A Shade of Vampire 84 A Memory of Time - Bella Forrest Page 0,65

whichever path led to the least number of casualties.

My personal opinion of Petra could not influence the Visentis boys. They’d already learned about the awful things she’d done. The lies she’d told. I doubted they would ever accept her again, but I had to be fair and reserved in my approach.

Should she try something stupid, I can just end her and call it self-defense. With that thought in mind, I took Time’s wrist and pulled him forward. “We’ll go talk to her,” I said. “Let’s see what she has to say when the odds are clearly against her.”

“Esme, wait!” Sofia tried to stop me, but it was too late. The Reaper and I had already gone beyond the protective shield, my pulverizer weapon pointed at Petra.

“You’ve got five minutes to explain yourself before I blow you to bits and… well, bits,” I said to Petra. “You’d better not waste my time.”

Petra grew still, her eyes wide at the sight of me. She looked at Time, briefly confused, then back at me, and smiled. I wasn’t sure what to make of her expression, but it couldn’t mean anything good. She’d come here with a mission, and she wasn’t the type to back away from a challenge.

I needed to stand my ground and assert myself. I was done being chased around by Petra Visentis, hated by her because I’d fallen in love with her son. It was time to put an end to this threat, because too many people had gotten hurt already. Her children were suffering, and they didn’t need any more pain.

Esme

“Where are Derek and Sofia? If I remember correctly, they’re the decision makers around here,” Petra said.

“They’ll hear you out. But first, convince me not to kill you,” I shot back, my finger on the trigger and itching to pull it.

“Who’s this?” Petra asked, nodding at Time. “New friend?”

“I’m the Time Master, one of the First Ten and a loyal soldier of Death,” he replied. “Anyone fighting against your kind is a friend of mine, because you’re all abominations developed at the expense of my sister’s suffering.”

“Oh, I see you’re one of those serious types.” Petra chuckled.

I clicked the safety off my weapon. “Tick tock, High Priestess.”

“I’m here to be with my sons, you wench,” she said, visibly disgusted by my aggressive persistence. Clearly, she was still unhappy with me. “I’ve had enough of the Darkling garbage, and I have no intention of dying or getting anyone else killed for the Spirit Bender to return, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Last time you saw Derek, you were running away to find your sons so you could implant your soul shard into one of them, solely for the purpose of sacrifice and extraction without putting your own life on the line,” I replied. “Am I supposed to believe you’ve had a change of heart?”

Petra smiled, but it wasn’t genuine. It was a tense, flat smile that spoke of all the things she’d do to me if she could—and none of them were pleasant. She put her scythe away and held out her hands. “Cuff me if you wish. Just hear me out. Whatever I told Danika was merely to buy myself some time so I could get out of there. The bitch was trying to kill me.”

“Why should I trust anything you say?”

“Because I’m a mother first!” Petra snapped. “Something you couldn’t possibly understand, which is why I’d much rather have this conversation with Sofia and Derek. At least they’d get me.”

“I’m afraid that won’t happen unless you prove your intentions are as honorable as you claim,” Time said. “Surrender your scythe. Surrender yourself. Then, we’ll consider listening.”

Petra exhaled sharply, her shoulders slumping as she rolled her eyes in frustration. “Fine. Take it.” She scoffed, tossing the scythe on the ground between us. “I don’t want to die by Danika’s blade, okay? I just want to take my sons and get them as far away from here, as far away from the empire, as possible.”

“How did you find this place?” I asked.

“Finally, a pertinent question. The Seniors all had tiny magical trackers implanted in them when they were shipped off to the island. They’re not aware,” Petra said. “Only a few of us know about the implants. As a Whip, it’s been my duty to occasionally keep an eye on them, so I’m able to find them wherever they go.”

That added a new item to our collective to-do list—finding and removing those trackers from the Seniors before other Darklings thought