Caspian was an interesting specimen, to say the least, brimming with energy and strength I’d rarely seen. My entire being hummed, my hand gently clutching his before I realized that I was losing myself in him. I moved to sit back up, but he swiftly tightened his hold and beckoned me to stay exactly there, my back against his chest and my head on his shoulder.
“Feeling better?” he asked.
I nodded, not sure whether I should look away or keep gazing at him. He was beautiful, the blade of his nose casting a shadow over his left cheek, his soft lips dangerously close to my face. His energy was not to be underestimated, either. It fueled me in more ways than one—both physically and mentally, strengthening my resolve. At the same time, it rattled me to think that there was a little bit of Caspian flowing through me.
He pulled me even closer, then focused on the road ahead. I could hear his heart thudding in his chest. There was more darkness and danger waiting for us in that gorge. Fiona was in there, somewhere. But for that brief moment in time, I was fine with just being there, on that horse, in Caspian’s arms, sated with his energy.
I’d worry about his rattling effect on me later.
Fiona
(Daughter of Benedict & Yelena)
I had no way of knowing for sure, but I estimated at least an hour had passed since I’d first heard Zane speak. He was lounging by the steaming pool, relaxing against the pile of animal furs. He threw me occasional glances but ignored my every question.
In the meantime, I’d analyzed my cage, every hinge and iron bar, the lock and the distance to my weapons, which were discarded on the floor several feet away. I’d caught glimpses of moonlight hitting a cave wall on the left, closer to the exit. I’d formulated a pretty good idea as to what I could do to get myself out of there. That red powder’s effects wouldn’t last forever, and I sure wasn’t going to let the daemon know when I was feeling sturdy again.
But my inability to fight back or even escape at this point didn’t sit well with me. It frustrated me, and, as a result, I kept tossing and turning in my cage, letting out the occasional huff. Zane wasn’t fazed by my increasing anxiety. If anything, I had a feeling he was getting a kick out of it. Leave it to Fiona to get herself abducted by a sociopath with a hot body, legs for days, and horns that could tear her apart in an instant. My current situation was mind-boggling.
“Seriously, though,” I said, breaking the silence, “my team will come looking for me, and you will be better off if you let me go now, and just stay back.”
He chuckled, his foot sinking slowly into the hot water. It was better to see him react like that than ignore me.
“Rest assured, Fiona, I am not impressed,” he replied, his red gaze lingering on the turquoise pond as he moved his leg through it, “given how easy it was for me to take you in the first place. Though I’ll admit, I did not see the dragon coming. I’ve never seen dragons before; I’ve only heard about them in old folk tales, but that doesn’t change anything. It can still be killed. Everything can die. Even a dragon.”
He looked at me intently as he said that. I sat up, leaning against the iron bars on my right, as my arms were still weak and not able to fully support the weight of my upper body.
“You got lucky because of your stupid invisibility trick!” I shot back. “How do you do that, by the way? Is it natural? Is it magic of some kind?”
“You’re in over your head, Fiona.” He smirked, stretching his arms out like a lazy cat. “I can tell from the questions you ask that you have absolutely no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into. I don’t even know whether I should bother to tell you anything or not, considering how fast you’ll all die here. Damn, I’m still trying to figure out whether I should laugh or feel sorry for you.”
“Go on, try me,” I hissed, failing to keep myself composed before his blatant arrogance. “At least I won’t die stupid.”
“Trust me, beautiful,” Zane threw me a playful wink, further confusing me, “if I tell you what’s going on here, then I’ll definitely have to kill you.”
Despite the chill running down my spine, I found a splinter of hope in his statement. It left me under the impression that he had yet to decide whether he’d spare or end me.
“Therefore, you’re not at all inclined to kill me, am I right?” I decided to test that theory.
Within a split second, Zane stood in front of my cage. He’d moved so fast, I barely saw him until his face was once again inches from mine, startling me. I yelped and fell backward against the iron bars. The corner of his mouth twitched. His eyes glimmered bright red as he measured me from head to toe.
