A Shade of Vampire 63: A Jungle of Rogues

by Bella Forrest

Avril sighed. “Babe, they do have a point,” she replied softly. “At least until we get Jax back, you need to take the reins. White City needs you. And I will be with you, every step of the way.”

  Heron thought about it for a moment.

  “Milord, we will not take you away from your GASP duties,” the ward said. “We are capable of running most of the operations in the city for you. We will also advise you along the way. You have our full support in whatever you do.”

  Heron nodded slowly. “Thank you. That’s… That’s a relief,” he replied. “Okay. Fine. I’ll do it. What do you need me to do?”

  The ward smiled, then handed him a gold-plated box. Heron opened it with shaky fingers. It was a crest made entirely from jadestone, intricately sculpted in the shape of an eagle-like creature with black onyx eyes and wings spread wide, and it had a string of words on a banner underneath.

  “This is the Lordship sigil,” the ward said. “The swamp witches charmed it for Lord Dorchadas when he first enlisted us as his wards. You must press it against your heart and say, ‘I assume the Lordship, with my blood and my soul,’ and the title will be made official.”

  Heron stared at the sigil for a while, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

  “This is a draquis,” he muttered. “A nocturnal bird. Our spirit animal. Our ancestors worshipped it. We once thought we came from the draquis. It hunts at night; it feasts only on the blood of other animals; its claws can tear through flesh. We could never associate our mind-bending abilities with it, but we’ve always found the draquis’s stare to be… hypnotic. We made it into our sigil many years back. My brother commissioned this from Zura, the swamp witch who made the wards, as well,” he added, looking at us. “I used to gawk at it for hours when I was a kid. Jax used to tell me about what a big responsibility the Lordship is. I never wanted it. Yet, here I am, taking it.”

  “It’s only temporary,” I said to him. “We’ll get Jax back. We’ll get my brother back, too. But, in the meantime, we have to keep cracking. You know that.”

  “I do, I do.” He sighed, then pressed the sigil against his chest, as instructed. “I assume the Lordship, with my blood and my soul.”

  A split second later, the bird’s onyx eyes lit up white and bright. Heron took a deep breath as the glimmer from the draquis’s eyes transferred into his own. The pools of deep jade green turned luminescent white for a moment. The temperature in the room made a temporary, sudden drop, and we all waited, breathlessly, to see what happened next.

  The wards, on the other hand, seemed calm and unshaken. They’d done this once before.

  As the white light dimmed in Heron’s eyes, everything seemed to come back to normal. He exhaled, then pulled the sigil away from his chest and frowned as he turned it over in his hand.

  “What just happened?” he asked. “I swear I just saw the entire history of my people flashing before my eyes. Some of it I knew already, but man, some of it was dark and disturbing.”

  “I believe those were the early days of the Maras, milord,” the ward explained. “And perhaps the lesser-known actions of the Exiled Maras, prior to their departure. The sigil carries the knowledge of our people with it. It was made to do so by Zura. It is meant to give the Lord full access to our history, including the less… palatable moments.”

  “So what now? Is it done?” Heron replied.

  “Yes, milord. You are now the Lord of White City,” the ward said.

  Heron put the sigil back in the box. The ward motioned for him to give it back.

  “Where does this go now? Back to White City?” Heron asked.

  The ward nodded. “It stays in the Lord’s Hall, until it is needed again,” he said. “You should know, milord, that you now have access to our powers, as well. We are your wards, as we were your brother’s. We will do whatever you want us to do, to get him back and to protect our people… our world.”

  “I’ll go on the record and say that this really bothers me, but I have no choice,” Heron declared, his brow furrowed. He took Avril’s hand in his, then straightened his back and nodded at the wards. “I’ll need one of you to go back to White City with the sigil. Appoint as many of our nobles and councilors as necessary to help you run the city while we’re busy here saving the friggin’ universe. The rest of you will stay with me.”

  The first ward nodded and gave the gold box to another ward, whom he appointed as Heron’s spokesperson. “You will go to the city,” he said. The other ward gave him a brief nod, then bowed before Heron and left the observation room. The first ward turned to face Heron again. “We are at your service, milord. What do you want us to do?”

