We reached the top level just as a second explosion burst from the Kifo mansion. The screams were unbearable, as there were dozens of Imen and Maras still inside, burning alive. I pulled my hood over my head to get some protection from the blaze, and ran across the front terrace.

The others spread out and helped get as many Imen and Maras away from the fire as they could. There must have been some kind of gathering in one of the mansions, based on the number of people present. The smell of burnt wood and flesh invaded my nostrils and turned my stomach upside down.

I used my True Sight to briefly scan the mansions—all five were engulfed in high flames, the windows broken and parts of the walls ruptured where the explosions had torn through. The sound of the inferno consuming everything inside came out in rumbling crackles, a spine-chilling background to the screams of those still inside.

Caia used her fae ability to draw water from the white marble fountain still standing in the middle of the terrace, but it wasn’t enough. She could only conjure brief sheets of water, which she threw at the houses.

Patrik muttered a spell and managed to draw out more, generating five thick columns of water, which he shot at the mansions, systematically tackling the fires on a local level. It still wasn’t enough, but it helped Jax, Hansa, Scarlett, Fiona, and Blaze with the rescue of several Imen trapped on the lower floors.

I couldn’t see Caspian anywhere, but his residence was nearly obliterated. Based on the damage alone, his mansion had been the source of both explosions. I saw Emilian running down the stairs of the Xunn house, with Rewa unconscious in his arms. He dodged falling chunks of burning wood and slabs from the ceiling.

The staircase collapsed, and they both fell through.

“Caia, give me some water cover!” I shouted, and ran toward the Xunn mansion.

She quickly shifted a stream over my head, enough to keep the flames at bay as I flashed through the broken front door and reached Emilian and Rewa. They were both injured but still alive, trapped under pieces of debris.

Scarlett joined me, and pulled Rewa out first. She carried her outside while I handled Emilian, who groaned from the pain. I caught a glimpse of his back and saw the severe burns through his tattered suit.

We made it back to the fountain, where Scarlett washed Rewa’s face with water, shaking her back into consciousness.

Rowan and Vincent escaped from their mansion, along with Arrah and two more servants. Farrah was brought out by Jax, while Hansa carried her two young sons in her arms as they ran over to the edge.

Correction Officers and Mara nurses had already gathered by the stone steps with first-aid supplies, blankets, and gallons of Mara blood in wooden jugs to assist the victims. Many of the Imen who escaped from the fire had already died. Others cried as they covered them with white sheets. Blood stuck to the fabric, blossoming in heartbreaking shades of crimson.

“I need some help here!” Blaze shouted as he emerged from the Kifo mansion with Caspian.

My heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. He was unconscious as Blaze carried him out and brought him over to the fountain. He laid Caspian on the ground, and I left Emilian’s side to kneel next to him. A nurse took care of Lord Obara, while Caia and Patrik continued to put out the flames and the rest of my team managed to rescue a few more people.

I applied pressure to Caspian’s chest with both hands, as I couldn’t hear his heartbeat.

“Come on,” I muttered, beads of sweat trickling down my face.

He coughed as he regained consciousness. I bit into my palm and thrust it in front of him.

“That’s it,” I said, my voice trembling. “Drink, Caspian… You’ll be okay…”

His lips touched my palm, and I couldn’t help but shudder. He drew blood, greedily sucking as his teeth grazed my skin. I held his head up. He blinked a few times, breathing heavily. Warmth filled my ribcage and expanded into my stomach as I watched him recover, the burns on his arms and legs healing fast.

“Thank you,” he rasped, then pulled himself to a sitting position.

“It’s okay, you did the same for me,” I said softly, unable to recognize my own voice until I understood exactly how incredibly relieved I was to see him again, and alive.

His gaze clouded as he looked at me, and his knuckles brushed against my cheek in a fleeting gesture of affection that made me tremble.

“Daddy!” Rewa’s scream pierced through the fabric of this disaster.

She’d fallen to her knees, her face covered in soot. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Scarlett held her close, giving me a wary look over her shoulder.

“Darius didn’t make it out of there,” she said.

Gasps erupted from the remaining Lords, who were sipping Mara blood as the nurses wiped their faces with wet cloths.

“Daddy, no!” Rewa’s wails were gut wrenching and raw, and I couldn’t help but feel her grief, as a daughter.

Blaze ran back inside the Xunn mansion, as he was virtually impervious to fire, while Caia and Patrik continued battling the shrinking inferno across the top level of the city. Avril and Heron joined us, helping carry more victims out as Jax, Hansa, and Fiona rescued the last survivors they could find. Darius wasn’t among them.

