I couldn’t see who she was talking to until Unending raised her scythe. Its blade glimmered, revealing a slender young man. A spirit that had been around for quite a while, judging by his appearance. “Oh dear,” I muttered. “How long have you been down here?”
He looked scared, backing into the corner. “Stay away from me.”
“A human who died here.” Unending sighed.
“Yes,” he confirmed. “I don’t remember much… I don’t even know how long I’ve been down here, but you!” he added, scowling at me. “You keep your distance, vampire! My people have suffered because of your kind for too long!”
“This is awkward…” I muttered, feeling sorry for what he must’ve endured. “But what you went through, it was a long time ago. We’re not hurting people anymore. We feed on animal blood and only on willing humans.”
The spirit was restless, agitated. But he was also skinny and weak, with dark rings around his eyes. He must’ve spent a century down here. No wonder he was so confused and out of touch. Unending took a step forward, giving him a warm smile. “It’s time for you to move on,” she said. “You’ve been here for so long…”
“Move on? Move on to where?” the spirit asked, suddenly alarmed.
“Somewhere better, I promise,” she replied, her scythe shining white. He tried to get away from her, but Unending was much faster. She reaped him with one swift move, and he vanished into a puff of golden sparks. Silence settled over the cell, and I felt like I could breathe better down here.
“This place has always given me the creeps,” I told Unending. Inhaling deeply, I felt relieved. “I think I know why now.”
“A lost soul can alter the atmosphere in a place over time,” she said. “If they stay lonely for long enough, they start to come apart. They decay and lose their sense of self. Over decades or centuries, many of them turn into raging poltergeists. It’s rare but always a tragedy.”
Looking down the hallway, I decided we could go a little deeper. “How has he been down here unnoticed all this time?”
“Seeley will tell you that the Earth’s Reaper division isn’t the brightest,” Unending muttered. “But the truth is they’re all the same, in any of the worlds. Spirits sometimes just slip through the cracks. Death’s system is imperfect, I’m afraid.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Speaking of Death… have you heard from her lately?” It was a topic we usually avoided, given their complicated relationship, but once in a while I felt like asking. After everything that had happened between Death and Unending, I doubted them drifting farther apart would help. I stayed out of their meetings as often as I could, and Unending had made a habit of keeping their scarce conversations to herself, out of respect for the Reaper-Death protocol. I accepted that, since there were aspects of my GASP work that never made it into dinner table conversations.
We were almost always together. A few years earlier, Derek had officiated our wedding—at least in the eyes of the living, Unending and I were married, though it didn’t really matter to an entity like her. It mattered to me, though, so she’d happily obliged. And even though we were inseparable, we’d learned to keep parts of our existence to ourselves—a way to keep our personal dynamic healthy.
“No. But she knows she should only reach out to me if it’s an emergency.”
“What about the seal?” I asked. “Does she keep asking you to remove it?”
Unending laughed lightly. “Every time I see her, in fact. But her requests will always fall on deaf ears. And yes, she’s obviously holding a grudge the size of Mortis against me. I hope she’ll eventually learn to accept her condition. I, for one, feel safer knowing there is at least one tiny limit on her.”
Slipping an arm around her waist, I pulled Unending closer as we continued our exploration of the cell maze beneath the Port. We were bound to reach the surface eventually, but I had forgotten how huge this place really was. Hundreds of humans had been held down here in The Shade’s early days. Hundreds of lives changed forever by the whims of bloodthirsty vampires.
“Do you think Death will ever seek revenge against you for that seal?” I asked her after a long but pleasant silence. She shook her head.
“I doubt it. And if she does try something, I’ll be ready. It would be incredibly petty of her, however. And my siblings wouldn’t let her get away with it, either. She may be our maker, but she is also emotionally attached to us. She loves us.”
“She has a funny way of showing it,” I grumbled, remembering all the wrongs Death had committed purely because she was stubborn and hated being questioned about her decisions. But Unending gave me a pained look—she didn’t want to talk about Death anymore.
“You know, I’ve been meaning to tell you. I’ve remembered more things from my living days,” she said. “Well, not my living days, exactly, but those of the woman whose soul Death copied to make me.”
I stopped, suddenly intrigued. “Oh?”
“Yes. It’s strange. It’s only when I force myself to sleep. I don’t really sleep; you know that. I have no need for it. But whenever I close my eyes and sit still for long enough, I… I find myself walking through her memories.”
“How long has this been going on?” I asked.
“A few days, maybe a week. I think it started shortly after our last conversation about having children,” Unending replied.
Ah, the dreaded subject. We both wanted to start a family, to settle down somewhere and try living a slightly more ordinary life, if only for a century or so. The only problem was that I was the only “living” part of the equation necessary for procreation. It was a delicate topic, mainly because Unending wasn’t ready to go the adoption route. More than once, she’d said she was convinced we could find a way to have children naturally, though she had yet to give me details or even the faintest idea of what she meant by that.
