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

“We’ll wait here until he does. We’ll hear it,” Jax said, moving closer.

He couldn’t see me, but he used his hands to feel his way up my arms and over my shoulders, to find my face and cup it in his palms. My breathing was ragged and uneven, my blood broiling from what had just happened. I barely registered what he said.

“Listen, Hansa, there’s a chance we won’t make it out of here alive,” he said gruffly, “though I’m really hoping it’s minimal. However, I’ll never forgive myself if we get killed in the next ten minutes and I don’t get a chance to do this…”

His lips crashed over mine, kissing me deeply. I instantly disintegrated. He wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. My mouth welcomed him, his tongue working mine as our souls touched one another and we dissolved into a single, extremely intense being. I’d been waiting for this for so long…

Despite the madness and horror waiting for us outside, we had a handful of minutes in a cellar, and Jax had chosen to do this. To kiss me, before anything else. I could feel him—all of him. The softness of his lips, his delicious taste, and his firm grip as he deepened our kiss. He groaned as I locked my arms around his neck and pulled him even closer.

We’d finally found each other. It just so happened that we’d found each other in the underground city of murderous daemons. And there was no way in hell I was letting him go this time.

“We are getting out of here, Jaxxon Dorchadas,” I breathed against his lips, running my fingers through his short hair. “Mark my words. I did not put up with all the uncertainty for three months, for just a peck on the lips!”

He chuckled lightly, and my whole being resonated with him. We held on tight, kissing each other’s faces as we waited in the darkness of that cellar.

“I’m not letting you go, Hansa,” he whispered, then covered my mouth with his and took me on another ride through the stars.

Sure, there were daemons outside looking for us. But we had a little time to communicate everything we’d kept from each other—every touch, every kiss, and every sigh was an unspoken declaration of love. Neither of us was good at putting our emotions into words, but damn, his lips knew how to get the message across…





Caia





(Daughter of Grace & Lawrence)





Everything happened incredibly fast from the moment Blaze squeezed my hand and guided us through the crowd. Our objective was the palace tower, but we were surrounded by bloodthirsty daemons who wanted us captured.

We both ran as fast as we could, steering clear of fiends lunging at us, dodging others who shouted as we moved forward, struggling to make our way to the palace stairs.

My heart viciously thudded in my chest as I flipped one of my lighters out. I caught a glimpse of a red lens to my right, accompanied by a snarl and followed by a spray of blood.

Damn it!

They’d managed to mark me, and it made me a visible target. My thumb pressed the lighter button, and I channeled a fraction of my focus into generating a defensive fire to help put some distance between us and the daemons.

Sparks came out and grew into a blazing sphere, but I never got to let it loose. The horde behind us was horrifyingly fast, and one of them slapped my hand. My lighter got lost in the scuffle.

All of a sudden, just as we dashed forward, the crowd moved back. Before I had a chance to realize what was going on, a thick cloud of yellow dust swallowed us.

Oh no…

I coughed and wheezed, but kept running for maybe a couple more seconds, before everything went dark.

“Blaze!” I cried out.

I heard him grunt just as my body turned to what felt like liquid. Losing control over my senses was the gateway to despair. Fear poured cold through my veins, and my throat closed up. I hit the stone pavement.

The daemons growled and cheered my fall. I couldn’t see anything, and, bit by bit, I started to shut down. My mouth opened, but I couldn’t hear myself speak. Soon enough, I couldn’t hear anything anymore…

I was lost in the darkness, in a sea of daemons, and all I could think of was…

What of the others?





Harper





(Daughter of Hazel & Tejus)





At least ten minutes went by. We sat there, hidden behind the half-wall of a terrace, lost in a maze of narrow streets, waiting to hear a dragon roaring and thousands of daemons screaming as they burned to a crisp in the city square. But those sounds never came.

“Something’s wrong,” I whispered, my entire body trembling. “Where’s Blaze? Why hasn’t he transformed yet?”

Caspian didn’t answer, but I felt his fingers digging into my shoulder. It was too late, though. For the first time in my life, I was experiencing real panic. Shortness of breath, a rapid heartbeat, and a dizzying succession of hot and cold waves crashed into me as I began to fear the worst.

“What if they got to them?” I gasped, then used my True Sight to look around, until I found the city square, east of our position. “Oh, no…”

“What?” Caspian’s voice echoed somewhere in the back of my head as I fell to my knees.

They’d caught them. Daemons had gathered back in the square, two bodies being carried up the stairs toward King Shaytan. They’d been covered in dirt and blood, and they were unconscious—Caia and Blaze, from their now-visible general features.

My heart sank and broke into thousands of little pieces. I gripped the edge of the half-wall so tight that pieces of it crumbled beneath my fingers.

“Harper,” Caspian said, “what do you see?”

“They… They got them,” I cried out, no longer able to hold it together. My eyes burned with tears, but I kept watching. The daemons tied Caia and Blaze with rope, and carried them inside the palace. King Shaytan gave more orders, his soldiers once again spreading out. They were going to look for us, probably turn the entire city upside down if they had to. “They got Blaze and Caia…”

Several seconds went by. Caspian’s arms came around me, pulling me close to his chest. I caved in, crying uncontrollably as my mind came to terms with what I’d just witnessed. I wanted to scream and go after them, but I also knew I didn’t stand a chance at this point. The rest of my team and an entire city of innocent Maras and Imen relied on me.

“Harper.” His voice was low and comforting as he held me tight, his lips moving against the top of my head. “Shaytan’s not going to kill them. You heard him. He wants them alive. He probably wants information before he does anything else with them…”

“Anything else?” I managed, sniffing and wiping at the stream of tears pouring out of my eyes.