I stopped, feet rooting to the soft green grass. “But that’s the vampires’ land.”
He glanced back and his eyes flashed. “It is.” He took off into a sprint. “Let’s see how you run.”
Speed was one thing I knew I excelled at and, despite my hesitations, I pushed myself to catch him.
Chapter 7
Iran until my legs burned and my eyes watered from the wind tearing by. Vander was faster than anyone I’d ever met, faster than me. I struggled to match his pace, but it was freeing. For the first time in my life, I could openly show my abilities. My father wasn’t in the back of my mind, telling me to hide what made me different.
Vander turned and ran backward. Show-off. “I’m impressed.”
“I didn’t think—you knew—how to compliment,” I said, taking deep breaths between words. I was fast but not used to running long distances.
He rolled his eyes, twisted back around, and let me catch up to his side. We weaved between tall pines and through patches of wild ivy and uncoiling ferns. Wings fluttered as birds scattered from the treetops at our passing.
We must have covered at least ten miles before he slowed to a walk and stilled near a slate boulder as large as a horse. I leaned against a tree, tugged down the mask covering my mouth and nose, and dragged in deep breaths. Even if the thin material was surprisingly breathable, I didn’t want the obstruction.
He watched me for a moment. Something about his gaze reminded me of a bird of prey. Without warning, he slipped around the boulder and disappeared. I took a few more deep inhales, then I jerked my mask up and walked after him. It was broad daylight, but I didn’t want to be caught in vampire land alone. What if they hid inside the trees behind secret doors and pulled me in? I didn’t know where they lurked during the day.
I caught sight of white fur and my heart jumped. A huge wolf watched me from deep in the woods. I froze, meeting its amber eyes. I’d learned long ago to stand my ground with these animals, and thankfully it turned and trotted away. I blew out a slow, relieved breath and stepped out of the thick woods, around the boulder, and found myself alone before an open meadow. On the other side, beyond a grassy hilltop, a dark rocky peak came into view. But I didn’t think he could have made it up the hill already. I turned in a circle and didn’t find him amongst the trees. “Viper?” I whispered.
I slowly crept back the way I’d come. Every sound intensified; the birds singing in the trees, wind bristling the leaves. The smell of pine sap caught my nose. I glanced up at the sun peeking out from behind white puffy clouds. I still had half a day before sunset.
There was a chance he’d made it to the top of that hillside before I saw him, though it seemed impossible. I hurried to the meadow once again, looking for a trail. The tall amber and jade grasses were undisturbed.
“Viper,” I said, loudly this time. “Where are you?”
Nothing.
This wasn’t funny. Were we in Nocturnus? I didn’t know how to get back to Nighthaven from here without him. I didn’t know how to get home either. We hadn’t seen a town or shelter for miles.
I’d have a better view from the top of that hill and made my way through knee-high grass and scattered wildflowers.
Butterflies and insects took to the air as I strode up the steep incline.
I reached the crest and stilled, my breath caught in my throat. Down the other side was a valley that led into a black canyon. Two jagged towering walls encased a river that ran through it. A thicket of trees covered the entrance. And in the canyon was a vast city, every bit as large as Nighthaven. Built into the canyon wall was a black castle with jutting peaks and valleys. On the highest peak, a crimson flag bearing a strange circular white mark at the center waved and snapped in the wind. Through the rocky terrain and narrow opening of the ravine, it would be difficult to get inside. A natural fortress.
It was eerily quiet. Nothing but the breeze whistled in my ears here. Even the birds seemed to have gone. I couldn’t see from here if there were people down there. If the castle didn’t shine with beauty even in the shadow of the canyon walls, I’d say the city was abandoned.
A hand clamped over my mouth and an arm cinched around my waist. My body pulsed with a violent heat, and I felt like my soul jumped from my body. “Shhh, it’s me,” Vander breathed in my ear. My heart hammered despite recognizing his voice, and the tenseness coiling my body tightened further. I felt the hard lines of muscle in his arm, his abdomen. The way his breath moved steadily in and out like the seas pushed and pulled.
“You didn’t see me, you didn’t hear me, you didn’t even feel my approach. If I were one of them, you’d be dead.” His arm clamped tighter around me, further stealing my breath. I expected to feel his warmth bleed into me, but if anything, his firm touch cooled the heat from wearing black under the summer sun. “I will show you how to be better than them. To be invisible. One quick jerk of the head will snap a spine.” Heremoved his hand from my mouth only to press something sharp and cool to my throat. My muscles locked up. “One slice of a blade across a throat will drop a vampire but won’t kill him. He would return without a scar. To end him so he never rises again, you must destroy his heart.” The sharp point of a blade pressed against my left side under my arm. It didn’t hurt, but the pressure was uncomfortable against my ribs. “Right here. You thrust as hard as you can, harder than you think. If you hit bone, you must break it. You’ll know you’ve struck the heart when slowly he starts to turn gray and hard as stone.”
He could have told me all this without scaring me half to death, but it was a lesson I’d never forget. My fingertips dug into his arm, and I nodded. He unwound his hold on my waist, and his solid frame peeled away from my backside. A moment later, we stood side by side.
I glanced toward the city in the canyon below. “Is that Nocturnus?” I was afraid if I spoke too loudly, they’d hear. Which was ridiculous. We were high up and at least a half-mile from the entrance. “And that’s the twin kings’ castle?”
“Yes.”
“It’s so quiet.”
“Most of them sleep during the day.”
“But if you know where they’re sleeping, why don’t you break through their doors, smash their windows and let the light in? They can’t go into daylight.”
He turned his blue eyes on me. “See how the walls of the canyon shadow most of their city? They can survive and fight in the shade. Only direct sunlight kills them. Although bright light makes it harder for them to see, which is why they don’t have windows.” He gestured toward the nature in front of us. “And good luck getting through that rocky mess and the Devouring Swamp with an army. The swamp has ground that will swallow a man whole if he steps in the wrong spot. They aren’t completelyunguarded. If the natural terrain fails, there are daywalkers who protect the city. Our main mission as assassins is to track and kill daywalkers, but we also kill wildlings and raid the city to save people.”
“Vampires who can withstand sunlight?” The idea nauseated me.
