A Shade of Vampire 83: A Bender of Spirit

by Forrest, Bella

  The circle in the dirt was only a couple of feet away. I slid downward and scratched at it with my scythe. As soon as the line broke, pressure was released from the air around us. It was as if the whole town could breathe again.

  “It’s done!” I shouted.

  “Good!” Seeley replied and ran toward me.

  I felt his arm snake around my waist. Dozens of Darklings and ghouls scrambled toward us, more furious than ever. For precisely one second, I worried they might take us down, but then we vanished. The world warped and swirled around us like watercolors dripping into a whirlpool of clear water.

  The silence that suddenly surrounded us was sheer bliss. I allowed myself to relax in Seeley’s embrace as we lingered between dimensions for a little while. Looking into his galaxy eyes, I felt warmth spreading through my chest, a sensation I’d thought would be limited to a physical body. Nevertheless, Seeley seemed to have that effect on me.

  “I’ve never seen you fight like that before,” he said, his voice low.

  “Impressed?”

  “Impressed wouldn’t even begin to cover it,” Seeley replied, a smile testing his lips.

  I chuckled softly. “The need for survival persists even in spirit form, I guess. But Seeley, I was able to touch one of the Darklings back there.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked.

  “I grabbed his head. I was able to finish the job by grabbing his head,” I explained. “I felt his hair between my fingers, his warm skin against… well, against mine. It’s one thing to be able to hold a scythe as a spirit, and something else entirely to touch a living person, right?”

  He tilted his head to the side. “Yes, that ability is usually reserved for Reapers.”

  “Which I’m not.”

  “Which you’re not.”

  “So… what can we make of it?” I asked, confused.

  He kissed me, and everything else disappeared. Darkness and nothingness embraced us, sweet and quiet, as I dissolved in his arms. An echo beat rhythmically where my heart would’ve been. Pa-boom. Pa-boom. Almost like a pulse, quickening as Seeley deepened the kiss. It was bewildering to be able to touch him this way, let alone to feel his lips on mine. But I didn’t question the moment. I merely lived it with everything I had.

  Who knew when we might share such sparks again?

  Gradually, the world returned around us with a new array of shapes and colors. Seeley pulled his head back and gave me a loving smile. “Time to get back in there, witch.”

  “After you, good sir,” I replied, scrunching my nose at him. It made him laugh, though the humor faded when we both remembered where we were—on the edge of the Nightmare Forest, reunited with the rest of our crew.

  Night was on the ground, heaving, the spike still piercing his shoulder. “As soon as we felt the circle break, Soul got us out,” he said. “Well done, Nethissis. You continue to amaze us.”

  I almost felt a blush coming on. “Meh. Teamwork.” Looking around, I breathed a sigh of relief. “At least we all made it back.”

  Ridan cursed under his breath as Caleb helped him sit up. Kailani patched his wound with a mixture of herbs and sterile bandages, while Rose checked the living team members from head to toe. Hunter had sustained some nasty scratches, and Trev’s wounds would take longer to heal—they were shallow, but they’d been inflicted by Reaper scythes.

  “I might’ve said this before, but what the hell?” I croaked, kneeling next to Night.

  Widow joined me, carefully checking the runes carved into the spike. “This has Spirit’s name all over it,” he said. “He taught the Darklings more than we originally anticipated. It’s no surprise, mind you, but it’s still upsetting.”

  “Will he be okay?” I asked.

  “I’ll be fine. He just needs to be careful with the removal. The spike has already formed roots,” Night replied, beads of sweat forming all over his face.

  “Roots?” Trev asked, utterly befuddled.

  Some of our ghouls came back, appearing out of nowhere. I counted thirty, and Rudolph was among them. He staggered toward me and settled down by my side, shuddering. Soul gave him a pitying look. “Say what you will, but Rudy here put up quite the fight,” he muttered.

  “Explain the roots, please,” Trev said, unable to take his eyes off Night.

  “Oh, it’s just a nasty First Tenner trick,” Night said as Widow carefully wiggled the spike around, looking for the right angle to pull it out. “The spike is charmed, and as soon as it enters my spirit, it starts to merge with it, hence the roots.”

