A Shade of Vampire 84 A Memory of Time - Bella Forrest Page 0,23

put an end to whatever the Darklings are doing. I told you, Taeral. I told you to keep your friends away from the Darklings because I’m the only one who can handle them. Everything that’s happening now, it’s because none of you listened! Not you. Not my Reapers. None of you.”

“Forgive me, but you’re wrong.” Time’s interjection stunned Death. He’d always been the quiet one, from what I could tell. He did her bidding and rarely objected. The signs I’d noted earlier were true, then. The Time Master was disagreeing with his maker, and that was a rare occurrence.

“Excuse me?” Death asked, turning to look at him. Dream and Nightmare were speechless, frozen in place and exchanging nervous glances.

“Even now, you’re not telling him or us everything,” Time said. “You’re holding back. You have yet to explain exactly how much information you gave the Spirit Bender. What you taught him. It’s clearly more than any of us have learned from you. The Reapers are working with the living because you refuse to admit the scale of this disaster. You are stubborn, thinking a handful of First Tenners will be enough to resolve something that Spirit took eons to put together. Taeral has every right to be angry, to demand more from you.”

“I cannot believe you’re saying such things…” Death murmured.

“Am I not speaking the truth? Things would go a lot smoother if you just met some of Taeral’s demands. More Reapers on the battleground in Visio, for example, would tip the scales against the Darklings.”

“The Master of Darkness chased our people out of Orvis,” I said. “They’re currently tunneling their way toward the west coast, and Valaine keeps having trouble with her inner darkness. The millions of years that she has spent in that world have taken their toll. Her suffering threatens to wipe out the entire planet.”

“You’ve found her. That’s what matters,” Death replied.

“No, what matters is that we have to set her free, and we have no idea how to do that before she wipes out the whole of Visio, my friends included,” I shot back.

“Let them burn!” Death hissed. “After everything they did to her, it’s the least they deserve!”

“Most of them are innocent,” I said. “They don’t even know their true origins. The Darklings buried the truth. Besides, there are Rimians and Naloreans living there, too. It’s bad enough the Aeternae have been feeding on them for countless generations—now you want them to perish as collateral damage, too? It’s not fair. No, I reject your premise, and I demand that you come clean. There is something you’re not telling us.”

“Mind your tongue, Taeral! I will be here long after you’re dead.” Death pointed an angry finger at me.

“Oh, enough with the cryptic talk!” Dream shot to her feet, shaking. “First of all, when Taeral dies, he’ll become a Reaper, so he’ll definitely be around. Second, I’m with Time and Taeral on this. You haven’t told us everything, and you must. You keep improvising, handing out orders as you go along, because your ego is blinding you. At least admit that you screwed up somewhere along the way. Honestly, it’s the only possible explanation as to why you’re being so absurd and irrational.”

The air thickened as Death’s nerves tightened. We’d managed to piss her off. I could only hope that the remaining five hundred seals would hold her back, since I’d been told more than once that she could be quite temperamental. And for a cosmic force like Death, that could result in instant annihilation for the likes of me.

Before she could respond, Nightmare stood up, joining his twin. “She’s right, Mother,” he said. “We’re toiling away here, working hard to set you free. The Reapers and the living are fighting to bring Unending back to you, to us. We’re all trying to mend the damage that the Spirit Bender has inflicted upon this universe. The least you could do is tell us the truth. We know you’re hiding something else. Just let it out. It’ll feel better, I promise.”

“If you don’t tell us, I swear I’ll leave. You can destroy me when you manage to free yourself. I don’t really care anymore,” Time added. “Seeley nearly got turned into a ghoul. Rudolph and countless others weren’t so lucky, and they are now forever doomed. Our sister has been suffering for almost five million years, stuck in a cycle she can’t break free of. Nothing you’ve done is as bad as what will happen if you keep