“I know it’s touchy, but the thing is… it’s further reinforcing my desire to want to experience childbirth,” Unending said, her hands resting on my chest. “It’s a feeling so strong, so intense, I cannot ignore it. The woman whose soul I’m based upon didn’t have any children, and she lived the last of her days regretting that. She died alone in a mudslide that wiped out her entire village. I saw it happen. Tristan, I felt the pain in her heart as she said goodbye to this world and this life, wishing she could’ve left something behind. Someone. A child. A future.”
“You know damn well I am behind you on whatever decision you make about our family,” I replied, my heart filled with love for this incredible creature. “Whatever you decide, I’ll support you. Personally, I don’t care how we make our family. I just want it to happen.”
“I understand, and I love you a thousand times more for being so supportive,” Unending said as she brought her hands up and cupped my face. “These past twenty years of freedom have been incredible. And I’m well aware that it’s only the beginning, after almost five million years in captivity. But I am beginning to have these wants, these needs I don’t remember having before. Like settling down somewhere without having to look over my shoulder.”
She moved back and turned around a couple of times, laughing lightly.
“Like exploring new worlds and tasting a fruity cocktail on a sunny beach somewhere,” she added. “Or like… feeling the miracle of life growing inside of me.” She rested her hand on her stomach with a look of longing on her face. “I want experiences I’ve never had before. Experiences of the living. That is what my First Tenner siblings and I were deprived of. A life. An actual life. We carry the memories of the souls we were copied from, but we cannot feel them. We cannot live them all over again…”
“And you want to carry a baby yourself,” I concluded. “Yes, I understand. And like I said, I’m with you all the way, Unending. My only question is how do we go about doing that?”
Unending had spent almost five million years locked inside an Aeternae body, doomed to a cycle of rebirth and miserable death. None of those had been real experi
ences. That had not been her flesh since she’d been forced into it with seals, so she didn’t feel like she had ever truly lived. I wholeheartedly believed and supported her. She deserved anything she wanted, especially considering what she’d been forced to endure because of the Spirit Bender and the Darklings.
But the main issue remained. She wasn’t alive. How could she give birth if she lacked that fundamental trait?
I wanted nothing more than to take the vampire cure and be a father to our children. There was no hesitation on my part. However, the logistics behind such a step, given our circumstances, had me at a loss.
Unending sighed again. “I talked to Amal and Amane about this. Given their success rate with the dragons, I figured they might have some ideas. Unfortunately, they had nothing because, unlike the dragons, I’m undead. My sisters, Morning and Phantom, were equally befuddled. No one has been able to come up with a solution, but I refuse to give up. Have I gone insane, Tristan? Is the madness finally getting to me after my time on Visio?”
I shook my head and took her in my arms, kissing her deeply. My heart sang whenever our lips met, and it was a feeling worth my entire vampiric eternity. “You’re not crazy. It’s a powerful longing you’re dealing with, and I figure it’s connected to these memories you’ve uncovered, as well. I think that what you desire is entirely understandable. But are you ready to accept the possibility that you may never be able to do it? I want you to, obviously, but… you know…”
“I know,” she replied, closing her eyes for a moment. “I’m ready to accept that possibility, yes. I just don’t think we’ve gone through all the options yet. I don’t think it’s impossible for me to be a mother.”
A thought hit me. A thought I’d had before but had failed to follow up on, simply because it had seemed insane at the time. Seeing how determined Unending was to have a child, however, I figured… why not ask it aloud? “What if there’s a way to get you a human body? Or a living body that would be compatible with mine, at least?”
Unending’s galaxy eyes widened as she looked up at me. “A body.”
“Yes. Is there a way to transplant your soul into another body? Perhaps one whose soul has recently departed into the afterlife, but its physical structure can be magically repaired? Has no one ever tried this before? I get that your Aeternae vessels weren’t really yours because you were forced into them, they were part of a curse, after all. But what if you were willing to enter a body, this time around, and not via some binding seals like before. Wouldn’t that be different?”
“I… I’m not sure. I don’t know of such instances myself, but—oh…” She paused, suddenly displeased with her own conclusion. “I do know someone who might be aware of Reaper-to-functional-body transitions. She’s seen it all and then some.”
I immediately made the connection. “Death.”
“Yup. We need to talk to Death about this, my love.”
She made it sound easy, though we both knew it would be anything but. Unfortunately, if anyone could guide us in the right direction, it would be Unending’s maker. There was a chance Death might ask for that seal to be removed in exchange for any kind of assistance, and Unending knew it.
“We’ll figure out how to appease her once we get to Mortis,” she said, as if reading my mind. “If she wants the seal off, we’ll discuss it. I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we get there?”
“She might bluff.”
“Let her try.” Unending sighed, pursing her lips. “I hope she’ll be mature about this. Childbearing is important to me. It’s the one thing I want most at this point in my existence.”
I held her close, hoping that Death would find a way to come through for us. I wasn’t sure what we would do if she asked to have the seal removed in return for her help. I did hope that Death would have learned her lesson by now. Somehow, that thought wasn’t enough to convince me, and Unending seemed to be on the same page. She had spoken to her maker more recently, but the last time I’d seen Death was when we’d just defeated the Spirit Bender on Visio. I found some comfort in knowing that Unending was one of the most cunning and intelligent entities in my world. Surely, she’d know how to navigate any kind of negotiation with Death.
