Patrik, Scarlett, Blaze, Caia, and I waited outside the infirmary for the Lords to come down for their briefing. Avril and Heron were on the other side, looking in on the sick Imen who had collapsed during the day.

It was close to eight in the evening. The dark purple sky held its myriads of stars above us, and the first of three moons gave off a warm white glow. Flames flickered in the streetlamps lining the massive terrace overlooking the plains and the distant gorges—the latter still sending shivers down my spine whenever I settled my gaze on their black silhouettes.

Six Correction Officers waited by the main road that connected the first level and the plains to the rest of Azure Heights. They never made eye contact with us, and barely moved as we watched the Lords come down—Emilian, Rowan, Farrah, and Rewa, along with Vincent.

After our suspicions of their behavior toward the Imen had been reignited during the day, and after adding the possibility that they might’ve also known about Darius’s betrayal, I had a hard time looking at Vincent with the same kindness I’d mustered before. Distrust ate away at me, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that this conversation could go south, fast. I’d shared my angst with Patrik, and he’d told me to just stay focused and alert, and watch out for anything suspicious in their behavior.

Like that’ll be easy with these folks.

“Good to see you’re back.” Emilian greeted us with a broad smile, looking at Blaze and Caia before he glanced behind us. “Where are Jax and the rest of your team?”

“They’re out in the western plains,” Caia replied with a polite nod, as the Lords gathered in front of us.

“Hello, Fiona.” Vincent winked, and I felt my skin crawl. Whatever was nagging me, his open advances weren’t doing anything to remove the tension from my body.

“What are you doing down here, Vincent?” I replied. “Not meaning to sound disrespectful, but I believe we sent word for just the Lords to attend this briefing.”

It took him a couple of seconds to respond, his expression unwaveringly positive. “Mother wants me to be more active in these meetings. She’s looking to retire.”

I shifted my gaze to Rowan, who responded with a dry smile. I’d struck a nerve, for sure. The air between us all was thickening with every minute that went by.

“What are they doing in the western plains?” Emilian didn’t wish to gloss over Harper and the others’ whereabouts.

“We did our survey of the daemon city, and decided it would be best if we covered more ground by splitting up,” Caia said, her chin high. “They wanted to reach out to the rebel Imen, and we came back to update our team and your lordships.”

“What could they possibly want from the rebel Imen?” Farrah scoffed, while Rewa kept her gaze fixed on Blaze—something that Caia totally noticed and did not like, judging by the muscle nervously twitching in her jaw. “They’re food for those wretched daemons. They can barely defend themselves out there!”

“Jax thought it would be good to talk to them nonetheless,” Caia replied. “They’re much closer to the daemons than you are, geographically speaking. They could shed some light, provide some insights from their encounters with the creatures.”

“I doubt that, but anyway, tell us about the daemon city.” Farrah smirked.

“It’s big,” Caia shot back bluntly. “There are more of them than we’d initially thought. Their swamp witch magic is stronger and much more diverse, too. We saw their king.”

The Lords stilled. I couldn’t tell much from their expressions, though, other than the fact that they were stunned.

“The king of daemons?” Emilian frowned slightly. Caia nodded in response. “What did he seem like to you?”

I would’ve gone for ‘What was he like?’. He probably meant exactly that, but the way he formulated his question left room for misunderstanding, and even doubt. There it was again, that claw in my stomach…

“Big. Menacing. Fearless and determined,” Caia said. “Won’t take no for an answer. Leads his people with an iron fist. Blaze and I were captured for several hours, until Jax, Harper, Hansa, and Caspian helped get us out.”

She was careful to leave Zane’s name out of it. Good, we can’t risk revealing potential allies and putting them at risk, after all.

Their eyes were wide with surprise and concern, and Emilian took a step forward. “Are you all right? Did they hurt you?”

“No, they were going to eat our souls later,” Blaze replied. “According to the king of daemons, we’re quite the delicacy, compared to the Imen.”

“I just… I don’t understand. I still can’t wrap my head around this whole soul-eating thing. It’s so… ghastly. Why would they do it?” Rowan shook her head slowly, her mouth crooked with disgust.

“Sustenance. A single soul keeps them sated for days, brimming with strength and energy of unnatural levels. It prolongs their lives, too,” Caia explained. “In the absence of souls, raw meat seems to do the trick, but, you know, they obviously prefer souls. Apparently, it’s exhilarating to feel someone’s life force flowing through you.”

Farrah, Rowan, and Rewa collectively covered their mouths to stifle their gasps and groans. I couldn’t really blame them. The entire concept made my stomach turn inside out, too. My mind wandered back to Zane for a brief moment, wondering if he took the same pleasure in consuming souls. A shiver ran down my spine, and I looked up at Vincent. His gaze was fiercely attempting to pierce through my very soul, pushing me further to the edge.