  “What happens if you leave it in there?” I asked, finally feeling the exhaustion from all the earlier fighting.

  “It affects his personality,” Widow said. I couldn’t see his face because of the mask, but I could hear it in his voice—he was worried for Night. “The spike is usually infused with a character trait meant to disrupt the original Reaper. It’s meant to sow chaos and confusion, to break a Reaper down.”

  “Is it lethal?” I asked.

  Widow shook his head. “Not to Night. But it might turn him into something we won’t be able to control. The sooner we get this thing out of him, the better.”

  He managed to pull the spike out, its newly formed roots trembling green. “Ugh, I’d be nauseated if I still had a body,” I managed. Widow set the spike on fire. It burned quickly, leaving a peculiar green ash behind. “Is Night going to be okay now?”

  “Let’s hope so.” Kelara sighed, putting her scythe away. “We need to head back to Orvis and reassess everything. What happened earlier must not happen again. We were woefully unprepared.”

  “Our intel was bad,” Trev said. “And I swear I had nothing to do with it.”

  Rose shook her head. “No one’s blaming you, Trev. But the truth is impossible to deny. We got played, and it looks like we can no longer trust your sources.”

  “They saw us coming,” Kailani grumbled. “This was definitely retaliation for Laramis. They’re aware of the First Tenners’ presence, yet they continue to defy us. Something tells me they’ve got more to wow us with if we push them.”

  “Then we’ll have to revisit our strategy,” Soul said. “But for now, we must return to Orvis and keep an eye on Night, just in case some of the spike’s essence affected him. I do not want to be on his bad side.”

  Widow scoffed. “The whole of Cruor was on his bad side, and look at how that turned out.”

  “Not helping!” Soul retorted.

  Perhaps I should’ve been more upset about this turn of events. We’d almost gotten ourselves destroyed back there, and I was already barely hanging on by a thread. But as Seeley took my hand and I got up for him to hold me close, I found myself filled with unexpected enthusiasm. Dieffen was merely a hurdle.

  We could get past it, but we needed more intel on what the Darklings knew. They had death magic tricks they could use against us—old-school stuff that matched the level of our First Tenners—so this wasn’t going to be easy. They’d already proven that much. We’d lost plenty of ghouls, but we could still turn the tide. Glancing at Rudolph for a moment, I was comforted by his presence, his incredible resilience. He looked at me with his big black eyes, and I knew we could count on him.

  We were all still together, despite the injuries, and that mattered more than anything else.

  Esme

  The angelic Aeternae eyed me intently. Everyone else was quiet, their expressions impossible to read. There was an undeniable air of danger around us. It was as if the whole island was suddenly tense, aware of our presence and not in the mood for it.

  Kalon stayed close, his hand finding mine through the layers of white silk. Their gazes pierced right through me, and I felt overwhelmed to be standing here surrounded by these ancient people. The Seniors were over two million years old—titans of their species. I wondered which of them had been around since the very beginning. Maybe I’d find out, provided they didn’t chop our heads off in the next five minutes.

  “Perhaps we sh
ould start by apologizing and introducing ourselves,” I said, slowly raising my hands in a defensive gesture. “I’m Esme, and this is Kalon. We didn’t want to show up unannounced like this, but we didn’t have much choice, considering where you’re living and… who you are.”

  “We know who we are. But who are you?” the angelic Aeternae replied, her hair almost liquid as she slowly moved toward me. I was about to take an instinctive step back, but Kalon held me in place.

  “Don’t show fear,” he whispered.

  “Yes, listen to the Visentis boy,” the angelic Aeternae replied with a dry smirk.

  Kalon frowned. “You know me?”

  “Oh no, dear. But the Visentis bloodline is quite… linear. Your features are unmistakable. I could pick a member of your dynasty out of a crowd,” she said.

  “I’m Kalon,” he replied. “Kalon Visentis.”

  “Mira Nasani,” the angelic Aeternae replied.

  The realization hit me hard and fast. “You’re related to Acheron!” I blurted. It made her laugh.

