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

“I doubt they’ll go after Azure Heights with us in here.” I shook my head, trying to maintain some positivity—enough to avoid despair. “I also doubt they caught the others. We’re the only ones in here.”

There was a loud screech beyond the wall to my right. We both stilled and stared toward it—there was a square opening at eye level, big enough for a petite creature like Caia to fit through. It extended into a long, dark tunnel, and a light shone at the end of it as someone opened the latch.

A pair of red eyes glimmered at us, and I recognized the face. King Shaytan was standing outside our meranium prison, grinning with tremendous satisfaction. My blood boiled, rage swelling my muscles. My desire to crush his skull was only outweighed by my anger at my inability to get us out of here. I’d told Caia the truth: if I were to turn into a dragon right here and now, I would crush her in the process.

And I was ready to die a thousand times, in horrific pain, before hurting a hair on her beautiful head…

“Well, someone’s up early!” King Shaytan’s voice boomed through the tunnel.

“What do you want from us?” I shouted, and he cackled with mocking delight.

“I already have what I want. I’ve got you two!”

There were at least fifty yards between us. I felt Caia’s hand on my arm, squeezing gently.

“Don’t let him get to you,” she whispered. “He’s gloating. For now, anyway. He won’t be once I’m done with him…”

I was a sucker for that fire blazing inside her. Shaytan put something into the tunnel, then pushed it toward us. It rolled down, and as it got closer, I realized it was a small barrel.

“So, what, you’ll keep us in here forever?” I shot back, catching the barrel as it fell out of the tunnel. I pulled the cork cap off and smelled its contents. It was filled with fresh water. I handed it over to Caia.

“I haven’t decided yet.” Shaytan shrugged, scratching his braided beard. “But you’ll be staying in there for a while. Don’t think about using any fire in there. The box is charmed, and the meranium is an exquisite conductor. You’ll melt your flesh off. The walls are twenty yards thick, little dragon.”

“You’ve really thought this through, I see,” I replied, gritting my teeth.

Caia drank some of the water, then passed the barrel back to me.

“I’ve been watching you for a while.” Shaytan smirked. “I like your… spark! Now, drink up, and get comfortable. You’re not going anywhere.”

He shut the latch, and darkness poured through the tunnel. I breathed heavily and looked at Caia. Her wide teal eyes trembled with anger and fear, and there wasn’t much I could do about it. We only had each other, for the time being, and we were stuck in a box, deep below the surface of Neraka.

I had no idea where Harper and the others were. No way of breaking free without crushing Caia in the process…

“Blaze… what do we do?” Her voice was weak, barely audible.

It broke my heart to see her like that, especially since I didn’t have anything good to tell her. All I could do was keep her close and make sure no harm would come to her. I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight, gently kissing the top of her head.

I felt her arms around my waist as she responded quietly, gradually relaxing against my body. It was all she could do, too, for the time being.

“He’s not going to keep us in here forever,” I said. “The others are out there, Caia. We’ll get through this one way or another.”

She trembled in my embrace, but I didn’t let go. Caia was my source of energy, and I needed every ounce of it to prepare for what was to come.

He won’t keep us here forever.

All I need is a good window of opportunity.





Serena





It was well after lunch, on the second day since my sister’s team had deployed for Neraka. According to our conversations via Telluris, there was definitely something strange going on there regarding all the disappearances, but they were still investigating.

Draven and I were in the Druid Archives looking through travel logs from thousands of years back, trying to find any reference to the delegation that had crash landed on Neraka. So far, unfortunately, there was nothing, but we still had about twenty volumes’ worth of logs to go over.

Derek and Sofia had convened another meeting back on Mount Zur to catch up with the rest of the GASP council on the Tenebris team’s progress. Apparently, the incubi insurgents were losing ground fast, and our envoy had already been effective in helping the locals drive the extremists into a corner, so to speak.

Draven was going to be briefed on talking points after the meeting, as he was determined to dig through the Druid archives first. There was something bothering him about Neraka—I could feel it, but neither of us could figure out what it was exactly.

A bell rang outside the hall, announcing the passage of another hour. Draven and I looked at each other. He gave me a brief nod, then closed his eyes. It was time to reach out to our Neraka team again.

“Telluris Harper!” he called out.

Several seconds went by, and I could see his brows furrow, though he tried to keep it from me. I found that cute, especially since our souls were in such perfect sync. I felt everything that he felt, after all.

“Telluris Harper!” he chanted again, and then his forehead smoothed. “Are you okay?”

I could tell, from the look on his face, that he’d made contact.

“What are you doing now?” he asked, then listened for a few seconds. “Is it safe? …Okay, we’ll talk again tonight. Be careful.”

He sighed, then opened his eyes, his gaze settling on my face. I was on the edge of my seat, naturally worried for Harper and the others. Sure, they could handle themselves and whatnot, but I still couldn’t help but be concerned.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, a feeling of uneasiness taking over.

“Nothing.” He shook his head. “She couldn’t say much, but we’ll catch up again tonight. The investigation is going ahead, and they’re exploring the gorges in the Valley of Screams. She couldn’t risk focusing on Telluris while down there, so we’ll get a full report later tonight instead. They’re all okay.”

I nodded slowly, then flipped through another page of the thirteenth log I’d been studying. My gaze wandered across the page, and I bit the inside of my cheek.

“There’s something you’re not telling me,” I muttered, unable to let go of that strange sliver of doubt that had nestled in the back of my head.

“No, it’s not that, my love,” Draven replied, then gave me a weak smile. “Whatever you’re feeling, just get it out of your head. It’s a residue of my own concerns, and, until we finish checking these logs, I can’t validate any of my suspicions. There’s just no point in getting worried over a hunch of mine…”

“So you do have suspicions about Neraka.” I raised an eyebrow at him, then resumed reading a short line that had caught my attention a couple of seconds earlier.

“I do, yes, but nothing to warrant concern,” he said, then watched me quietly. “What is it?”