A Valley of Darkness (A Shade of Vampire #52)(71)

“Harper has a point,” Jax replied, clearing his throat. “We’re better off asking Lord Kifo for additional fighters. He has plenty of Correction Officers, from what I’ve seen today. Surely he can spare a couple dozen or more to support our entire team for a retrieval mission in the Valley of Screams.”

“Do you think he’ll want to help?” Blaze raised an eyebrow. “You know, given the shady prison situation we’ve uncovered…”

“I can talk to him,” I offered. “Like Jax said, Fiona’s our priority. I can go get him now, and we can hash things out with the guy.”

It was easier this way. I was sure I’d get Caspian on board if I put him in front of my whole team. I had leverage on him, after all. He needed his identity beneath the savior’s mask to be kept a secret, and I needed a small army to get Fiona back.

Call it blackmail.

Patrik muttered something under his breath and blew black dust over the beast. The particles burst into flames as they touched the daemon, but it didn’t have any effect on its invisible cloaking. He was trying to find ways to reveal the creature.

“That would actually be sensible.” Jax gave me a brief nod.

I was secretly thrilled to go after Caspian again and torment him a little. He deserved it, and a hell of a lot more, but I figured I’d start with blackmail and work my way up.

Patrik tried another spell with the same black dust, which turned into water as it came in contact with the invisible skin. We all stilled as the water trickled down the creature’s back and revealed a small stretch of tanned skin. The Druid gaped at us for a second, then grabbed a pitcher of water and poured it all over the daemon.

We all gathered around the table, watching as Patrik rinsed the creature, its invisibility texture fading away and revealing its real skin. I couldn’t stop myself from gasping at the sight of it.

It was extremely tall, at least one head over Jax and Heron. And… judging by its physical features, it was actually a he.

“He’s naked,” Heron croaked.

“Well, almost,” Blaze muttered, his dark eyebrows raised.

The daemon had deep and wide holes in his torso and lower abdomen from where Blaze’s teeth had gouged him. The wounds had been fatal. But I had to admit that he looked absolutely nothing like what I’d expected… Not only was he tall, he was also very well built, with a heavy muscle mass, and toned to perfection. He’d clearly been designed for war and combat.

As Blaze had pointed out, he wore a short chainmail loincloth mounted on a black leather belt as his only item of clothing, and his limbs—arms and legs like the rest of us—were in good proportion with the rest of his body. Enormous claws protruded from his fingers, hard and sharp enough to match the damage we’d seen them inflict on me, Hansa, and others. Patrik pressed the tips of his fingers, to further inspect his hands, and the claws swiftly retracted, vanishing between regular nails.

“Oh… retractable claws.” The Druid cocked his head to one side. “What other secrets are you hiding, daemon?”

He moved closer to the creature’s head, where two smooth horns curled out from the back and extended forward, their tips sharp. They partially reminded me of the alpine ibex on Earth, in terms of angle and shape—they weren’t too long or thick, but could easily serve as weapons.

“Look at his mouth,” Patrik muttered, and pressed down on the daemon’s chin, opening his mouth. Two large white fangs extended from the upper jaw, significantly longer than vampire fangs.

“Are they retractable?” I asked, then put my hand out. I pressed on his gums, and the fangs retreated beneath, leaving small but equally sharp canines on display. “Yup, retractable.”

A minute passed as we all stared at the face of our enemy.

His face was humanoid and… surprisingly handsome, with a five o’clock shadow framing a jaw that could cut diamonds. He had long black hair, and his lips were large and full. I found myself wishing I could look him in the eyes—I wondered if they were red all the time.

I shivered as my gaze traveled back down his formidable body.

Ropes of muscle covering him from head to toe. Retractable claws and fangs that could rip into any throat, easily…

What had we stumbled upon here?

“At least we know what the enemy looks like,” Jax sighed, resting his hands on his hips.

“And we know they feed on… souls, I guess,” Hansa added.

“And they’re extremely fast. Terribly strong. And those claws can do some serious damage,” I said.

“Along with their fangs and horns,” Avril interjected.

“And one of them has Fiona.” Caia shuddered.

“We’ll get her back,” Blaze said firmly, moving to Caia’s side and putting an arm around her shoulders.

“Harper.” Jax spoke up. “I think it’s time you pay Lord Kifo a visit. Now that we’ve seen the beast, we must leave as soon as possible.”

He looked at me, his jade eyes nearly glowing with resolve and determination.

I nodded and drew in a deep breath, taking a moment to feed off both of those emotions before heading off. Based on that creature stretched out on the table in front of us, I was going to need them.

We were in for a heap of trouble.





Serena