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

“It is not, milady,” the female replied. “But many moons ago, it was. A few centuries after the Exiled Maras arrived, there was a terrible earthquake. It was a valley at the time, before the ground shook. We called it the Valley of Screams because it was full of darkness and dangers that ate our people, and we could sometimes hear them late at night. After the earthquake, the gorges rose from below, but the darkness and danger stayed. And so did the name. The Maras weren’t too afraid, but we kept our distance from it.”

The Imen stepped away from the edge and walked into a beautiful inn, a three-story building with dark brown shutters and small balconies opening out from the nine windows of the top floor. The ground floor was lively and well-lit on the inside, with chairs and tables on the outside terrace. The terrace was lined with tall green hedges, and black iron lamps were hung from the walls. A young Iman was perched on a ladder, lighting each in preparation for nightfall, while several Maras were seated both inside and outside, sipping blood from elegant brass cups.

We followed the servants indoors, where an old Iman played a stringed instrument in a corner, its sounds heartfelt and bright like those of a violin, and a bartender served a variety of blood-based drinks. I got a glimpse of the menu, which was scrawled on a wall-mounted blackboard in white chalk. Pepper Blood, Sweet Tangerine Blood, Widow’s Kiss, and Orchid and Jasmine Infusion were just a few of the drinks I caught a glimpse of before we crossed the reception area and went up the stairs.

Caia and I looked at each other, then analyzed the interior of the inn. Wooden structural beams were visible, lacquered and polished to perfection in dark shades of brown against the off-white painted walls. Thick burgundy carpets covered the upper floor and staircase, and dozens of paintings and floral arrangements adorned the open corridor leading to different rooms.

I was shown to my chamber, a double bed sprawled in the middle, covered with fluffed up, hand-embroidered pillows and a furry bed throw. I set my travel bag on the floor, then checked my surroundings. Two nightstands, a dresser, a vanity table with a large mirror and a high-backed chair, a chest of drawers, the open door to a private bathroom, and the wide, floor-to-ceiling window in the middle facing toward the Red Square outside with a small balcony.

There were several paintings on the walls, large landscapes with gilded frames. One of them was slightly crooked. I moved it, and heard a familiar metallic squeal. I looked behind the canvas and smiled at the sight of a large safe built into the wall. There was a piece of paper inside, with the safe’s combination.

I took my backpack off, making sure I had all my essentials with me first. I added two long knives in leather sheaths to my upper back, strapped around my torso with an X-shaped belt, and filled the pouches on my belt with healing capsules and a few emergency powders and herbs for defensive spells.

Best to be prepared at any time of the day. I shoved the backpack into the safe, memorized the combination, and locked the door, then moved over to the window to get a better look at the Valley of Screams, using my True Sight. The name creeped the hell out of me, but, with the suns setting lazily over the gorges, it didn’t look all that ominous. In fact, it was beautiful, with lush greenery and streams inviting anyone to come in and explore the numerous passages made of dark gray limestone.

I saw wild animals, small rodents and creatures similar to deer, grazing on the edge. The reddish afternoon light cast a variety of shadows into the gorges, but I could still see colorful lizards climbing up the jagged walls, and birds resting in the branches of trees. I wondered if the Valley revealed its screams after nightfall.

I left my room, locking the door behind me, and went into Caia’s, which was next to mine. She’d been doing the same, staring out the window, most likely trying to get a feel for the Valley of Screams from afar.

“What do you think of this place so far?” I asked, my voice low as I crossed the room and joined her side.

“It seems normal,” she murmured. “I mean, as normal as it gets for a species of Eritopian vampire that was banished and forced to start over in a foreign world. They all seem nice and friendly and ridiculously polite. Which isn’t a bad thing, but… I don’t know. I don’t think we have all the info yet.”

“We definitely don’t,” I said. “They must have their secrets and weird habits, for sure. What I don’t really understand is how they keep losing people like this. What’s taking them?”

“I don’t know. We’ll probably have to speak to the victims’ families and check out the Valley of Screams. They did say most disappearances took place there.”

“True, but now I’m curious to find out where the others vanished. Those are the deviations, and might yield more clues about what or who is taking the Exiled Maras.”

“Most importantly, I think we need to check the timeline and see if there’s a pattern,” Caia added. “Perhaps a cycle can be identified. It might help us prevent another abduction.”

“Don’t you think the Exiled Maras would’ve noticed one by now?”

“Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t. We need to ask them later.”

I nodded my agreement. Caia took her backpack off and glanced around the room, looking for a place to stash it. I pointed at a similarly crooked painting on the wall next to the bed.

“There’s a safe there, with a security combination,” I said. “It’s where I put my backpack.”

We had some valuable things in these backpacks, including swamp witches’ scrolls and rare herbs and minerals we weren’t sure we’d find anywhere on Neraka, so having safes at our disposal was convenient.

After she locked her stuff up, we left her room and stopped at the top of the staircase, leaning against the dark wooden balustrade to look downstairs while we waited for the rest of the team. The Maras seemed so at home here, exchanging friendly words, sipping blood, and enjoying the violin-like music. The Imen servants wore dark gray, almost black pants and vests, with white shirts and short, black aprons. The male and female Maras were as fashionable as the ones we’d seen in the squares outside and in the streets, but were wearing lighter colors, ranging from lime green to peach and pale pink. Again, nothing out of the ordinary. It bugged me, but I didn’t know why, exactly.

The servants had fair skin and looked slightly uncomfortable in their uniforms, but that didn’t exactly come as a surprise. No one would ever truly be themselves while catering to the rich, and the one thing I couldn’t ignore about all this was the overall bourgeoisie feel. I saw the two Imen who had escorted us to the inn. They were standing by the bar, talking to the bartender. They seemed serene, until the female looked up and noticed me. There was a flicker of fear in her brown eyes, so fleeting that I almost missed it.

“It might be a little too soon to start reading their emotions.” Caia gave me a gentle warning, as she’d seen the Iman woman, too.

“I know,” I sighed. “I don’t want to freak them out, but I can’t tell right now whether they’re scared of us or whatever it is that’s been taking the Maras.”