Dream and Nightmare were the happiest to see the band reunited.
“You lucky bastards,” Nightmare said, hugging his siblings one at a time. “You get to go out there and look for the others. How has the world been recently? I miss it…”
“Ugh, you’re such a drama queen,” I said. “You’ve only been here for half a year. Not an eternity.”
“Shut your piehole, sister,” Nightmare replied. “We need variety, otherwise we go stir-crazy. So allow me to fawn over the traveling adventures of my brothers and sister before I take another stab at seal number 998.”
“Any news?” Death asked, sitting on the edge of the water hole, her fingers tracing the links on her chain.
Soul knelt before her. “I am sorry, but we haven’t had much luck. Not yet, anyway. We’ll pick up a lead for the Night Bringer soon, though. I’m certain of it.”
“What makes you say that?” Death replied.
“We’ve heard rumors of eternal night settling somewhere in the Supernatural Dimension,” Widow said. “The problem is we haven’t found anything concrete enough. No location. Not even a local legend or something to suggest that our brother took residence on a particular planet.”
Phantom nodded. “But we will keep searching. For now, however, we’d like to help you with some of those seals.”
Death looked downright disappointed—not that I could blame her. Bringing the First Ten back together had been a high-priority mission for her, taking precedence over the removal of Spirit’s seals. She lowered her gaze, staring at the runes still covering her pearlescent skin, and let a deep sigh roll out of her chest.
“What is it, Mother?” Time asked, his brows pulled into a deep frown.
“I only have more questions. No answers. I don’t like it,” she said. “These seals are holding me back, and I feel rather useless. Incomplete. Paralyzed.”
Time glanced my way. “What is she talking about?”
“Seeley,” I replied. “He’s on Visio with a group of GASP people, and there’s something weird going on there. According to him, there wasn’t a single Reaper in sight. I’ve asked my superiors about this, but they’ve yet to get back to me with an answer.”
“What is Seeley doing there? With the living, out of all people?” Soul grumbled.
“They don’t know he’s there,” Dream said. “He’s just shadowing them, though we don’t know why. Our maker refuses to tell us.”
All eyes were on Death again, who, in turn, shot us all a cold grin. “It’s on a need-to-know basis, for the time being.”
“Typical.” Soul scoffed. He smiled at me. “Heard you knocked one of the seals off. Nicely done, rookie!”
“Rookie?” I replied, my back stiffening.
“Can’t you just take a compliment?”
“Not when it comes from you, because it’s never really a compliment, is it?” I asked, albeit rhetorically. Soul chuckled, sitting with his legs crossed next to Death.
“Cheer up,” he said to her. “We’ll figure it all out. We’re just a little handicapped, for the time being.”
“Our missing siblings aren’t making it any easier,” Phantom replied.
“Do any of you know about Visio?” I asked, my gaze wandering from one First Tenner to the next. Time was the first to nod.
“In the Earthly Dimension, if I’m not mistaken.”
“That’s right,” I said.
“I passed by that solar system a very long time ago,” he replied. “I don’t remember when, exactly, but I know there weren’t any signs of life at the time.”
“It’s inhabited by a species that call themselves Aeternae,” I said.
Soul smirked. “That’s a bit on the nose. Let me guess, they live forever?”
“Linguistics, huh? The same everywhere.” Phantom giggled.
“Apparently they’re a lot like the vampires,” I replied. “Essentially immortal. Unless you cut their heads off or tear their hearts out. They’re day-walkers, though. Apparently that’s where Derek got his ability from. The issue isn’t with who lives there. It’s with who isn’t there. Specifically, Reapers. Not a single one in sight, which is bizarre.”
“And we know nothing of this world?” Soul asked, looking at Death.
“I don’t remember much,” she said. “There should be agents of mine there, though. Without my full powers, I’m unable to investigate, as you all know. So, for the time being, assume I am as ignorant as you.”
