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

“What makes you think they won’t? We’re damn good at what we do!” Harper muttered, moving her head around to loosen her neck muscles. She then took one of the catalogs for inspection.

“What if we put each other’s names forward, too?” I asked. “On top of what senior officers might or might not do about us. And our parents might recommend us, as well. Or they might not. They may prefer us on Tenebris, slightly safer, within the galaxy where the enemy is known, rather than all the way out there on Neraka… Why not put ourselves into the nominee pool? I’m pretty sure we aced our training screenings the other day, and we’re doing this research work now, too. Might as well speak up.”

The girls stopped their page turning to look at me. One by one, smiles stretched on their faces. They all gave me a conspiratorial nod. I grinned, then put my hand out over the table, palm down. They put theirs on top of mine, to seal the deal.

“Perfect,” I said. “We all want the Neraka mission more than we want the Tenebris one, clearly, so let’s help each other out and kick the ass of whatever evil is plaguing that planet.”

“Deal.” Harper winked.

We kept digging through the travel logs for another hour or so. We couldn’t find any mention of a Druid delegation crash-landing on Neraka. There were plenty of entries on Druids visiting neighboring fae stars and a couple of other planets I’d never heard of, deeper in the In-Between, but none had recorded an incident on Neraka.

Whether they’d chosen not to disclose it or they weren’t the Druids we were looking for, we had nothing to certify that Rewa was telling the truth regarding the way the Exiled Maras had acquired the swamp witch magic.

It didn’t mean she’d lied, either. But what I couldn’t verify, I had a harder time believing or giving the benefit of the doubt. Scarlett was the first to doze off with her head on one of the books, followed by Avril.

I left the report folder with Harper and departed the Druid Archive to get at least a couple hours of sleep before sunrise. I didn’t want to be groggy or late for the council meeting in the morning, and I knew my body well enough to appreciate the positive effect that a minimum of two hours of uninterrupted sleep would have.





Caia





(Daughter of Grace & Lawrence)





I reached my floor and walked down the main hallway leading to my room. There was a set of smaller service stairs at the end, coming down from the platform three levels up. My room was seven doors away when footsteps on the service staircase caught my attention.

Blaze came down, still in his wedding tux, followed by Rewa. He was carrying a couple of fresh blankets and a pitcher of water, and he said something just as he reached the floor. The Mara giggled. They looked like they’d spent the past four or five hours together, since I’d last seen them.

I held my breath and kept walking, determined not to show any emotion. I thoroughly disliked the situation, but it was too late for me to turn back or hide somewhere.

Blaze saw me and stilled for a moment, Rewa right behind him. She craned her neck and blinked a couple of times as my gaze met hers, but didn’t show any other reaction. Having Blaze by her side seemed natural to her, as if he belonged there, and it bothered the hell out of me.

They both walked toward me, as Blaze’s room was two doors down to the left from mine. I gave them a polite nod as I passed by, still holding my breath. He didn’t say anything, but I could almost feel him turning his head and looking at me.

I didn’t want to show any interest. I didn’t want to see any of this.

Blaze and I weren’t close at all, and I wanted to convince myself that I was simply being protective of my fellow Shadians and GASP-mates in the presence of a foreign creature like Rewa. He seemed to have gotten friendly with her fast.

But something tugged at my heart as I opened the door to my room, and I knew—I wasn’t being protective. I simply didn’t like the attention he was giving her. He was gorgeous and fiery, and I was downright attracted to him. I saw Rewa as potential competition, and I immediately shook the thought out of my head, alarmed by my own reaction.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw them both going into his room.

I had to keep a clear head and focus on the mission at hand. Neraka was my top objective, and our research on Rewa’s people and my capabilities would get me there. I went into my room and closed the door behind me, leaning against it for a minute.

I breathed out, but the unpleasant feeling that Rewa’s presence gave me did not go away. I rolled my eyes and poured myself a glass of water, then slipped into the shower, hoping the steam would help me fall asleep faster.

It didn’t. I tossed and turned, mentally clashing with myself until I reached some common ground with my emotions. I couldn’t turn off my dislike of Rewa, but I could channel it into investigating her, into keeping an eye on her and making sure I’d be there if she proved to be a liar or worse.

It was the only thing I could do, anyway, since I didn’t even know whether Blaze was simply being super nice to her or whether he had other intentions. We’d never had a single conversation that might even hint at something ever happening between us, so I couldn’t assume anything regarding his feelings.

Especially not when I could barely understand mine. I’d never felt like this about anyone before.





Harper





(Daughter of Hazel & Tejus)





The GASP council meeting started early in one of the halls on Luceria’s fifth level. We were all gathered there, Shadians and Eritopians who had pledged their strength to protecting supernaturals across the multiverse. Field sat at the head of the massive mahogany table, joined by Aida, Derek, Sofia, Lucas, Xavier, and Draven. We gathered around, about fifty of us in total around the oval table—senior officers, seasoned agents, and new recruits alike.

I sat near Caia, Fiona, Avril, and Scarlett, ready to uphold our pact to nominate each other for Neraka if we had to. Our parents were on the other side, a mixture of humor and curiosity twinkling in their eyes as they looked at us. They probably had some idea about what the girls and I had been planning.