  Heron put on a sly grin. Knowing him, it was a signal that he’d already made a plan, and that things were about to get interesting.

  “I need the nine of you to teach me how to amplify my mind-bending ability,” Heron said. “I know the Perfects avoided Elonora’s sentry abilities, but I think we can still give ourselves a shot here. If we manage to subdue a Perfect, we’ll be one step closer to stopping Ta’Zan.”

  “Which is great, because that means you’ll all be coming with us.” Draven’s voice cut through the room. We all turned our heads to find him standing in the doorway, accompanied by Bijarki, Shayla, an old-looking fae I quickly identified as Bogdana, and a young male fae with the makings of a royal.

  “Taeral… Is that you?” I breathed, my eyes nearly popping out of their orbits as I recognized Sherus and Nuriya’s son.

  He gave me a broad smile, his hands resting behind his back. “Long time no see, wolf girl.”

  Oh, things were definitely getting interesting now! We had wards on our side. We had Bogdana with us. And we had someone who was potentially one of the most powerful hybrids out there joining us. The son of a fire fae and a jinni was sure to be a game-changer—maybe not on a grand scale, but definitely for our extraction mission.

  We needed all the supernatural power we could get.

  Harper

  I breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Draven, Bijarki, and Shayla. Serena quickly dashed forward and jumped into Draven’s arms, covering his face in loving kisses. Their auras shone bright and gold, a sentry’s testament to true love in its purest display. I couldn’t stop myself from grinning when Draven gently pulled my sister away but kept her close to his body as he introduced his new companions.

  “So, yes, we made it back in record time, thanks to Shayla here,” he said, giving the witch a friendly nod. “And we’ve brought some help. Everyone, meet Bogdana, the oldest fae known to us, and for those of you who’ve never met him, this is Taeral, crown prince of the fire star, son of Sherus and Nuriya. He’ll be joining us on the extraction mission.”

  We all shook hands with Bogdana. I had a hard time looking away from her. I’d never seen a fae display such dramatic signs of aging. She reminded me of the old crone illustrations from human fairytale books back on Earth.

  “It’s an honor to meet you,” I said to her.

  She gave me a polite and flat smile, measuring me from head to toe. “I’ve met your kind before, but you seem different,” she replied. “You’re not just a sentry, are you?”

  I shook my head. “I’m a vampire-sentry hybrid,” I said. “Vampirism is acquired, not inherited. I chose to turn when I was eighteen.”

  “I see, I see… Well, I guess I haven’t yet seen everything, after all.” Bogdana chuckled.

  “So, you’ll be joining the extraction mission on Strava?” Scarlett asked, frowning slightly.

  The old fae looked at her, narrowing her eyes. “You’re a vampire, too?” she replied, and Scarlett nodded. “You’re all pale. Nocturnal, I presume. Yes, I’ll be going to Strava with the Druid and the crown prince.”

  Bogdana seemed a little off. Then again, she was literally tens of thousands of years old. She’d lived through countless generations. She’d experienced many lifetimes. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that she suffered from faint moments of senility as she struggled to focus
. There were so many of us in one room, each eager to get to know her a little better. She was most likely overwhelmed, and that worried me. How was she going to fare on Strava, if a bunch of us made her lose her focus?

  “Taeral, I’m still not used to seeing you like this,” Phoenix quipped as he took the crown prince in a rough bear hug. Taeral didn’t see it coming, though, and ended up laughing as Phoenix lifted him off the ground for a moment.

  “Like this, how, exactly?” Taeral said.

  Field, Aida, and Serena gathered around him, each taking turns to hug him and squeeze his shoulders, taking him all in. They’d only seen him once, last year, after the veil was lifted from Eritopia. Before that, they’d met him as a baby, gurgling and cooing in his mother’s arms when he wasn’t vanishing into thin air for minutes on end.

  “All big and grown up!” Serena exclaimed, ruffling his short black hair and making him laugh even harder. “I swear, it feels like yesterday that I first saw you. This little pale-skinned raisin in your mom’s arms, swaddled in silk.”

  “Ah, man, I remember when you first vanished!” Aida chuckled. “Scared the daylights out of me.”

