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

I held my breath, my gaze darting between us and the Five Lords, who seemed even more impressed. Emilian and Rowan stifled their grins and sent short, appreciative nods toward Hansa. The succubus glowed for a brief moment, her hand settled on the sculpted handle of her bejeweled broadsword. I would’ve been terrified of her, if I were a Mara.

“This is Patrik Raymer, a Druid of Eritopia,” Jax continued with blatant nonchalance, as if having made his point. In all fairness, none of the Five Lords had objected to his statement about Hansa. Two had even quietly approved. “Harper Hellswan, a vampire.”

Jax was smart not to mention her sentry abilities, I thought to myself. Those were of better use as secrets, given how little we knew about the dangers threatening the Exiled Maras.

“A vampire?” Emilian raised an inquisitive eyebrow, staring at Harper with genuine fascination.

“Much like us, Emilian,” Jax explained briefly, “the vampires drink blood and cannot be in the sun. Unlike us, vampires are made, never born. They belong to The Shade, another world that somehow wound up coming to Eritopia’s aid when we needed them the most. We’ve been allies ever since.”

“I understand,” Emilian replied, and gave Harper a gentle smile, then shifted his gaze to me.

“This is Avril Novak,” Jax continued, “also a vampire, as are Scarlett Novak and Fiona Achilles. This is Caia Conway, a fire fae. And this is Blaze Lume, a fire dragon.”

At the sound of Blaze’s species nomination, the Exiled Maras behind the Five Lords began to mutter and whisper among themselves, some even taking a couple of steps back, with fearful looks on their faces.

“There is no need to fear Blaze,” Jax announced with an obvious tone of satisfaction. “He isn’t here to harm anyone, but he will not hesitate to burn to a crisp anyone who threatens him or us.”

“I notice the name ‘Novak’ cropped up twice.” Rowan gave us a half-smile. “Are many of you related?”

“We are, yes. And we’re all part of GASP’s Eritopia unit. We’re a specialized recon team,” Harper replied.

“And what is GASP?” Rowan asked.

“It is the Global Agency for Supernatural Protection,” Harper explained. “The Novaks founded GASP and have forged alliances across three dimensions so far, and we’re not looking to stop anytime soon. For as long as there are supernaturals out there who need our help, we will be there to protect and empower those who are innocent, and punish those who harm others.”

I had to give my cousin credit: she was a fast learner, knowing what strings to pull and what words to say to support Jax’s polite, but sharp and stern, statements. Caspian didn’t seem to like her much, choosing to look away and say nothing, while Emilian nodded again and gave us all another warm smile in return.

“Please, rest assured that no one here means any harm,” he said gently. “On the contrary, we are grateful and honored to have you here and to receive your assistance in getting to the bottom of what is taking our people away from us. We cannot do it on our own.”

“Most importantly,” Farrah added, “we aren’t the monsters you might think we are. The reasons that brought us to Neraka no longer define our kind. We’ve learned from our horrible mistakes, and we’ve adapted to a new way of life, as I’m sure Rewa has already explained. So, please, let us welcome you into our world, and show you the beauty, the artistry, and the joy of life that animates us, to help you understand why every Mara who has gone missing over the past two years is a dagger piercing our collective heart.”





Harper





(Daughter of Hazel & Tejus)





Personally, I wasn’t a fan of Darius. He’d been too quick to spot Hansa’s potential purpose as a Mara deterrent. It made me think he’d considered our worst-case scenario and need to defend ourselves. But it was too early to pass any judgment.

They all looked like decent people who liked pretty things and fancy titles. Nothing wrong with that, as far as I was concerned. They seemed a little too picture perfect for my taste, but, then again, I’d never met an entire civilization dedicated to sensible clothing, shiny jewels, and idyllic architecture. Who was I to judge?

But the one thing that bothered me wasn’t Emilian or Farrah’s statements—they both made a good case for their people and backed all of Rewa’s accounts of the Exiled Maras. Their calm demeanor and soft voices seemed to even have an effect on Jax and Heron, who were both now slightly less tense and no longer on edge.

The thing that bothered me was Caspian’s glare.

There was so much fire in those deep jade eyes, it made it hard for me to breathe, and it sent chills down my spine. He didn’t seem at all happy to see us. On the contrary, if we were to change our minds and go back to Calliope, he probably would’ve been the first to see us off, with a “So long and see you never!”. There was a strange darkness oozing out of him, a shadow drawn between his eyebrows that served as a warning sign, sort of telling me to keep my distance but also not let him out of my sight.

He was also drop-dead gorgeous, his high cheekbones and dark stubble making his gaze cut deep into me. His shoulders could hold a mountain, and his long legs were packed with muscles beneath the midnight blue fabric of his pants. But there was something off about him. Something that triggered alarms in the back of my head, sensors I didn’t even know I had.

“How do you intend to assist us, specifically?” Emilian asked. “And how can we help you?”

“We’ve been sent here to investigate,” Jax replied. “First, we need to verify the validity of your claims. Interview the victims’ families and establish a coherent timeline. We also need to draw a map of where the victims were last seen. It will help us get a better idea of the threat’s reach on your land. We will then have to check the areas of high risk, where most abductees were last seen.”

“That makes perfect sense.” Emilian nodded. “And whatever you need, we will happily provide. We are not trained, or skilled as you are for this. What we have been able to do is ask some questions, make sure our people only travel in groups, and impose a curfew. None of these measures have helped, however, and those we’ve sent outside of Azure Heights to investigate did not return.”

“I understand,” Jax muttered, scratching his stubble. “Before we proceed, I need to ask you: how did you know to reach out to Calliope?”

Rowan gave him a faint smile, one that echoed sadness and longing more than anything else. I couldn’t read the Exiled Maras’ emotions, but I could at least pay attention to every detail in their expressions.

“We never forgot where we came from, Jaxxon of House Dorchadas,” she said slowly. “We saw what world we left behind, and we took small pieces of it with us. It turns out they came in handy when we needed to reach out to Calliope.”

She took out a dark red mineral from a secret pocket in her skirt, holding it up with two fingers.