“For the sake of… science. We should definitely find out if your sentry abilities get passed on like that. I’m more than happy to act as your test subject. Mind you, yours and yours alone,” he said, giving me a playful smile.
“What if you grow a second head, instead?” I replied, pursing my lips.
“Could that really happen?”
“What if it does? Will you still be happy to act as my ‘test subject’?”
“And have two heads to kiss you with? Sure,” he quipped, then tightened his arms around my waist, and pulled me in for another dizzying kiss. He filled me with warm, golden light, his emotions so powerful, so pure, that I could almost feel them as a part of my very fabric.
“You’re… different,” I said, taking a deep breath and putting a few inches of distance between us. If I didn’t, I knew I’d lose control, and we didn’t have the time, nor the privacy we needed, to test the whole Mara sentry theory, as much as I wanted to.
“Define ‘different’,” he replied.
“I think you’re more relaxed now, for some reason. There’s still a cloud of concern weighing over you, but, I don’t know, you don’t seem as dark as before,” I murmured, trying to interpret the accents of color in his aura.
He gave me a soft smile, tucking a lock of black hair behind my ear. “It’s probably because we’re here, in the open. I don’t have to hide from you anymore. Sure, I can’t tell you much, either, but at least you know why. You’re still here, and not running as far away from me as you possibly can. I guess I have more to look forward to now than I did before.”
“Speaking of which, what do you think of our plan, so far?” I asked. He took my hands in his, and looked me in the eyes.
“Whatever you set your mind to, Harper, you will achieve it. There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind about that,” he replied. “But I’ve had the whole night to think about ways to help you without setting myself on fire.”
“I don’t want you to risk it, Caspian,” I said, shaking my head. “We’ll handle it our way.”
“No, listen. Neraka used to be more diverse, as you probably know. There were other species, powerful and feared, though vastly outnumbered by the daemons and nearly driven to extinction. They’re still out there today, just not in large numbers. Enough to cause some serious disruption.”
“What do you know about them?”
“There are three species you’ll want to focus on, somewhat scattered across this side of the continent. You might have to rethink your strategy to cover more ground in as little time as possible, on top of looking for the—”
“Swamp witch,” I interrupted him. “Don’t say it.” I couldn’t bear to see his face turn red and literally burn, due to his blood oath. Whatever I could do to spare him the suffering, I did. His gaze softened, and that warm golden glow returned, further confirming my suspicion of how he felt about me. The L word. “What are these three species?”
“The Adlets have higher numbers,” he replied. “Once you meet them and talk to them, you’ll understand why. They’re double spirited, so to speak. Like the Druids and the Lamias. In one form, they look like us. In another, they’re beasts, much like the pit wolves but with thick red fur.”
That sounded eerily familiar. “Like werewolves,” I breathed. “They can turn from humanoid to beast.”
“Yes,” he nodded, “though I don’t know what a werewolf is.”
“It’s a supernatural species we have back home. Once we get out of this mess, I’ll introduce you to some,” I quipped, then kissed his cheek and waited for him to continue. He smiled, squeezing my hands.
“The Adlets were last spotted in a region to the northeast of here,” he continued. “Once we’re all gathered around a map, I can show you. To the northwest, closer to the second daemon city, is a suspected settlement of Manticores. You’ll have to be careful with them. They’re rare, but deadly. They’re hybrids of sorts, with bodies mostly like ours, but their hands have long claws, and their tails sting with lethal venom. They’re extremely territorial, and word has it they’ve been able to hold onto a few patches of desert land.”
It was my turn to nod, as I processed the information, and quietly built a map in my head, reassigning tasks in a way that best matched our priorities. “And the third species?”
“The Dhaxanians. Few of them remain, but they’re nearly impossible to kill,” Caspian said. “They’ve secured a mountain chain farther to the northeast, where they have full control over the terrain. Where daemons thrive on heat and fire, the Dhaxanians are harbingers of cold and frost. Everything they touch freezes, and that can be lethal when aimed at an enemy.”