“That’s… That’s horrific,” Rewa mumbled, visibly distraught.

“So, Lord Kifo is with Miss Hellswan and the rest of your team, then?” Emilian changed the subject.

“Yes,” came Caia’s reply. “I haven’t gotten to the juiciest part of our visit to the underground, though.”

“Pray tell, what’s that?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Well, I can tell you there is one Mara who knows the king of daemons very… very well.”

The Lords frowned, then looked at each other before they stared at Caia, waiting for her to continue. But she wasn’t done with stringing them along. She carefully observed their expressions, then gave Scarlett and me a brief sideways glance.

“Go on?” Rewa seemed impatient and somewhat irritated. My guess was that she was no longer bothering to hide her dislike of Caia, given their shared interest in Blaze. It really didn’t take a scientist for either of us to know that our little fire fae and the dragon were getting closer each day, while Rewa’s advances flew right past his ears. There was bound to be some friction, sooner or later.

“Your father,” Caia said.

Several seconds passed as Rewa blinked with confusion.

“My father?”

“Darius, Lord of House Xunn, is besties with the king of daemons,” Caia replied.

“That’s… No, that’s impossible! My father didn’t even know about daemons until you brought their name up!” Rewa’s anger translated into raw tremors in her voice, and her chest rose with each deep breath she took in an attempt to keep herself under control.

“Where did you hear that?” Emilian replied, his tone lower than usual, and his eyes narrowed. “The daemons told you? Who?”

“Darius himself.” Blaze moved closer to Caia’s side. “He’s alive.”

Rewa froze, her mouth gaping with shock.

“What are you talking about, Blaze? Have you lost your mind?” she murmured.

“Jax and Hansa saw him. He’s alive. He faked his own death. The explosions were his doing.” Caia reinforced Blaze’s statement.

“No… That can’t be. I buried my father! I saw his corpse… his Lordship ring…” Rewa shuddered, bursting into tears. Vincent put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer as she sobbed uncontrollably.

Emilian, Farrah, and Rowan were quiet, occasionally stealing glances at one another.

“I’m sorry, Rewa, but it’s true,” Caia replied softly. “Darius is alive.”

“It can’t be!” she cried out. “My father wouldn’t… he wouldn’t do that to me. He wouldn’t cause me so much grief.”

The information didn’t sit well with the Lords, a mixture of grief and anger settling on their faces. I caught movement out of the corner of my eye, and slowly turned my head to see Correction Officers lining the edge of the terrace on the third level, looking down at us. Why did that feel so wrong?

“I am truly sorry, Rewa,” Blaze sighed. “He lied to you. He lied to all of us. We don’t know why he did what he did. All we know is that he’s alive and he is working with the daemons.”

“You… You mean to tell us that Darius, a Lord of this city and a friend to us all, blew up our homes, killed our people, and aligned himself with Shaytan?” Emilian replied through gritted teeth.

My heart stopped for a second. My temperature dropped to icy new lows, as the hard truth hit me like a punch in the gut.

“Basically, yes, Lord Obara,” Blaze replied. “The explosions were planned, devised to aid him in faking his death, but we—”

“You know his name,” I breathed, every muscle in my body loaded with unbearable amounts of tension.

Emilian swiftly turned his head to look at me. “What are you talking about?”

“You said his name. Shaytan. You know the king’s name,” I said, my voice somewhat firmer as my brain adjusted to the revelation. I’d yet to figure out what it meant, exactly, but my mind was already in overdrive, and processing.

Patrik was the second to realize the gravity of what I’d just said. His forehead smoothed, his lips pressed tight as he glowered at Emilian, who in return gave us a very baffled expression.

“No, I didn’t,” he shot back.

“Yes, you did. You said ‘Shaytan’,” I insisted, suddenly feeling like I was being taken for an idiot.

“You told us his name.” Emilian then flipped, changing his story. My hand slowly slipped down my side, looking for my sword handle.

“No, we didn’t,” Blaze replied. “We never mentioned his name.”

The longest moment squeezed through in perfect silence as we all glared at the Lords, who seemed genuinely befuddled—except Emilian. He was getting angry. I could almost hear the blood bubbling in his veins. Nowhere as hot as mine in this instant, but still, he was raging on the inside.

He’d made a terrible mistake.

He’d given himself away. It suddenly became impossible to think that the others didn’t know about Darius. Emilian knew. Despite Caspian’s oath of silence, it was safe to assume he was also aware. Would Farrah, Rowan, and Rewa be kept in the dark, then? Or Vincent, for that matter?

