A Shade of Vampire 63: A Jungle of Rogues

by Bella Forrest

  “Sherus, help me out here,” Nuriya said, her voice trembling. “We can’t let him go to his death.”

  “Hold on,” Bijarki replied. “While things may be looking grim, ours is an extraction, not a suicide mission. I’m not taking any sides here, but Taeral is right about one thing: sitting here and doing nothing won’t get us any closer to what we want, which in this case, is to get our people back and to stop Ta’Zan’s army from spilling out into the universe.”

  “So, what? You agree with him? You think he should come with you to Strava?” Nuriya said, narrowing her eyes at Bijarki. The incubus took a deep breath and kept quiet, now aware that he was treading on very thin ice with a powerful queen and a fierce mother.

  “Nuriya, darling,” Sherus said, gently squeezing her shoulder to intervene. “Don’t fault the incubus for our son’s desire to make himself useful in these circumstances. You and I both know that this is a difficult situation, to say the least. Most importantly, Taeral has already made up his mind. It’s not like we can stop him. However, he’s being a good son and asking for your approval.”

  Taeral nodded enthusiastically. “Mom, I know I’m doing the right thing. Whatever comes next, I need to know I’ve done everything I could to prevent the worst from happening. I can’t do that from here, from the comfort of a palace. I can help! And with the fae fighters that we and GASP lost when those ships went down… Mom, you know they need me.”

  It was Nuriya’s turn to stand there, quiet, as she mulled over Taeral’s words.

  “If I may add,” I said, keeping my voice low and choosing my words carefully, “our fate is not yet determined. We may emerge victorious from all this. Why not give it our best shot? Maybe Taeral will be the ace up our sleeve. And if not, he will at least have provided crucial support during the extraction mission. I stand by what I said earlier. We need all the help we can get.”

  Nuriya gave Taeral a warm and affectionate glance, then frowned at Sherus and let out a heavy sigh. This wasn’t an easy decision for her to make, and I completely understood that. However, these were dire circumstances. And, although Taeral’s request had taken me by surprise as well, I did welcome it. Personally, I looked forward to discovering the extent of his powers. This was already uncharted territory.

  “You had better not do anything reckless,” Nuriya said to Taeral, pointing a menacing finger at him. “If something happens to you, I… I don’t know what I’ll do with myself,” she added.

  I’d yet to have a child of my own, though I’d been thinking about it lately. I couldn’t possibly understand exactly what Nuriya and Sherus were experiencing as parents, but I tried to put myself in their shoes. It hurt. It made my stomach churn. Nuriya had lost many of her family members in previous years—in particular, the males of her clan had been murdered by an evil jinni. Her union with Sherus and the birth of Taeral had given her a second chance at a happy life, but the thought of watching her son go to what was basically a bloody war… It took a toll on her.

  In my position, my main objective was to make sure my future children had a world to live in. Everything we were about to do from this point onward was tied to that goal. There was no room for errors. No time to hesitate.

  Taeral hugged Nuriya, then Sherus, putting on a confident smile.

  “I promise. I’ll be on my best behavior. No running into burning buildings—wait, I’m immune to fire.” He chuckled, then switched back to seriousness when his mother scowled at him. “I promise, Mom. I won’t take unnecessary risks. But I will do everything in my power to ensure the success of our mission. I hope you understand that.”

  Nuriya nodded slowly. “I know. I hope you understand me, too, Taeral. You are the single most precious creature in your father’s and my life. You’re the center of our universe. If we lose you, we lose ourselves.”

  “I’ll come back. I’m not planning on getting myself killed,” Taeral replied softly.

  With Nuriya’s concession and Sherus’s approval, we were now ready to go back to Calliope. Bogdana cleared her throat and offered the royal couple a respectful bow.

  “Thank you both for your support,” the old fae said. “While I’m still here, might I kindly suggest that you visit the Hermessi temple? You’ll be surprised by how beautifully the faith is reemerging in these parts of our world. Who knows, you may even find some enlightenment.”