  “Oh, you mean like this?” Taeral asked, then instantly disappeared and reappeared behind Aida. He put his hands on her shoulders, startling her once more.

  We all laughed this time. Needless to say, we needed it.

  I’d met Taeral before. Prior to his dispatch to a private school on a water star, we’d enjoyed several playdates together during the Eritopian time-lapse. He was one of the most powerful hybrids I’d come across, for sure. There was no other record of a half-jinni half-fae specimen anywhere else. Given the circumstances, I would’ve loved a couple thousand Taerals.

  “I take it you’re back for good this time?” I asked him.

  He nodded briefly. “Yeah. My apprenticeships and studies are over. It’s time for me to step into my role.”

  “How did you convince your mom to let you come here, then?” Serena replied, raising an eyebrow. We all knew Nuriya well enough to understand that it couldn’t have been easy for Taeral to join our team—especially since we were headed straight for the center of the enemy’s territory.

  “It wasn’t easy, but it took less time than I would’ve thought,” Taeral said, a boyish smirk stretching his lips.

  His golden eyes glimmered with devilish delight. He definitely enjoyed getting his way, and we all knew how hard that was with a fierce mother like Nuriya. Her overprotectiveness could seem difficult at times, but we all understood exactly how precious Taeral was to her and Sherus, especially after losing so many from her family before. He was their only child. They’d tried giving him a brother or a sister, but they’d yet to reproduce the little miracle. It was one of the reasons why Taeral was so valued. It wasn’t every day that a jinni and a fae could conceive offspring together.

  “I dare say we helped a little,” Bijarki chimed in, smiling.

  “You totally did!” Taeral replied. “I just didn’t see a better way to fulfill my duty toward my people, in these trying times. I’m of no use to anyone on the fire star, coddled inside the palace. I belong out here, lending a hand and making myself useful. Doing everything in my power to make sure Ta’Zan never leaves Strava with his Perfects.”

  “Well, thank you for your valor and for your assistance,” Arwen said. “We do need the help.”

  “I kindly suggest that you don’t put all your eggs in this one, admittedly handsome, basket,” Bogdana cut in, looking at Taeral. “He’s yet to discover all his powers.”

  “She’s right,” Taeral replied, wearing a sheepish smile. “I’ve got most of my fire and teleportation abilities down. Still getting the hang of flight and invisibility.”

  “At least your legs are showing,” Phoenix said with a chuckle. “There’s something about the jinni’s misty lower body that pretty much cracks me up whenever I see one.”

  “Yeah, that’s because you watched too many cartoons as a kid,” I retorted, grinning.

  Indeed, Taeral had inherited the physical fae side, with two long, muscular, and perfectly visible legs. However, he’d taken on his jinni mother’s ability to materialize in different locations, to fly without wings, and to turn himself invisible, though he stated he had more control over his fae and teleporting skills than the others.

  Something told me that wasn’t everything he could do. I had a feeling Taeral was an untapped fountain of supernatural wonder, but I understood that he couldn’t be forced to reach his full potential. Bogdana had a point. Plus, even with his abilities at full power, Taeral still wasn’t enough to take down an army of Perfects. Not even close. We were also taking a risk by bringing him with us, but this was war. We had to do whatever we could in order to save our people, and Taeral’s abilities were extremely important.

  “Listen, I know I’m not fully developed and all that, but I’ve got the will and determination to see this through,” Taeral said. “I’ve completed my military training, and my dad made sure that I had the fire thing mastered before I was sixteen. Right now, I’m exploring past those limits. I can hold my own.”

  “Enough with the pitch, dude,” Phoenix said, mildly amused. “You’re in already.”

  “Fair enough, but Bogdana has a point, as well. I just… I just hope you don’t all put your hopes in me. I’m just a prince,” he replied, grinning.

  “Taeral, it’s okay,” Draven said. “I hate to sound like a broken record, as I’ve already said it before, but we really do need all the help we can get. So, thank you for offering. It’s highly appreciated.”

  “As for Bogdana, I have to say something,” I cut in, preparing for some scowls. “But doesn’t anyone think she’s a little too… old to be on an extraction team on Strava, given how ferocious the Perfects are? And I mean no offense by that, Bogdana.”

