“Reaper magic. I mean, I thought we had our hands full already, but this is going up to a whole new level of terrifying and weird,” I said. “They were pretty quick to clear out the basement, though, weren’t they?”
“Yes. I wonder what exactly they were keeping down there.” Derek sighed. “And until we find Zoltan, or at least a Darkling we can get to talk, I doubt we’ll figure it out on our own.”
“Has anyone talked to Taeral about this?” I asked. “After all, he’s got Thieron. His direct link to Death. I know she’s probably still busy with her seal removal, but I bet she might be able to tell us how Reaper magic made its way to the Aeternae, right?”
Derek shrugged, crossing his arms. “It depends. Without Thieron, Death has been out of touch with the Reaper society. That being said, it wouldn’t hurt to ask. She could at least make some inquiries with the Reapers assigned to Visio.”
“I’ve spoken to Taeral about this already,” Sofia said. “He will seek out Death and discuss this with her. Maybe then we’ll get some answers.”
My heart solidified into a stone for the briefest of moments, the ache impossible to ignore. This was a familiar feeling, something I had not experienced with such intensity since I was a little girl. Back then, the potential monster under the bed had made me jumpy for nights on end. I felt the same way now, only on a much more amplified scale. It was fear, the kind of fear that made it difficult to even breathe, sometimes.
The thought of Reaper magic in the hands of evil, fanatic Aeternae such as the Darklings terrified me. And in moments such as this, I found myself longing for Kalon. I hadn’t seen him since I’d first awakened from my injuries. Tristan had passed on his kind regards, but those did nothing for me. After everything we’d been through, I was at least hoping I’d see him around more. Kalon had been so caring, so kind. I wanted that side of him, now more than ever.
“Have you seen Kalon today?” I asked my brother.
He nodded briefly. “At breakfast. But he wasn’t in the best of moods. I suppose this whole Darkling thing is really getting to him, especially after what happened in the dungeons with you and Trev Blayne and Zoltan.”
“I suppose he hasn’t heard from Trev, either,” I mumbled, a knot tightening in the back of my throat. It wasn’t in my nature to seek comfort from other people, especially people who weren’t my brother or my parents, and yet Kalon had become a beacon of sorts for me.
I also hoped he might be able to fill in some of the blanks after my blackout. I’d been blurry upon waking up, as well, and I wasn’t sure I even remembered everything he’d said to me that morning. There were more unanswered questions than before, but at least we’d managed to put a face to one of our enemies here. I took it as a minor win—which was better than nothing.
I also knew that Zoltan had killed Nethissis. That, to me, was extremely important because I could now focus on the hunt and the punishment side of things. There was no way Zoltan was walking away from this. No way.
Despite my healing body and general sluggishness, I was more determined than ever to prove to the Aeternae that we were not to be played with. Zoltan and the Darklings had caused enough damage already. He had to be stopped.
Esme
A few hours later, I could see the reddish sky glimmering through the study room’s bamboo-like blinds—each about a millimeter thin. Flames flickered in the overhead ceiling light and on the wall-mounted sconces. It felt empty and lonely here, especially after spending so many hours in this bed.
Amal and Amane were in the quarantine area with Petra, checking on the patients and looking to organize another series of blood tests. Entry points around the palace had been secured, and a tally of cleared personnel and visitors was adhered to in a bid to stop the Black Fever from spreading. Even so, the Aeternae seemed to be in quite the pinch.
Though slow, the disease was clearly determined to make a devastating comeback. My only hope was that the Faulty twins were able to at least hamper the Black Fever until they could develop a cure, thus putting an end to millions of years of heartbreak and senseless death.
Sofia and Derek were spending the day with Acheron and Danika, like they’d said—yet another avenue which I hoped would pay off soon. On one hand, I wanted to believe that the Lord and Lady Supreme had nothing to do with any of this Darkling malarkey. On the other hand, I couldn’t stop myself from being suspicious. If they were involved, it would prove to be a devastating development… but what were the odds that the Lord and Lady Supreme of Visio knew of and were even in cahoots with the Darklings, without Kalon or Valaine or anyone else associated with them knowing anything about it? It wouldn’t have made sense.