Widow scratched the back of his head, and I could hear the subtle squeaking of his gloved fingers against the leather of his gimp suit. “Do you want us to go there and check things out?”
Death shook her head. “No. I need you all to go back to your search. Bring your siblings back. Don’t worry about the seals’ we’ll crack them all, eventually. As you can see, Reaperhood goes on without my direct involvement, at least for now. Finding the Night Bringer, the Morning Star, and the Unending is paramount.”
Time checked his pocket watch, narrowing his eyes. “I think it’s time you stop dodging our questions,” he said. “We want to know why you want us back together. The real reason.”
Death’s expression gathered dark shadows as she glowered at him. The air thickened around us, as the others gave me nervous glances. But Time didn’t seem all that impressed.
“You can pout and huff and puff all you want,” he continued. “You’re not scaring me. There’s nothing you can do to me now, and by the time you will be able to punish me, I’ll already have the information I need. So why not just tell us? Why do you want us all back together, Mother?”
Death got up, prompting the others to take a couple of steps back, as a measure of precaution. It made her smile, knowing that they still feared her, despite what the Time Master had just said. “Okay. You want the truth?”
“Yeah, we do,” Phantom murmured. The others nodded in agreement.
“I’m lonely. I’ve been limited in my powers and isolated for too long,” Death replied. “And it’s because we were all so happy, so good, when we were all together. I miss those days. All the spirits I gathered on Mortis were not enough to make me as happy as the First Ten.”
“Technically speaking, there’s nine of us now,” Widow mumbled.
“And it still hurts me!” Death said, her lower lip trembling. “Watching Spirit die tore me apart on the inside. He deserved it. He deserved so much worse, too, but… at the same time, it pained me deeply to watch his demise. So… that’s it. Really. The truth. The whole truth. I miss my children.”
For a moment, none of us dared to speak. Dream and Nightmare were practically mush, warmed and softened by Death’s emotional statement. I wasn’t sure about Widow, but Soul and Phantom were also relaxing under her gaze, understanding the significance of her heartfelt words.
I found it beautiful, too, watching them all together, like the weirdest and most dysfunctional family I had ever come across. But there was love here. The kind that transcended time and space and every other dimension of this universe and beyond. And for the first time in millions of years, I assumed, Death was finally opening up to her “children.”
The Time Master, however, didn’t seem convinced, and I was inclined to believe he suspected something. Nevertheless, he didn’t pursue the matter further, choosing to give Death a soft smile instead. “I understand,” he said. “We’ll do our best. I promise. We’ll bring them all back to you.”
He didn’t take his galaxy eyes off Death as she relaxed and took deep breaths, her feet dipping in the ice-cold water. A flurry of foreign thoughts shot through my head, like arrows that pierced my brain and made me crumble. I dropped to my knees, crying out in pain, trying to make sense of the words.
“What’s wrong?” Soul asked, genuinely alarmed.
“Messages… I’m getting messages from too many Reapers at once!” I grunted, struggling to register as much as I could, given the speed with which the information was being projected directly into my mind.
“Oh, I
hate the overloads,” Phantom said, her lips twisted with displeasure. “It’s one of the things I don’t miss about being an active Reaper.”
I had never gotten so many messages at once, but it had to be important, since so many of them were basically telling me the same thing. A cold chill ran through me as I managed to look up.
“We have a problem,” I breathed, my arms suddenly heavy, as if made of lead. I dared not stand, worried my knees might not be able to hold me upright. “No one knows who was assigned to Visio. They’ve checked the records, everything. It’s like it just slipped through the cracks, somehow.”
“For how long has it been like this, unattended?” Death asked, deeply concerned.
I went through the many thoughts still swirling through my head, until I got a vague answer from one of my superiors. “At least a couple million years. The Reapers who last handled Visio are gone, but we don’t know why.”
“Well, that can’t be good!” Widow concluded.