What were the odds that she’d actually help us? Death didn’t have a sparkling track record on the matter, and she also had a bad habit of keeping crucial secrets from us. I was well within my rights to be worried, but I was ready to do whatever it took to make Unending’s dream of being a mother come true.
Thayen
A day had passed since the glamor discovery, and my nerves had calmed down significantly. I’d been anxious and scared at first, but I was now shifting to a feeling of curiosity, wondering whether I could do something great with this ability, and it felt infinitely better.
Richard and I had decided to spend our morning in one of the training halls, sparring with wooden swords to improve our close combat skills. To his credit, he was extremely good in this particular area, mainly because he’d always felt the need to compensate for his non-vampiric nature.
“I love this place,” he said during a short break as he wiped the sweat off his face with a towel. “It’s the biggest training hall, plus the wall of faux weapons. Yeah, definitely worth putting us on the waitlist, Thayen.”
“It’s only a question of reserving the hall a week in advance. Most of our colleagues think of it the day before, which is why they often miss out and end up in one of the rooms next door,” I replied, stretching my arms before we went at it again.
“Well, I’m glad you picked up on it,” Richard said, grabbing his wooden sword and coming at me before I was ready. “Fight me, you coward!” he snarled playfully.
I didn’t need much time to block his attack, but he was moving a lot faster now. It was part of Richard’s strategy for any training session, which we always split into three segments, with a winner declared in each. We had a best-two-out-of-three policy that had worked well since we’d first started training together.
He’d let me win the first round, and he was coming for my head in the second. I appreciated the value of his shock tactics, but he’d forgotten one important detail—I knew exactly how he operated.
I ducked as he went for my neck first, then came up with my faux sword, aiming to “cut” him across the chest. He jumped back, grinning, before he moved around and tried to hit my side. Due to his werewolf nature, Richard was impressively fast. From his incubus side, his reflexes were equally good. He was a worthy adversary, and I enjoyed sparring with him because it helped me become a better fighter.
“You’re angling for a win now, huh?” I asked, dodging one of his attacks.
He laughed, and I failed to see his leg move. It swept my legs out from under me, and I landed on my back. “This isn’t the last time you’ll be staring up at the ceiling today,” Richard taunted, ready to deliver the so-called final blow as he raised the wooden sword over his head with both hands.
The back of my neck tingled, and I wondered if I could use my glamor ability on him. Seeley had advised me to only experiment during my training sessions with him, but I was itching to give Richard a slice of humble pie. But it didn’t work, and Richard brought the wooden sword down. I quickly rolled out of the way, refusing to give him the win.
His attacks intensified, but my ego refused to concede. I ended up in one corner of the room, still ducking and dodging Richard’s wooden sword.
“What the hell are you trying to do?” Richard asked, suddenly stopping. He was clearly amused, his emerald-gold eyes twinkling. I saw Anjani in him when he smiled like that. It was his smart mouth that Richard had inherited from Jovi, much to his mother’s chagrin. “Oh, don’t tell me you’re looking to glamor me,” he added, realizing my intentions. “That is so not cool. I try to keep my incubus nature under control when we’re training. It’s not my fault it works on everybody and not just the opposite sex! You heard Dad. The wolf genes tampered with the incubus ones.”
“And you s
uck at keeping it under control, anyway!” I countered, trying not to laugh. “It’s hard to focus with you around sometimes. Besides, I still don’t think I can just choose to glamor you.”
“Hm…” He nodded thoughtfully. “I’d need to make you feel like you were in danger, right?”
“Yeah, and you don’t really scare me. Sorry, dude.”
He smacked me over the head with his training sword, and I cried out from the sharp, burning pain that spread through my ear.
“What the hell?!” I croaked.
Richard chuckled in triumph. “You’re getting slow.”
“Oh, yeah?” I raised my hand and focused on the electric sensation swelling in my chest. It had been faint at first, but I could feel it growing now. Like a need. An instinct. A weapon that yearned to be used.
I channeled that sensation toward Richard, and it worked. It hadn’t been fear or anger that had stimulated the shard this time, however. Just mild irritation. The Reapers had been on point. It was getting easier.
He stilled, eyes wide with horror, as he realized what was happening. “Don’t even think about it,” he warned me, but it was too late. I could already feel myself latched on to him, his will mine, without a physical touch involved. I doubted I could do this from a greater distance, though. The link felt fragile.
“Drop the sword, Richard.”
It fell from his hand to land with a dull thud, and he stared at me, absolutely petrified. I didn’t want him to be too scared, but I wasn’t sure how to let go of him, either. I’d activated my power, but I appeared to have issues with disabling it. Seeley had been easier to let go of. My friend, not so much, and I wasn’t sure why.
“Strike a pose for me, Richard.”
“Oh, you son of a—” He stopped himself from talking as he brought one hand to his hip and posed. I doubled over laughing.
“See? It’s nothing to be afraid of,” I replied.
“I… You’ll pay for this!”
A Shade of Vampire 87: A Shade of Mystery Page 5