  “We haven’t been to the temple yet,” Sherus replied. “I imagine we will visit soon enough.”

  “It’s interesting, to say the least,” Taeral said. “Some fae are actually reporting an increase in their elemental abilities, particularly where fire is concerned.”

  “I can attest to that,” Bogdana agreed. “My own fire has grown stronger and brighter since I’ve begun worshipping the Hermessi again.”

  “That’s right, you were born during a time when this whole Hermessi worship was actually a thing, weren’t you?” Shayla replied, once again reminded of exactly how old Bogdana was.

  The old fae nodded, her thin lips stretched into a sad smile. “It’s good to see it back again. I’m glad, because the Hermessi never left. And with an unnatural foe like Ta’Zan, you never know. We may need nature in its purest forms to help us.”

  “Whoa.” Taeral gasped. “You’re thinking of getting the Hermessi on board?”

  “Why not?” Bogdana replied. “If a solitary sentry vampire was able to get a fire Hermessi on her side, all the way on Neraka, why couldn’t we?”

  “Is that why you want to come with us to Strava?” I asked.

  Bogdana grinned. “One of the reasons, yes.”

  Not that I was fully reassured, but I could breathe a little easier. It wasn’t such a bad idea, after all. The natural elements had been around long before any of us, and they were going to be here after we were all gone, too. Ta’Zan and his Perfects were not immortal, and I doubted that nature was okay with being disrupted by creatures who considered themselves better, even superior to it.

  Getting the Hermessi on board wasn’t crazy at all.

  In fact, it was an avenue I was more than willing to explore.

  Aida

  My mother had offered to stay with Voss and keep an eye on Vita, too. Our petite fae was getting closer to her due date, and it was getting difficult for her to move around like before. Mom had made it her mission to make sure that both Vita and my baby got the care they needed, while the rest of us scrambled to stop Ta’Zan from invading the whole damn universe.

  I’d just made a good home here, in the In-Between, and I had no intention of letting that bastard ruin it all. I was in the observation room on Mount Zur with Field, Serena, my dad, Harper and Caspian, Phoenix and Viola, Scarlett and Patrik, Arwen, and the newly returned Avril and Heron—the last were obviously distraught and struggling to keep it together, much like the rest of us.

  My brother, Jovi, was still missing in action, as was his wife, Anjani. Jax and Hansa were also missing, as they’d been with Jovi, Anjani, Heath, Varga, and about eight-hundred other GASP officers on the fleet when the Perfects attacked them. Most had survived, but we’d still lost at least two-hundred.

  Hazel and Tejus, Caleb and River, and the others left in their generation were back in The Shade, managing GASP and its operations from there, while keeping an open comms channel with us as we passed data back and forth. We continued to monitor the situation on Strava through our telescopes—one scanned the entire planet in a continuous recording process, while the other stayed focused on Ben and Rose’s crew via a blood link.

  My heart ached as I tried to keep my mind off Jovi and my focus on finding him and the others. I couldn’t even think about him being forever lost to us. My brain could not compute such a scenario. My brother had to be alive. At worst, he was a prisoner of Ta’Zan, and so were Anjani, Jax, Hansa, and as many of the others as possible. The chances that they were still breathing were, at this point, a painful fifty-fifty. I chose to focus on the positive possibility. It was my only way forward.

&nbs
p; “From what I can see, Ben and Rose’s team has been doing a kickass job down there,” Harper said as she stared at the screen.

  We were looking at an aerial live feed of the mountainside on a remote island about seven miles from the first diamond colosseum we’d spotted on Strava, where Ben and Rose’s team had had their first “official” encounter with the Perfects. The team was inside the cave. Its opening overlooked a small turquoise pond surrounded by lush trees and wildflowers.

  “I do hope they’re resting now,” Serena replied, leaning back into her chair. “The night is coming over there and they’ll be able to move a little more freely. I’ve noticed the Perfects are more active during the day.”

