Its claws sliced through my uniform, cutting the fabric and leaving deep scratches over my arms and legs. It growled as it tried to literally bite my head off, but I refused to yield. This was a fight for survival now, and I was the only one who could do something about this creature. It squirmed whenever I tried to claw my way out of this mess, the slippery devil.
It pinned me, its bulky legs pressing down on my chest and cutting off my air supply. I couldn’t move. My hands were immobilized, and its jaw unhinged as it prepared for the final blow.
I had no idea how to get myself out of this. I could smell death on its putrid tongue. My heart stopped, and a sharp pain cut through it, much like a hot knife chopping a stick of butter. I cried out as I stared the ghoul in its big, beady black eyes, and something snapped. Something came loose inside me. A desire to live. A refusal to die.
The ghoul stilled, suddenly looking quite pained.
My head hurt as I willed the creature away from me. “Leave me alone!” I shouted.
To my astonishment, it moved back. Its head twitched—its agony was almost palpable—but I also felt the force beaming from inside me. Somehow, I was controlling the fiend…
“Get back!” I said, gritting my teeth. Whatever this was, I had to ride it out until I was safe. I had to push until there was nowhere left for me to push. I saw the air trembling as the strange energy left my fingers. Whatever this was, I had to let it loose. Pressure built up in the back of my head, demanding that I release it all. “Get back!” I cried out again, and the force was so powerful that it brought the ghoul up on its hind legs.
He stumbled backward, unable to resist my command.
Seeley appeared behind him and cut him down with his scythe. The ghoul vanished into a cloud of silvery ashes, and Seeley passed right through him. Nethissis soon joined us, looking alarmed and breathless as she ran down the aisle between the middle rows of tombs.
“Thayen! Are you okay?” she asked, putting her weapon away.
I nodded slowly, my head suddenly empty. I could breathe again, but the ache in my heart persisted. It felt weird, as if the muscle itself had been cut or scratched from the inside. It only took me a few moments to remember the shard that had been left inside my heart. The Spirit Bender had been destroyed a little over twenty years ago, but Death had decided to leave the last of his soul shards inside me, since the heart muscle tissue had incorporated the crystal into it. Removal of any kind would’ve killed me, and no one had thought leaving it would have any side effects.
“This doesn’t make sense,” I murmured.
“What, the fact that you manipulated a ghoul into doing your bidding?” Seeley asked, his brow furrowed as he reached me.
Richard appeared in the doorway, disheveled and covered in dirt and grass. His eyes widened when he saw me. “You’re okay!” he blurted.
“What the hell happened to you?” I asked. “You look like you lost a fight with a lawnmower.”
“We helped him with the poltergeist.” Nethissis chuckled. “He was in over his head.”
“Hey, you said we’d only have ghouls to deal with!” Richard retorted as he trotted down the aisle, dirt falling from his shredded uniform. There were scratches all over his body, but nothing that a little bit of Kailani’s healing potions wouldn’t fix.
“Well, surprise, surprise, Richard. A field mission turned out to be more than you’d anticipated,” Seeley said, unaffected by the wolf-incubus’s irritation. Truth be told, I knew the Reapers would come to our aid. A pack of ghouls wasn’t going to take them down. They had two decades of experience together in this specialization. Lubbock was child’s play for Seeley and Nethissis, even if they had seemed slightly overwhelmed at one point or another.
Rudolph stayed by the door, crouching in order to look inside. “By the stars, he’s gotten huge,” I murmured. “Every time I look at him, I’m like… wow.”
“What went down in here?” Richard asked the million-dollar question as he reached us. He offered me a hand, and I took it, pulling myself up.
“I think our boy just spirit-bent a ghoul,” Seeley said matter-of-factly.
“Don’t even joke about it!” I snapped, fear and anger flashing through me. The rush and the power I’d experienced earlier had dissipated, leaving me a bumbling mess.
Seeley shrugged. “We all kind of saw it coming.”
“Wait, what?!” Richard croaked, taking the words right out of my mouth.
