Her act of freeing me had always been a shot in the dark. A hope I’d held on to without telling her. I hadn’t wanted to disappoint her with the prospect of it not working. I’d needed her armed and ready and willing. Amazingly, it had all worked out.
She’d not only successfully performed Aloquian Mavris twenty freaking times, she’d also literally cut a rune chain off a ghoul. If the former had been more possible for a spirit with a scythe, the second had definitely been a clear mark of how different she really was. I had a lot of questions for Death, where Nethissis was concerned. Now, I could finally ask them.
“I wish I could hold you.” Lumi sighed, her voice trembling.
“You and me both,” Nethissis replied, a smile lighting her up from the inside.
“What happened to you, honey?” Lumi knew, but it probably felt good to ask that question aloud. Nethissis let a deep sigh out, her shoulders dropping.
“I wasn’t careful,” she said. “A ghoul whacked me.”
“They were blaming Zoltan.”
“Well, it was his ghoul,” Nethissis replied.
Lumi looked at Sidyan and me. “It’s not normal. Death by ghoul shouldn’t count. Right?”
“I’ll have to address this with Death,” I said. “Along with a few other aspects, including how Nethissis was able to keep herself invisible to scythe-wielding Aeternae. That was unexpected.”
“Do it. Talk to Death. I need to know. We need to know,” Lumi insisted.
Sidyan stepped in. “Rest assured, we’ll raise the questions soon enough. Frankly, I’m now just as curious as Seeley regarding Nethissis’s invisibility issue. Meanwhile, however, you know we still have work to do. This whole rescue was not part of the plan.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, frowning.
Lumi rolled her eyes. “You have no idea how hard I had to fight him on this. By Death’s order, we were supposed to remain invisible. That meant leaving you and Nethissis to fend for yourselves back there.”
Anger burst through me as I scowled at Sidyan. “Dude. You would’ve left me there? Seriously?!”
“It was one of the options, yes,” Sidyan replied. He shook his head, looking at Lumi. “Just one of the options! I wasn’t going to leave him there!”
“Right. Sure. Okay. I believe you,” Lumi retorted, crossing her arms. “Where’s Maya?”
“Who?” I asked. Clearly, I was miles out of the loop, and so was Nethissis, who looked equally confused until she put two and two together.
“Oh, snap. That tiny ghoul!” she exclaimed.
“Maya is a friend. Also, yes, a small-sized ghoul,” Sidyan said, looking around. “She’ll be here in a… wait, there she is.”
Running up the hill with Veliko’s hand clutching his scythe still in her mouth, Maya seemed quite pleased with herself. I unhooked the Darkling’s cold fingers from around the scythe. Ironically, I now had two weapons, and none were mine. I’d get my blade from Zoltan soon, though. He was not meant to have it.
“I’m going to hold on to both,” I said to Nethi, “until I teach you an invisibility spell, so you can carry a scythe without showing yourself. You’ve already proven yourself quite adept with death magic.”
Nethissis gave me a soft nod, then looked down at Maya, who was now busy devouring Veliko’s hand.
As gruesome as it looked, I had to admit, there was some satisfaction brewing inside me, knowing it would take that bastard months to grow a new one. I did hope he’d be killed by then, but, if he somehow survived what was to come next, he’d at least be miserable.
“Good girl,” Sidyan said, stroking the ghoul’s tuft of black hair. The creature purred, settling next to him like a faithful pet. This was weird, to say the least.
“I’m sure there’s a backstory here, and you’re going to tell me all about it, right?” I asked him. Sidyan offered a faint shrug, affectionately looking down at Maya.
“Yeah. She’ll probably be the literal end of me, but for as long as this might last, I’m happy she’s here. Maya’s a good girl.”
Nethissis cleared her throat, holding up the scythe. “So… What do I do with this?”
“Whatever you did when you first had it,” I said. “You clearly have a knack for Reaperhood.”
Her eyes widened as she stared at me. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’ll have to talk to Death about it and let you know,” I replied, mentally preparing to open a telepathic connection with my maker. I was dying to tell her everything we’d learned so far. “Besides, she’s got a lot of answers to give us.”
