Dance in Shadow and Whisper (Marionettes of Myth #1)

Chapter Sixteen

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Rajy once told me that I'd know as soon as I saw one of them. There would be no question in my mind, or in my body. The five men were as old as the common era, or older, and they had nothing to be afraid of any longer.

True fearlessness changed a man.

They became fearlessness.

'If ever you might cross paths with one of them,' Rajy had said, 'the air will taste differently, the blood in your veins will flow differently, and the stream of thought in your mind will alter like a backwards river. They are not like the demon lords of whom you've met. In the eyes of their people, they are more damning than the gods.'

The shadows swirled around the man like a cloak. He was tall, but not tall like a demon, and the length of his long black hair was so dark and opaque, like ink blending into the shadows, stark against the pearl of his skin. It took me several quickened heartbeats before I registered his raised arm, his left fist, the positioning of his body with his legs hugging the ground, his other arm outstretched for balance, right hand grasping a very Victorian cane.

His head turned. His eyes were jade, true jade, a green so vivid that I swore his eyes glowed, the outer ring stained darker, sharper, and his gaze sliced into Jason and I. Half of his hair had been pulled back to reveal jagged lines, similar to that of a demon's in the full demon state, tattooed on one side of his face, branches that extended from the corner of his eye and carved across his forehead and cheekbone and down his jaw.

As his fingers unraveled to drop the scalding bullet from his unharmed palm, the air tasted of life and death as if they were the same, the blood in my veins clashed with riptides, and there was nothing in the world outside this man who had appeared before us.

Shadow swallowed me up. I didn't have a chance to fight it, to resist being dragged under the black water's surface. It was a roller coaster plunge, only a matter of seconds, but it strangled me and hurled my stomach to my throat.

The shadow tossed me against the metal fence. The chain links rattled from impact. I was ready to start fighting, ready to thrash and scream and riot, but Yuuhi's face filled my vision, his index finger pressed against his lips in a gesture of silence.

I should have punched him in the face. I should have kneed him hard between the thighs. Instead, I looked past him. Jason had been untouched, left alone beside the vampire lord, who stole the moment to look upon him.

Jason showed no fear. Maybe anticipation, shock, filled with a thousand burning questions, but he wasn't afraid.

There was a moment of suspension, where the wind slowed and everything fell silent as Jason studied the vampire, who dressed as if he had stepped straight out of the birth of the industrial era with his starched shirt and stiff collar, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, complete with a waistcoat and trousers. Jason could see things that I couldn't, and I wondered what he saw, and I wondered what the vampire lord saw in him.

My tunnel vision faded then. The world opened up, and I realized what had happened. Toivo and Carmi and Rosette had escaped to the side of the street, out of the spotlight. Now, there were more vampires, but not like Yuuhi and Leon and the hodgepodge of others. These were men and women in pressed suits and jackets, sharing matching ties. Uniformed. Official vampires of the Vampire Alliance Court, armed and facing the opposite end of the street, where a conservative group of demons had appeared. Court demons. Dressed not unlike the average human military officer.