Nethissis sighed deeply, her shoulders dropping. The black-and-white fabric of her long silk dress captured some of the moonbeams sneaking through the lateral windows of the mausoleum, temporarily snagging my attention. I still remembered the day I’d first met her, back when she was alive. A copper-haired Lamia dressed in rust-colored silk—a style similar to the way her Reaper uniform had designed itself upon her appointment. Not much had changed about her since, apart from the fact that she belonged to the realm of the undead. “I’m sorry, Thayen. We kept this to ourselves because we didn’t want you or your parents or anyone else in your life to worry about it,” she said.
“Death left the shard inside your heart because—”
“It would’ve killed me to remove it. Yeah, I know that part,” I said, cutting Seeley off.
“What you don’t know is that she suspected—and we all agreed—that the shard would eventually manifest some kind of Spirit Bender ability,” he replied. “Think about it. That’s a piece of his soul you’ve been carrying inside you. Your heart grew around it, so naturally the crystal and all its spiritual energy became a part of you.”
“So the Spirit Bender isn’t really gone?” Richard asked, suddenly horrified.
“Nah, he’s gone, all right. Gone forever, no longer in existence. It’s just that this little piece inside Thayen remained,” Seeley said, pointing a finger at my chest. “We assumed the power contained within would manifest sooner or later. We just weren’t sure when.”
“Or whether it ever would,” Nethissis added. “It’s why we didn’t tell you. We didn’t see the point of worrying you if nothing happened.”
I crossed my arms, not sure what to think of all this. “Gee, thanks for that.”
“I wonder why it manifested now, though,” Seeley muttered, eyeing me carefully. I felt like an animal at the zoo, watched and studied by various biologists. It was a weird feeling to have, and I wanted it to stop.
“The last time Thayen was in a real life-threatening situation was during our standoff with the Spirit Bender. We agreed back then that he was too young for the shard to manifest its powers; otherwise, he would’ve reacted against Spirit or Corbin. Right?” Nethissis asked Seeley, and he nodded in return.
“Yeah. That was the general consensus.”
Nethissis smiled at me. “You’re all grown up now, and I’m thinking the shard finally had room to manifest, but it needed a bit of a jumpstart. Like a real scare. A life-threatening situation, which you haven’t really experienced since you were eight. See where I’m going with this?”
“You think a ghoul trying to bite my head off kickstarted the Spirit Bender’s shard in my heart?” I asked, trying to wrap my head around the whole concept.
“Yes. Consider it your legacy, I suppose. You can bend spirits of any kind, though I am not sure of the extent of this power, given that you’re a living creature in possession of merely a fraction of what Spirit had,” Seeley said.
“Man, that’s wicked.” Richard’s eyebrows raised in astonishment.
Part of me was inclined to agree with his assessment, but at the same time, I found it genuinely terrifying to have something of Spirit’s active inside me. It made me feel connected to him, and I’d spent the past twenty years trying to put the Visio nightmare behind me. It didn’t seem fair that that Reaper monster was still haunting me.
Glancing over Seeley’s shoulder, I noticed a strand of silvery ashes settling on one of the tombs where I’d last seen the ghoul that had tried to kill me. “Spirit’s ability saved me,”
I whispered.
“Listen, I’m sorry you found yourself in a pickle down here,” Seeley said. “We just had a bigger workload than we originally anticipated. Unfortunately, Earth’s Reaper division is still lagging behind the others, hence why we still come upon these poltergeists once in a while. Unreaped souls tend to fester like that…”
“It’s okay,” I replied. “It’s part of the job as a GASP agent. The risks and whatnot.”
“Well, it’s a good thing you can spirit-bend people now,” Richard said, scoffing.
I gave him an alarmed look. “Please don’t call it that. I’m not even sure I can pull it off again. I don’t… I don’t feel anything right now.”
Nothing except for the adrenaline finally wearing off, and the details of tonight’s mission and near fumble coming to the forefront of my consciousness. Richard and I had done okay, all things considered. We had both survived, and we were maybe one percent less rookie than a few hours ago.
