A Call of Vampires (A Shade of Vampire #51)

“The Druids kept ridiculously accurate notes of each event,” Avril added, browsing through another registry. “I’ve found mentions of Xunn Maras, too, but they were just listings of a noble clan that used to occupy Morius, one of the southern citadels of Calliope.”

I thought about Blaze and the way Rewa had looked at him, then spent a minute trying to find the right way to ask the question that had been bugging me since I’d left the platform earlier that evening.

“What do you think of Rewa?” I sighed, leaning against the back of my chair.

“I’m not sure,” Harper replied, pursing her lips. “I think she was scared senseless up there, overwhelmed by us. She could tell we weren’t all Eritopians, and I think she could also tell we weren’t defenseless or weaklings of any kind. Foreign invaders do like to send scouts to check stuff out before they storm in.”

“Do you think she’s a scout?” I asked. Harper shook her head. Avril, Fiona, and Scarlett seemed to share her opinion as well. “Why not? What cleared her, in your mind?”

“Oh, she’s not cleared yet,” Harper said. “I just think the probability of her lying is low. I couldn’t sense her emotions because she’s a Mara, albeit an exiled one. But her facial expressions, the tone of her voice… It all spoke of fear and desperation. I think that whatever is happening on Neraka is real.”

“But we don’t have enough data to make a proper assessment at this point,” Scarlett added. “So all we can do is presume.”

“We can also get ourselves nominated into the recon team for Neraka tomorrow.” Harper grinned. “So we can investigate and remove all doubt.”

“What about the Druid delegation that crash-landed on Neraka? Have you found anything on that?” I asked, shifting my focus back to the registry in front of me.

“Not yet, unfortunately,” Scarlett replied. “She didn’t give us any names or details, but there must be a diplomatic travel log here somewhere. To be honest, we’ve all focused on the Exiled Maras so far.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Rewa, but what could it be that keeps taking their people like that? And they can’t eliminate it, even with the spells that she claims the swamp witch left them?” I shook my head, frowning. “I mean, they can travel between galaxies and whatnot, but they can’t find out who or what is making their people disappear?”

“We’ll probably find out more tomorrow, during the council meeting,” Fiona said. “You can ask that question then. It’s a good one!”

I flipped through a few more pages, scanning the handwritten text entries, but stopped when I felt Harper’s eyes on me. I looked up and found her staring at me with a raised eyebrow.

“What?”

“You have nothing against Rewa,” Harper replied, the corner of her mouth twitching, “other than the way Blaze was kind enough to give her his room, and the look she gave him in return, huh?”

The girls giggled, while I crossed my arms over my chest and scoffed.

“That’s nonsense!” I shot back. “I just have a feeling she isn’t telling us everything, that’s all.”

“Like I said, maybe wait until tomorrow before you pass that judgment,” Fiona replied. “She’s probably still shaken up from the whole interplanetary sprint anyway. Not to mention the ‘warm welcome’ she got from Jax and his wards.”

I let a sigh roll out of my chest and nodded again, resuming my rapid scan of the first registry I’d been given.

“You’re probably right,” I muttered, once again haunted by the ease with which Rewa had shown interest toward Blaze. It bothered me even more than I’d originally thought, and I had to shake it off if I wanted to get myself nominated for the Neraka expedition. GASP wouldn’t deploy a biased agent into foreign territory.

We kept on digging through the archives until we reached the year 1,100BA. That was when the Maras really got into trouble. Reports of bloodless bodies strewn across Calliope started pouring in, particularly where the citadels were involved. The Maras had signed an agreement with and had sworn fealty to the Master Druids. They’d been allowed into the cities, and given homes in the western districts. Less than a few months later, the bodies started piling up.

It had all happened just as Jax had explained. The swamp witches had intervened, and House Dorchadas, Jax’s ancestors, had pleaded with them for a better solution, rather than seeing the entire Mara species wiped out. I found the official decree that called for the exile of the murderous Maras. A list was compiled of all those accused of breaking the Druid agreement. The entire House Xunn had made it on there, but Rewa was telling the truth. She hadn’t been born yet.

Maras never showed their true age. After their bodies reached the equivalent of a twenty-something-year-old adult, the aging process slowed down considerably. They were destined to live an eternal life, unless interrupted by external forces that would lead to their decapitation or incineration. True to form, Rewa didn’t look a day past her twenties.

The Exiled Maras had been sent away, and those who remained had been allowed to build their own cities to avoid further clashes with the already angered population of Calliope. There was no mention of the Exiled Maras’ destination. There was no other mention of them, period.

We compiled all the info we found, including names and specific events, in a separate folder, with references and named sources, hoping it would assist Field and the other GASP officers in the decision-making process.

“We need to score brownie points with this one,” Harper said, both palms resting on the manila folder as she looked around the table at us.

Fiona nodded, then got up and went to another bookshelf, returning with an armful of dusty, leather-bound catalogs. Avril instinctively rolled, then rubbed her eyes.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” she groaned, feigning a collapse on the table.

“Harper is right, and Caia made a good point earlier,” Fiona replied. “We need to find some mention of a Druid delegation that crash-landed on Neraka. Or at least try. It doesn’t all have to be done tonight, but we need to show them we tried.”

“We showed initiative,” Scarlett chuckled.

“But we totally did!” Fiona insisted, putting the catalogs on top of the other registries. “If we want to get ourselves to Neraka, we have to push hard.”

“Speaking of which!” Avril straightened her back, index finger in the air, demanding our attention. “How do we get nominated tomorrow?”

“Senior GASP officers are usually the first to put recruit names forward,” I answered, stretching my arms out and reveling in the sound of my joints cracking and my muscles relieving some tension.

“That’s not a guarantee that anyone will mention us.” Scarlett sighed.