“I haven’t decided yet,” he replied with an underlying growl. “For now, I’m very curious as to what your soul might taste like, because you are quite the firecracker!”
He inched even closer, his hand slipping between the bars. His arm was long enough for his fingers to reach me and brush a solitary lock of hair from my face. My skin felt tingly all over. I held my breath as he cocked his head to one side.
“I have never met anyone almost as strong as I am,” he muttered. “Not even among my kind. I’m a bit of an anomaly. I didn’t even know your strength until I grabbed you and you held your own to the point where I nearly lost you on my way out. You could easily defend yourself against most daemons, and that, beautiful, gives me all kinds of feelings.”
His grin had a peculiar effect on my stomach. It felt as though rocks were tumbling inside me. I tried to keep my chin up and stay prepared to fight off any attempt he might make at consuming my soul. But I was stuck in this small cage, at his mercy.
“That’s just so… creepy,” I replied, raising an eyebrow. I couldn’t let him smell my fear.
He chuckled, then moved away from the cage, resuming his lounging position by the pond, his hands under his head.
Some time passed before mellow heatwaves proceeded to wash over my muscles. With each minute that went by, I felt my body slowly regain its strength.
Hope blossomed in my chest. All I had to do was hold on in here, and wait for Zane to go out so I could pull the cage bars apart and sneak out. The red powder’s effect was finally wearing off.
Avril
(Daughter of Lucas & Marion)
The gorge widened ahead into a large, circular space, before tightening its limestone walls again. It was an eerie place, completely different from what we’d seen so far. It looked like a hidden slice of paradise, with a deep pond of turquoise water carved in the middle. The stream passed through it, making the surface constantly ripple.
The pond alone was downright breathtaking. A plethora of luminescent underwater plants grew at the bottom, glowing white and casting their pale light against the smooth walls of the pond. Its edges were dressed in bright pink-and-yellow orchids, in a beautiful contrast with the pale blue ferns and fuchsia wildflowers scattered around the gorge. I craned my neck to take it all in, from the patches of crude green grass to the tops of the tall palm trees with large, waxy leaves that obscured the purplish dawn sky. It brought a smile to my face—it was so different from the stark wilderness of the Valley of Screams.
“This is beautiful,” I mumbled, gazing around as we moved forward.
“If it weren’t for the bloodthirsty daemons lurking around, I would totally recommend this as a picnic spot,” Scarlett quipped from behind, making me chuckle—until I caught sight of the air rippling to my right.
“Guys, daemon—” A heavy blow cut me off as an invisible daemon knocked me off my horse. I fell on one side, the air pushed out of my lungs. Everything grew fuzzy. I heard neighing, Patrik’s shout, then the sounds of water splashing and swords being drawn from their sheaths, before my vision cleared.
I jumped to my feet and saw the daemon, his claws and fangs extended as he fought Heron, who’d already jumped off his horse with his blade out. Harper pushed out a barrier, and the daemon wobbled on his feet.
I drew my sword and supported my weight on my left foot, getting ready to jump and r
un my blade through him. The daemon was fast, blocking Heron’s hits, but he was no match for Harper, who came from behind and slammed another barrier right into the back of his head.
“No!” A woman’s scream suddenly pierced the night, and the daemon fell forward, landing on his forearms with a grunt. “Don’t kill him!”
We all stilled, our blades pointed at the beast.
A young female Mara came out from behind a colorful bush, wearing a long, delicate white cotton dress.
“What the hell?” Hansa gasped as the Mara scurried toward us and fell to her knees, shielding the daemon with her arms and upper body.
“Holy crap,” I croaked, recognizing her long ginger hair and pale green eyes, her cupid’s bow lips and full cheeks from the painting in the Roho mansion. “Sienna…”
“Wait, what?” Harper panted, her twin swords now aimed at both the daemon and Sienna. Her expression echoed our collective astonishment, as we all gaped at the odd couple before us.
“Sienna, of House Roho,” I managed.