I’d talked to my parents about this, too, using the comms system. They worried about me, but Dad had also been quite adamant that I could handle this. That my brother and I would eventually get to the bottom of whatever was disrupting life on Visio. Mom, on the other hand, had suggested that we leave this place as soon as we got the day-walking protein. I wanted to agree to do so, but the more time I spent here, the harder it was to even think about saying goodbye.
Despite its mysteries and dangers, Visio was an extraordinary world. A civilization that thrived on its immortality. A society that found its emotional release in the organized violence of the Blood Arena tournaments. As weird as it was, Visio certainly had a way of growing on me. Even after everything that had happened, I was still fascinated by it and its people.
The door opened, ever so slowly, and Kalon stepped in.
For a moment, my frightened heart stopped altogether, and I wondered how I’d gotten to this point. I was fearless by nature, but Visio had found a way to try and break me. I worried it might even succeed, unless I pulled myself back together. But how could I, when my physical state made me more human than vampire?
“Good day, Esme,” Kalon said, his voice low but soft.
He wore leather pants, tightened over his muscular legs with leather strings. His boots rose up to his knees, and the matching tunic wrapped itself around his torso as though he’d been sculpted by the gods themselves. His short black hair was combed back, silvery streaks glistening whenever he moved, and there was a darkness in his cold, blue eyes. The Visentis sigil was mounted on the left side of his chest, in the form of a brooch. I had seen it before, but it stood out with this outfit.
Peeling my eyes off his athletic and yet elegant physique, I managed to look up and nearly lose myself in his icy gaze. “Good day to you, too,” I replied flatly, wanting to at least suggest that he should’ve come around much sooner, especially after our shared experience with Zoltan and the Darklings. “It’s been a while.”
“I should apologize,” he said, lowering his head for a moment. “I should have come sooner.”
“Mm-hm. You could’ve. Why didn’t you?”
Kalon looked at me again, and my ribcage suddenly became too small. Hell, the entire room seemed tiny, making it difficult for me to even breathe. “I felt useless, Esme. Like I had nothing to offer, nothing to help you recover faster. There is, of course, a smidge of guilt, as well. If only I’d found you sooner down in the dungeons…”
“That was out of your control, Kalon,” I replied. “You can’t possibly take any responsibility for what happened with Zoltan. I’m thankful you came to my rescue when you did, and I’m pretty sure I mentioned that when I first woke up.”
Kalon sighed deeply. “You did, and I appreciate it. But that doesn’t really make me feel any better. It’s not you, it’s me.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “That is such a cliché among the breakup lines of this universe.”
“Breakup?”
Ah, the cultural differences were rearing their ugly heads again. “It… It doesn’t matter anymore,” I said, offering a broad smile. “At least you’re here now, right?”
“How are you feeling?”
“Will you people stop asking me that? I’m alive, I’m breathing and healing, and I am more than ready to get out o
f this damn bed already!” I snapped, and Kalon’s eyes widened for a second, making me laugh. “I’m going stir-crazy, Kalon. Please, tell me you’re here to get me out of this room.”
He closed the distance between us, sitting on the side of my bed. His hand covered mine, lips stretching ever so slowly. “It’s good to see your spunk is back at its usual peak levels,” he said, clearly amused.
“Just don’t avoid me again, Kalon. Not after our shared experiences.”
He nodded slowly. “I won’t. Coming here now, I realize what a fool I have been. I’m sorry, Esme. I’m with you, all the way.”
The double meaning of that last part of his statement was impossible to ignore, but my heart was racing so fast… I had trouble working up a worthy reply. All I could do was bask in the relief of seeing him here, thankful that not much had changed between us.
