A Shade of Vampire 77 A Fate of Time - Bella Forrest Page 0,47
mouths, but they still had telepathic abilities. I'd seen them communicating with sentries in a similar fashion, so being able to hear and understand him wasn't exactly a surprise.
"I take it you came here for the buffet? Who tipped you off?" Nightmare asked him.
The ghoul sneered at the First Tenners. "You two are not my favorite people. I'd rather speak to Kelara here."
"You know me?" I replied, rather perplexed.
"I've served the living for a long time. Not of my own free will, at first, but they sort of grew on me," the ghoul said. "Word has spread about your endeavors, and I had my own share of brushes with the Hermessi not that long ago. I've come to help you."
Dream and Nightmare raised eyebrows at each other, looking downright insulted.
"I'm sorry, what did we do to offend you, ghoul?" Dream shot back.
Around us, few specters remained. The ghouls drove them away, the others long gone by now.
"My name is Herbert. And I am no fan of the First Ten. Most have done nothing but harm to the world of the living. I heard about you all recently. The tales of your involvement with the people… It is shameful."
"Hah! Says the dude who decayed into a bleepin' monster because he ate souls!" Nightmare laughed. "That's rich!"
"I made one poor choice and spent the rest of my existence paying the price. I doubt the same can be said about you," Herbert retorted.
"Wait… Herbert. I know that name. I've heard of you," I said, remembering conversations between Kailani and the other GASP members, back in the sanctuary. Herbert had been enslaved by the witches a long time ago.
"Yes. I was Ibrahim's," he said. "I've been free since I helped Harper's soul reunite with her body. But I haven’t been able to walk away from this war with the Hermessi. They're a threat to our food chain, as well."
"So you want to help because you don't want everyone to die and get reaped, thus leaving you without wandering souls to feed on? How noble of you." Dream chuckled. “I mean, in case of mass deaths like the ritual, there will be extra care for such a high number of souls. Chances are you wouldn’t find any scraps.”
Herbert shook his head. "No, that's just what I told the others to get them to help. They won't like me very much later, but I trust you'll keep that to yourselves for the time being."
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"Death will return, eventually. Whether it's before or after the Hermessi's ritual is completed, that is entirely up to Taeral and his allies," Herbert explained. "I'm merely looking to be here when she does come back, and I want her to see that I've done my best to help the living. I hope to gain some kind of favor with her, because she will certainly go after the ghouls once she has Thieron back in her grip."
I couldn't help but smile. "You're helping now so you can survive later, huh?"
"That's the plan. I'll loop my friends in at some point. Perhaps later. Now that they've fed, they should be easier to reason with," Herbert replied.
"How did you know to come here?" I asked.
The dried-up oasis was empty now, riddled only with the fallen ruins of its once-populated city. Red sand covered everything, dipping into what had been the bottom. Herbert glanced at it, then back at me.
"I've been asking around. You'd be surprised the kind of things that ghouls see, all over this universe and across all its dimensions," he said. "A rumor here, a question there… The Mirinin constellation came up a couple of times. The Spirit Bender's name and his presence here. It didn't take long for me to dig up the right information."
"Why are you here?" Nightmare asked, raising an eyebrow. "It's not like we're Death's favorites right now. Surely you didn't think we might put in a good word for you?"
Herbert sneered at him in a way that made my blood freeze. "I'm here to help you. I knew you were coming here, and I'd heard of what the Spirit Bender had done here. I knew of the specters. Don't fool yourself into thinking you mean anything of importance to me."
Nightmare's scythe hand twitched. I gave him a discreet nudge. "Don't be a jerk. It'll get you farther," I whispered, and smiled at Herbert. "Thank you for the assistance. I admit, you did help clear the area a bit."