Emilian grunted, then pulled Rowan away from me. She flailed and screamed, desperate to hurt me some more. I couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, as burning pain settled in every molecule of my body. The Mara Lady had a killer right hook; I had to give credit where it was due.
I coughed, then spat blood, licking my lower lip to get rid of the warm liquid trickling out of my mouth. She’d broken some teeth, and it would take me some minutes to heal on my own. I looked up and saw Emilian gripping Rowan’s arms. They both glowered at me.
“Shaytan wants you alive for his own delight,” Emilian muttered. “He’ll feed on you, slowly. I’ll make sure I get access to flay you, once a week or so, just to blow off steam.”
“You take Fridays; I’ll take Sundays.” Rowan snickered, baring her fangs at me. “She’ll need a day to recover before I start over.”
I chuckled briefly, finally able to focus my vision again. “You two won’t make it past tomorrow,” I said, “but I do look forward to watching you try.”
Rowan tried to attack me again, but Emilian held her back. The door was open, and I caught a glimpse of an invisible daemon’s red eyes as he moved closer, ready to intervene if either of the Mara Lords tried something. It was then that I had a full confirmation of what I’d been assuming. Shaytan’s ego was badly bruised. Killing me or anyone else on my team would be too easy and too unsatisfactory for someone like him. He needed me alive and whole, so he could torture me himself—and considering what we’d done to Infernis, Draconis, and his troops at Ragnar Peak, I was in for quite the horror show.
“I promise you, Miss Hellswan, that no matter where you end up, you’ll be in a world of pain,” Rowan snarled.
“The same goes for Caspian, too,” Emilian added. He noticed the subtle change in my expression as soon as he uttered his name, and smirked. “I knew it was only a matter of time before he caved and betrayed us. I saw the way he looked at you. Tell you what, Miss Hellswan. I’ll make sure to take my time killing him, and I’ll make you watch.”
That set me off, but not in the way they’d expected. I didn’t get emotional or wrestle against my restraints. That would’ve given them satisfaction, and I wasn’t going to oblige. Instead, I felt my lips achingly stretch into a cold grin.
“You lay a single finger on him, and I promise you’ll suffer the same fate as your children, only much… much slower,” I replied dryly.
Emilian took a few seconds to react, as if wondering about the odds of me getting out of here and fulfilling such a gruesome promise. He smirked, crossing his arms.
“You’re done for, Miss Hellswan. You’re all doomed. We have captured your dragon and your fire fae. Your so-called allies betrayed you,” he said. “You will all die.”
I stilled, doing my best to feign shock. It wasn’t that hard, with several facial muscles still numb from the pain. It was enough to make Emilian think I didn’t know they’d caught Caia and Blaze.
He put an arm around Rowan’s shoulders and escorted her out of the room.
As soon as the door was closed and locked after them, I exhaled sharply. It felt as though I’d been holding on to that breath since they’d first walked in.
“Don’t worry, Lumi,” I murmured. “I’m definitely getting you out of here.”
She didn’t scoff this time. Instead, she gave me a sympathetic look and a soft moan, as if telling me that she could almost feel my pain. I was willing to bet my aura was nowhere near her shade of burning crimson, though. My bruises would heal within the hour.
Her suffering required a much longer time to overcome.
I moved my head around to release some of the pressure gathered in the back of my neck, then relaxed against the cold wall and told Lumi all about our Nerakian experience, from day one. I figured she’d been deprived of all forms of socializing for thousands of years—the least I could do during my stay here was give her some kind of comfort.
On top of everything, she needed hope, desperately.
And everything we’d been through, all the challenges we’d overcome on Neraka—if those didn’t give her hope, nothing else could.
Avril
We got back to Meredrin after our first incursion into Azure Heights. I felt horrible for leaving Caia and Blaze behind, and I partially resented Hansa, Jax, Harper, and Nevis for not telling us about their plan to serve them up to the Mara Lords. On the other hand, I understood why they’d gone about things this way. It didn’t feel right, but I got it.