  “I’m his ancestor. But that doesn’t matter anymore, considering whom he was foolish enough to marry. Is he still living in the dark about his wife’s affiliations? I tried to tell him once. We were raising and training green leaves here, to send messages. But the Darklings kept killing every bird we sent out, so I doubt he ever got my warnings,” Mira muttered, crossing her arms. “The irony doesn’t escape me. We still get mainland news from the Darklings when they drop messages in bottles by the shore, but we cannot send anything out. It’s their way of rubbing it in.”

  “Oh… I’m sorry to tell you this, but Acheron is dead,” I managed, a lump forming in my throat. “Danika had him assassinated.”

  The news didn’t exactly shock Mira, but it did cause grief. She kept her composure, raising her round chin in a defiant manner. “I guess I saw it coming. My offspring aside… what are you two doing here? Or, better yet, give me one good reason why I shouldn’t rip your hearts out and send you back to wherever you came from.”

  “You don’t get many visitors, huh?” I mumbled, breaking into a cold sweat. A fight with the Seniors was not something I ever wanted to experience.

  “Answer my question, and I will answer yours,” Mira said.

  She was trying to intimidate me, so I only had two options: submit or call her bluff. In my experience, the alpha types were usually not as dangerous as they made themselves out to be. Their demeanor was a tool designed to prevent an attack. In our case, Mira and the Seniors didn’t know what to expect from us, so they were trying to assert their power.

  “Okay,” I replied with a shrug. “We know you could kill us if you wanted to. There’s no doubt about that, and I wouldn’t dare challenge you on it. However, we didn’t come here to fight. We’re trying to help you.”

  “Help us?” Mira raised a skeptical eyebrow.

  “You want to die someday, right? And the Darklings won’t let you,” I said. “They’ve infiltrated the empire on such dangerous levels that not even Acheron could protect you. Or am I getting something wrong here?”

  Mira didn’t answer, which I took as my cue to keep talking. My gaze casually wandered around, assessing each of the Aeternae Seniors closest to us. In case of trouble, I had to determine an exit strategy for Kalon and me before the claws were drawn.

  “I know what happened to you. I know how you became Aeternae. But more importantly, I know how to stop it,” I continued. “My friends and I found the Unending, and we’re keeping her out of the Darklings’ reach for now. If we set her free, she can end your immortality. That’s what you want, right?”

  Mira’s lips drew into a lazy smile. “You’ve done your homework, half-breed. I’m impressed.”

  “Half-breed?” I echoed, confused.

  “I can smell some Aeternae genes in you, but you’re not a full Aeternae, are you? You’re… something else. You’re not even from Visio,” Mira said. “I’m old, darling. My nose is beyond reproach.”

  “I’m a vampire,” I replied. “Our species is related to the Aeternae via Cruor. That’s a long story that I’ll be more than happy to share with you, provided you decide not to kill us. We really are trying to help.”

  Another Aeternae Senior stepped forward—a male with sharp amber eyes and long black hair. His high cheekbones and aquiline nose reminded me of ancient Greek statues, only this one was living and breathing and ridiculously old, yet he looked not a day past thirty. “What makes you think we want help?” he asked.

  “Kemi, don’t be redundant,” Mira replied without taking her eyes off me. “The girl just said she knows everything about us.”

  “Well, not everything.” I sighed. “I have a lot of questions actually, and I’d like to survive long enough to ask them. If you’d all be so kind.”

  Mira and Kemi exchanged glances, then burst into laughter. Soon enough, the other Seniors joined in. Kalon and I were left staring like idiots, definitely not in on the joke, while the Aeternae doubled over in mirth. When the chuckles finally subsided, Mira came forth and placed a hand on my shoulder. “Relax, little soul. You two are mere flies. All we have to do is swat you if you get annoying. For now, you’re quite entertaining, so we are not inclined to kill you.”

  “Oh, gee, that makes me feel so much better,” I muttered, unable to control my snark.

  “Thank you, milady,” Kalon said to Mira, who shot him a cold glare.