  “Did River and Caleb include that observation in their last message?” I asked.

  Serena shook her head. “I don’t think so. We just sent it over to them, along with an updated map of the planet. Those diamond colosseums keep popping up like mushrooms after the rain. It’s creepy how fast they’re able to build them.”

  “Bastien, Aida, how are you two holding up?” Harper asked, looking at my dad and me.

  “As well as can be expected, at this point,” Dad replied after giving me a quick glance. “We’re holding on to hope.”

  “It’s the only thing we can do,” Field said, taking my hand and gently pressing it against his lips. Had it not been for his calm and strong nature, I would’ve unraveled by now, for sure. On top of that, we had Voss, our little droplet of joy, keeping us going.

  “Okay, so, this is what we sent over to Caleb and River,” Scarlett replied, flipping through some handwritten notes. “The new colosseums, the daytime and nighttime patterns of the Perfects, and the radius on which they move around each diamond construction. Most stay close to home, basically, but there is one cluster that keeps moving. I think it’s Araquiel and his crew, the ones hell-bent on getting Ben and Rose’s team back to Ta’Zan, by any means necessary.”

  I turned in my chair so I could face Arwen. “What information have we gathered from the four Perfects we brought back?” I asked her.

  She sighed, crossing her arms and leaning against the edge of the large table in the middle of the observation room. The lights from different wall-mounted screens flickered against her soft skin as she explained what they’d learned so far.

  “Well, first of all, the bastards are practically indestructible,” she said. “We’ve managed to contain them for now, and I dare to call that progress. They definitely have some witch genes in them. Two actually teleported themselves out of the room, but, given that they didn’t know where they were, they didn’t get far. The Daughters were quick to retrieve and restrain them, and Lumi’s using some heavy-duty entrapment charms to keep them down.”

  “Whoa, when was that?” Phoenix gasped, his eyes wide.

  “A couple of hours ago,” Arwen replied. “Don’t worry about it. It was over before they knew it. We have a major advantage here, as opposed to on Strava. They’re heavily outnumbered, and even with their physical abilities, they can’t do much damage. We’ve got it under control. Unfortunately, the blood vials we sent to Strava were most likely useless. It evaporates into red smoke quite quickly when subjected to air. We only have up to five minutes to work with it fresh before it vanishes. I think it’s how it coagulates. My guess is that Ta’Zan designed it that way, probably knowing that vampires could benefit from its special properties. It took us a while to figure that one out.”

  “So, there’s no point in sending more for Rose and Lenny. That sucks… What abilities have you identified so far?” Serena asked.

  “That’s where it gets interesting. Out of the four we’ve got to work with, we’ve been able to determine two types of abilities,” Arwen explained. “The core group of abilities, which they’re all equipped with, includes wings for flight and sturdy claws, all retractable. They also have incredible strength and speed, the latter easily breaching the sound barrier. They generate sonic booms whenever they engage their full ability. Oh, and regeneration. They’ll heal and grow back anything, limbs and heads included. The auxiliary group of abilities is more fascinating, from a genetic point of view. Ta’Zan managed to cross different genes into their systems. One of the Perfects we captured has fire abilities, like a fae. The second and third have magic in them, as they were able to teleport. We’ve yet to figure out the fourth’s auxiliary skills, but we’re getting there. They’re all highly observant and quick learners. We can’t say anything around them, as they might use it against us.”

  Scarlett rested her head in her hands and elbows on her knees, as she tried to take it all in. I felt for her—we were all going through the same thing. I was practically sick to my stomach, mostly because of my inability to do anything about all this.

  “It’s horrifying to hear how fast these creatures adapt, no matter what their environment hurls at them,” she said, then sucked in a breath and looked up at Phoenix and me. “What about your Oracle abilities? Phoenix, you can see the past. Is there anything you can find out about Ta’Zan? Aida, you can see the present. Think you can have a look on Strava, maybe? Vita’s got the future vibes. What about her?”