“Vincent’s sister,” Heron confirmed, nodding slowly. His gaze darted between her and the daemon.
“Please don’t hurt Tobiah,” Sienna cried out, tears streaming down her face. The daemon straightened his back and wrapped his arms around her in a protective gesture. He gave us a wary frown, flinching from the pain caused by Harper’s last barrier. “He was just trying to protect me!”
We ran out of words at the sight of Sienna so close to a daemon.
She’d been reported missing by her mother and brother. We’d thought she was a victim, abducted by the same daemons that had taken the others. We’d also suspected she might have been kidnapped by someone inside Azure Heights, given that her disappearance didn’t match the daemons’ original pattern. We’d floated several theories regarding her whereabouts, and yet… here she was, hidden inside the gorge and showing affection toward one of the very fiends we were hunting.
What is going on?
Harper
(Daughter of Hazel & Tejus)
“Explain yourself, Sienna,” Hansa barked, “before I run my sword through both of you!”
Sienna’s green eyes grew wide with horror. Jax groaned, then placed his hand on Hansa’s blade, lowering it.
“She’s not going to do that, Sienna, don’t worry,” he said calmly, then gave the succubus a stern look. Hansa wasn’t having it, though.
“Are you kidding? After what she put us and her family through?” Hansa retorted, then gave Sienna a cold glare. “Explain yourself, Sienna. Your family thinks you’re dead. You’re part of the reason we got dragged into this daemon mess. And you’re here, living it up with one!”
“I’m sorry!” Sienna cried out. “I truly am! But… But Tobiah won’t hurt you, I promise! Please, spare him!”
“Okay, okay, let’s do this the right way,” Jax replied, putting his sword away. “The daemon stays down while we have a quick conversation, and you take a few steps back. We don’t know anything about you and the creature at this point, and we want to make sure you’re safe.”
“I am safe! Tobiah would never hurt me,” Sienna sobbed.
Jax motioned to Hansa, prompting her to put her sword away, as well. She didn’t seem happy to do it, but I figured they wanted Sienna calm and separated from the daemon, in case things went south fast. The young Mara may have claimed that Tobiah wouldn’t hurt her, but Jax didn’t want to risk giving him such an opportunity. We didn’t know enough about the daemon to stop considering him an enemy. I’d been around Jax for long enough to understand how his judgment worked.
I looked toward the tracking spell. It was still moving slowly. We could spare a few minutes here, and we clearly needed to make some sense out of what we were seeing with Sienna and her daemon.
“Sienna, move away from Tobiah,” Hansa instructed. “We won’t hurt him if we don’t have to, I promise. Just do this for now, for our peace of mind.”
Sienna wiped her tears with the sleeve of her dress, then pushed herself up and took a couple of steps back, her gaze fixed on the daemon, who stayed down on his knees. He looked around at us, his red eyes glimmering slightly, as if carefully analyzing us. He was handsome, by all possible standards, his horns, a dark shade of gray, creating an interesting contrast with his long, ash-blond hair.
He retracted his claws and fangs, his shoulder dropping slowly as he seemed to accept the fact that he was outnumbered.
The moons had set by now—shortly after our latest daemon scuffle—and the sun was preparing to rise, somewhere east of the gorge. We pulled our hoods over our heads, preparing to shield ourselves from the first rays. Patrik, Caia, and Blaze were spared this daily ritual—not that it bothered me much, as vampirism came with some exquisite perks. Sienna noticed, as she pulled her own hood and frowned at the three.
“What are you?” she asked.
“Druid, fire fae, dragon,” Hansa replied, pointing at each of them. “Now, talk to us, Sienna. What’s going on here?”
“Dragon… I’ve only heard of dragons in old tales… Who are you people?” the Exiled Mara replied, biting her lower lip. Her jaw dropped when Caspian approached, his expression darkened slightly by the hood pulled over his head. “Caspian…”
“These are people from Eritopia. They were brought here to help find our missing people. Including you,” Caspian said. “It would be wise of you to tell them what you’re doing here with a daemon, while your mother and brother are losing their minds, believing you are dead.”