I barely slept that night, despite being wrapped up in Heron’s arms and huddled beneath soft layers of bedcovers and furs. He was the only creature who kept me somewhat calm, adequately settled somewhere between angry and determined, with the right amount of each to focus on stage two of the mission.
I worried about Velnias, too. Sure, the guy was a huge daemon with plenty of warfare experience and the purveyor of many a nightmare in Draconis prisons, but I still spared him some thought, hoping he was okay and either on his way back to Meredrin or waiting for us back in Azure Heights. Him staying behind had not been part of the plan—we’d simply been overwhelmed by the number of Correction Officers ready to intervene.
We’d thought the Maras weren’t expecting us to go back into the city, but they had sure gone to the trouble of being extra vigilant in case we did.
In the morning, we all met downstairs in the dining room to recap the mission so far and prepare for the next steps. This was a team effort. We all had our parts to play, and each was important and downright crucial to our overall success. If we wanted to deal a substantial blow to Azure Heights and recover Lumi, each of us had to pitch in. Fortunately, none of us had a problem with that.
Judging by the looks on everyone’s faces, they’d all slept as little as Heron and I had. Technically speaking, we really only needed to rest every twelve hours or so. However, given the intensity of our tasks and the constant stress of watching our backs to avoid capture, none of us could be blamed for wanting that extra hour of sleep.
To my surprise, Dion had brought Alles downstairs. The young Iman looked a lot better than he had the day before. He seemed alert and fully conscious of his surroundings, a clear sign that the Maras’ activated mind-bending had finally worn off. He’d been normal until he was awakened and set to turn on us, much like a sleeper cell. Now, however, he was quiet and ashamed as he sat in a corner, mostly out of sight, almost hiding behind Dion as the rest of us gathered around the table. I felt bad for him.
Scarlett and Patrik stayed closer to the door, while Hundurr and Rover sat outside, listening in. The pit wolves were too large to fit through the actual doorframe. Hansa and Jax stretched several maps out on the table, while Nevis, Neha, and Colton analyzed them. Pheng-Pheng and Arrah stayed close, somewhat bonded after their experience in the Palisade. The rest of the Druid delegation, along with Vesta, Peyton, and Wyrran, stood facing the door, on the other side of the rectangular dinner table.
“So far, so good,” Hansa said, pulling her rich, curly black hair into a loose bun. “We’ve got Harper in the city, though we don’t yet know where she’s kept, exactly. My immediate guess is the Palisade. Based on what intel you’ve gathered, that basement was designed for high-value prisoners, warded all over.”
Fiona nodded slowly. Zane was standing right behind her, unable to take his eyes off her. The daemon prince was head over heels, and, based on Fiona’s permanent blush, she was totally on board with that. Given our circumstances, I wasn’t exactly surprised. We’d all bonded and gotten closer to one another—not just romantically, but also as friends. For example, after everything that Zane had abandoned to help us, I was more than ready to burn this entire planet down, if that’s what it took to keep him safe.
“The walls are reinforced with meranium,” Fiona replied. “There are swamp witch charms and hidden traps everywhere. I doubt they’d bother to get her out of there.”
“Which kind of works for us,” Jax muttered, crossing his arms as he looked at the city m
ap. “We know Lumi is in the Palisade, too. I’m not sure they’ve got a safer place in which to keep her. I don’t think they’ll move her from there, even though they know, by now, that we’re aware of her location. After all, from your group, only Harper got captured.”
“They’ll probably strengthen security in and around the building, at most,” Peyton said, then briefly glanced at Caspian, who was dark and gloomy in the opposite corner. “Lord Kifo would tell you more about the Palisade himself, but his blood oath won’t permit it. The basement holds approximately fifty rooms, sprawling on two underground levels, deeper into the mountain. Chances are there will be more prisoners in the other rooms, though I’m not sure who they are or what the Lords’ plans for them are. It’s independent from the prison, so I’ve never really understood its purpose.”
“Either way, the situation as it stands is working to our advantage. We’ve got Harper close to Lumi. We’ve got charms and explosive charges planted all over the city, thanks to Patrik’s team,” Hansa replied, then gave Patrik, Scarlett, Heron, and me an appreciative nod. “And we’ve got Caia and Blaze with the Mara Lords, listening and gathering intel, while keeping them busy until we implement stage two.”
