A Shade of Vampire 63: A Jungle of Rogues

by Bella Forrest

  I need you to believe in me, Elonora.

  I glanced to my side, slowly raising a handful of black dirt in my hand. All of a sudden, my presence here made sense. At the same time, it didn’t. Because dreams are weird like that. But I was aware that I was having a dream.

  “I’m in a lucid dream,” I murmured.

  I need you to believe in me, Elonora.

  “Yeah, you keep saying that, like a broken record. But who the hell are you?” I asked.

  When no answer came, I looked at the dirt in my hand again and noticed the diamond-like shimmers. Again, it all made sense. This time, however, I held on to that thought. I didn’t let it slip away. It needed me to believe in it—whatever it was.

  “I believe,” I whispered. “I do. I believe.”

  The monsters were a couple of yards away now, cutting through the darkness like steel knives. They were headed straight for me, and they were going to tear me apart again. Even though I couldn’t feel any of it, I sure as hell wasn’t fine with experiencing the same horror on a friggin’ loop. I’d had enough.

  “I believe, okay? I believe!” I shouted.

  What do you believe in, Elonora?

  I knew this was all extremely weird, but I played along, willing to do and say anything to stop the incoming carnage. “I believe in you. Earth. Hermessi. I believe in you,” I mumbled.

  All it took was to say it out loud. As soon as the deformed beasts reached me, the ground opened up and swallowed me whole. I was suddenly weightless. The ghastly Perfects were gone. They’d lost me. And I was sinking deeper into the earth.

  My eyes shot open. I sucked in a breath.

  I wasn’t cold anymore. In fact, I was pleasantly warm, albeit lying on the cave’s stone floor. Something was keeping my temperature in the higher degrees. It had definitely been a dream, but as I sprawled my fingers over the stone beneath me, I felt everything—every molecule, every vibration… everything.

  Assuming I’d just had an intense dream about an earth Hermessi, and that my senses were still riled up, I exhaled and turned over onto my other side. My heart skipped a beat as I identified the source of that pleasant warmth I’d just woken up to.

  Nevis had been sleeping behind me. I was facing him now.

  I’d thought he was cold, much like vampires, given his Dhaxanian nature, but, for some reason, he wasn’t. His body had, in fact, been keeping mine warm in the chill of the cave.

  His eyes were closed. His breathing was even. His heart rate was mellow. I couldn’t help but admire him in the dark. I could see his every feature, perfectly—the pristine white hair, with rebellious strands coming out of the vertical cornrows stretching all the way to the back of his neck—a style he’d chosen to wear, shortly after we got to Strava, because of the tropical heat that took a toll on his temperature. The high and prominent cheekbones. The slim blade of his nose and the rosy flesh of his lips.

  I licked mine in response, a subconscious reaction as I wondered what kissing Nevis would feel like. The guy was a complete enigma for me. He was this gorgeous, fairytale-like prince with broad shoulders, toned muscles, and a face to die for. Yet he was cold and distant to everyone. That was definitely part of his appeal, since all the GASP girls swooned over him.

  I could totally see why they were all nuts about him. My heart practically purred in his presence. My emotional scars vanished whenever my gaze settled on his lips. Every thought of us getting together made me feel like I could actually get over those wretched high school years. A part of me wanted him. Badly. And that part was stronger than the part that wanted me to keep my distance.

  Looking at Nevis now, the only word beaming in my head was “trouble.” This diaphanous Dhaxanian creature was nothing but trouble. And I realized that I most certainly wanted to get in his kind of trouble. Repeatedly.

  But did I have the courage to take such a leap?

  One thing became clear: I was drawn to Nevis in ways I’d never experienced before. Despite his abrasive and sarcastic nature—which, by the way, was a lot of fun when it wasn’t aimed at me—Nevis was an extraordinary individual. I got all soft and sweet on the inside whenever he acknowledged my abilities and my hybrid nature. I basically craved his validation.

  That sort of worried me, because I’d stopped caring about what other people thought after I got my heart broken in the Vale. Particularly humans. Only, Nevis wasn’t human. He was different. Superior.

