so much?”
She grinned, bursting with satisfaction. “Oh, honey, you have a lot to learn, still. But I promise, I will teach you. I will answer all your questions, too. No more secrets between us, but only if you do me a favor.”
I felt my eyebrows raise questioningly. “You’ll tell me everything?” She nodded. “Including why the fae spirits touching slows down the Hermessi’s influence?”
She laughed. “Ah, that… Yes. I’m surprised you witnessed such an event. Did it take place in The Shade sanctuary, perhaps? I’m fumbling through your memories now, and… oh, there it is,” she said, her eyes glimmering strangely. I could see that exact moment through her eyes, just like I’d seen it through mine, and I didn’t even feel her poking around in my head. What a subtle force Death was.
“Right now, the other Reapers don’t want the fae spirits talking to or touching each other,” I replied. “Surely, that’s not a rule of yours?”
“Technically speaking, it is, but I believe it can be bent for now.” Death sighed. “Don’t tell anyone I said this, but I’m kind of rooting for Taeral here. The universe has come a long way in the millions of years that the Hermessi haven’t tampered with it.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. This would make Vesta very happy, once I got to tell her about it. Hell, I was going to shine a light on every fae spirit in that sanctuary and in all the others, too, if I had to!
“Seeley, I’m serious,” Death added, back to her sweeter pout. “I need you.”
“Did you need me before I came here?”
“No,” she said, giving me a playful grin. “But your presence here gave me a great idea. Not to mention your devotion and dedication. I know, I hurt your feelings, and we have all the time in the world to talk about it, but for now… I need you to do something for me.”
I let a deep sigh roll out of my chest. It sounded like surrender, and it made her quite happy.
“What do you need me to do?” I asked, worried I might regret this, eventually. This wasn’t how I’d pictured my first meeting with Death unfolding.
“I want you to follow Taeral and his crew. Only intervene if I demand it. I will be able to see them through your eyes, in real time. Everything I’ve learned about them so far has come from other Reapers who’ve noticed or heard them. Without Thieron, I’m afraid I’m not as omniscient as I let people think.”
I blinked several times, quietly repeating her words in my head, trying to make sense of this masked confession of hers. “You want me to follow Taeral.”
“I told you, he’s special. The Hermessi loathe him. He interests me, and I have a feeling he’ll stop at nothing to pull this off,” she said, and chuckled. “Granted, I did put some pressure on him, but… Anyway! The point is, the Hermessi are growing more powerful with every day, and it’s making a mockery of me. Of course, I wouldn’t want to see so many civilizations destroyed, but what irks me the most is the thought of Brendel pulling one over on me. They cannot win, Seeley.”
I nodded slowly, understanding just how superficial she was in this matter. I couldn’t exactly hold it against her. An entity like Death had no sense of time and space, of wrong and right or anything else on that spectrum that I’d once been a part of, along with all the other Reapers. But I could take advantage of her desire to defeat Brendel. Her ego worked in favor of my agenda, after all. Why not go with it?
“Okay, I’ll do it. I will follow them. Before I go, however, I expect some answers,” I said firmly.
“Whatever you want,” Death replied, definitely pleased by my response. I had a feeling she could’ve easily made me do it, instead of asking me so ardently, but I did appreciate the respect she displayed toward me. “As long as you do everything in your power to help them.”
“I should warn you, though, I am limited, even before the Hermessi,” I replied, fearing she might get false hope.
She scowled at me. “Don’t disappoint me, Seeley. I’m well aware that Brendel might still win this. I’ll just be very pissed off if she does, and I’ll have a boatload of Reapers to torment if she succeeds. I’m not getting false hope, I’m simply determined to defeat that flaming bitch!”
Whoa.
With that