A Shade of Vampire 84 A Memory of Time - Bella Forrest Page 0,33
who should be sorry,” Valaine interjected. “It’s my fault.”
Tristan shook his head. “No. We’ve been over this already. Spirit is the one to blame, along with his Darklings. This is all on them, and you’ve done the best you could with what you had.”
Ansel held his brothers close, his lower lip trembling as he glanced at the Reapers. “Can we see him?” he asked, but Time shook his head slowly.
“It’s not a good idea,” he replied. “Not now, anyway. If we release Unending, we can save your brother and anyone else affected by the curse. Unfortunately, we cannot resurrect those who’ve already died because of the Black Fever, but I’m hoping Kalon will survive long enough. His deep sleep and subtle form are slowing down the curse’s progression. Making him visible to you has risks.”
Ansel lowered his gaze. He was clearly disappointed, but he understood the situation. Thayen sighed, his hand nestled in mine. I gave the boy a faint smile, hoping it might help reassure him that we were all going to be okay. I wasn’t certain of it myself, but hope had yet to abandon me.
“Valaine’s crises will go differently from now on,” Time said. “We’ve got it under control.”
“How?” I asked.
“That’s for us to know,” Time replied dryly. “The solution was provided by Death herself. Let’s leave it at that.”
“Well, at least we finally know why Death hasn’t done more to help in our fight against the Darklings,” Lumi grumbled, pursing her lips.
Kailani scoffed. “She gave Spirit way too much death magic information, and he learned to use it against her. Are we sure there’s nothing we can do to get ahead of an already destroyed Reaper?”
“Even if you were to try out unlimited possible formulas of death magic, we cannot provide you with the actual words, sub-words, and sounds needed, anyway,” Time said, shaking his head. “It’s bad enough Spirit got them. The last thing we need is for the living to learn this stuff, too.”
“Normally, I’d be offended by your statement, but in this case I actually get it,” Lumi said. Pausing for a moment, she looked around, and I was tempted to follow her gaze. “Sidyan and I need to leave right now. Derek is expecting us. What will the rest of you do?”
I started to answer, but Tristan had a suggestion. “We can go to Roano. It’s somewhere near here,” he replied, staring somewhere to the north. “I recognize this coastline.”
“From my trance, yes,” Valaine murmured.
Mira and Kemi looked at each other, then back at Valaine. “Do you remember Roano?”
“I do now,” Valaine replied, growing more emotional. “I remember you, too.”
“What is she talking about?” I asked.
“One of Unending’s reincarnations was Mira and Kemi’s daughter, Eliana,” Tristan said.
“Oh wow,” I breathed. The pain they must’ve felt upon losing her. No wonder they were so restless and on the verge of tears.
“I’m not her,” Valaine managed.
“I know.” Mira sighed. “But she’s a part of you. A part of the Unending.”
“Roano is a few miles north of here,” Kemi interjected, trying to focus on the mission ahead. “It’s an abandoned city. It’s been empty since we were last here. One of the dead places, as we called them—much like Astoria and a few others—where the Black Fever and the Darklings did so much damage that no one wished to live there anymore.”
“It’ll serve as a sanctuary,” Kailani said. “The Reapers and I will put up defenses, along with a cloaking shield. Hopefully the Darklings will have lost our trace from where we were teleported.”
“Mom!” Rose almost screamed, staring at me with big, round eyes. Her hood cast a shadow over her face, but her astonishment was still easy to read.
“What?” I asked, slightly confused.
“You’re not covered,” she croaked. “It’s daylight!”
For a moment, I froze, panic clutching my throat. Looking down, however, I quickly realized that everything was okay. I didn’t feel any different. In the rush to get out of the tunnel before the darkness destroyed us, I’d forgotten to pull up my own hood prior to teleportation. I’d been standing in the hazy daylight for several minutes now, and it had no effect on me whatsoever.
Excitement and relief took over, filling me to the brim with a warm and fuzzy feeling as I understood what was happening. The day-walking cure had worked. Amane and Amal were still quiet and gawking at me, and I finally saw why—they must’ve been stunned the moment we’d arrived here, unable to utter a single word.