Caspian slowly leaned into me, his shoulder against mine, gradually recovering from his injuries. Farrah, Rowan, and Emilian came over, wrapped in blankets, as they, too, were healing. They were pale and distraught, tears glazing their eyes as they glanced at Rewa, who kept watching and waiting, crying her heart out. Scarlett held her close.

Blaze came out emptyhanded. Rewa doubled over, her forehead touching the cobblestone as she broke down completely. This was a tragedy unfolding at a rapid pace. And no one seemed to grasp its devastation, as shock silenced everyone, including the thousands of Maras and Imen who had gathered below.

The wounded Imen were carried downstairs to the infirmary, while the surviving Maras recovered once they had blood from their fellow citizens.

“What happened?” Jax asked, joining our side along with Hansa. They were both black with soot and ashes, their hair a little burnt and a sheet of sweat covering their faces. Hansa was worse, her wide eyes filled with tears and her hands trembling. Past the initial shock, I realized then that Hansa was experiencing terrible flashbacks from the Red Tribe massacre. Her pain poured out in ripples of red and orange.

“I… I don’t know,” Emilian mumbled, still processing everything. His gaze darted around.

“We were all in our homes,” Farrah breathed. “Just an ordinary evening. Darius was having some friends over for dinner, as far as I know…”

“Then the explosion,” Rowan sobbed, struggling to keep it together. “It started from the Xunn mansion, and it was so powerful, it burst all the way through our homes. The ground shook. The windows broke, and the fire spread so fast… so fast…”

“This was a vicious attack,” Emilian said, gritting his teeth. “I don’t know who perpetrated it, or why… But this was evil! It was unnatural, and… and Darius…”

I got up to get a better look at the mansions, all burnt almost entirely. The upper floors were still collapsing, piles of rubble spilling out onto the terrace as dust and black smoke billowed and thickened the air around.

The fires died down eventually, and Correction Officers started combing all residences for bodies. I could see some from where I stood, charred remains crumpled beneath burnt wood beams and slabs of stone. I’d never seen something so horrific, so… heartbreaking.

Caspian stood, straightening his back. I heard his spine crack in the process, and I looked at him. Anger poured out of him. Confusion. Grief. His hand rested on my hip for a moment, his eyes finding mine.

“I don’t know what happened,” he whispered, as if trying to make sure that I believed him. Since when did it matter what I thought of him?

“I believe you.” I nodded slowly.

Two of the Correction Officers came out of the Xunn residence—or its remains, anyway—carrying the carbonized remains of what looked like an adult male. Something glimmered on his finger, a golden ring with precious gems, melted into the bone.

They brought him over, grief pulling their brows together as they lowered their heads and put the body down.

“That’s… That’s his Lordship ring,” Rewa cried. “That’s Daddy’s ring… That… That’s Daddy…”

Scarlett did her best to comfort the young Mara girl, but the poor soul was inconsolable. She’d just lost her father.

“Darius… Darius is dead,” Emilian murmured, then raised his voice for the rest of the people around and below to hear. “Darius of House Xunn, one of the Five Lords of Azure Heights, was murdered!”

Gasps and sobs erupted from the crowd as the tragic news set in. Maras and Imen hugged one another, crying, grieving the loss of one of their leaders. I fought back tears as I watched the entire scene. It was impossible not to feel their pain, not to feel invested when witnessing such a tragedy. Whoever had done this, they had aimed for maximum damage and loss of life. They didn’t care who got hurt or killed.

My mind kept rushing back to what had just happened to Avril, as well. Though the two incidents didn’t seem connected—except, perhaps, by the horrible timing—I couldn’t help but wonder whether the daemons had something to do with both. After all, they did have swamp witch magic. But to what extent? How much did they possess, to be able to destroy an interplanetary spell? This was something I was determined to address with Patrik once we got a minute with just our team. I wasn’t connecting the dots just yet, but they seemed awfully close the more I thought about it.

“We are all truly sorry for your losses,” Jax said. Hansa stood silent behind him. “This is the tragic result of a heinous act, and, rest assured, you have our full support in investigating this. We will help you bring the criminal… or criminals to justice.”

Emilian wiped back his tears and gave Jax a polite nod, then stared at Rewa. She inched closer to her father’s body, her hands reaching out, her fingers trembling, as she wasn’t sure how to touch him. Scarlett whispered something in her ear, and Rewa, through her grief and pain, nodded and sat back, leaning against her.

“You mentioned it started from the Xunn mansion,” I said.

“Yes,” Farrah replied.

“Judging by the damage, the Xunn mansion was the hot point.” Blaze looked over his shoulder, briefly analyzing the remains of Darius’s house.

“It would be fair to assume that perhaps he was the intended target?” I shrugged, glancing at Jax for feedback. It made sense in my head, based on everything I’d learned about arson during my GASP training. We’d held special sessions on extremist attacks, arson, and murder as part of our induction.

