A Shade of Vampire 84 A Memory of Time - Bella Forrest Page 0,28

time comes,” Death said, her tone clipped. “It’s not for you or anyone else to know.”

“Technically speaking, I won’t, because I’m destined to be a Reaper, remember?”

My response caught her off guard. She paused, blinking rapidly in a bid to get her bearings. “It’s not for you to know, Taeral. The afterlife belongs to those who cross beyond. Period.”

I didn’t like the answer, but I doubted I’d get more out of her. Time didn’t seem satisfied, either. Dream and Nightmare were too creepy and nonchalant to even care, judging by the absent looks on their faces. They were probably dying to get to Visio.

“We don’t know, either.” Time glanced my way. “We only usher the spirits beyond. But we never get to peek behind the curtain.” His brow furrowed briefly, and I took it as a sign to stop pushing the boundaries here. In Death’s presence, the Reapers couldn’t tell me much. I had plenty of follow-up questions. Maybe Time would answer once we got away from Death.

“Is there anything else you need to tell us before we leave?” I asked Death.

She raised an eyebrow at me. “I’ve bared my soul to you already.”

“You don’t have a soul,” I replied. “But I get your point.”

“Stay in touch,” Death said to Time. “I will be here, waiting.”

“Should we send you some Reapers to at least keep you company while we’re gone?” Nightmare asked, but Death waved him away.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m fine here in the company of snow, silence, and ice. Perhaps I’ll lure a wandering soul, if I get bored. I’ll listen to their life story, should I find myself in need of entertainment.”

Time took my hand while Dream and Nightmare placed theirs on his shoulders. Electricity crackled around us. Flashes of light danced at the corner of my eye. My skin tickled and pricked here and there, my throat burning as though I’d swallowed lightning. My heart raced, my pulse throbbing as I tried to understand what was happening.

Dream giggled when she noticed the terrified look on my face. “Oh, you’ve never traveled with Time like this before, huh?”

“Explain what this is,” I managed, my throat closing up.

“Transmutation,” Time replied. “We’re going to ride as pure energy.”

“Whoa. Okay. What’ll it do to me?” I asked, feeling myself torn apart, limb by limb. He gripped me tightly and held me up, offering a faint but reassuring smile.

“We’re all pure energy, deep down. I’m merely reverting us back to it,” he said. “It will only hurt for a second.”

“Define hurt!” I shouted as the pain became unbearable.

Every atom in my body suffered. Every cell burned. My skin was torn clean off the muscles. The muscles were stripped from the bones. The bones were pulverized… and I was suddenly nothing and everything at once. Death’s beautiful and timeless face dissolved into a black sea filled with twinkling stars.

The universe itself warped around me. I heard the low hum of nearby interstellar explosions. Of plasma bubbling along the edge of galaxies. I felt the rush of the void against my whole being as we shot through space at an incredible speed.

Panic would’ve taken over had it not been for the temporary absence of a body. I’d been reduced to a darting mass of electrons, racing against the light of the suns themselves as the Time Master took us to Visio. In the midst of this cosmic insanity, I would’ve imagined myself smiling.

I was on the wildest ride of my life.

Esme

For a while, I was convinced I was running pretty fast, despite the weight of Kalon on my shoulder. Desperation had pumped me full of adrenaline, and my legs seemed to be moving just fine. It was only an illusion, I soon realized. I was slowing down.

Seeley, Nethissis, Rudolph—they were farther ahead, getting smaller in the dimly lit distance. Sofia and the others were mere figures moving against the narrow amber backdrop as the tunnel continued to forge its way through to the west coast.

Behind me, the darkness swelled, rife with pain and misery. I could feel it licking at my nape, eager to devour me. As much as I tried, we were falling behind. The Black Fever symptoms were amplified, the fever boiling through my veins, setting my skin on fire. I coughed dark blood. Kalon was unconscious. I wasn’t sure we’d make it. My knees were weak once more.

“We have to…” I whispered. “We can’t let it take us.”

Time stood still. Everything paused along with my breath as a powerful white