“How are you allowed to tell me all this?” I asked, relieved to hear him talk so freely without suffering from the blood oath. In all fairness, we had a pretty good idea of how the spell worked already, but it was still fascinating to discover the limits of revelation before the burns kicked in.
“These creatures are not a secret. They’re part of Neraka,” he replied. “I’m not allowed to talk about the… conspiracy, and everything that involves this collaboration between daemons and Exiled Maras…”
He hissed from the pain as several red blotches appeared on his face. “Stop it,” I whispered, and pulled him close. He instantly responded, holding me tight, and his lips found mine. We lost ourselves once more, my heart aching for him and my soul beaming.
The burns healed fast, but it didn’t mean they weren’t painful. Judging by the outbursts of red in his aura, the blood oath took its toll, and I suffered, too.
“I have to admit,” he muttered against my lips, “if this is how you’re going to react whenever I set this curse off, I’ll put up with the pain just so I can experience this, over and over.”
“You’re a masochist,” I chuckled, then gently bit his lower lip.
He let out a low growl from his chest, tightening his grip on me. “And you’re playing with fire, Miss Hellswan. Careful, or you’ll get burned.”
“It’s too late for that, Lord Kifo,” I replied, using his dignified tone. “I’m already in too deep.”
He exhaled, then kissed me again. We couldn’t get enough of each other, and, the more time we spent together, the more difficult it became to envision a future in which he wasn’t present. My stomach was tied up in deliciously painful knots as he ran his fingers through my hair and deepened the kiss.
It was too late. I was already burning up, like a rock hurled onto the surface of the sun, and I could no longer have it any other way.
Scarlett
I had nightmares about Azure Heights and Jack throughout the night. The city was burning to the ground, and I was running around, the flames licking at my skin as I desperately looked for the pit wolf I’d rescued during our first mission in the Valley of Screams. His gleaming red eyes chased me all the way back to consciousness. I gasped and sat up, a thin sheet of sweat covering my face.
What a nightmare.
We’d left Jack behind during our escape from Azure Heights, and I hadn’t seen him since. I was genuinely worried about him—he’d saved my ass more than once, after all. He’d chosen to stick around, even though he had his freedom back, no longer subdued by that charmed iron collar.
He’s a giant beast with claws that could slice a daemon in half. Surely he made it out of there in one piece, unlike anyone who might’ve tried to stop him.
A couple of deep breaths later, I pulled my hair up into a ponytail, geared up, and left the teepee I’d been given for the night. Dawn was breaking in lazy purples and pinks across the sky, but the sun was still somewhere beyond the gorges, and the Imen’s camp was surrounded by trees with thick crowns. There was no need to cover my face yet.
The Imen had left a large stone bowl filled with water and flower petals next to my teepee. I washed my face, welcoming the sweet taste of freshwater on my lips. The camp was quiet, with just a few Imen females buzzing around, carrying baskets filled with clothes to a nearby spring to wash them.
&nb
sp; The rest of my team were still in their tents, except for Patrik—he sat quietly in front of the dying campfire in the middle, his legs crossed and his eyes closed. A faint shimmer enveloped him, and I instantly recognized it. Patrik was deeply submerged in a connection with nature. It was a process the Druids used for focus and clarity, becoming one with the very forces that fueled their magic. It was called Resonating, and it pretty much meant exactly that—similar, in many ways, to meditation.
I quietly walked over, watching him. His hands rested on his knees, and he took deep breaths every other second. His curly black hair covered his forehead, his jawline sharp and clenched. I’m pretty sure you need to be fully relaxed to Resonate properly.
Equal parts curious and fascinated, I sat down next to him and gazed at him for a while. It was one of those rare moments in which I could just look at him and take in every feature, while the last embers of the fire crackled on the ground in front of us. My lips tingled with the memory of our kiss, and my heart ached a little as I wondered what was going through his head whenever he looked at me—did he think of Kyana at all? Was I anything like her? I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about it. He’d spent a long time suffering as a Destroyer, just so she could be spared by Azazel. That was, by all possible definitions, real love.