“We’ll figure it out,” Nethissis said to me. “A few tests with the First Tenners, and we’ll see exactly where you are with that shard in your heart. It’s going to be okay.”
I wanted to believe her. I had to.
The idea that everything would be okay sounded better than the prospect of being even one tiny part Spirit Bender, which was how my brain was processing this development. If I had a piece of him in me—an active piece with his power—then what else did I have in common with that devil?
I knew that mindset was wrong, but I also didn’t know how this power would manifest in the future. I didn’t know its limits or extremes, either. But Nethissis had a point. We’d figure this out, one step at a time. For the time being, I allowed myself a moment of reprieve. Richard and I had survived two vicious poltergeists and a ghoul. We were off to a good start as GASP agents, for sure.
Sofia
My heart pounded as I waited for Thayen’s return. He’d already told us about what had happened, but the conversation had been short, the subject merely skimmed over. There was only so much he was willing to tell us over the comms channel, yet I could tell he was tense.
Derek and I waited in the Port, settled on a bench near the pier, listening to the ocean’s lazy lapping at the pebbled shore. The eternal night stretched across the sky, delighting its beholders with a flurry of twinkling stars and an almost full moon that seemed to know more than we did. It had been an hour since we’d last heard from Thayen, but we knew he’d be back soon, along with Richard, Seeley, Nethissis, and Rudolph. The whole team was due to return and file a mission report with Rose and Caleb.
I was nervous and struggled with keeping it to myself. Derek, always the observant man I’d fallen in love with ages ago, put an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close, kissing my temple briefly. “It’s going to be okay,” he said. “It’s just a mystery we need to unravel.”
“Baby… he has spirit-bending abilities,” I replied. “Doesn’t that worry you at all?”
“We don’t know if they’re permanent.” Derek sighed. “We don’t know their intensity, either. There is a lot we don’t know at this point. Besides, think about it this way—Thayen is a good man. Do you think he could ever be a danger to anyone, even with such an ability?”
I shook my head, fully aware that he was right. “He’d never use it to hurt innocent people,” I said. “But even so, what do you think the others will say once they find out? No matter how well we explain it, it still bears the stigma of the Spirit Bender. He did so much damage, Derek. Damage that will reverberate across entire generations. Mere association with his name might harm Thayen in the long run.”
The shuttle glimmered in the distance, growing bigger as it approached the spell shield that covered The Shade. Richard and Thayen had opted for a more traditional form of travel, mainly because they’d wanted to see as much of the sights as possible. It wasn’t often that they got to visit North America, so I understood why they’d chosen the shuttle. Richard was also a very good pilot, and he never passed up an opportunity to further hone that skill.
“Here they come,” Derek muttered as we watched the shuttle pass through Corrine’s protective shield, which shimmered slightly upon impact before returning to its usual invisible state. Our Shade was hidden from the rest of the world by this shield, but we could see everything beyond it.
“Finally,” I mumbled and got up. The shuttle hovered above the far end of the pier before it descended and landed on the water, its engines humming. Thayen came out first, followed by Rudolph, Seeley, and Nethissis. Before Richard could get off, Thayen anchored the shuttle onto the pier.
“Hey, Mom, Dad,” he said as he walked toward us.
In an instant, I was beside him, hugging him tightly and thanking all the gods and entities of this world for bringing him back to us safely. “Oh, honey, you gave us a good scare,” I told him.
“He’s fine,” Seeley replied, smiling. “It got a little too exciting at one point, but both Richard and Thayen performed well.”
“Please tell me you had control over the situation,” I said, trying my best not to seem alarmed or upset.
Thayen chuckled. “Mom. It was a field mission. Danger sort of comes with the territory.”
“He’s right, you know,” Derek whispered in my ear, but I wasn’t feeling any better.
