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

“What the hell?” I gasped, staring at Caspian.

“I’m just as in the dark as you are,” he replied, as we emerged from our hiding spot. “He’s supposed to have good standing in the city. On one hand because of his role as a cleric, but also because he helps around the city. Shaytan looks favorably upon elders with a… sense of civic duty.”

“At least we learned a new trick with the ashes,” Caia replied, dusting herself off.

“What do we do now?” I asked, checking the areas outside the hut. Barely a handful of daemons were around, all of them old, weak, and barely moving, supporting their weight on gnarled wooden canes.

“We should wait here for Mose to come back,” Caspian replied. “You heard the grunts. I doubt Mose will willingly get himself in trouble here. Besides, this place gives us a good vantage point.”

He moved toward one of the two small, circular windows I hadn’t seen before, hidden beneath a layer of black cloth. He slowly lifted the fabric to peek outside.

“Do you think he’ll be back? I mean, do you think they’ll let him go?” I murmured, not feeling too optimistic in a city as savage as this.

“I don’t know.” Caspian sighed, his shoulders dropping. “But if he doesn’t, we can keep moving in a couple of hours. We can devise a plan, and I can show you a few more useful parts of the city, in case Mose doesn’t return. He is right. I must go on, with or without him…”

I found myself in awe of Caspian. So many secrets concealed behind those jade eyes. Such a strong sense of duty and such a desire to help the innocent… and yet he wasn’t actively working with his own species on this.

I was intrigued and filled with even more questions, but at least we’d learned something about the daemons. Most importantly, we’d learned that Fiona’s abductor, Zane, was one of the Seven Princes, and a son of the king of daemons. I didn’t have time to properly digest that particular nugget, given the sudden arrival of those grunts, but whoa…

Fiona had been abducted, then released by a prince of daemons. What had been his end game? What was he hoping to achieve with that? I wished I could simply call Fiona, or use Telluris to tell her, but… that was obviously out of the question.

Besides, I had a feeling that by the time we saw each other again, I’d have a lot more to tell her about this city and its evil, soul-eating inhabitants…





Fiona





(Daughter of Benedict & Yelena)





It felt like a dream. The moment in which Zane blew yellow dust in my face was played on a loop. My eyes popped open, the utter darkness replaced by faint shapes against the streetlamps outside, their lights fluttering amber in the night. I sat up with a gasp, my muscles hard and tense. I’d expected to wake up in a cage, in a cave buried deep in the gorges again.

I breathed a sigh of relief once I realized I was still in the bookstore. Also, I’d been put in one of the armchairs in the reading corner.

What the hell was Zane thinking?

I went over my last conversation with him, trying to pick up on any details that might come in handy later. Something told me I’d see him again, and I was determined not to get fooled by that damn yellow powder next time.

After a couple of minutes of processing everything that had just happened, I left the bookstore and went back to my room at the Broken Bow Inn. There was a square white giftbox waiting for me outside my door, with an elegant pale green organza ribbon and a note from Vincent.

I saw this and thought of you. I look forward to seeing you tonight. Yours always, Vincent.

My cheeks caught fire. I still wasn’t used to that kind of attention, but I had to admit, it felt nice to be pampered like that once in a while. Given the mess we’d gotten ourselves into with this whole Neraka business, I could at least enjoy the few spare moments I had between running for my life and killing daemons coming for my soul.

I went into my room and opened the box. A gorgeous dress awaited, layer upon layer of delicate, ivory-colored organza with thousands of perfect pearls, along with matching earrings and a pair of elegant shoes.

A smile settled on my face, and I lifted the dress in the air, loving how the light threw shimmering reflections at it from all angles. I slipped into the shower, then got ready for my dinner with Vincent, all the while going over my encounter with Zane—repeatedly, almost obsessively. I kept looking for something that wasn’t there, eager to replay the scene in which he’d pushed me against the wall and hidden his face in my hair.

My skin tingled as I put the dress on, pulling the fine long sleeves over my arms. I wasn’t sure whether it was the fabric or the memory of Zane’s touch that had such an effect on me. A couple of deep breaths later, I stepped into the shoes, and took a gander at myself in the mirror.

Why am I still thinking about him? What the hell is wrong with me?

I shook my head, then put the pearl earrings on, sprinkled a little perfume from the small fragrance atomizer I’d brought from The Shade, and stilled. A chill trickled through my limbs—I found myself under the impression that someone was watching.

Was I getting paranoid, or was there a daemon around? I carefully scanned the room, but the air seemed normal, and there wasn’t a single glimmer of red eyes. No, I’m just imagining it.

Not that I could be blamed for feeling on edge, based on what had happened earlier.

I left my room, blowing out the lights on my way out, and locked the door behind me. There was tension mounting in the air around me, but it was all part of my thought process. I was feeling watched, followed, and constantly surveyed.

Spotting Zane at the bookstore had kicked off alarm signals in my head. I was seeing him everywhere, so to speak. Whenever I found myself alone now, I couldn’t help but look over my shoulder and check… just in case.

The daemons had definitely played a part in this… trauma, for lack of a better word. I’d never been this guarded before. It took daemons using invisibility spells to try to kill us in order for me to become more aware of my surroundings.

But it felt as though I were taking this state of alertness just one step too far. There was no daemon following me. I was on my own as I walked up the alley leading to the White Star Hotel.

Surprisingly enough, I was hoping I’d see Zane again sooner rather than later, though I didn’t know why, exactly.

I must be losing my mind…





Avril





(Daughter of Lucas & Marion)