Was I the rebound girl, or did we have a shot at something more profound? Patrik had been through enough. He deserved a chance at a fresh start, and every fiber of my body and soul wanted to be a part of it. I’d fallen for him—so fast and so deep, I doubted there was a way out for me. My only fear was that I wasn’t enough to heal his broken heart. That I wasn’t Kyana.
His lips parted slowly, and I instinctively did the same with mine, reacting to him in a way I’d never thought possible. He suddenly opened his eyes and looked at me—I froze, entranced by those steely blues. Patrik didn’t give me a chance to react, just firmly pulled me into his arms, nearly crushing me against his chest, and kissed me.
I instantly surrendered, sizzling like a droplet of water on a hot stone, gradually disintegrating. His lips caressed mine slowly, and I couldn’t stop a moan from escaping my throat. Patrick tasted like the honeysuckle blossoms covering the trunk of my parents’ treehouse back in The Shade.
He held me close and paused for a couple of seconds to look at me before he kissed me again. Patrik was disruptively handsome, and there was a fire blazing beneath his cool surface. I could almost hear the blood rushing through his veins, his heart thudding in his chest as he pulled himself back, breathing heavily. His Resonating shimmer was gone, his gaze darkened and so intense. I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like once we got closer to each other.
“I’m sorry I interrupted you,” I breathed, brushing my fingers over his slightly swollen lower lip, which was all flushed and tender.
“Nonsense,” he replied, giving me a warm smile. “I was just killing time, waiting for you to wake up.”
“You could’ve just woken me up,” I said, shrugging. “It’s not like I need seven straight hours of sleep.”
“Scarlett, if I were to go inside your tent in the morning, I doubt we’d be out before the sun came back down.” Patrik chuckled softly. My face burned, the mental image of him waking me up taking over my feeble brain. My breath hitched, and he seemed to enjoy that sound. “Clearly, you don’t understand the extent of your effect on me.”
“I don’t. Care to explain?” I murmured, stifling a smirk while my heart jumped backward with sheer delight. “Since I’m having such a hard time understanding, that is.”
His fingers drew invisible lines down my back, gently digging into the leather as they reached my hips. It felt like a massage of sorts, only it set my senses on fire, instead. We were out in the open, where anyone could see us, and yet the intimate nature of his touch made the entire world disappear. It was just me and him, and a dying campfire, as he kissed me again.
“I’m not sure I can find the words to explain it, Scarlett,” he whispered. “All I know is that I have a hard time controlling myself when you’re near me.”
“Should I feel sorry for you?” I quipped, dropping a kiss on the tip of his nose.
“Not at all. Though I’m worried that if you let your hair loose in front of me, I’ll come undone,” he replied, his lips stretching into a seductive smile. Oh, my days, this Druid sure knows how to get a girl all worked up.
“Now I’m curious,” I giggled, then reached up to the back of my head to pull the hairband off. Patrik caught my hand and brought it back to his lips, kissing each of my knuckles while his gaze penetrated my very soul.
“Don’t, Scarlett. We have a long day ahead of us, and I doubt I’ll be able to focus if I see you with your hair down,” he said softly, then kissed me again. “It’s too early in the morning for you to devastate me like that.”
I cupped his face in my hands, speechless and overwhelmed by the flurry of emotions coursing through me. My insecurities were still grumbling somewhere in the back of my head, but, for the time being, I relished the way he looked at me—as if he worshipped me. As if I was the single most important creature in his life. And it felt so good that I pressed my lips against his, trying to transfer everything I felt back into him, just so he could experience the same.
An Iman female’s scream made us both jump to our feet. Shortly after that, she was joined by a few others. We turned around toward the south side of the camp, where several Imen had huddled to the side, visibly terrified by the presence of a pit wolf.
Oh, crap.
The beast was massive, its black skin stretched over bulging muscles, its claws and fangs sharp and ready to slice. There were several cuts on its chest, and a wary glimmer in its red eyes as it lowered its head and trotted deeper into the camp. The Imen scrambled for the nearest sharp objects they could find, but the beast wasn’t interested.