“Could it be daemon-related?” Fiona chimed in. “Whoever blew up the tunnel on the east side of the mountain wanted me separated from Hansa. They wanted me to reach the prison. Daemons attacked the prison. I’m just trying my luck at an educated guess here…”

“Someone blew up the gorge earlier today, as well,” I added. “Whoever did it wanted to break us away from the Correction Officers. Then… daemons attacked.”

“I wouldn’t exclude it as a possibility, but we’ll need to do a thorough investigation,” Jax replied, then glanced over his shoulder at Hansa. “What do you think?”

Hansa was still reeling from everything that had happened. The pain emanating from her was impossible to describe, and I didn’t want to mention it out loud, either. She valued her image as a strong succubus, and everything she was experiencing in that moment pointed to a weakness she never would’ve wanted to display in front of strangers.

“Jax, we should definitely discuss this later, after all the bodies are cleared out and we can plan our resources,” I said, trying to draw attention away from Hansa. “This is an unexpected turn, and we need to rethink our strategy now.”

“Yeah, especially since we can’t leave this damn place,” Heron muttered, keeping himself close to Avril.

Caspian gave me a surprised look.

“What do you mean, you can’t leave?” he asked, his voice low and husky.

“The interplanetary spell didn’t work,” Patrik replied. “Neraka’s atmosphere rejected it for no apparent reason.”

“That’s not right.” Emilian frowned, scratching his beard with trembling fingers. “Rewa was able to leave… You were able to come in… It doesn’t make sense.”

“Tell me about it,” Avril muttered, her arms crossed over her chest. “I nearly got killed when the spell tried to reach space. It exploded.”

Farrah then gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.

“Oh, dear, that’s what that flash was,” she said. “I saw it from my bedroom window…”

A minute passed as we all stared at each other.

Whether we liked it or not, we were stuck here. Someone had managed to kill Darius by blowing the entire top level up. The daemons were far better organized than we’d initially given them credit for. And there were still so many questions left unanswered from before. It was as if Neraka were deliberately toying with us, testing our limits and playing with our heads—when it wasn’t trying to kill us.

“Either way, GASP will start sending people after us soon,” Jax said. “We’ve been gone for three days now, and they’ve yet to hear from us. Surely they must be rounding up the troops now. We might see them as soon as tomorrow.”

“But until then, we need to stay alert and keep doing our jobs,” Patrik added. “We have to expand the city protection spell to its underground. Do you know if the tunnels have been sealed, Lord Kifo?”

“I was waiting for Cadmus to come up and confirm, but I haven’t seen him yet,” Caspian replied, then glanced around with a concerned expression, as if hoping to see Cadmus somewhere.

“We need to get back to the infirmary,” I said. “The protection spell satchels are down there.”

“Right, first things first.” Jax nodded. “Caia and Blaze, take Patrik with you to the infirmary and follow his instructions with regards to planting the satchels in the prison. I’m sure one of Lord Kifo’s Correction Officers will guide you to it from the city, since we’re assuming the tunnels are sealed.”

“Absolutely,” Caspian replied, and snapped his fingers. One of his guards moved forward from the crowd, waiting for Caia, Blaze, and Patrik.

“Fiona, you know what you have to do as well, I suppose.” Jax raised an eyebrow.

“Yup,” she replied, and joined Patrik’s side.

“The rest of us need to talk,” Jax continued, then looked at Caspian. “Can you have your Correction Officers clear this level and keep everyone away? This is a crime scene now. We can’t have anyone tamper with evidence.”

Caspian agreed and motioned for his guards to usher people off the edge of the terrace and away from the stone stairs. I glanced at the mansion ruins, while Vincent helped Rewa up and guided her away from Darius’s remains.

“I’m sure the White Star Hotel below will accommodate us,” Vincent said slowly, his arm around Rewa’s shoulders. “We’ll go make the arrangements now.”

With everything that had happened, my nerves were stretched beyond their limits. More questions and a crippled trust between us and the Exiled Maras were the defining factors of our current circumstances. On top of that, we had soul-eating daemons prowling around the city, and thousands of innocent Maras and Imen as potential victims, with hundreds already missing or dead.

It felt like we were swimming upstream, and I feared where this salmon run would lead. GASP couldn’t come soon enough.

I turned to find Caspian staring at me, his jade gaze dark and soft. In that moment, at least, all I could feel was relief. Relief that Blaze had managed to get to him in time. Relief that he was still alive. The reasons for my relief were mixed and… complicated, and I didn’t have the energy to sort through them right now. There was one my mind could settle on, however:

He owed me an answer.