swear I’m done with all of this. I’ll go back to reaping people and not giving a crap about what you or the upper circles are up to.”
“So, you’re leaving the search for the First Tenners to Soul and his crew, then?” I asked, changing the subject. “The Unending, the Night Bringer and the Morning Star are still out there, and we’ve yet to learn anything new about them.”
“Also, why won’t you tell us the reason for wanting us all back here together again?” Dream asked. We’d tried asking before, but Death had kept quiet about it. Whatever the motive, it had to be big enough to warrant all the remaining First Tenners.
Death nodded, her galaxy eyes twinkling a little brighter. “Soul is due to return with updates soon. He promised he’d have something for me by the third full moon. We’re reaching it shortly on Aledras, aren’t we?”
We all gazed up at the twilight sky, a white pearl rising in the growing darkness. “Indeed, we are,” Dream said.
“As for the reason why, I doubt you need it right now. I’d rather keep you all on your toes. Your curiosity is rather irksome.” Death sighed, then glanced up. That was the end of this particular conversation again. She definitely wasn’t ready to talk just yet.
“I cannot wait to see Unending again,” she murmured, appearing to almost forget that we could hear her as she stared at the night above.
“Can I say something?” I interjected, my legs still too weak for me to get up. It was impressive that I was still conscious, though my eyelids were getting droopy. Death gave me a curious glance. “You speak of Unending with… love, if I’m not mistaken. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I know you love us all and so on, but I’ve noticed you tend to light up whenever you hear her name, in particular. Why is that? What makes her special?”
Death let a deep sigh roll out of her chest, as if eons of solitude and sadness were tumbling out. I’d clearly struck a chord. “She was my first. My very first,” Death said. “In a way, she’s like my first child. You never forget or stop loving your first, do you?”
“It’s always been like this,” Dream replied, staring at the water in the ice hole. There was a tinge of jealousy in her voice. I figured they were more like siblings, after all. They all yearned for their mother’s full and undivided attention. “I often resented Unending for it. She was the coldest to Death, yet she’s the one Death loves most.”
“I love you all,” Death said, looking somewhat guilty, even pained to have to defend herself like this. I kind of felt sorry for her.
“No need to go there,” Nightmare replied, smiling. “It’s okay. We didn’t like it at first, but we got used to it. We love you nonetheless, and we’ll never hold it against you.”
Dream mirrored her brother’s expression. “To be fair, I miss that stuck-up bitch, too.”
“Lots of love in this family,” Seeley replied, heavily amused.
“Yeah, they’re complicated,” I said, rubbing my face.
“I’m being gratuitously mean, and I don’t regret it,” Dream confessed. “Unending is a lot like us, but there’s also a goodness inside her. Something none of us ever had.”
“I doubt it had anything to do with how Death made us,” Nightmare mused.
Dream shook her head. “No. It was strictly character. Thing is, Unending’s powers made it difficult for her to settle anywhere after we were released from our duties. It made her often sullen.”
“Yeah, she had her dark days,” Nightmare replied.
“What powers are we talking about?” I asked, drawing scowls from the nightmarish twins.
“Trust me, you don’t want to know,” Dream retorted. It wasn’t an answer, but I doubted I’d get more out of them, anytime soon.
Love glimmered in the cosmic darkness of Death’s eyes as her lips stretched into a warm smile. “Yes. She is gifted, and she is powerful. She knows more than most of the Reapers put together, including her siblings.” Her demeanor turned back to business mode as she resumed her focus on Seeley. “Anyway… Don’t forget, Seeley. I need all the details you can spare about Visio. What kind of people live there, what they’re like. Everything.”
Seeley nodded once. “I’ll tell you everything I see and learn there. But keep in mind that I expect more information from you the next time we speak.”
“Hold on,” I said, frowning at Death. “How come you don’t already know anything