  And he made me feel things I’d never felt before. I didn’t have to be so physically close to him for my body temperature to rise. All it took was one glance, or a fleeting half-smile. A little compliment recognizing my very existence as a hybrid, especially when compared to the Perfects. I felt perfect around Nevis.

  Being just inches away from his lips, however… it did things to me. It made it impossible for me to focus. All I could do was stare, wondering what he would taste like. I didn’t even care about my Hermessi-related dream anymore. I was too busy envisioning his lips pressed against mine. I lingered in that thought for a while—until a short hiss made my ears prick up.

  I frowned.

  When I heard the second hiss, I looked over my shoulder at the cave entrance. Hunter was sitting there, keeping an eye on the pond and the jungle area around it. He’d seen something. He let out a third hiss, prompting me to spring to my feet and dash over to his side.

  My blood was already pumping. Once I reached him, he gave me a sly grin.

  “Wakey, wakey, sleepyhead,” he said. “Took you a while.”

  “I was sleeping. Duh,” I said.

  “No, you weren’t. I could hear your heartbeat all the way from here. You were fawning over Frosty the Ice Man.”

  “You’re probably delirious from sleep deprivation,” I mumbled, feeling my face burn.

  He chuckled softly, then pointed at a specific area on the edge of the jungle that framed our pond. “Look over there,” he said. “What do you see?”

  I glanced back to see Rose and the others getting up, one by one, all equally groggy. They were exhausted, and for good reason. We’d fought off Perfects and Faulties like crazy. We’d needed the break. Then, I followed Hunter’s gaze and caught movement on the edge of the woods.

  “Aha. I see them,” I replied, using my True Sight to get a better look. “Three Faulties. One large, two… kind of scrawny.”

  “Wanderers, for sure,” Amane murmured as she moved closer. “I felt them.”

  “Potential enemies,” Vesta said, frowning.

  “Maybe not,” Kailani whispered, then ran out of the cave.

  “Kale, no!” I tried to grab her, but it was too late.

  My heart practically stopped, then jumped into my throat. I had no idea what she was thinking, as we’d all agreed on keeping ourselves hidden in the cave. Granted, we’d also talked about getting some Faulties on our side, but this was still unexpected and certainly not agreed upon in this instance. There was no time to waste, though. She was already out of our reach and was about to intercept the three Faulties.

  “Dammit!” Rose cursed under her breath.

  We had to go after her.

  Kailani

  Time wasn’t on our side, and I didn’t want us to keep running from the Faulties, too. Not when we could try to persuade them to join us, instead. Our worst-case scenario involved killing them, anyway, if they were hell-bent on capturing us. But we still had a shot at this. We could talk to them.

  I didn’t have time to explain my sudden choice to go out, though, so it must’ve shocked Elonora and the others. I’d been meditating, resting, and reconnecting with the Word over the past few hours. The bond had developed to the point where I could hear and feel it, deep in my soul. Whenever I looked at the people on my team, I knew what they were and what they wanted, in a way I’d never felt them before. It was as if the Word was telling me who was what.

  Whenever I looked at Amane, for example, the Word sort of asked me to be careful. Her intentions were good, but the Word didn’t trust
her methods. The same went for Kallisto. Where Douma was concerned, the Word was practically buzzing inside my head. Danger. Danger. Danger. And yet, there was hope for her. She could still be swayed, if I knew which buttons to push. It was very difficult to explain how I knew all this. I just… knew.

  When I’d first laid eyes on the three Faulties outside, the Word had flared through me, as if telling me to befriend them. To give them a chance. Therefore, I had to try it, before the others considered killing them to keep us all safe and under the radar. After all, the Perfects could still sense Amane, and so could some of the Faulties. As secure and secluded as the cave was, it wasn’t impervious to danger.

  I rushed down the jagged rocks, just as the three Faulties that Hunter had spotted came to a sudden halt. They’d heard and seen me. Their claws and fangs came out. I stopped just twenty feet away from them, putting my hands up in a defensive gesture.

  The rest of my team stumbled out of the cave and joined me, ready to fight.