  “Mira, please. We don’t go by empire titles here. Visio locked us away in this place, and therefore we have no reason to abide by its etiquette rules.”

  “Nevertheless, thank you,” Kalon replied.

  “Don’t mention it.” Mira looked at the others. “Let the festivities continue, my dears. Kemi and I will talk to the little souls somewhere more private.”

  “Just don’t drink all the spiced blood,” Kemi warned the collective. “We’re coming back!”

  I took deep breaths as Mira and Kemi led us away from the plaza and through a nearby house. We reached a back terrace that overlooked the hills. Lights glimmered in through the windows and in the torches mounted along the roads and pathways leading toward the center of the island and its currently buzzing plaza.

  We were seated at a glass table with a wrought-iron frame, and Mira poured us a couple of glasses of fresh blood. “It’s Rimian in origin. We get a shipment dropped every week,” she said. “At least they feed us.”

  Kemi rolled his eyes. “Until they won’t.”

  “So you do want our help,” I concluded, looking at him.

  “Of course,” Mira replied. “He was just playing the tough guy.”

  “No need to act. You’re Seniors,” I said. “You’re powerful and—”

  “Decrepit?” Kemi sneered.

  “Experienced,” I replied. “I was going to say experienced.”

  Kalon cleared his throat, his hand lingering on his glass. “Forgive me for asking, but how have the Darklings been able to keep you here for so long? On the continent, we only hear rumors and stories about the Seniors, but none of us have ever seen one.”

  “Until now.” Mira chuckled. “It’s quite simple, really. I suppose you’ve seen the boats out there, right? By the way, you still haven’t answered my question. How did you get here?”

  “I have a shuttle. It’s invisible. We flew right past the boats,” I said.

  “Ah. I see. That makes sense.” Mira sighed. “The boats are death magic markers. The only way for us to get off the island is via the water. Swimming would be tedious but doable. A boat would be even better. But the markers hold us back. They form a powerful forcefield through the ocean. We can’t get out, and we haven’t been able to reach anyone from the outside world in ages. Literal ages.”

  “You flew in. The Darklings didn’t see that one coming,” Kemi replied, genuinely amused. “I suppose we should be better hosts, all things considered.”

  “That aside, and to answer your question, Esme… the Darklings had us rounded up and brought h
ere about two million years ago,” Mira said, bitterness dripping from her voice. “Back then, Acheron’s father was Lord Supreme. He was more spineless than the dearly departed, that’s for sure. Allowing us to be stranded here like nobody wanted us…”

  “If you’ve been here for two million years, how did you know about Acheron’s wife and her affiliations?” I asked.

  “I told you. We still get news. The Darklings bring them over to the shore as a form of psychological torture, since we can’t act on them. But we’ve also gotten new residents since we came here,” Mira explained. “People elevated to the status of Seniors due to their advanced age. Our last arrival was fifty years ago. She had some interesting stories to tell about Acheron and the rest of the dynasty, so in that sense you could say I’m all caught up. Especially where Danika is concerned.”

  “They keep bringing Seniors over,” Kalon realized. “They keep rounding up those who reach the standard age of two million.”

  “That’s right. In that way we always stay in the loop.” Mira giggled. The humor felt strained.

  I took a long sip from my glass, allowing the sweet taste of blood to soothe my tense nerves. Leaning back in my chair, I gave myself a moment to look around, to really take it all in. The view out here was spectacular—a tropical haven with lush hills, elegant houses sprinkled all over the place, and the sound of music and laughter tinkling in the distance. I could certainly see how this could be a retirement dream. The only problem was that these people hadn’t asked for it. They’d been forced here.

  “Mira, I’m curious. How old are you?” I asked.

  “I’m from the first generation of Aeternae,” Mira said with pride. “I was here when Eternity came.”

  My heart stopped. Maybe a part of me had already suspected as much, since she carried herself with such timeless nonchalance and fearlessness. She’d struck me as the kind of person who’d been around too long to even care about the Darklings or the fact that she was stuck here—someone who’d lived too long to worry about another million years spent on this island. Her concept of time definitely varied from mine.