“No, don’t reach out to her!” Sidyan stopped me, looking downright frightened. “Not yet.”
Lumi cursed under her breath, prompting Nethissis to pay extra attention. “What the hell is going on here? What are you two not telling us?”
Sidyan exhaled sharply. “It all sort of comes back to Maya and me. And Death, too, for that matter.” It didn’t take him more than a few minutes to explain the entire situation, including Death’s orders regarding Visio. But at the end of those minutes, I felt significantly more tired than I’d ever felt before.
“You have got to be kidding me.” I scoffed, shaking my head in dismay. “The Spirit Bender?! Really?”
I’d had my suspicions, sure. But they all faded in comparison to Death’s theories up to this point. None of this felt right, and yet we had to keep going like this, exercising discretion instead of ringing alarm bells all over the Reaper world.
“Let me get this straight. While Death and her First Tenners work to free her from those seals, we’re supposed to just keep following the Darklings around and find their top leader?” Nethissis asked. “And until then, I shouldn’t ask Death about what she can do for me, given my… unnatural situation?”
Sidyan nodded slowly, while Lumi teared up again. “I’m sorry, honey,” she murmured, and Nethissis smiled gently.
“It’s okay, Lumi. It’s obviously none of your doing. No one expected me to end up like this. But you! You piss Death off by making buddies with a ghoul, and we’re the ones paying the price?” Nethissis snapped at Sidyan, who took a couple of wary steps back, closely accompanied by Maya.
“Let’s give Death something to go on, first. She’s the only one who can fix this, as soon as she’s out of those seals,” Sidyan said. “Then, we’ll all get to make our cases before her. You, for maybe another shot at life. Me and Maya, well, I suppose for just a little bit of mercy. I’m not sure you remember, but Death does not operate by your moral standards. She never did. She’s capricious and moody. She can level an entire planet if she lashes out. We have to be careful and make sure we’ve got something good before we can ask her for anything.”
As horrid as that might’ve sounded, I knew that to be true. The good deeds she’d done after the Hermessi apocalypse was stopped were not a guarantee that she would follow the same pattern. That she would spare Nethissis and bring her back. Sidyan was right. We needed to make a solid case for ourselves.
“We have to prove our worth and usefulness,” I said. “The fewer reasons she has to wipe us out, the better it will be for us.”
“And we can’t speak to the living about this,” Lumi reminded Nethissis. “Tristan, Esme, Sofia, Derek… GASP… No one can know we’re here. We’ll have to be careful with the Darklings, too. They saw us. They know there are at least two Reapers on the loose, and they’ll be looking to tie up these loose ends soon enough.”
I pointed at Astoria. “Right now, I think they’re just looking to disappear.”
Flashes of light erupted across the ruins, while Tristan and Valaine’s small army proceeded along the main road toward them. Seconds later, I couldn’t see any more movement in the ancient city. The Darklings and the ghouls were all gone, leaving behind the bodies of their fallen and probably traces of their death magic, too.
Frankly, I was disappointed, but at least we’d managed to spook them, to show them that they couldn’t just mess around with Reapers indef
initely.
“It’s okay,” Lumi said. “At least we got you guys out of there.”
“We don’t have anyone else to rely on, other than ourselves,” I replied. It didn’t sound good, especially since Death had tasked us with finding the Darklings’ leader—well, she’d tasked Sidyan and Lumi with it, but since I was free again, I hoped Death could at least sense that I was also on board.
Nethissis placed a hand on my shoulder, and I looked at her, warmth spreading through my very soul. She was my silver lining, my escape. My shining light, and we’d survived a week with the Darklings together. “We’re more than enough,” she murmured, and I knew that to be the absolute truth. “We’ll get through this. Now, if we can find Rudolph, too, it’ll be some extra strength added to our crew.”
Sidyan lowered his gaze, sadness drawing the corners of his mouth downward. “Poor fella. I can’t believe they turned him.”
