A Shade of Vampire 82 A Circle of Nine - Bella Forrest Page 0,54

that’s what I always thought.”

“It’s more than that,” Trev said. “It’s Darkling territory. They’ve occupied the town, and the surviving inhabitants have been forced to bend their knees before the Darkling invaders.”

“What!” I yelped, absolutely horrified.

The hill rose ahead, and we moved along the edge of the woods as we climbed. I knew Amal and Amane were already waiting for us at the top. My skin crawled as I envisioned a town completely occupied by conniving extremists like the Darklings.

“Most people obviously don’t know about this,” Trev said. “You’d have to be there to see it, to really understand. The locals are terrorized, but they put on smiles and get on with their days like nothing’s wrong. Meanwhile, the Darklings have taken over. No one’s allowed to leave, and any travelers who might pass through end up disappearing.”

“Do you think the Lady Supreme knows about it?” Tristan asked.

“I doubt it. Barely anyone in the Aeternae’s upper echelon is aware. Only a few people I’ve spoken with knew, and even their knowledge was limited. They heard rumors, nothing more,” Trev explained. “The Darklings have been exceptionally good at keeping Laramis under the radar.”

The more I thought about it, the more terrifying it felt—knowing the Darklings had gotten this far and this deep into Aeternae society. “This really makes me wonder,” I said. “How many of the Aeternae you know are actually okay with all this? I mean, the Darklings wouldn’t have taken and held on to Laramis without some outside support.”

“I’m inclined to agree,” Valaine said. “I have to find a way to tell my father about this. He could send the Crimson or the gold guards in there to clean the place up.”

Ansel scoffed. “Last time I checked, your father had orders to arrest you.”

“He’s still master commander,” Tristan replied. “He should be at least notified.”

“We can send him a message,” Kalon suggested. “No one will know where it came from. We can use different messengers around the city.”

“Or a little bit of mazir,” Valaine said.

“Or, better yet, let’s wait for your foreign GASP friends to come to Visio,” Trev cut in. “They can take on Laramis and trample those Darklings to death. I’m not sure the Aeternae officials are our friends right now.”

We reached the top of the hill, and I could see the air shimmering ever so slightly around the shuttle. It had been positioned just outside the woods, under the sprawling shadows that stretched across the tall grass.

“Let’s see what Derek and Sofia manage to achieve with the Lady Supreme before we discount the Aeternae altogether,” Tristan said.

I was inclined to agree, remaining hopeful that Danika could be convinced to back off. I understood grief and anger better than most, and I had seen it manifest in many different cultures. Nothing she’d done was any different from the other species I’d interacted with over the years. It was almost natural to have such reactions. But as time flowed by, reason had a tendency to return, and Danika would likely be easier to persuade. After all, we were asking her to do the right thing, not for some unethical personal favor.

A figure emerged from behind the shuttle. Her auburn hair was a sight for sore eyes, especially after everything Kalon and I had been through. Sofia walked toward us, but she wasn’t alone. A young boy walked beside her, and I quickly recognized him.

“Thayen?” I murmured. The dark blue velvet tunic with silver thread embroidery and the Nasani insignia on his shoulder said that much. I was surprised to see she’d returned before us, until I remembered we’d covered hundreds of miles from Orvis to here, while Sofia’s journey had only taken about forty.

“Sofia, what… what’s the kid doing here?” Tristan asked, as Sofia and Thayen reached us. Behind them, Amal and Amane emerged from the invisible shuttle, looking as though they’d appeared out of nowhere.

Sofia’s expression filled me with a sense of dread. She wasn’t bearing any good news.

“We need to talk,” she said, her voice uneven.

I couldn’t see Derek anywhere, and I didn’t like that. I had a feeling our troubles had somehow multiplied, and that our mission going forward was about to get much tougher. I exchanged brief glances with Tristan, then Kalon, and I knew… they were thinking the same thing.

Tristan

“Oh no,” I managed, as Sofia awaited our reaction.

She’d just told us Derek had been arrested after trying to talk to Danika about us and about Valaine. Even with Petra and the Darklings out