A Den of Tricks (A Shade of Vampire #54)

“Okay then, let’s go,” I replied, hands on my hips, as droplets of water came down from the sky once more. “Chop-chop! It’s raining again!”

Caspian nodded and walked forward down the path. I could hear the rain rapping the surface of the pond just fifty yards away. The sky was dark above us, charcoal clouds keeping the first moon hidden. It worked to our advantage, as we could use the obscurity of trees and stones in this narrow ravine to get to where we needed with minimum exposure to daemon attacks.

Blaze and Jax grabbed the daemon and forced him to follow us, while Caia stayed by their side and Harper moved to the front so she could walk alongside Caspian. Yes, there was definitely something happening between them, and my protective instinct was ringing all sorts of alarm bells.

I decided to keep an eye on them. Not that I disliked Caspian, but given all the secrecy, I had a hard time fully trusting him and an even harder time letting Harper get too close to him. I just didn’t want her to get hurt in any way.

There are few things in this world that are more painful than a heartbreak. One of them is the loss of a child.

And I had experienced both, repeatedly.

No way I’m letting her go through any of it…





Harper





(Daughter of Hazel & Tejus)





Caspian led the way up the ravine, then through a couple of narrow passages that took us to another gorge. I stayed by his side, followed closely by Hansa and Caia, while Jax and Blaze held the daemon at the back.

The rain had stopped, and the ground was mushy beneath us, slathering our boots in mud as we snuck deeper into the Valley of Screams. Two hours passed as we occasionally hid behind large rocks and in tight crevices—I’d become quite adept at noticing the air ripple across larger distances with my True Sight, to the point where I could detect daemon movement before they got close enough to spot us.

“It’s here,” Caspian whispered as we made a sharp turn to the left upon exiting the third passage. The gorge stretching both ways was quite narrow and barren, riddled with sharp stones and yellow-colored shrubs.

There was a cave opening in the limestone wall on our left, not easy to spot with all the boulders partially blocking the entrance. From certain angles, one could pass by and not even notice it. We followed Caspian inside, moving through a dark tunnel that went on for about three hundred yards before it hit a… dead end.

“Are you sure we’re on the right path?” I muttered, frowning at the sight of the stone wall.

“Look beyond.” He gave me a sideways glance, the corner of his mouth twitching. I used my True Sight, and, what do you know, the tunnel kept going at a lower angle, deep underground.

“Okay, what now?” I raised my eyebrows. Caspian nodded at our daemon.

“Bring that sack of meat over here,” he replied bluntly, and I let out a brief chuckle.

“Ooh, didn’t know you had that sass in you!” I quipped, and he responded with a slyly raised eyebrow before taking hold of the daemon, who was still squirming and growling against his restraints.

Caspian took a small knife out of his belt and cut across the daemon’s shoulder, drawing blood. The fiend hissed, and found himself pushed into the wall. The cloaking spell instantly reacted, and the limestone surface rippled.

“After you.” Caspian smirked and bowed curtly.

I grinned as I stepped through the wall, the cool stone tickling my face with liquid motion. The rest of my team followed, dragging the daemon along with them. Caspian then grabbed the fiend and pushed him into a corner, slitting his throat with one swift move.

I gasped. He held the daemon in place, pressing a forearm into his chest as blood gushed from the gash across his throat. The creature gurgled and choked until the light in his eyes went out. Caspian pulled himself back, and the daemon slumped on the floor behind a couple of rocks.

“We couldn’t risk him getting loose, and we don’t need him down there,” Caspian said, noticing my furrowed brow.

“No, it’s fine. It makes sense.” I shrugged. There was no issue with Caspian killing a daemon—even though this one had been restrained and could not harm us in any way. I was just surprised by the speed with which he made that decision, and the swiftness with which he executed it. Caspian had the cold blood of a killer if needed, and I knew it was in the best interest of our group.

“Let’s go,” he breathed, and went ahead.

One by one we descended after him. The tunnel got narrower every hundred yards, until we had to crouch in order to pass through it. Once we reached the exit, we followed him across a small plateau and hid behind the large rocks on the edge. It was secluded enough to keep us concealed as we took in our surroundings.

I held my breath as I looked up—a massive dome ceiling stretched for tens of square miles, with thick pillars pouring down into the city to support its titanic weight. The daemon city below sprawled across the cave floor—riddled with square houses and buildings, made entirely out of black stone with obsidian reflexes. Orange fires burned in massive copper bowls at street junctions and in iron and glass boxes mounted on almost every wall.

The sight before me resembled a painting of a Renaissance inferno I’d seen in a museum back on Earth, with deep and dramatic contrasts of black and amber, of light and dark, and of sharp and soft forms in a terrifying display of what could easily be described as hell. Slim, pointy towers poked out from the sea of buildings, and thin streams of freaking lava poured through the city, crossed by a multitude of bridges.

It was hot all over, like a midsummer’s day, dry enough to make me lick my lips every other minute because I was suddenly feeling all crusty and about to crumble. The center of the city was rich in immense buildings with tall columns and foundations, the latter linked to the black stone pavement through broad stairs. Farther outward, the buildings began to shrink, while the outskirts were occupied by small houses and modest huts.

Thousands of daemons roamed through the streets, and even they varied in size depending on their proximity to the city center. The rich, big, and strong ones lived in the middle of this massive settlement, while the weaklings were cast off to the sides.

Survival of the fittest, I guess…

“Keep your heads down,” Caspian hissed, and pulled me back under the shade of our rocky cover. We all huddled closer together.

My heart stopped, and ice tumbled through my veins at the sound of a gut-wrenching shriek. I looked up and saw giant black bat-like creatures flying overhead. There were three of them, gliding in tandem as they took a tight turn and resumed their survey of the city.

“Those are Death Claws,” Caspian breathed, watching them fly away.