“In short, for the time being, we hold the advantage,” Nevis interjected. “Our soldiers are positioned all over the gorge, hidden and ready to strike,” he added. “All we need is a signal.”
“We agreed on an Adlet flare for every squadron to leave the Valley of Screams and converge on the mountain,” Hansa said, and Colton nodded in agreement. “We still have two of those.”
“True, but we shouldn’t strike before Shaytan gets there,” Neha replied. “We did our job of nurturing discord between the Lords and the king of daemons. We need them in the same place if we’re to deliver an effective blow.”
Jax scratched the back of his head, frowning as he stared at a map of Azure Heights. “We’ll need eyes on the city, then. It may not happen today, though. I don’t know how long it’ll take for the Lords to get Shaytan into Azure Heights. They may need a day or two to prepare for his arrival. You know, laying traps and everything. I doubt they’d meet him without some kind of contingency in place.”
“Wait, you’re saying Harper, Caia, and Blaze will be stuck in Azure Heights until Shaytan gets his huge ass into the city?” I snapped, still irritated from yesterday.
Hansa sighed. “We may not have any other choice. We can’t squander the few resources we have on just half of our problem. Shaytan and the Lords need to be there when we strike. Otherwise we risk the daemon king coming up from behind, and, trust me, the last thing you want is a horde of daemons up your ass.”
It was my turn to sigh. She had a point. We had a better chance of crippling the enemy if all the leaders were in the same place.
“Obviously, Shaytan will have armed guards with him, as well as invisible backup,” Jax added. “But it’s better if they’re caught unprepared, while quarreling among themselves. Our allies will provide the brute force, while we infiltrate and attack from the inside. We’ve got Caia and Blaze as elements of surprise, already. And we’ll have a separate team to handle Lumi and Harper’s extraction.”
Caspian stepped forward, his gaze fixed on the map. “I’ll lead that team,” he said, then looked at Fiona, Zane, Heron, and me. “But I’ll need backup, and I trust you four will be able to provide it. That is, of course, if Hansa and Jax approve it.”
“We do. It seems reasonable,” Hansa replied. “But you’ll need to find out where they’re keeping Harper in the Palisade. You may have to split into two subgroups to cover ground effectively.”
Just then, Hundurr and Rover growled. Scarlett rushed out of the room to see what they were agitated about. We heard her shush them. She came back, joined by an Exiled Mara we didn’t recognize. She’d already drawn her sword, keeping it close to his throat as they stopped in the doorway.
“That may not be necessary,” the newcomer said.
He wasn’t armed, but he wore a Correction Officer patch on his arm. My first instinct was to draw my weapon, worried we were going to be ambushed.
Peyton rushed to the door and positioned himself in front of the Exiled Mara, his arms out in a defensive gesture. Upon a brief examination of the room, I noticed everyone’s instincts had led to the same reaction, as they were all gripping their sword handles, ready to take them out and cut down the enemy.
“Don’t hurt him, please!” Peyton said. “I know him. He’s a friend.”
“What is he doing here?” Hansa replied, her brow furrowed.
The Mara offered a confident smirk in return. “I’m Aymon,” he said, “and I’m here to help you.”
“Help us how?” I asked, my shoulders relaxing.
“Aymon is a spy,” Peyton replied. “He works with us. He’s on the Palisade detail.”
In light of that new development, I couldn’t help but smile. Maybe Jax was right. Maybe this was definitely our chance to bring the alliance of Exiled Maras and daemons to an end, once and for all.
With one of their own on our side, victory felt closer than ever before. Hope was a fickle and treacherous thing, but I had to give it a try. We’d been through enough already.
Maybe Aymon was the final nudge we needed to tip the scales in our favor. Permanently.
Scarlett
This was an interesting new twist. However, we welcomed this one.
“You didn’t mention you had a Correction Officer in there,” Jax said to Peyton, who smiled.
“I said I still had spies in Azure Heights. I just didn’t mention their positions,” he replied.