Patrik instinctively moved in front of me, muttering spells under his breath. Blue fires gathered in his palms. The pit wolf saw us and cocked its head to one side. “Jack,” I breathed, gripping Patrik’s shoulder. “It’s Jack!”
“Kill the beast!” one of the Imen shouted, rushing toward Jack with a broadsword.
“No! Wait, don’t!” I cried out, and ran forward.
Jack glanced over his shoulder, noticing the armed Iman, and bared his fangs at him, snarling defensively. I reached them just in time, positioning myself between Jack and the Iman with my arms stretched out. “Stop, please! He won’t hurt you!”
“He? It’s a pit wolf! Vicious flesh-eaters, all of them!” the Iman spat, angered and terrified at the same time—not to mention confused, given that he didn’t know Jack’s history.
“Please, don’t!” I shouted, hearing Jack growl behind me. I glanced over my shoulder at him. “Tone it down, Jack!”
He huffed, then shut his fanged trap. It made him look less threatening, despite his massive size. Patrik reached us, his hands up in a defensive gesture, helping me keep the other Imen away from him—more of them had picked up weapons, and were glaring at poor Jack.
“He’s friendly, sort of,” Patrik said. “There’s no need for violence, trust us!”
“His name is Jack. We freed him from the daemons!” I explained, my heart throbbing. “He won’t hurt you. He won’t hurt anyone unless he has to defend himself. Or me.”
“What are you talking about? Pit wolves tear our people to shreds without hesitating!” Vesta interjected, emerging from a nearby tent with her sword drawn.
“Not Jack. The collars, remember? They’re charmed with swamp witch magic,” I said. “That’s how the daemons control them. Once you set them free, the pit wolves run off. They didn’t ask for any of this. Jack… He didn’t ask for this.”
“Then what is it doing here?” Vesta replied, raising an eyebrow and pointing her sword at Jack, who kept growling, visibly agitated.
“He came looking for me.” I sighed. “We have a bit of a bond, I guess. He killed daemons for me. He even helped us get in
to the tunnel and away from Azure Heights. And look at him: he’s wounded. Trust me, he’s not going to hurt anyone.”
The Imen stared at Jack in disbelief for a while, then at each other, exchanging the occasional shrug and shake of the head. Vesta clicked her teeth, clearly dissatisfied with the pit wolf’s presence in her camp, but eventually relented and motioned for the others to put their weapons down. “You are directly responsible for this beast; do you hear me?”
“Yup.” I nodded.
“If it so much as looks at any of my people in a way that makes me feel uneasy, I’ll chop its head off,” Vesta continued.
“That’s a bit harsh. I mean, look at him. It’s not like he can pull off big, soft puppy eyes,” I muttered. It was true, though. Even in his gentlest moment, Jack still looked like a lean, mean killing machine. His size alone was enough to make people tremble. His black skin and blazing red eyes didn’t help, either, not to mention the gruesome size of his claws and fangs.
“Okay, fine. Just make sure it doesn’t chomp down on my people!” Vesta retorted, crossing her arms. Even she couldn’t take her eyes off him.
I turned around, and Jack immediately sat on his hindquarters, like the good, oversized hound of hell that he was. “Hey, buddy.” I smiled, then reached out to touch him. He lowered his head so I could pat the top, following up with a good old-fashioned scratch behind his right ear. He stuck his tongue out, breathing heavily but definitely enjoying my touch, and licked my forearm a couple of times.
“Those cuts look deep,” Patrik said, slowly moving around to get a better look at the gashes on Jack’s ribcage. He fumbled through his belt satchels for some healing powders and took a few steps toward Jack, who instantly growled at him. “Whoa, there. Just trying to help.”
“Jack, let him take care of you,” I said, and looked deep into his big, round red eyes. I used both hands to gently stroke his neck, while Patrik mixed the powders with water and applied the mixture along the cuts. Jack whimpered, but I held his head so he could look at me. “It’s okay, Jack. He’ll make the pain go away. You’ll be okay.”