness (A Shade of Vampire #52)(66)

“You know more about what’s going on than you’re letting on,” I insisted. “How are we going to help your people if you don’t tell us everything you know? Do you know what those… daemon creatures look like? Have you seen them before? You must have. You knew their eyes were vulnerable to attacks… Come on, Caspian, help us out! What happened to Sienna? What happened to Minah?”

I had a feeling I was throwing too many questions at him at once, but I needed him to react. I needed him to respond.

“You can’t help my people out,” he muttered. “Just get out. Take your team, get in your magic ball of light, and get the hell out of Neraka.”

“No! Fiona’s missing!” I shot back, as tears started working their way up. “I’m not leaving until we get our friend back and until we untangle this mess!”

His forehead smoothed. Fiona’s disappearance was news to him. He lowered the blade from my neck.

“If your friend is missing, she’s gone,” he retorted. “You will never see her again. Gather your team and leave before you all vanish like Fiona and the hundreds before her.”

I punched him in the shoulder, my anger flaring through me.

“Don’t talk like that!” I growled. “I will turn this mountain on its head until I find Fiona, Caspian! You either help or you get out of my way!”

“You don’t understand, Harper!” He raised his voice, inching closer to me. “Trust no one! Get out! You wouldn’t understand even if I explained it to you! You… You wouldn’t survive it, either.”

His gaze softened. My stomach dropped as his warm breath tickled my lips.

“Why don’t you try to explain something, at least, if not everything?” I murmured. “I’m not an idiot. I am perfectly capable of understanding whatever it is that’s going on here.”

He closed his eyes and shook his head, his disappointment beyond obvious.

“You’re just not going to quit, huh?” He scoffed.

“I told you I won’t.”

“Don’t expect me to help or tell you anything.” He resumed his sullen look. “I’ve warned you, over and over. Proceed at your own risk. Maybe losing a couple more of your friends will make you realize that the longer you stay here, the slimmer your chances of walking out alive are.”

He put his sword away and stalked off. I tried to follow, but he raised his right arm, motioning for me to stay put.

“Don’t follow,” he commanded. “Don’t tell anyone who’s beneath this mask, either. Many lives depend on it. Go look for your friend, if you want, but you’re chasing shadows, and you’ll end up swallowed by the darkness like everyone else before you. I did my job and warned you. Now leave me be!”

I could’ve gone after him. I could’ve insisted. But I definitely wasn’t going to get any more information from him tonight. The questions lingered in my head, swirling around like tiny migraines. I’d find the answers, one way or another.

I had some leverage over him now, at least. I knew he was the masked savior. He didn’t want the others to know. He’d saved us twice in our encounters with those daemons, and I had a feeling he knew what they looked like. He must have dealt with them before.

I’ll get you to talk, Lord Kifo. Your COs are suspicious as hell. Daemons are out snatching people. My friend is missing. And you’re running around, trying to keep me alive. Now I’m just more determined to peel those layers of mystery off you like the onion that you are.

He disappeared beyond the stables, and I was on my own again, surrounded by chills and darkness. His words replayed in my mind.

“You’ll end up swallowed by the darkness like everyone else before you.”

Who else came before me?





Caia





(Daughter of Grace & Lawrence)





We flew through the tunnel for what felt like half a mile before we saw light flickering at the end. The tracking spell shone brighter and moved faster ahead of us, and I knew we were on the right track.

“Blaze, I think we want to be a little more discreet once we reach whatever’s at the end of this tunnel,” I said, holding onto the thick spikes on his back.

He came to a halt, and I got off, swiftly pulling Blaze’s clothes out of the backpack while he morphed back to his normal self. He slipped into his combat suit and boots, and then we ran after the tracking spell’s amber light.

The tunnel opened into a massive underground space. The closer we got, the clearer our surroundings became. I grabbed Blaze’s arm as we reached the opening, and we moved to the side with our backs against the wall.

Thousands of iron cages were stacked on top of each other in a multitude of rows. It looked like a maze from our angle. There were dozens of footbridges above, connecting different levels of this enormous, circular hall. Correction Officers patrolled these overcrossings, occasionally glancing down. There were large iron pendants hung from the high ceiling above, and hundreds of candles burned on them, bathing the entire space in a warm orange light.

“I think we found the prison,” I gasped, still clutching Blaze’s arm as we took the whole structure in.

The prison seemed to go up at least four levels, hidden in the core of the mountain. This wasn’t the only tunnel leading into it, either. As I inched forward and popped my head out, I noticed a few more underground passages opening into the prison’s ground floor. Gates were mounted on all of them, and raised, for the time being. There were more cellblocks carved into the walls, accessible via several sets of narrow stairs and the footbridges above.