A couple of seconds passed as Jax accepted the argument and cast away the last shred of doubt he had left. “Okay. What do you have for us, Aymon? And how are you able to move around with so much ease, given the circumstances?”
Only then did we put our weapons away. Aymon looked young, in his early twenties, at most. He wore his pale blond hair short, in a crew cut, while his blue eyes pierced everyone with chilling intensity. I figured he was part of the younger, more rebellious generation. According to Sienna and Peyton, the newer generations had been more likely to rebel over the past century, proving that the Maras’ nature didn’t have to be the horror currently manifesting in Azure Heights. Just like the White City Maras had been reformed, so could the likes of Sienna, Peyton and anyone else from their species who opposed the Lords.
“I’m a Correction Officer,” Aymon replied nonchalantly. “I go wherever I want, especially if I suspect I might return with rebel Maras. They pay heavy bonuses to those of us who bring back the runaways.”
“And do you do that?” Hansa asked, raising an eyebrow.
Aymon sighed, appearing somewhat saddened by the choices he had to make. “I have to. Otherwise they’ll sense I’m working against them. But my numbers are lower than the others’,” he said. “If I get caught, the resistance will be in trouble.”
“There’s an Exiled Mara resistance?” I replied.
“No. It’s mixed and scattered all over,” he said. “Maras, Imen, even daemon pacifists. You know some of them. I’m involved, and I put my life at risk to do it, in case you’re doubting my allegiance.”
“It’s okay, Aymon,” Peyton replied, resting a hand on his shoulder. “They don’t doubt you. They’ve just been betrayed one too many times already. They have to be diligent. Now, tell us what news you bring.”
“Ah, yes,” Aymon said, lighting up with a smile. “I walked in and heard you talking about splitting up to scour the Palisade to look for the swamp witch and your friend. Like I said, there’s no need. They have her in the same room with Lumi.”
“No freakin’ way!” Heron gasped, his eyes wide and a grin slitting his face from ear to ear. My heart skipped a beat. Was fate finally playing in our favor?
Aymon chuckled softly, then leaned against the doorframe, hands resting in his pant pockets in a most casual pose. “I said the same thing, believe me. Thing is, it’s meant to be ps
ychological torture for Harper. Keeping her there, inches away from Lumi but unable to touch her or get her out—or that’s what the Lords are thinking, anyway.”
“If she’d been taken for real, I would curse at how devious the Lords are,” Hansa muttered, slightly amused. “But given the circumstances of her capture… Well, I have to admit, this is a little hilarious.”
“It just proves that Rowan and Emilian’s emotions got the better of them,” Jax replied.
Aymon nodded his agreement. “They’re both stricken with grief and seething at the same time,” he said. “It’s nearly impossible to get them into such a state of mind. Of course, losing a child will make you flip out. But yes, they’re definitely emotional and prone to making mistakes.”
“What about Caia and Blaze?” I asked. “What do you know about them?”
“The dragon and the fae, you mean? They’re cuffed and held in Lord Obara’s mansion,” he said. “They’re safe, for now. Shaytan will come for them, though.”
“What about Velnias? Do you know anything about a daemon pacifist who fought COs in the prison yesterday?” Avril asked.
Aymon frowned, then shook his head. “No one was captured down there. But they’ve reinforced security now. It’ll be harder to go in, next time.”
“What makes you think we’ll want to go down there again?” I replied, raising an eyebrow.
“It’s one of the first things I would do, if I were you, to wreak havoc in the city and distract them from Lumi’s extraction. The prison is filled with Exiled Maras and other creatures they’ve captured over the years. It isn’t just the daemons collecting ‘soul food’ in cages. You know that,” Aymon said.
We looked at one another for a few moments, before Caspian asked his most burning question.
“Did you see Harper in the Palisade?”
“I did,” Aymon replied. “She’s okay, for now. I was on the midnight detail outside her and Lumi’s door. I heard the conversation between her, Lord Obara, and Lady Roho. Those two were fuming. Lady Roho got a little physical with her, but one of the daemon guards reminded her that she’s soul-chow for Shaytan.”