  “Let me handle this, please,” I said to Rose and Ben in particular, then gave Elonora a pleading look. “I know what I’m doing.”

  “Who… Wait, you’re the outsiders!” one of the skinnier Faulties croaked.

  The burly one was huge, covered in rhino-like shells. He looked strong enough to rip my head off with his bare hands. But his bluish eyes seemed gentle, the complete opposite of his imposing figure. The scrawny female had white bird feathers covering parts of her body—specifically the back, the chest, and the arms. Her claws were long and sharp enough to easily cut through me. Her eyes were round and owl-like, blinking strangely. The Faulty that had first spoken was a slender male with reptile scales on his arms and legs, and big, yellow eyes.

  None looked angry or aggressive, but rather scared.

  “We don’t wish to hurt you,” I said to them.

  “Yeah, the trail of dead bodies you left behind sort of contradicts that,” the reptile Faulty said, baring his viper fangs. I was willing to bet that he had a venomous bite. I just didn’t want to be on the receiving end.

  “We’re only defending ourselves,” I replied. “We’re not out to kill anyone, but we will if we’re left with no other choice. Obviously.”

  “Maybe you should’ve led with that,” the reptile Faulty said, stifling a smirk.

  The burly one grunted, taking an attack stance. “I’m not sure we want to risk it,” he said, scoffing. “You’ve killed everyone you’ve come across. There’s no one to vouch for you. We may be better off just carting you off to Ta’Zan.”

  “Mm-hm. I hear there’s a reward for you, now,” the female chimed in, sneering. “He might even take us back!”

  Kallisto then stepped forward, giving me a brief but confident sideways glance. “They don’t kill all the Faulties they come across,” she said. “As you can see, Amane and I are still standing, Samael,” she added, addressing the reptile Faulty.

  He frowned, the glimmer of recognition obvious at this point. “Kallisto. You’re still alive.”

  “You know damn well I’m not easy to kill.” She chuckled.

  “Oh, wow, and Amane!” the bird Faulty retorted. “You’re both fraternizing with the enemy now, huh? Is this how low you’ll go?”

  “Hey, at least we’ve stopped deluding ourselves with the idea that Ta’Zan will take us back,” Kallisto said, crossing her arms despite the three Faulties’ aggressive poses. She didn’t want them to feel threatened. She was actually following my lead on this. I couldn’t help but consider myself impressed.

  Despite her treachery when we’d first met, Kallisto was definitely making an effort to be different. It meant that there was plenty of hope left for her siblings, too, including the three before us. The Word kept humming in my chest, beckoning me to develop a conversation. It felt as though I had my own, invisible consultant, an ever-present entity that analyzed everything and everyone around me and advised me on the best possible course of action each time.

  I’d been kind of aimless for days now, catching ephemeral spells and doing the best that I could with them, for as long as I could remember the words. This was different. And better.

  “You’re just bitter because you made the mistake of associating yourselves with the enemy,” the Faulty identified as Samael hissed.

  “Look at us!” Kallisto snarled, pointing at herself and Amane. “Do we look stupid? Don’t you think I’ve already tried delivering them to Ta’Zan? It didn’t work! The Perfects won’t let me anywhere near him!”

  “It’s true. She tried,” I said, nodding.

  Samael’s brow furrowed. I could tell he wasn’t ready to trust us yet. Fortunately, Elonora caught up with my intentions and pitched in.

  “Kallisto first fooled us into walking right into one of those fancy diamond colosseums,” she said. “She delivered us to Araquiel and his crew, then asked to be returned to Ta’Zan. She nearly got herself killed. So did we, for that matter.”

  “How’d you escape, then? Araquiel is an astonishing fighter,” the female Faulty replied.

  “We fought too. It took a little bit of luck, plus Kallisto’s intervention,” I explained. “She was quick to realize that, no matter what she says or does, Ta’Zan will never take the rejected Faulties back. You all need to understand that. He left you behind for a reason. And chances are he won’t keep the others around for much longer. Not while he’s still building Perfects.”