  To my surprise, nobody seemed put off by my remark. Not even Bogdana. She stared at her boots, which were peeking out from beneath her long, dark red velvet dress. She let out a sigh, tucking a loose lock of white hair behind her ear.

  “There isn’t much I can do about my body,” Bogdana said. “I didn’t choose to be this way.”

  “What happened to you?” Lumi interjected, standing in the open double doorway of our observation room. Her white-blue eyes were fixed on Bogdana, and I could see threads of suspicion coming out of her in multiple shades of dark yellow. I’d learned to read the swamp witch rather well since we’d brought her back from Neraka.

  Bogdana frowned. “Who are you? I thought the swamp witches were extinct, thanks to Azazel.”

  “I was somewhere else when that happened,” Lumi replied, crossing her arms. She was quick to shift the conversation back to Bogdana. “What made you age so roughly?”

  “I… I don’t know. I don’t remember,” the old fae said, prompting us all to stare at her. There was definitely a backstory here, and I was dying to hear it.

  “What do you mean, you don’t remember?” Lumi asked.

  “Something happened a few centuries ago,” Bogdana explained. “I don’t have any memories of it. I’ve tried to dig deep into my own mind to find something, believe me. But I don’t, I just don’t remember. All I know is that one day I was spry and energetic, even though I was in my late 19,000s, then the next day… I woke up and my body was tired. My skin was wrinkled and saggy. My vision was blurry. My hair was white.”

  “So, you just aged overnight, even though it’s not in a fae’s nature to actually look his or her age,” Lumi concluded. She was still skeptical, but she didn’t pursue this further. Instead, she reached into the leather satchel hanging from her shoulder and pulled out several small bottles. Each was filled with a colored liquid or powder. She poured them into a larger, empty bottle, screwing the cork on and shaking it thoroughly before she handed it to Bogdana. The whole process took less than a minute, while the rest of us watched with awe. “Whisper these words before you drink the whole thing,” she added, writing an incantation down on a piec
e of paper, which she then gave to Bogdana.

  “What is all this?” Bogdana asked, staring at the bottle filled with a now-dark-purple liquid and the written note.

  “It’s a temporary fix,” Lumi explained. “Proprietary swamp witch magic. You’ll have to drink one of these, every twelve hours, but it’ll help you be on par with the rest of us.”

  “So it’s an elixir,” I replied, watching Bogdana as she read the incantation, then whispered it and chugged the entire bottle of dark purple stuff in one go. “Any warnings, now that she’s already downed the whole thing?”

  Lumi shrugged. “Nope. She should be fine.”

  “Should?” Bogdana retorted, somewhat alarmed.

  Lumi chuckled. “You’ll be fine, don’t worry. In fact, take a look,” she said, then walked over to the wall on her left and drew an imaginary oval shape on its stone surface. Her lips moved as she completed the invisible drawing, and that section of the stone turned into a mirrored surface.

  Bogdana’s brows furrowed as she joined Lumi by the newly created mirror. We gathered behind her just as the effects of the elixir became visible. Bogdana was almost instantly rejuvenated—her skin blossomed and stretched; the wrinkles went away; her powerful amber eyes became the focus of a beautiful, oval face with cupid’s bow lips and boldly arched, pale brown eyebrows; her hair was long and smooth, perfectly straight as it cascaded down her back in golden shades of liquid sunshine; her back straightened, her muscles regained their strength and tone, and her figure returned to its younger version.

  The Bogdana standing before us was completely different from the one that had first walked in. Caspian cleared his throat, his jade eyes fixed on her. Not that I was jealous or anything—his heart beat only for me. I could feel it in my core. But we were all entranced by how beautiful and simply arresting Bogdana was.

  “Okay… This… I can work with this,” Bogdana murmured, staring at her reflection.

  Even the dark red velvet dress clung differently to her hourglass figure. She touched her face, feeling the soft lines of her jawline and neck. She was beaming, her pearly white teeth making her smile radiate like the morning sun. Her eyes shimmered with excitement as she rediscovered herself.