The gaps of the Zoltan incident persisted, though. There were things I couldn’t remember, things I felt were important, perhaps even crucial to the bigger picture of that night.
“What happened after you came in? You know, after Zoltan cut me.”
He frowned. “You still don’t remember,” he said, and I shook my head. For a moment, I could swear relief had just loosened his broad but stiff frame. Kalon cleared his throat and brushed his fingers up my forearm. “You were pale… paler than your usual self. I thought I might lose you, and I was already hyped up.”
My skin tingled, his touch leaving fiery traces all over.
“You fought Zoltan, didn’t you?” I asked, my throat dry.
“I tried. But he was no match for me, and he knew it.”
“Especially in your weird Aeternae beast-mode, right?” I giggled, looking for some humor to take the edge off each of the sensations that his mere touch inflicted on my being.
“When I heard you cry out, even before I reached that room… I don’t know, Esme. I lost it. The thought of you hurt or worse… it brought out the most dangerous part of me,” he said. “I was ready to tear Zoltan’s head off, right then and there, but he was quick to get away. By the time he was gone, I realized that getting you to safety was more important than anything else.”
Taking deep breaths, I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to go through the fuzziness surrounding those last minutes before the blackout. I’d done this before, but with no result. Maybe Kalon’s presence might trigger something—or at least I hoped it would.
“You tore into them, didn’t you?” I asked.
“The Darklings? Yes.” His voice echoed through, as I distanced myself from reality and treaded deeper into my memories of that night.
“And Trev… He left, right?”
“Yes. It’s why I’m—”
“There was a Darkling. A ginger-haired girl,” I said, gripping that one loose thread I had yet to tie into my account of those events. “Was she alive when you found us?”
Opening my eyes, I found Kalon looking away, his gaze fixed on a nearby wall. “No. You must’ve torn her heart out.”
Chills ran through me. I didn’t remember that. I remembered the frenzy, my struggle to survive. I remembered Trev and me, fighting tooth and nail, tearing and slashing and kicking and punching… but I couldn’t, for the life of me, remember that particular moment, and it wasn’t in my nature to forget such things. Killing someone was always a big deal for me, personally. I carried all the people I’d killed with me, forever, and the ginger felt… wrong.
“I don’t think so,” I mumbled. “I would’ve remembered it.”
“Esme, you were hurt. Badly. You couldn’t even stand anymore when I got to you. The adrenaline must’ve kept you going for so long that by the time I reached you… I don’t know, it must’ve fizzled out.”
I searched his face, looking for some sign of deception, but there was nothing. His heartbeat was steady. He sat up straight, almost defiantly, and not at all as though he was holding something back. I simply had no reason to distrust Kalon at this stage in our relationship. He’d saved me.
“She would’ve been useful, I think,” I said after a while.
“Who?”
“The ginger Aeternae. She would’ve been useful.”
Kalon sighed. “Esme, the memory is a fickle thing. What happened to you that night was obviously extremely intense. Downright traumatic, even. I doubt you have any control over what you can remember and what you cannot,” he said. “Perhaps we should help you focus on something else, to give your mind some time to recover.”
“What the heck am I going to focus on? I’m in bed all day.”
A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth. “Are you really going to stay in bed another day? Frankly, I could use your help in tracking Trev down.”
“Trev? I thought you’d be waiting for him to reach out to you first.”
“I wanted to, until I remembered that the Darklings have been one step ahead of us this whole time,” Kalon replied. “I worry Trev is in grave danger, no matter where he goes. The Darklings knew he was infiltrating them, so the odds are that they know more about him than he thinks.”
“Including where he might be hiding, right?”
He nodded again. “I need to make sure he’s okay. My family has a few remote properties across the continent, most of them unknown or inaccessible to the common people. I can give him the keys to one of our cabins as soon as we find him. At least that way, I know where he is and I know he is safe.”
