An Isle of Mirrors (A Shade of Vampire #88) - Bella Forrest Page 0,50

the Mixer?” I asked. “It’s what I would do, given her talents and how badly she wants that artifact.”

“She did, actually.” Joy’s stern gaze settled on the roaring campfire. The sound of wood crackling made my ears twitch. It felt as though I were right in there, the flames caressing my skin. It was a false sensation, of course, since all fire did was consume everything in its path. It was the nectar’s effect on me, playing with my brain. “I turned her down. Living is not for us Reapers. Not even for a minute.”

“Don’t you miss your old life? Even a bit? The taste of food? The crisp sweetness of water?” I said. “Even as a vampire, I sometimes long for my human days when I could experience certain things that are now forbidden for my kind.” The only joy I still had once in a while was that I could be in the sunlight, provided that I was under Unending’s invisibility magic. I couldn’t feel its warmth on my skin, but at least I didn’t experience the fear of burning under it.

Joy sighed. “I never lived. There is nothing in a life for me to miss.”

This left Unending speechless. “Wait, what do you mean?” I asked on her behalf.

“I’m a copy of a soul like the other First Tenners. I have faint memories of a life, but I never went through the process myself,” Joy said, raising her chin as she looked at us. There was a mixture of sadness and resignation in her voice, as if she’d already given this plenty of thought and reached the safer conclusion that she was better off not finding out what living was all about.

“How is that? I mean, Death made ten of us,” Unending replied. “I understood you were as old as us, but she… why did she make you, if not to be one of us?”

“I was created specifically for this purpose,” Joy said, glancing around. “To protect the soul fae, no matter what. This is my only objective. The sole reason for my existence. Death once told me she wanted to make sure that no one would ever try to get to the soul fae and use them against her. I almost failed in that respect when I allowed the Spirit Bender to come in so he could see them. My weakness nearly cost me my job. My everything.”

Unending looked at me, visibly troubled. “Death never told us. None of us knew you were out here,” she said to Joy. “Please, believe me when I tell you that we would’ve come to visit. We would’ve liked to meet you much sooner than… well, now.”

“Death made you. She kept you here in isolation, unable to leave Rothko,” I said, and Joy nodded slowly. “How have you not lost your mind? I mean, the soul fae… no offense, of course,” I told Loren and Sissa before shifting back to Joy. “The soul fae, they live and they die. They move on. You’ve been here since basically the beginning of time. The same planet, this same world for so long. How have you remained sane?”

Joy shot me a sly grin. “Who said I was sane?”

And we were now back at what Death had told us about her. At least she was aware that she wasn’t the poster child of Reaper mental health. She was in a good mood, though, and that had to count for something. The last thing I wanted was piss her off and lose control of this situation—with or without Joy, we couldn’t afford to scare or make the soul fae feel threatened or betrayed in any way. I could see why Unending had stressed over us being careful.

“I’m truly sorry.” Unending sighed. “Had I or my siblings known about you, about these people… we would’ve gladly offered to keep you company, or to take turns, even, so that you could get some time to yourself, to visit other worlds…”

“Death never intended for any other Reaper to find out about the soul fae. Not the common ones, and certainly not the First Tenners,” Joy said. “She was always adamant that this had to remain solely between us.”

“But why?” Unending asked.

Sissa agreed. “I’m curious, as well.”

“Would other Reapers wish to harm us?” Loren interjected, his white brow furrowed, one elbow resting on his knee as he sat cross-legged between Joy and his daughter.

“Soul fae can control spirits,” Joy said. “Whether they belong to the living or the dead, it