“Yeah. How did they do that, exactly?” Lumi asked.
Nethissis and I both shrugged. “We’re not sure,” I said. “We didn’t see the actual process. Only the final result. But it’s safe to assume that every Reaper that made it to Visio since the Darklings’ inception has ended up a ghoul in their service.”
Maya growled, glancing downhill. Something moved between the bushes, making the large leaves tremble. She bolted and jumped into the green mass. A creature responded, poking its head out and hissing with discontentment as Maya nipped at its bony shoulder.
“Rudolph!” Nethissis exclaimed.
I was genuinely relieved to see him. He carried injuries and the iron collar around his neck, but with three scythes between us, that wasn’t going to be a problem for much longer.
“Oh, Rudolph,” Sidyan murmured.
Maya dragged the ghoul uphill. Rudolph yanked himself out of her hold and reached us with a grumble, settling at Nethissis’s feet and looking at her with childish adoration. It still broke me to see him like this. However, I was also impressed by his resilience. Despite being reduced to this form, he’d managed to fight for the right side, more than once.
“So, we’ve got two Reapers, two ghouls, and two witches, one of whom is dead,” Nethissis concluded, raising an eyebrow at me. “It’s us against the Darklings, huh?”
“Pretty much,” I replied, slightly amused.
“Oh! I almost forgot!” Nethissis gasped. “We need to tell Valaine something. Or at least Tristan!”
Lumi was intrigued. “What are you talking about?”
“I overheard Zoltan talking. He says… I mean, it’s the Darklings’ belief that it’s not the Rimians or the Naloreans causing the Black Fever. It’s an Aeternae, one of their own, who unwittingly starts the cycle, normally every ten thousand years, though much faster this time around.”
“That’s why they want Valaine dead,” Lumi managed. She and Sidyan had eavesdropped on Tristan and Valaine’s conversations on their way here. It wasn’t hard to draw the same conclusion.
Nethissis nodded. “Exactly. They think she’s the source.”
“But that’s insane. It’s a virus. They tested the blood of everyone in the palace, Valaine included. I remember that from GASP’s earlier reports. It can’t be Valaine.”
“Maybe. But the Darklings don’t care. We need to tell her,” Nethissis said. “She needs to know that they will stop at nothing until she’s dead.”
“It might give Amane and Amal a reason to do a more in-depth study on Valaine, too,” I suggested. “Perhaps she really is the true carrier, but not so easily detected. We can’t exclude that possibility.”
Lumi thought about it for a while. “Seeley’s right. We need to find a way to tell Tristan first, without revealing ourselves, ideally. We can’t jeopardize our side of the mission, no matter what.”
This felt wrong on so many levels. I understood Death’s desire for discretion on our part, but we were all stronger together. Despite my rigorous upbringing as a Reaper, I did believe that this was one of those instances where we were better off working with the living rather than parallel to their efforts. It felt like the first half of the Hermessi apocalypse, all over again.
We were making progress, for sure. But we were also being hampered by secrecy and mystery. I would’ve killed to speak to Kelara, as well, and find out what she was up to, but Sidyan looked at me, and I knew it was time for us to keep moving.
Our work was nowhere near close to ending.
At least Nethissis and I were around and together for a while longer. Better than nothing.
Tristan
As soon as we entered the ruins of Astoria, we all knew that something had happened here. It was hard not to reach that conclusion, considering the dozens of runes carved into marble monoliths, the smoldering traces of campfires, and the body parts and puddles of blood left behind. Something terrible had occurred in this place, and we had a hard time wrapping our heads around it.
The gold and silver guards fanned across the ancient city to investigate, gathering evidence and recording their notes on small scrolls, using drops of their own blood for the ink. That was an odd custom, I thought.
“It’s how we mark field documents as official,” Valaine clarified, watching me intently. She’d probably guessed what I’d been thinking. “A soldier’s blood is his vow and his word. It’s been like this for eons.”
“We missed them by a short period of time, don’t you think?” I replied, as we got off our Vision horses and toured the city. Corbin joined us, equally befuddled as he looked around.