“If Trev’s gone into hiding, where would we even begin looking for him?” I asked. Newfound energy buzzed through me, making my limbs tingle with excitement. The prospect of leaving this bed and this room was all I needed to feel like I could, in fact, pull this off. A little search-and-rescue mission was the perfect warmup for hunting down Zoltan Shatal and making him pay for everything he’d done.
“I know Trev better than he knows himself. Hopefully, I know more than the Darklings looking for him, at this point,” Kalon replied.
“So, you’d be able to find him.”
“With you by my side? I can do anything,” Kalon replied. We stared at each other for the better part of a minute, the intensity between us making the air crackle with electricity. There was something brewing here, a chemistry like nothing I had ever experienced. We spoke with our eyes and we listened with our hearts, and I wanted to believe that Kalon was the beacon of hope in my life, considering these murky circumstances.
The doubt I’d harbored before had all but fizzled away as I sat here looking at him.
How could I not trust the very Aeternae who had saved me from death by Reaper scythe? Zoltan wouldn’t have let me walk out of those dungeons alive. Had it not been for Kalon, I would’ve been gone. Dead and buried.
I gave him a soft smile. “Well, then… Can you help me get to my room? I’d have to change into something more search-and-rescue-y.”
We both looked down at my pale yellow linen gown, a simple layer of fabric wrapped around my body and tied with satin strings. Kalon helped me get up, slipping an arm around my waist as I stood for the first time in days. My feet touched the cold floor, and I sucked in a breath, wiggling my toes with childlike delight.
My side hurt, and my left thigh was still only partially functional. My arm was healing slightly faster, though I had yet to regain full mobility. It was, however, proof that while the scythe cut affected my overall recovery, parts of me were coming back. I hoped I’d have my arm back by tomorrow. The leg would take longer.
Every step I took sent jolts of pain all the way up to my hip, but I found that, the more I moved, the less it hurt. “This is going to take a while,” I said as Kalon helped me walk toward the door. “Are you sure you want me to come with you? I mean, by the looks of it, I would only be slowing you down.”
“Esme, you’ll be fine. You just need to move,” Kalon replied. “I don’t see you breaking into a cold sweat right now, so you must be better.”
He had a point. There were definitely signs of improvement. “Please, tell me we’ll be riding
Visions,” I said as he opened the door and helped me toward my room.
“Of course. I’ve got our friends already saddled and ready to take us wherever we want to go.”
I looked at Kalon and found him smiling. “Good. I kind of missed Midnight’s Dream,” I said, referring to the Vision mare he’d had me ride the first time we went to the Blood Arena together.
“Lightning might be a little miffed with me, seeing as I’ve neglected him over the past few days,” Kalon replied. “I reckon a trip together will make him feel better.”
Remembering the Visions, I could almost see Lightning and Midnight’s Dream before us, tall and muscular, polar opposites of one another. I missed the feel of Midnight’s soft black coat against my fingertips, along with the thrill of riding her. Kalon had said Lightning was the fastest Vision he’d ever ridden, but Midnight had outrun the black-maned stallion before.
The more I thought about them and the wind rushing against me during a Vision ride, the better I felt and the more my walking improved. Part of the recovery required a good psyche, and the chance to go horseback riding on Midnight was just the kind of push I had needed.
Gripping Kalon’s arm for a hot second, I stopped in front of my room. “I’ll see you in a bit,” I said, opening the door.
He stood back, arms crossed, half-smiling as he watched me disappear into my chambers. My heart was racing, but I had to be careful. Sudden movements could pop a stitch or two, and the last thing I needed was a hemorrhage midride.
Despite all the violence and mayhem that seemed to have befallen Visio, I couldn’t help but grin as I made my way into the bedroom and found myself an adequate change of clothes for what was bound to be a long mission. Trev wasn’t going to allow us to easily find him.
I decided not to tell Amal and Amane of this little road trip until I was away from the palace. They cared for me, and I knew they were both going to blow a fuse once they heard where I’d gone.
A Shade of Vampire 80: A Veil of Dark Page 2