Rewa kind of answered that question when she burst into a short cackle, then wiped the crocodile tears from her face. My stomach dropped. It was one thing to suspect it, and a completely different thing to have your worst fears confirmed.

The Lords were in on it… They’re conspiring with the daemons!

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Caia scoffed. “You all knew.”

“In all fairness, they were bound to find out sooner or later.” Vincent looked at his mother, who rolled her eyes, her displeasure obvious. They were all uncomfortably calm, considering what we’d just discovered about them. The knot in my stomach throbbed painfully, slowly making its way up into my ribcage.

“It didn’t take them too long, though.” Farrah nodded with what looked like some kind of sick, perverted appreciation toward us. What the hell is going on here?

“True. Had Emilian kept his stupid mouth shut, we could’ve stretched this for at least a couple more days, until we could catch Hellswan and her clique of self-righteous worms,” Rowan spat. Emilian scowled at her.

“It was an innocent mistake!” he shot back.

My head turned from left to right between them, as if I had a front row seat at a tennis match. I really didn’t know how to fully process this. They had simply transformed before our very eyes—from the graceful, eloquent, and innocent Maras to this bickering pack of monsters in expensive silks.

“Well, your ‘innocent’ mistake now makes you look like an idiot!” Rowan replied, raising an eyebrow.

“It takes one to know one,” Emilian sneered.

“At least we don’t have to pretend anymore.” Rewa rolled her eyes.

“You people are sociopaths,” Scarlett gasped. “Full-blown sociopaths. You’ve been acting this whole time. This… This was all just… theater…”

“Ah, she’s catching on,” Rewa snickered, crossing her arms over her chest. Her features had turned from soft and sweet, beneath that pixie haircut, to filthy and ice cold, as pure evil seemed to flicker in her jade eyes. “You’re not as stupid as I thought. Consider it a compliment.”

“Vincent,” I muttered, noticing his cool demeanor, while Rowan, Farrah, and Emilian kept snapping at each other, hurling all kinds of insults. “You knew.”

Our eyes met, but I could no longer recognize the Mara with reddish hair and pale green eyes. The Vincent I knew was gone. He was probably never real, anyway. The guy replacing him put on a mirthless smile, and I finally understood why my skin had been crawling whenever he’d looked at me. My instincts were never wrong. I’d gotten a whiff of what we were getting ourselves into from the moment Caia and Blaze had told us about Darius. Something just hadn’t clicked for me then.

“My darling Fiona, of course I knew,” Vincent replied. “We all knew. Did you really think Darius would do something without us signing off on it?”

In retrospect, he had a point. But the Maras and Imen who had died in the explosions had provided enough doubt for us to not immediately jump to that conclusion.

“You killed your own people with those explosions,” I said, my fingers slowly curling over my sword handle. The cool ivory grip helped me focus on the next steps. We obviously had to do something, but I wasn’t sure what.

“Collateral damage,” Vincent replied. “We had to make it believable.”

“And Lord Kifo?” Patrik asked, as I briefly caught a glimpse of the increasing number of Correction Officers gathering on our level as well. They were already surrounding us. “Was he a part of your plan? Was he in on it?”

Emilian, Farrah, and Rowan suddenly remembered that we were still there, partially crippled by sheer astonishment. “Oh, Lord Kifo knew,” Rowan scoffed. “He couldn’t do anything about it, though. He tried to be a rebel, but it didn’t work out too well for him and his adoptive father. His parents tried the same crap, and look where that got them.”

“So he was against all this,” Patrik replied. I could see his gaze darting across the platform, as he registered the Correction Officers closing in a circle around us.

“Yes, that self-righteous little rat,” Emilian muttered, hatred almost oozing out of him. “We tried to keep him in check. We even got him to swear a blood oath, just to make sure he wouldn’t talk. I see he’s decided to care more about some outsiders than his own people.”

“If he was such a nuisance, why didn’t you just kill him?” I asked.

“We tried to steer him back on the right track. He’d even promised that he was on our side, that he would never betray us. It’s why we put him under that oath. We can’t really kill off our own so liberally. It’s not like there are so many of us, in comparison to daemons,” Emilian said.

“What makes you think he won’t tell Harper and the others the truth? How long do you think before he will break his oath?” I raised an eyebrow.

“It’s not a regular oath he’s under.” Emilian grinned. “If he talks, he dies. We actually thought he was finally coming around. Then that harlot Hellswan showed up. That boy cannot see straight when she’s around.”

“You better mind your tongue,” Caia hissed, flipping her lighters open.