“Here’s a question. If there aren’t any Reapers on Visio, where do all the souls go?” the Soul Crusher asked, looking at me. “You said Seeley didn’t see any Reapers or souls there. So where are they, if no one’s taking them into the world of the dead?”
“That’s what I’d like to know, as well,” I murmured, forcing my weary mind to focus on Seeley. I reached out to him through our telepathic connection, finding a sliver of comfort in being bound to him like this. Of all the Reapers I’d ever dealt with, Seeley was, by far, the one I trusted most. “Can you hear me, Seeley?”
“Yeah. Any news?” he asked, his voice soothing the storm I’d just endured.
Looking at Death and the First Tenners, I nodded slowly. “There aren’t any Reapers assigned to Visio, for some unknown reason. There haven’t been Reapers there in at least two million years, if not longer.”
He didn’t answer right away, and I knew it had come as an understandable shock to him. “How can this be?”
“We have no idea. But Soul made a good point. Even if there were no Reapers, there should at least be souls on Visio, probably more than on other worlds,” I said.
“But there aren’t any.”
“Which is why you must be careful in your investigation. Something is fishy there, and you need to get to the bottom of it,” I replied.
“Should I approach Derek and his crew about this?” Seeley asked, and I relayed his question to Death.
She shook her head. “Under no circumstances. There is to be no fraternization between the living and the undead. Not to mention the dead!”
“You heard her, right?” I said.
“Yeah.” He sighed. “I don’t like this, Kelara.”
“Me neither, but let’s be honest. There’s nothing Derek or his people could do for us. There’s no need to involve them in any of this,” I said. “We’ll have to handle it ourselves.”
“I’ll be in touch,” he replied.
“Remember, Seeley. Be extra careful, going forward. Whatever is going on there, it is not good. I’ll assemble a team of Reapers from our circle to assist you. I’ll let you know when they’re on their way, okay?”
“Thanks, Kelara.”
I felt him slip away from me, our telepathic connection dimmed. You shouldn’t thank me yet…
I had no idea what he was dealing with. And it scared me. After all the stunts that the Spirit Bender had pulled behind our backs, being taken by surprise like this was quite a blow to the entire Reaperhood. Whatever was happening on Visio, it needed to be dealt with swiftly. Whether it was the work of ghouls or something else—what, exactly, I didn’t know—we had to resolve it before things got out of hand.
For the first time in ages, I felt genuine fear. I worried about Seeley.
Esme
The dinner was pleasant, as we got to drink more of the Rimian and Nalorean blood that had expanded our senses like an out-of-this-world nirvana. We learned more about Visio and their working relationship with their neighboring planets and principates. Acheron and Danika enjoyed telling us about trade routes and the political history of the empire, while Corbin Crimson took his time explaining the role of the gold and silver guards around the city and the palace.
Zoltan Shatal did not speak much, but we did get a better understanding of how the Aeternae’s government worked. Later that evening, as varieties of sweet blood were served for dessert, Petra Visentis explained the logistics behind the blood farms. As the high priestess, she was the upper-most responsible figure in the Aeternae’s ruling elite, where procuring blood was concerned. On Visio, it was treasured as the life-giving force, beyond its physical properties. It had a powerful spiritual significance, as well, thus bringing Petra to the forefront of the entire process.
They’d put together an impressive system, for sure, but both Tristan and I were convinced that they were not telling us everything, so we’d stuck to our original discussion, already making plans to go invisible and explore the palace one of these nights.
Throughout the evening, I kept stealing glances at Kalon. I couldn’t help myself. There was just something about him that warranted an in-depth investigation. Of course, his physical appeal played a huge part in my fascination, but I had also begun to wonder what he was hiding beneath that arrogant playboy façade. I’d heard good things about him from Zurah, my handmaiden, but I still couldn’t let go of the possibility that he had his hands in some pretty nasty pies. Creatures like him had a tendency to fit into a particular pattern, and I was rarely wrong about this.
