A Shade of Vampire 40: A Throne of Fire(9)

“Claudia, why don’t you help Yuri? It will take your mind off things,” I suggested.

“I’m going to find Ben,” Lidera said, before Claudia could reply. As the copper-haired fae walked off, Claudia grunted in disapproval.

“I can’t get used to the fae.” She grimaced.

“But you’re used to Ben, Lucas, and Grace?”

“They’ve only got the bodies of fae, not the weird mindset. The fae are so mysterious all the time, and…hoity. Like they think they’re better than we are.” Claudia continued her grumbling, but I blocked it out, trying to slowly edge the blonde vampire toward her husband. I knew why Claudia was being this way—she was just worried about the kids, and desperate to be doing something…but she was getting on my nerves.

As I herded her over to Yuri, I paused for a moment, standing frozen on a large piece of gray stone. I heard the unmistakable sound of wings flapping through the still night. The dragons were back.

Please have seen the kids.

“They’re back!” I exclaimed, hurrying off in the direction of my father, with Claudia hot on my heels. I could see Grace and Lawrence running from another direction, followed by Aiden and then Caleb, and soon the whole team was gathered east of the palace, waiting impatiently for the dragons to land.

Lethe was the first to land, followed by Azaiah, Ridan and Jeriad.

“The army you heard leaving the cove is staying east from here, at another castle, this one unaffected by the earthquakes.” Jeriad addressed his report to my father, while the others remained silent behind him. “Their numbers are significant—some are camping outside. We can also see a strange barrier…almost like a translucent bubble covering the castle. We wouldn’t have seen it except the sunset flared up at the right moment, revealing it. It’s obviously some kind of magic.”

Mona, Corrine and Ibrahim exchanged glances, looking concerned. I had never heard of a barrier that fit that description…but perhaps they had?

“The creatures are human-appearing in many respects, except they are freakishly tall. They ride strange horses that have the appearance of bulls, as well as using the vultures we thought we saw earlier for transport. We couldn’t find out much more than that—the castle was heavily guarded.”

“And the children?” my father asked.

Lethe shook his head, his eyes downcast. “We did not see them.”

My head swam a bit as the disappointment floored me. Rationally, I had known that it was unlikely the dragons would return with news of the children, but that hadn’t stopped me from holding onto a small sliver of hope.

“But they’re still our best bet in locating the kids.” Jeriad turned to me, his voice solemn. “We didn’t see another soul as we flew over the land. I’m convinced that if the kids are anywhere, they’re in that castle—perhaps under guard.”

I nodded. At least we had a starting point.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“Let’s get moving then,” Claudia interjected.

My father glared at her. “Hold on. We will go to the castle, but I want to discuss the stones first. If this army has put some form of barrier up to protect themselves, then they’re as threatened as we are by what those stones might contain.”

I hadn’t thought about that. Clearly we had the same enemy. I could only see it as good news; if we had the same goal in mind, then perhaps they would be up for negotiations.

“Nuriya,” my father continued, addressing the jinni queen, “do you think you could close the stones at all – even if it’s just temporarily keeping them sealed? Only for a short while to get us access to the portal?”

The jinni shook her head sadly. “That magic was lost to my people a long time ago. I traveled to see some of the elder jinn before we left, but none of them knew the magic of the stones—what was in them, or how to open them…so I am assuming none know how to close them either.”

“What are you thinking?” my mother asked. “Why would we want to get back to the portal?”

Everyone turned to my father in confusion. We hadn’t even come close to finding the children yet. Was he planning to leave already?

“I’m hoping that we can offer the army safe passage out of here—perhaps in return for the children, if they’re keeping them hostage,” my father replied. “And if not through the portal, perhaps some other land across the sea – wherever they might feel safe.”

“Good idea.” Ben nodded, catching on to his plan.

“But perhaps impossible,” Sherus intoned, shaking his head. Clearly, he still thought arriving in this land had been a mistake. I was starting to feel a little impatient with the fae king—we were trying to save the In-Between too, it wasn’t just our mission that we were here for.