if made of lead. I dared not stand, worried my knees might not be able to hold me upright. “No one knows who was assigned to Visio. They’ve checked the records, everything. It’s like it just slipped through the cracks, somehow.”
“For how long has it been like this, unattended?” Death asked, deeply concerned.
I went through the many thoughts still swirling through my head, until I got a vague answer from one of my superiors. “At least a couple million years. The Reapers who last handled Visio are gone, but we don’t know why.”
“Well, that can’t be good!” Widow concluded.
“Here’s a question. If there aren’t any Reapers on Visio, where do all the souls go?” the Soul Crusher asked, looking at me. “You said Seeley didn’t see any Reapers or souls there. So where are they, if no one’s taking them into the world of the dead?”
“That’s what I’d like to know, as well,” I murmured, forcing my weary mind to focus on Seeley. I reached out to him through our telepathic connection, finding a sliver of comfort in being bound to him like this. Of all the Reapers I’d ever dealt with, Seeley was, by far, the one I trusted most. “Can you hear me, Seeley?”
“Yeah. Any news?” he asked, his voice soothing the storm I’d just endured.
Looking at Death and the First Tenners, I nodded slowly. “There aren’t any Reapers assigned to Visio, for some unknown reason. There haven’t been Reapers there in at least two million years, if not longer.”
He didn’t answer right away, and I knew it had come as an understandable shock to him. “How can this be?”
“We have no idea. But Soul made a good point. Even if there were no Reapers, there should at least be souls on Visio, probably more than on other worlds,” I said.
“But there aren’t any.”
“Which is why you must be careful in your investigation. Something is fishy there, and you need to get to the bottom of it,” I replied.
“Should I approach Derek and his crew about this?” Seeley asked, and I relayed his question to Death.
She shook her head. “Under no circumstances. There is to be no fraternization between the living and the undead. Not to mention the dead!”
“You heard her, right?” I said.
“Yeah.” He sighed. “I don’t like this, Kelara.”
“Me neither, but let’s be honest. There’s nothing Derek or his people could do for us. There’s no need to involve them in any of this,” I said. “We’ll have to handle it ourselves.”
“I’ll be in touch,” he replied.
“Remember, Seeley. Be extra careful, going forward. Whatever is going on there, it is not good. I’ll assemble a team of Reapers from our circle to assist you. I’ll let you know when they’re on their way, okay?”
“Thanks, Kelara.”
I felt him slip away from me, our telepathic connection dimmed. You shouldn’t thank me yet…
I had no idea what he was dealing with. And it scared me. After all the stunts that the Spirit Bender had pulled behind our backs, being taken by surprise like this was quite a blow to the entire Reaperhood. Whatever was happening on Visio, it needed to be dealt with swiftly. Whether it was the work of ghouls or something else—what, exactly, I didn’t know—we had to resolve it before things got out of hand.
For the first time in ages, I felt genuine fear. I worried about Seeley.
Esme
The dinner was pleasant, as we got to drink more of the Rimian and Nalorean blood that had expanded our senses like an out-of-this-world nirvana. We learned more about Visio and their working relationship with their neighboring planets and principates. Acheron and Danika enjoyed telling us about trade routes and the political history of the empire, while Corbin Crimson took his time explaining the role of the gold and silver guards around the city and the palace.
Zoltan Shatal did not speak much, but we did get a better understanding of how the Aeternae’s government worked. Later that evening, as varieties of sweet blood were served for dessert, Petra Visentis explained the logistics behind the blood farms. As the high priestess, she was the upper-most responsible figure in the Aeternae’s ruling elite, where procuring blood was concerned. On Visio, it was treasured as the life-giving force, beyond its physical properties. It had a powerful spiritual significance, as well, thus bringing Petra to the forefront of the entire process.
They’d put together an impressive system, for sure, but both Tristan and I were convinced that they were not telling us everything, so