A Shade of Vampire 84 A Memory of Time - Bella Forrest Page 0,10

her.

“I’m being honest,” Phantom insisted.

Valaine groaned, rolling her eyes. “It’s fine. I think we’re all aware it’s just going to get harder. I can feel it.”

“I’m not sure what the future holds,” I said. “But I’m not leaving Valaine or the Unending’s side. I made a promise, and I intend to keep it.”

Valaine gave me a long look, and I found warmth in the dark pits of her black eyes. This was an odd sense of comfort I was getting, but I’d take it. I needed her with me, and she needed me. There was no denying that. Valaine’s journey was the hardest. The pain it caused her was excruciating, and I knew she’d do anything for me, just as I was willing to do anything for her. I felt my lips stretch into a smile. I pressed them against her temple and froze.

Her skin felt cold. Perhaps too cold for an Aeternae, and certainly not the way I’d felt her before. “Are you okay?” I asked.

“Why do you ask?” she replied. Her breathing was shallow.

“Your skin is like ice.”

Morning immediately reacted, almost shoving me out of the way as she got between us and put her hand on Valaine’s forehead. “Oh crap,” the Reaper murmured.

“What is it?” Phantom asked.

“It’s coming,” Morning said, giving me a startled look.

“I’m confused.”

Valaine grunted, wobbling on her feet. “No… oh no, not now…”

“What’s happening?” Nethissis managed as Seeley and Rudolph pulled her away from us. Valaine, Phantom, Morning, and I were left behind, the temperature dropping around us as though a blizzard were about to fill the tunnel with ice and snow and death.

“Darkness… it’s coming out,” Valaine cried out, dropping to her knees. Though terrified of the pain that it would bring upon my body and soul, I knelt in front of her, clutching her hands. “No, Tristan… get away from me.”

She tried to pull back, but I wouldn’t let her. “We’ll get through this, Valaine.”

“You don’t understand.” Phantom gasped, her galaxy eyes wide with what I could only describe as fear. Unimaginable fear. “If she unleashes it now, she risks killing every single living creature within her reach. I’m not saying she can kill you specifically, since you’ve already survived multiple episodes, but she’ll release Black Fever. The Aeternae aren’t safe.”

“Plus, we don’t know what such concentrated darkness will do to the Rimians and the Naloreans,” Morning added. “It’ll show above, as well. The death that comes out of our sister’s suffering… it’ll give our position away.”

As the Reapers spoke, I felt Valaine’s hands softening in mine. Her shoulders slumped, and the corners of her mouth turned downward as she looked at me. I saw the suffering in her eyes, and I felt it, too. She was terrified of what she might release, of the damage she might inflict upon the innocents we’d sworn to protect. They were all within her range, and the tunnel had to act as a kind of conduit, making everything infinitely worse.

“Valaine, look at me,” I said, cupping her face and bringing her lips closer to mine. “You’re going to get through this. Listen to my voice, darling. Breathe in and out. Don’t leave me here, okay?”

She nodded, but she had trouble concentrating. Her eyelids were drooping, and it was only a matter of time before she’d pass out and give in to it all. The worst part was that I could feel it. The darkness. It was oddly familiar. The kind of pain I’d felt before, deep within my bones. I wasn’t ready to feel it again, but what could I do? Run? No, Valaine needed me.

If I could absorb even a fraction of what she was about to release, I might be able to protect at least some of the people in the tunnel. My sister and Kalon were the closest and in clear danger. I couldn’t let anything happen to Esme.

The urgency of our situation amplified as Seeley and Rudolph took Nethissis farther away, and Phantom and Morning got down on their knees, joining us on the ground and gripping Valaine’s shoulders, as if preparing for what would undoubtedly come next.

I looked to my left, seeing Esme and Kalon not far ahead of Seeley. The Visentis boys were close to Kalon, so they also risked catching the Black Fever. My stomach churned, an ache spreading through my torso as my lips parted.

“Run, Esme! All of you! Run!” I shouted.

Despite our need for silence, I couldn’t keep quiet while the darkness oozed out of Valaine