I spent the night tossing and turning in my giant bed, listening to the songs of nocturnal birds outside my window. I wondered about the Aeternae, the Rimians and the Naloreans, and this so-called balance they claimed to have achieved. I thought about the blood farms and how the people were treated there. The origin of the Aeternae, too. Where did they come from? How had they developed to this stage?
Did they have something in common with the Elders of Cruor, somehow, or were they simply a separate species, superior to our vampires through their ability to walk in the sunlight? Danika had suggested running some blood tests to ascertain the similarities and differences between our species, and I knew Amal was more than ready and willing to do them. It would take some days, at least, to get conclusive results, but I was already dying to better understand where we stood, next to the Aeternae, unable to shake off the thought that maybe we were related in some way, no matter how small.
Kalon invited us to watch a tournament in the Blood Arena in the morning, which made it all the more difficult for me to actually catch even the tiniest of Zs. As the sun rose through the hazy sky, I smiled, thankful to Zurah for having pulled the semi-transparent curtains, shielding my bedroom windows from direct sunlight. Shortly before breakfast, she came to my chambers with a new dress for the day.
While I wasn’t exactly comfortable with wearing dresses on a regular basis, I wanted to adhere to the local styles so I could blend in better. Today’s outfit was a chic and elegant combination of a full gray skirt with a softer crinoline underneath, a white shirt with collar ruffles, and a matching gray jacket with velvety laces, which Zurah tied in a neat pattern, creating a beautiful overall effect.
“I think you’ll enjoy the Blood Arena,” she said, as she pulled my hair into a tight bun at the top of my head, adding a smidge of fragranced oils to keep it smooth and shiny and light. She fitted a small hat on the side, with silk flowers and colorful beads and lace ribbons. “While I’m not a fan of violent sports, I do appreciate their rules.”
“What rules?” I asked.
She applied a delicate pearl powder to my skin, which illuminated my expression and allowed the following layer of peach blush to stand out. “There are no claws or fangs allowed in the tournaments,” she replied, dabbing a finger in a thick and soft red wax, which she then spread over my lips. It smelled of sweet roses, and I had to admit… their natural beauty tricks were charming and enticing. “Only weapons and physical strength.”
“That’s interesting,” I murmured, admiring myself in the mirror, while Zurah mounted a mother-of-pearl brooch on a silver inlay at the base of my neck, making it seem as though the lace ruffles poured out from it. Again, I recognized echoes of English Victorian fashion, wondering if there was some sort of collective style consciousness that went past the confines of time and space. There were just so many things here that I’d already seen on Earth, as well as in Eritopia and other parts of the In-Between and the Supernatural Dimension.
“I believe Lord Visentis invited you?”
I nodded. “He did, yes.”
“He’ll tell you more about the tournaments and their history, since he’s one of the greatest champions of the Blood Arena.” She giggled, fitting a pair of low-heeled boots on my feet. “Oh, I brought you these, as well, to shield you from the sun.”
Zurah brought out a short velvet cape with a large, stiff hood, big enough to cover my head and keep me under a decent shade. She’d added a gray linen umbrella and matching gloves, as well. Her thoughtfulness made me smile as I rose from the vanity chair to face her.
“You are too kind, Zurah. Thank you.”
“Fortunately, you won’t need the hood for too long today. The sky is strange on Visio, and the sun doesn’t burn much. However, we don’t want you to risk it.”
I left her to tend to my room, putting my hood and gloves on before I walked out. I had the umbrella in one hand, my comms piece in my ear, and a handful of emergency items in a hidden skirt pocket. We might’ve been guests here, but it was still a good idea to have some magic handy, at least.
Kalon was already at my door, waiting quietly and patiently, his hands behind his back. His face lit up at the sight of me, while my heart skipped a few beats, the temperature suddenly rising between us. Oh, I was definitely attracted to him, but I was also aware of the danger looming beneath the surface.
A Shade of Vampire 78: An Origin of Vampires Page 18