Emilian and the others took a couple of steps back, visibly uncomfortable in the presence of raw firepower. Rewa snapped her fingers, and the Correction Officers moved closer toward us, their swords screeching as they left their scabbards.

It was about to get crazy, fast. I counted at least fifty of them on the second level with us, along with about thirty or forty on the third level above.

“What was your plan, exactly?” I growled, my gaze shifting from Vincent to Emilian. “What were you hoping to get out of this, out of duping us?”

I needed to prolong this for as long as possible, to give myself and the others some time to think things through, and to come up with a smart exit plan. My only hope was that Avril and Heron were going to show up soon. We needed the extra pairs of hands.

“At first, we wanted to just capture you all as soon as you landed,” Emilian said. “But then we saw the dragon, and, well, we didn’t know how susceptible he was to our mind-bending. It was too soon for us to try anything, and, frankly, we wanted to see how well we could pull this off without throwing you all in cages. Know thy enemy and whatnot. We couldn’t mind-bend any of you vampires and Maras, and we would’ve had to catch Blaze alone, without any of you to quickly figure it out. Much to my dismay, you kids just can’t be apart for too long. Always together, always with your guard up. So, we decided it was best to simply let the daemons get you, sparing us the trouble of such an effort.”

“Why, Lord Obara? Why are we here?” I asked, my muscles jerking with anticipation.

“Why, for sustenance,” Rewa replied with a smirk. “Souls are incredible. The strength they give us, the energy they fill us with… You have no idea how wonderful that can be. Unfortunately, it is also addictive. Once we got into it, we didn’t really want to stop. And why should we? We are so powerful and capable. Your presence here alone is a testament to that. Just look at how good our acting was, how convincing! The setting is perfect!”

“How is bringing us here an example of your intellectual prowess?” Caia retorted, no longer concerned about hurting anyone’s feelings. I knew she’d held a lot back in previous days, when Rewa was giggling and flirting with Blaze. “We just discovered what you’ve been up to. And we have a dragon.”

“And don’t think I’ll be holding anything back,” Blaze added, straightening his back.

Rewa chuckled, then looked right into Blaze’s eyes, hers shimmering gold. “Well, I don’t know about that… Blaze, darling, do me a favor. Don’t turn into a dragon. Don’t use your fire against us.”

Oh, crap.

Everything had happened so fast, the revelation so mindboggling that none of us had thought to worry about the Maras’ mind-bending ability affecting our non-vampire friends until this horrible reminder. If they’d been trying to earn our trust until now, by not attempting any mind-bending on our dragon, well… that was done. The cat was out of the bag. Blaze stilled, his expression blank and his arms limp. Caia gasped, then turned to face him, gripping his shoulders and desperately shaking him.

“Blaze! Don’t listen to her! Blaze! Look at me! Please, look at me,” she pleaded with him, but he was unresponsive. Rewa then giggled, making me really eager to chop her head off.

“Blaze, darling,” she said. “Be a doll, choke the life out of Caia. She was the first on my disposal list anyway. Not a soul I’m interested in tasting.”

Before either of us could react, Blaze brought his hands up and grabbed Caia by the throat. Fires roared through me, and I drew my sword.

“You’re not going to get away with this!” Patrik snarled, then tried to get between Blaze and Caia in an attempt to stop him from choking her.

“Of course we will!” Emilian laughed, his voice dripping with mockery and disdain. “We have something that you don’t. We have a swamp witch.”

All hell broke loose in the following second.

The Correction Officers came at us, their blades up. We immediately reacted, fighting back with everything we had. The Lords slowly shuffled toward the stairs, watching us with delight and amusement, as if we were putting on a great piece of entertainment for them.

Just as I’d originally thought, it got crazy fast. Scarlett flashed from one Mara to another, using her lightspeed to deliver swift and deadly blows. Her blade cut through Mara flesh with such ease, she could easily handle four to five opponents at once.

Patrik brought out both defensive and offensive Druid magic, blasting blue fireballs at the Correction Officers, alternating with heavy sword hits, while blocking attacks from the side. Had I not been so busy with my own share of enemies, I would’ve gladly sat back and watched him. The Druid had some insane fighting skills, as he’d already proven back in the gorges. I just couldn’t get tired of it.

I unleashed my full strength on the Maras coming at me. Rage fueled me, and I spared no punches, striking viciously at my opponents. Blood gushed from their open throats, and I quickly moved to the next two Correction Officers who were bold enough to take me on. I heard bones cracking beneath my knuckles as I punched my way through the increasing crowd of hostiles.

I was trying to get to Blaze and Caia, as she was struggling to set herself free from his deadly grip. There was no way in hell that I was going to let any of my friends get hurt or die in this nicely decorated hellhole.