A Shade of Vampire 84 A Memory of Time - Bella Forrest Page 0,26

and a childlike curiosity. “Someone is praying to Death herself. Not some invented goddess from the pits of a distant galaxy. No, Death. Our Death. The true Death.”

“I take it that’s not a regular occurrence?” I asked.

Time shook his head. “A long time ago, before the Reapers were made, Death walked the worlds where there was life. She took it upon herself to reap the souls of the earliest creatures, to send them into the beyond. Back then, Death was young, almost playful, and she occasionally revealed herself to those she considered special.”

“Special, like the people whose spirits she kept close in her palace on Mortis?” I asked.

“Pretty much, yes. Some lived to tell the tale, though, and they worshipped her. They established cults in her name. They prayed to her, knowing who she really was. And whenever they did that, this happened,” Nightmare said. “It looks bad, but it’s not.”

“She always said it felt amazing,” Dream said quietly as the convulsions subsided, and Death appeared to sleep, her lips stretching into a satisfied smile. “Despite the shaking and the passing out, she welcomed each prayer, claiming it made her feel rejuvenated. It’s weird, I know.”

“Mind you, it’s been forever since she’s experienced an actual prayer,” Time said. “I didn’t think there was anyone left in the world of the living to worship Death directly.”

“I take it they all died out?” I said.

Dream sighed. “I don’t even think their planets exist anymore. All things come to an end, remember?”

With a deep inhalation, Death opened her eyes, and I nearly got sucked into the endless darkness that lay inside them, stretching infinitely beyond everything known and unknown. She pulled herself up into a sitting position, tucking a lock of silky black hair behind her ear. We all watched her quietly, waiting for her response.

“I… I haven’t felt like this since… I can’t remember,” she whispered, gradually returning to reality.

“You received a prayer, didn’t you?” Dream asked, and Death gave her a faint nod. “Who from?”

Death looked at me. “Tristan. It was amplified by Soul and the other First Tenners. I could hear them, loud and clear, as though they were right here with me.”

“What? Tristan? How?” I croaked, my heart leaping.

“I guess it was an act of desperation. Something is awfully wrong on Visio, and they’re losing control of the Unending’s misery,” Death said. “I should’ve seen this coming…”

“Dammit. What can I do? What can we do?” I asked. My feet were already burning. I was itching to get out of here and head straight to Visio. Death had wanted me to keep Thieron away from the Darklings, but I felt like I’d be of better use there than anywhere else. Sometimes the benefit outweighed the risk.

Death gave her Reapers a glance. “I’ll give you Time, Dream, and Nightmare.”

“Yes!” Nightmare exclaimed, raising his fists to the sky as if he’d won some kind of prize. His enthusiasm was adorable.

“They will be better than nothing,” Death said to me. “I’m sorry I cannot do more. I will trust you with my first children, and I will trust you with handling Thieron over there without getting any of us in deeper trouble. Under no circumstances can you lose my weapon. Do you understand me?”

“Taeral doesn’t even need to show himself unless he absolutely has to,” Time replied. “His wielding of Thieron is nowhere near proficient. It’s better not to risk it. But I can help my sister, Unending. Dream and Nightmare, too. They’re more than happy to do what they can.”

Death nodded once, shifting her focus back to me. “Go to Visio. Be careful.”

I didn’t dare to feel enthusiastic about any of this. There wasn’t much I could make of the whole prayer incident either, except that Tristan and the others were in a whole lot of trouble. Death had told Spirit too much. She’d taught him things that were—from what I understood—too dangerous and volatile, and Spirit had used this knowledge against her and against the other Reapers.

But I wasn’t hopeless. At least we had a better understanding of the trouble ahead. We knew more about what it was that we were about to walk into.

Taeral

“I will grant you some authority to use Thieron beyond the parlor tricks you’ve already learned,” Death said, settling on the edge of the ice hole again. She looked awfully lonely like this. I almost felt sorry for her. “Bring Thieron over here.”

I gave her the scythe, and she lovingly gazed at it for a few moments,