As Darkness Falls by Riley Storm

Chapter Thirty-Two

“What is this place?” I asked as we moved out after a few moments of staring.

The ledge we were on ran parallel to the mountainside, slowly descending toward the city far below us. Aaron walked swiftly, forcing me to churn my legs to keep up. Pieter, the smallest of his team by a large margin, was actually slowly jogging.

My eyes kept darting to the city. I didn’t let myself stare for long, because I kept inadvertently drifting closer to the edge. It was a long way down, and since I’d yet to master the art of flying, I forced myself to pay attention to the path.

The city was built out of the same stone as the world around us. I could see that much detail. Not to mention, it was vast, huge beyond measure for a city that wasn’t of human design and scope. It stretched for miles in every direction, butting right up against the face of the mountain below, as best I could tell without peering too far over the edge.

Nor was it short and flat. There were tall towers and vast, wide, warehouse-like buildings. Beautiful architecture composed of curves, sharp angles, and flat sides, all somehow combining into something that looked ancient yet modern, all at the same time.

It was more pleasing to the eye than I thought vampires would ever be capable of building.

Speaking of them, for a city that would have been a massive metropolis on earth, I couldn’t pick out any movement below. The entire city looked abandoned. Dead.

Yet, there must be life down there. Right? Someone had to have made this place. Had they just abandoned it?

“This is Madrigal,” Vir said quietly and with slight reverence.

I shook my head, staring out at the beautifully empty city. “Is that supposed to mean something to me?”

“You human’s used to call it Troy.”

I stumbled, reaching out and clinging to Vir for support, terrified that I was going to plunge to my death. The giant shifter god casually wrapped an arm around me and lifted me back to my feet, keeping his hold on me until he was satisfied I was walking properly once more. Then, he let go.

Very slowly.

I felt his fingertips drag over my side and lower back as he unwound his thickly muscled arm from my waist. That elongated touch did things to me that I didn’t want to think about right then.

Thankfully, I had a distraction.

“Troy?” I whispered. “As in, the fabled city of Troy? That one? From all the human legends? Trojan Horse? Achilles? Helen and the thousand ships? That Troy?”

“Yes,” Vir said. “That Troy.”

“But…” I pointed at the city. Then into the air. “It. How. Here? Earth?”

Vir smiled. “In ancient times, it was cast here.”

“How?” I wondered softly. “Why?”

“That,” Vir said, his tone hardening, “is for another time. Come, we must hurry.”

I noted that we’d fallen behind the others. Not wanting to risk getting left behind, I jogged alongside Vir as we caught up, my mind trying to process everything I was learning. It wasn’t going so well. My brain was breaking down with all the new knowledge that it had been introduced to over the past few weeks.

“Where is everyone?” I asked after another few minutes of studying the city. “It’s empty. If this is Aaron’s homeland, shouldn’t there be, like, I don’t know, other vampires?”

“Let’s hope not,” Aaron said from the front of our little line. “That would just make things all sorts of uncomfortable.”

“You’re the only one uncomfortable,” I pointed out. “And I’m wondering why. Care to tell us?”

“No,” Aaron said sharply. “I don’t care to tell you.”

“I didn’t think so,” I said quietly, feeling particularly emboldened and angered by the constant dismissal. “Because you don’t want to tell us anything.”

Aaron whirled on me, his eyes bright blue, filled with matching fire and anger.

“You hired me to guide you to Tartarus and back out again,” he snarled, advancing on me. “So that’s what I’m going to do. I’m not obligated to tell you anything more than that. Just to do what you hired me for.”

I finally clued in that Aaron had been saying “you.” He said he wouldn’t tell “you” more. The word had been directed at me. Just me. I was the only one in the dark here about what was going on.

Looking around the group, I realized it was true. The rest of Aaron’s team was shuffling awkwardly, holding their weapons while they waited for us to continue. Vir, meanwhile, was at my side, his eyes focused on Aaron, but even that was only to protect me in case Aaron lost his temper further. I wasn’t sure how I knew that, but I did.

Soulbond, both helping and hindering. Lovely.

“Fine,” I said, realizing I was going to get no backup. “You’re right. As long as you’re remaining true to your contract.”

“I am,” Aaron said, relaxing immediately. “I always honor my contract.”

So far, I had no reason to doubt his word on that. He’d gone above and beyond with his prior contracts. There was no reason for me to believe he wouldn’t do the same with this one.

“That you do,” I agreed, using my words to forge an end to hostilities between us.

I hadn’t realized just how tense Aaron was until now. He’d never raised his voice or looked so angry before. Not at me, at least. For him to lose his composure and snap like that, this must be serious.

“Good,” Aaron said, nodding sharply. “Now, come. I don’t want to be here any longer than necessary.”

He turned and walked off.

I hurried to keep up. “Should I be expecting a rude welcoming party? I don’t mean to pry, but everyone else here seems to know what’s going on. I just want to be ready.”

Aaron was silent as we continued to descend our path. Yet, I could see the corners of his mouth working.

“I don’t think so,” he said at last.

So, he didn’t expect one, but he was ready, just in case. Well, that was good to know because now so was I. The time for gazing in awe at the city had passed. Now, I needed to be wary of our surroundings, of what I could see.

It took us several hours more to reach the bottom, at which point we promptly plunged straight into Troy.

If only you could see me now, Dad, I thought wistfully, wishing my father could be here to enjoy this, in a different setting. You would have loved this.

The history buff in him would be so excited. I knew because he’d nurtured that bug in me, and I was going crazy with a desire to explore the city, to live in the life of those who had done so in this very place thousands of years before.

It was hard for me to focus as I tried to take mental pictures of everything we passed. I studied the cobblestone streets, the stone walls and doorways, the rooftops, and more. I looked at carvings, dug into the side of buildings, and tried to peer into doorways. I watched the statues on the rooftops and–

I hissed, coming to a hard stop and staring up at the roof.

“Aaron.”

Aaron was at my side in a heartbeat, Vir right beside him. I could hear the rest of the team closing up around us.

“What?” He growled quietly. “We need to move. We shouldn’t pause here.”

I pointed at the building. “There was a statue there when we first came into view,” I said.

Aaron stared at the rooftop. It was empty. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” I said quietly, replaying it in my mind. “I don’t know detail. It was hard to see. Covered in shadows. In the dark.”

Now, I frowned. There were no shadows being cast on the building. It was open, exposed. Anything up there shouldn’t have been so dimly lit.

“You’re certain about this?” Aaron asked uneasily. “Absolutely positive?”

“Yes,” I replied. “What does this mean?”

Aaron hissed something under his breath, looking around.

“It means,” he said in a low, hardened tone, “that we’ve been found.”