“From Eritopia?” Sienna’s eyes widened with surprise as she looked at us. She gave Tobiah a warm glance and a reassuring nod. “I’m sorry, I’m just shocked that you all made it this far into the gorges. This is a very dangerous place.”
“No kidding,” I shot back, sarcasm dripping from my tone. I put my swords away and crossed my arms over my chest. Heron and Avril kept their blades out and aimed at Tobiah, while Scarlett, Patrik, Caia, and Blaze sheathed theirs.
“Sienna, it really doesn’t matter that we made it all the way here. We’re professionals, and we’re trained for this.” Jax scoffed. “What really matters is why you’re here, and not at home with your family and friends.”
Sienna let out a long, tortured sigh, one hand playing with a lock of her hair, nervously twisting it around her fingers.
“I’m not going back home,” she stated, then gazed around the gorge with a dreamy look in her eyes. “This is my home, now.”
“The gorge. The Valley of Screams. The place where hundreds of your people have gone missing and were most likely killed.” Hansa gave her a disparaging smile.
“It’s where Tobiah lives. And I’m in love with him,” Sienna retorted, unfazed. “I’m here for him. Because I want to be here with him.”
Several moments passed as we glanced at each other, then stared at the daemon kneeling in front of us. To say that this was unexpected would have been an extreme understatement.
“You’ve been gone for over a week, and you’re in love with a daemon?” I asked, recalling the timeline of Sienna’s disappearance. “How do you even know about the daemons when the whole city, more or less, has no idea what they are?”
Sienna wore a sheepish smile and gave Caspian a brief glance before looking at me.
“I didn’t know who or what they were either, until I met Tobiah,” she mumbled. “Our people have been vanishing for two years now. My family was already a pain to deal with, so strict and stupidly superficial… With all the disappearances, it just made life even harder for me. I felt like I was living in a cage. I wasn’t allowed to go out after sundown, which was ridiculous because I’m a Mara. Of course I need to be out after sundown! But I never planned for any of this to happen, I swear. It just happened! A few months ago, Tobiah showed his face to me while I was in my gazebo…”
I blinked several times, trying to picture that scene—Sienna lounging in her gazebo behind the Roho mansion, and an invisible daemon simply coming up to her. I couldn’t hel
p but imagine an eagle swooping down and grabbing an unsuspecting rabbit. Except, in this case, the rabbit seemed to have the hots for the eagle.
This is a whole new level of weird…
“I don’t… I can’t quite wrap my head around this,” Hansa replied, scowling at the daemon.
“If… If I may?” Tobiah slowly lifted a hand, politely requesting permission to speak.
Jax raised an eyebrow, then gave him a brief nod.
“It’s all my fault,” Tobiah said.
“Understatement of the day.” I snorted. Caspian shifted closer to me, his arm gently brushing against mine.
“I first noticed Sienna on the first level of the city,” Tobiah continued. “I’d been prowling all night, looking to feed—”
“Eat a soul, you mean,” Hansa interrupted him.
A muscled twitched in the daemon’s jaw, but he kept a straight face as he went on.
“Yes, I was looking for a soul to eat,” Tobiah replied. “Sienna was there, laughing with some Imen girls. I… I couldn’t stop watching her. At first, I wanted to feed on her. She looked so beautiful under the moonlight, I kept wondering what her soul would taste like—”
“What does a soul taste like?” I asked.
Tobiah looked at me, a half-smile stretching his lips.
“It’s like drinking liquid sunshine,” he replied. “Happiness filling your mouth and lighting up your soul. It’s incredibly addictive, and it does things to your body. You get stronger. Faster. Smarter.”
“Like a nuclear battery,” Avril muttered from the side.
“So you took Sienna.” Hansa brought the conversation back on track, while Jax motioned to Heron and Avril to put their swords away. There were too many of us against Tobiah. He wouldn’t stand a chance in these circumstances if he did try anything.