“You can’t blame me. A mother will always worry about her child, especially a child who has been through so much from such a young age,” I said, reminding them of Visio. It wasn’t the most comfortable of subjects, but it quickly got the point across. “With that being said, I really do understand. Forgive me for worrying. I’m not sure I’ll ever grow out of it.”
“She does the same with Ben and Rose,” Thayen replied, looking at Seeley and Nethissis. Rudolph was busy scanning the waters on the edge of the pier. They were rife with fish, and his interest had been piqued. It was like watching a massive, hairless, and deformed cat waiting to catch its prey. Weird and charming at the same time.
“Okay, my parenting aside,” I cut in, wearing a nervous half-smile, “I’d like to know more about what happened in Lubbock today.”
Thayen and the others exchanged nervous glances before Seeley took the lead and gave me and Derek all the details of the cemetery incident. Thayen then proceeded to explain how he’d felt prior to unleashing his power, along with the precise circumstances that had led to that moment. By the time they were done, I had a clear picture of the whole issue. Derek and I were both relieved to confirm that Thayen had clearly acted in self-defense.
“The shard must’ve simply activated itself,” Nethissis suggested.
“We have a number of theories on the subject, but neither of us is as knowledgeable about the Spirit Bender as his siblings are—Unending, in particular,” Seeley added, hands behind his back as he looked at me. “I suggest bringing her over to discuss this new development.”
I nodded my agreement. “Yes. Let’s go to the Grand Hall and have a private chat there. I don’t want anyone else finding out until we can determine exactly what is going on here.”
“Are you ashamed of me or something?” Thayen asked, his brow furrowed. Beside him, Richard seemed a bit shaken up. His gaze kept wandering away, his eyes widening whenever Thayen spoke. I doubted he had any control over his body language.
“Not at all, honey,” I replied. “But the mere mention of Spirit’s name, even after all these years, makes people nervous. I don’t want anyone to so much as look at you funny, let alone see the Spirit Bender in you.”
“Son, you know how people can be, even those of The Shade. Fear makes us irrational sometimes, and until we fully understand what this ability of yours entails, I agree with your mother. It’s best to keep it in the family for the time being,” Derek interjected.
“For what it’s worth, I also agree,” Seeley added. “The fewer people who know about this, the better. Once we figure out exactly how far this ability reaches, what its conditions are and so on, we can tell the others.�
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Richard exhaled sharply. “I think what will really scare people is the idea that a part of Spirit, even this tiny shard, still lives on inside you. The thought that he might find his way back into existence somehow… I don’t know, at least that’s how I see it.”
He had a point. Perception was everything, especially where Thayen was concerned. Nobody wanted a liability around them, and if the people of Visio suspected him of having any kind of tie to the Spirit Bender, no matter how small or distant or insignificant, it could easily jeopardize his ascension to the throne in a few more decades. After all, our son was the first in line to take over from Mira and Kemi as Lord Supreme, and Thayen had shown no signs of wanting to forfeit that future.
Maybe we could temper the reactions around GASP and The Shade, but there was only so much we could do for the masses, the hundreds of thousands of people who were still trying to forget everything they’d been through because of the Spirit Bender. Many of the Trakkians were still longing for their Aeternae days, and even a hint that they might get that back somehow could trigger all sorts of turmoil. Yes, the Reapers were ready to intervene, but… ugh, the potential fallout was still too much.
“I think you’re right. We’ll keep it to ourselves for now,” Thayen said. As if reading my mind, he offered his own argument for secrecy, “I’m not sure how the people of Visio will see me if they learn this piece of Spirit’s soul inside me is giving me his powers. After all, we let them believe Spirit was completely gone after Death destroyed him, and we have actively avoided any mention of the shard since.” He let out a heavy sigh, lowering his gaze for a moment. “I’d hate to put Mira and Kemi through any kind of trouble over this. Let’s figure out what’s actually going on first.”
Relieved that our son shared my concerns, I led the way back to the Great Dome, where Derek reached out to Tristan via the comms system and asked him and Unending to come over. We had quite the conversation ahead of us.
A Shade of Vampire 87: A Shade of Mystery Page 3