  “Ugh…” I groaned, fighting back a wave of nausea. “My Oracle abilities have gone dormant since I gave birth. Maybe the whole process took its toll on me, I don’t know. I haven’t had a vision since before Voss was born. A couple of months before, to be precise. Vita’s blank, too. We’ve already thought and talked about it. We even tried to concentrate and summon a vision last night, together. It didn’t work. It must be related to our pregnancies.”

  Phoenix scratched the back of his head. “I don’t think we can see into Strava’s past, present or future though,” he said. “It’s too far away. And I know Eritopia’s past by heart already. There’s nothing here of use to us.”

  “I don’t think we should put our faith in visions. We never knew enough about them or how they work, anyway. It took us a long time to figure out they work based on location, as you can see,” my dad interjected, pinching the bridge of his nose. “They might’ve worked against someone like Azazel, but this is something else entirely. Ta’Zan and his Perfects are clearly capable of both technological and magical feats, and fearsome ones at that. This requires a tactical approach. We need to go forward with an extraction mission, and work to stop them from the inside.”

  “Sabotage,” I murmured.

  Dad nodded. “It’s our best way forward, for now.”

  “We have a major problem with the Perfects, though,” Arwen replied. “We can’t kill them. The cold void of space couldn’t annihilate them. We’ve tried several methods so far. Beheading kept them out for five hours, tops. They grew new heads. And they knew everything up until the moment we decapitated them, which makes me think they store their memories somewhere in their bodies. Lumi will do a full body scan for any strange objects embedded in the skin or muscle tissue.”

  “Like a memory card?” Phoenix asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Basically, yes,” Arwen said. “We burned them alive an hour ago. Ugh, I never thought I’d say such a thing,” she added, rubbing her face with her palms. “Anyway, we’re waiting to see what the recovery time is on that. From what I can tell, the greater the damage to their bodies, the longer it takes for them to fully regenerate.”

  “Lumi and my sisters are watching over them as we speak,” Viola interjected. “I do agree with doing a body scan for something that may store their memories. I believe it’s safe to assume that, in his quest to make his Perfects invincible and loyal, Ta’Zan would make sure to keep them loyal even after they lose their heads and memories. Having an implant directly connected to the spinal cord would fix that. As soon as they grow a new head, the implant would automatically connect to the clean brain and download all the information they acquired prior to decapitation—”

  “Thus ensuring that the Perfects are still on the same page,” I finished for her, struggling to grip this ugly reality.

  My line of
thought was abruptly broken when the observation room’s double doors opened wide. Jax’s ten wards came in, all wearing their leather tunics and swamp witch charm tattoos, which they’d used to amplify his mind-bending ability in the past. They stopped in front of the council table, standing tall and somber as they looked at us.

  One of them stepped forward and offered a brief bow, then nodded at Heron.

  “Milord, we require an audience,” the ward said.

  Heron frowned, with one arm resting around Avril’s shoulders. “What is this about?”

  “It’s about Lord Jaxxon Dorchadas, milord,” the ward replied. “I regret having to say this, but… we require a leader in his absence.”

  “Whoa, hold on,” Heron said, irritated. “My brother is missing. He’s not dead—”

  The ward cut him off, his tone firm and clipped. “You’re hoping he’s not dead, milord. We all are. But our laws are carved in stone. Until he returns, the Maras of White City need a leader. By bloodline, you must assume that responsibility.”

  Heron blinked several times, visibly shocked. Technically speaking, he knew he was next in line for the position, but he’d never thought he’d actually have to take it. None of us had, for that matter. Jax and Hansa were invincible. They’d survived two insanely devastating wars, for Pete’s sake! They’d helped take down not one, but two evil overlords.

  Avril was equally consternated. Neither of them had thought about this. It made sense. It was the law of succession.

  I swallowed back tears as I tried to focus on the current scene unfolding before me, no matter how hard it kept tugging at my heartstrings.

  “What… What do I do?” Heron whispered, looking at Avril with wondering and glassy eyes.