“Less than an hour,” he said. “But the Darklings were definitely here,” he added, pointing at runes carved into a chunk of marble on the ground. “Those are symbols I’ve seen in the basement before.”
“They didn’t have time to hide their tracks, this time around,” Valaine replied, crouching and running her fingers across the etched surface. “Something surprised them. Something violent.”
We reached the bloodiest area of Astoria. Body parts had been left here, now pale and drained of blood, which covered most of the dirt and dry grass in two different spots. I studied the footprints and every single trace I could see. I took deep breaths, analyzing every scent I could catch. I touched the congealed blood pools and turned over a limb or two. By the time I was done, I had quite a story to tell.
Valaine’s eyes were on me, glistening with curiosity. Again, I felt as though she was right inside my head, listening to my thoughts in real time. We’d been around each other so extensively that she was able to read my body language and facial expressions almost as well as my sister. Needless to say, I was once again impressed by her keen observation skills. Yet another reason to fall for her—in the midst of all this chaos.
“What can you tell us about the events that unfolded here?” she asked.
Corbin looked at her, then at me, and I knew I had to speak, wondering if they’d deduced the same. After all, we shared numerous abilities, despite our different species. “The first carnage occurred here, near this square area,” I said, pointing at a section of battered ground, where multiple tracks could be seen, like chicken scratches in different directions. “I can’t quite identify what sort of footprints these are, but they must be some type of animal. They look familiar, though. I’m sure it’ll come to me. The important thing to note is that they were kept here, with chains linked to this boulder.”
I got closer to the giant piece of marble, where a massive bolt had been screwed in, several iron links hanging from its looped end.
“I’m willing to bet those are Aeternae body parts,” I added, nodding in the appropriate direction. “Whatever was held in these chains gorged on some Darklings here.” My temperature suddenly dropped to icy lows. This all seemed familiar.
Valaine smiled, visibly pleased with my conclusion. She pointed at the second bloody spot. “What about here?”
I followed the traces, checking the footsteps again. “They formed a wide circle around this whole area,” I said. “Someone got injured here, and her
e,” I said, stopping in two different spots in the middle. “Here, there’s a medium amount of blood loss and more evidence of an animal or something, judging by the imprints. My guess is there was an Aeternae keeping a beast of sorts down.” I gasped, finally putting two and two together. I had never dealt with these creatures directly, so most of my knowledge came from GASP reports. “Oh, crap. Ghouls. They were keeping ghouls!”
“The blood loss is severe here,” Valaine said, joining me in the second spot. “If the injured person was also an Aeternae, it wouldn’t have been fatal, but certainly a serious inconvenience.” She frowned. “Ghouls? What are ghouls?”
“Oh, trust me, you don’t really want to know,” I replied.
“By all means, explain,” she insisted.
I gave her a brief description of what the ghouls were and how they came to be. It didn’t help make her feel any better about all this.
“Tristan, I think you need to tell us more about ghouls and Reapers and death,” Corbin interjected. “We’re clearly missing a lot here.”
“I think it’s best if we keep reading the scene, for now,” I replied. “The subject of ghouls and Reapers is far too complex. Either way, the presence of such creatures just strengthens our initial fear that the Darklings have gotten their hands on dangerous death magic. The ghoul broke through the circle,” I added, following the same animal tracks. “It tore through the Darklings, then went over here, where the severe blood loss occurred.”
“So, the ghoul that broke the circle did this, too,” Valaine said, staring at the dried blood next to our boots. “Nice catch, Tristan.”
“The problem with ghouls is that they can become invisible. They mostly eat raw flesh, but their favorite meal consists of the souls of the dead,” I replied. “And if the Darklings have such monsters under control, it makes them all the more dangerous.”
Corbin cleared his throat. “There are no traces showing us where they went, though. We can talk about what happened here for as long as we’d like, but the bottom line is we’ve yet to find Zoltan.”
A Shade of Vampire 80: A Veil of Dark Page 20
