A Shade of Vampire 77 A Fate of Time - Bella Forrest Page 0,75

you people kidding me?!" Amelia blurted. "The world's about to end, and you're exchanging pleasantries?"

"Relax, toots." Soul chuckled. I couldn't see any of them anymore, as the light was intensifying and blinding us all, but I could hear them. I could feel them all close to my heart, forever tied to me through bonds that transcended time and space.

As I whispered the final words of the spell, everyone I knew and loved presented themselves to me in a flurry of flashbacks that dated all the way back to my birth. Astonishingly, I could see my mother holding me in her arms, her beautiful face covered in sweat, and my father fawning over me, thrilled to welcome his heir into the world.

"You'll make a great king someday," he said.

"Ma'vari. Ma'omania. Ma'feshalim. You are mine, and I am yours," I murmured, tears streaming down my cheeks as I wondered if I'd ever get to see my father again. I'd left him to die in The Shade.

Ma'vari. Ma'omania. Ma'feshalim. Thieron echoed back, as if agreeing to my demand.

"Give him a second," Soul said to Amelia. "He's got this."

"Tae…" Eira's voice came through, and she manifested as warm sunlight flowing through my body, like the million kisses of summer and sweet nectar… like the promise that tomorrow would still come, and it would bring her to me.

I was gone from this world for a moment. I was with Thieron, somewhere between the many strings of the universe. One with the instrument of Death, my soul tied to it, irreversibly connected to it. In this white light, Eira's presence prevailed, much to my surprise. All I wanted was to get back to her. To hold her in my arms and to thank the fates for having brought her into my life.

Opening my eyes, I felt a sudden relief, as if a thousand bombs had been set off inside me. A pulse erupted from Thieron and warped through me, making changes on an atomic level. But it didn't stop there.

It burst outward and knocked everyone back, except Death, Lumi, and Nethissis. They stood firmly while the others came down, like trees in the path of a hydrogen bomb's blast. The pulse went out, stretching for billions of miles across the In-Between and the Supernatural Dimension.

It cut through the light like a red-hot knife through cold butter. The ritual's ominous glow fizzled into incandescent flakes, revealing Aledras for what it still was: a world with beautiful sights and elevated cities. All the damage had somehow been reversed, as the light sparks faded away.

The sky was clear and blue.

With trembling fingers still wrapped around Thieron's handle, I exhaled sharply and found the strength to take in my surroundings. They were alive. Dazed and confused, knocked over by the pulse, but breathing and moving.

The Reapers flickered like bad holograms for a minute or so, until they regained their visible forms. The spirits were lost and scattered around. The ghouls were down on the ground, covering their heads and shaking like leaves in the wind.

Death and the Word smiled at me—the three of them.

And I smiled back. I had no idea what the pulse would do beyond Aledras. I only knew I'd set it free, beckoning Thieron to help me stop the madness, so no more people would die. The Hermessi's ritual had finally been ended, long after its beginning, but it had been ended for good, this time.

I could breathe again. I would live.

Zeriel

The sanctuary had become a ball of white light, enormous in size and as bright as a miniature sun. My soul was tattered, my heart broken a thousand times over. I could barely see anything, and yet I could not look away.

Up there were people I'd held dear for a long time, among them my fiancée and the love of my life. I'd been bracing myself for this ending, but I couldn't accept it. I still couldn't adjust. In a few minutes, I'd be gone, and so would Vesta and millions of other fae. We'd done nothing to deserve this mindless wrath.

For as long as I could remember, I'd done my best to live a good life, to be a decent Tritone. I'd sought to harm no one, unless it was in self-defense. Granted, I'd never been the most noble or righteous of Calliope's monarchs, but I'd been kind and forgiving. Even with Azazel's reign threatening to destroy everything, I'd held on to the hope that better days might come.

Upon discovering Neraka and its complicated, bloody