An Isle of Mirrors (A Shade of Vampire #88) - Bella Forrest Page 0,46
you doing something to shield us from the soul fae?” I asked her telepathically.
“Yes. Both Loren and Sissa are trying to read us in deeper detail, but I can hold them off for a while, just long enough for them to miss the deceptive notes in our voices,” she replied, then spoke to Joy. “Tristan is asking a very good question, Joy. If you’ve crossed paths with her, why isn’t she already in chains back on Mortis?”
The Reaper looked slightly befuddled. “She was too fast. Resourceful. I underestimated her.”
“Then you’ll absolutely support us in our endeavor to do what you couldn’t?” Unending shot back with a ruthless grin. By the stars, I loved this woman at her softest and her hardest with equal passion. It was difficult to keep up with her sometimes, but the millions of years of existence and experience that she carried within herself were my best reason to follow her lead in situations like this.
Joy had gone from fierce warrior to uncertain guardian. “I will have to verify this with Death. It would be foolish of me to trust you.”
“Why, exactly? Have we ever done anything to deceive you, or anyone else, for that matter?” Unending replied, knowing that Death had tried to keep that seal issue under wraps, given her tumultuous ego. In the meantime, she was also reaching out to Death through their spiritual connection without Joy’s knowledge. I had no idea what Unending was telling her, but I would soon find out.
“No, but—”
“By all means, consult with Death,” Unending said, unwilling to give Joy enough verbal freedom to suggest dishonesty on our part. We didn’t want the soul fae to get suspicious and poke even harder at our spirits. The magic Unending used had managed to shield us from intrusion without raising any red flags, by the looks of it. So far, so good. “I’m sure she’ll be pleased to hear you’ve had the Mixer all along. We’ll wait.”
That was an excellent blow, I realized, as Joy’s fierceness temporarily vanished, leaving her looking like a lost little lamb. Silence settled as Loren and Sissa exchanged glances. Around us, the other soul fae were doing their best to go about their business, but they still couldn’t help themselves, occasionally stealing curious glances at us. It made me smile as I listened to Unending’s voice in my head.
“Before Joy reached out to her just now. I wanted Death to get a heads-up about us having found the soul fae and about me using the Mixer as part of our first trial for Anunit. So, I told her. Our maker was obviously surprised to hear about the artifact, but she didn’t hesitate to respond, nonetheless,” Unending explained. Joy was in the process of speaking to her maker now, I noticed, as she gazed out into the distance, her lips pressing into a thin line.
“And what was her reply, exactly?” I asked.
“To keep going. Since I told Death that the trials represent our only way to accomplish our side of the mission, we’ve got her approval. After all, that was our deal. We get what we want out of Anunit, then Death gets Anunit. Fun fact, she didn’t react to our discovery of the soul fae, nor did she ask about how Joy had been involved with Spirit and the Mixer… she only said to leave this with her. My guess is she’s giving Joy the green light to let us do this properly while also chewing her ass for not disclosing the Mixer’s presence in the village from the moment it was brought here.”
“Hopefully, it will work. We’re playing a dangerous game here,” I told her. “What if she decides she doesn’t want Anunit to have the Mixer, regardless of our mission? What if she decides to pull the plug on this whole operation and just have us trap Anunit, our family plans be damned?”
“I think we should worry about that later. We have to approach this on a step by step basis and get past Joy first. Death made a point of specifying that Joy isn’t the brightest or the most stable of Reapers, but that she is, indeed, insanely powerful and obedient. Loyal to a fault, she said, adding that our family planning issues should not be shared with her. She wouldn’t understand, and she’d get frustrated over her inability to understand, and then the powder keg would blow... I mean, I don’t know how she made Joy to begin with, whose soul she