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

“As long as you have a physical item from your destination, the swamp witches’ spell will take you there,” Jax remembered.

“We didn’t know that at the time,” Rowan explained. “We just took little pieces of Calliope with us, chunks of its earth, tiny crystals such as this to remember it later… Memorabilia, if you will. When the Druid delegation crash-landed here and the swamp witch was kind enough to repay us for our hospitality, we knew we had the option to come back home whenever we wanted.”

“But we stayed here,” Emilian added. “This was our new home. Eritopia no longer knew or wanted us, and we were understanding of that.”

“Why didn’t you come to us sooner?” Jax asked.

“Frankly, your presence here isn’t actually necessary,” Caspian interjected suddenly, his low, husky voice igniting fires in my stomach. “Chances are that this is just a case of people gone to live elsewhere, perhaps people unhappy with our way of life. Worst-case scenario, something is out there in the Valley of Screams, where most of our folk went missing. We didn’t want to reach out to you in the first place but, as the Five Lords, we put the matter to a vote, and the majority chose to contact Calliope.”

“That is enough, Caspian.” Darius cut him off with a heavy tone and a frown, then gave us a polite smile. “Please forgive him. Caspian is convinced that we can solve this on our own, when clearly we can’t.”

He applied pressure on those last two words, ending the sentence with a quick glare. The other Lords were equally displeased with Caspian, which further fueled my distrust of him.

“Caspian is more of a… traditionalist, shall we say,” Emilian explained, bringing his tone a pitch higher to smooth the conversation back to our purpose there. “He, like some others among us, does not like outside help. But the matter was put to a vote in the end, and Rewa was chosen to reach out to you. What matters now is that you are here, willing to help us.”

“What’s the Valley of Screams?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest as soon as my eyes met Caspian’s again.

“It is a cluster of tall and dark gorges, where most of the Exiled Maras have disappeared,” Emilian replied. “It’s two miles east of here. You can see it from the higher terraces of the city quite well. We’ve mapped most of it and used to explore it frequently, before the disappearances started.”

“We’ll need the full cooperation of Azure Heights on this,” Jax said. “We cannot help if you’re not honest and open with us. We will not help if we feel you’re hiding something, or deny us access to any parts of the city or its archives, for that matter. We need complete access to whatever we require.”

A few seconds passed, during which time Emilian and Jax exchanged more glances, while I deliberately avoided Caspian’s.

“Clearly, there is a lot of trust to build between us,” Emilian replied. “Before anything else, how about we get you all settled in, have an early dinner together at the Broken Bow Inn, and discuss the investigation further over a nice glass of blood?”

Only then did I notice what I assumed were the Imen, shorter creatures that reminded me of Earth’s humans. They were slightly shorter than the average Mara, with fair skin, brownish or black hair, and dull, deep-set eyes. They wore simple black-and-white uniforms. There were plenty of them scattered through the crowd of Maras, each seemingly attached to a noble or an entire household. They seemed quiet and gentle, reverent and a bit too slow.

“We’ve made preparations to host you at the Broken Bow Inn. They have splendid rooms on the top floor in the Red Square above.” Farrah smiled. “It’s a prime location, and it gives you access to all of Azure Heights’ main routes, both up and down the mountain.”

“Thank you.” Jax gave her a curt bow. “It is much appreciated.”

“Our faithful servants will escort you to your accommodation,” Farrah replied as two young Imen, one male and one female, came forward and motioned for us to follow them. The crowd behind them parted, leaving room for us to pass through. “And we shall see you in the dinner hall at the Inn in, say, two hours?”

Jax nodded, then picked his travel bag up off the ground.

“That’s fine,” he said, then walked after the two Imen.

One by one, we took our bags and the shields we’d brought with us from Calliope, and followed Jax. I glanced over my shoulder and noticed the Five Lords moving slowly after us, as the crowd of Exiled Maras closed behind them. I couldn’t shake the chills that Caspian’s glare sent through my limbs, so I hastened my steps and joined Jax and Heron at the front, putting as much distance between the Lords and me as possible.

We followed the Imen through an alley, then up a narrow staircase leading farther up the mountain. I gave Jax a subtle nudge and a raised eyebrow.

“Should we ask them something?” I whispered.

“Whatever you wish to know, please ask us, milords,” the female Iman said. “We are here to help in whatever way we can.”

“Thank you,” I croaked, surprised that they’d heard me. I figured they had good hearing, which made me wonder what else they could do. “Would you be able to tell us a little bit about yourselves? Your species, I mean.”

We reached the top of the stairs, where another beautiful square awaited. This one was bordered by rich floral arrangements in deep shades of red, with velvety petals and long, green stems. They were planted in large, rectangular white marble pots, over which we could see the levels below, the deep green plains stretching to the east, and the cluster of dark gray gorges known as the Valley of Screams.

I stilled for a moment, taking it all in. The Valley of Screams seemed like a quiet giant, with dozens of crevices, as if someone had taken a knife and sliced through a limestone maze. Thick shrubs and dark patches of woods separated the gorges from the plains, while the afternoon sky cast its soft hues of red and orange over the area. Birds flew above, settling in the tall trees at the top.

“We are Imen,” the female said slowly. “We are simple creatures that belong to Neraka. We’ve been here since the beginning of time.”

“Since there was only one sun in the sky,” the male added. “We were mostly wildlings until the Maras came in a giant ball of light. We didn’t welcome them at first, but we brokered a peace, and, as the years went by, some of us assimilated. The others went on to live beyond the Valley of Screams.”

“Why’s it called the Valley of Screams, though?” Avril asked, looking out. “It’s not a valley, per se.”