  That didn’t sit well with the female Faulty. “You’re lying!” she snapped. “You just want to turn us against our father!”

  “They’re telling the truth,” Amane replied. “I’ve seen it with my own eyes. None of us will ever be able to go back.”

  “You left on your own!” Samael barked. “You! You traitor! You left Father! Why the hell would we ever listen to you, huh?”

  “Because I had every reason to leave!” Amane said, her hands balled into fists at her sides. The knuckles were white. She was filled with deep anger, from what I could tell. “You don’t know what Ta’Zan was doing. What he’s still doing. He left the Faulties behind. The ones still in his service are practically slaves. The Perfects push them around. Is that what you want to go back to? Being the Perfects’ punching bags?”

  Samael sighed. “We want to be a family again.”

  “Puh-lease! You were never a family to begin with,” Ridan replied. “It was always Ta’Zan, the maker and the master. Everyone else is a tool for him. A means to an end.”

  “He’s right, Samael,” Kallisto added. “It’s why he kicked us out in the first place. He didn’t find us useful anymore. We gave him our lives, our love, and our devotion, and he left us behind. He doesn’t give a damn about us. Wait and see. It’s only a matter of time before the others get ejected, too.”

  The three Faulties looked at each other, then set their sights on Amane.

  “You know, Father is pretty desperate to get you back. If we don’t capture you, someone else will,” Samael said. “It might as well be us. Who knows, maybe he’ll be so grateful that he’ll relent and take us back.”

  “What, were you born yesterday, Samael?” Kallisto chuckled. “All you’ll do is make it easier for Ta’Zan to make Perfects. Why do you think he wants Amane back? She’s the only useful Faulty out here. The rest of us are worthless. I thought you were smarter than this.”

  Ben cleared his throat, keeping his eyes on the Faulties. “I take it you all know each other, Kallisto? Amane?”

  “Yeah. We used to be friends, actually,” Kallisto grumbled. “Especially after we were kicked out. But then the Perfects started pushing us farther out. We were forced to separate because they kept coming after us, beating us senseless.”

  “Kallisto is right, though. Samael, I remember you. I remember your intelligence, your skepticism, and your innate ability to question everything,” Amane said. “What happened to you? How can you still believe Ta’Zan will take you back, after all this?”

  “The wilderness happened!” Samael retorted. “You don
’t understand! Maybe you like it out here, but we’re completely aimless, purposeless without Father. All we do is sleep, hunt, and eat, when we’re not running away from our Perfect brothers and sisters. We only know a life of comfort and service. We’re not cut out for this world.”

  “That’s ridiculous. First of all, what you call comfort is misery. We could show you comfort, if you let us help you. Ta’Zan has failed to teach you a lot of basic life lessons,” I said. “You’re incredible hybrids, more connected to nature than most of us ever will be. If anyone is to survive in Strava’s wilderness, it’s the Faulties. Your genetic makeup makes it easier for you to blend into the environment. Most importantly, you’re entitled to freedom. Not servitude.”

  Samael then put on a sad smile as he looked at me. “What makes you think we like or even understand freedom?”

  That was a troubling question, and it provided me with new insight into how the Faulties had been indoctrinated, in the first place. They were conditioned to follow Ta’Zan. Life without him didn’t make sense. I understood that, but I refused to let it be the only way of living for the Faulties—and even for the Perfects.

  They’d been taught in such a narrow-minded way, my heart nearly broke for them.

  We had to show them another way.

  The Faulties deserved better.

  Rose

  I understood Kailani’s instinct to talk to these creatures. Unlike the other Faulties we’d dealt with before, these three weren’t exactly keen on attacking us. They seemed rather scared, in fact. I had a feeling we could talk them out of doing something stupid, before it was too late.

  Now that we’d fought some of their kind, we knew what kind of creatures we were dealing with. Samael and his companions were outnumbered, especially with Kallisto and Amane on our side. Dmitri had stayed behind in the cave, with Douma, who was tied up with charmed cuffs and a wing suppressor on her back. There wasn’t anything she could do while we went out for a bit. And we were perfectly capable of handling three Faulties without Dmitri.