A Shade of Vampire 79 A Game of Death - Bella Forrest Page 0,100

and dry, extremely damp, freezing cold, and so on. “As soon as we figure out which of these boxes show the slowest evolution, we’ll work from there. Our primary objective is to slow the current outbreak down and to isolate emerging carriers.”

“So far, we’ve identified one, thanks to my sister,” Amane continued. “We have yet to hear from Petra regarding the girl’s condition. We were promised she’d be safe but quarantined.”

“Petra is a woman of her word,” Valaine replied. “She might seem cold and odd to most, but I assure you she has the best interest of the empire in mind. That includes the Rimians and the Naloreans, as well.”

“I would like to see the girl tomorrow morning, if possible,” Amal murmured.

“Oh, I’m sure we can arrange something—” Valaine froze when the study room door burst open, and Kalon stormed in, holding Esme in his arms.

My heart stopped when I noticed the blood trickling from her wounded thigh, from her shoulder and side. She was unconscious and pale, and the frenzy threatened to crush my judgment altogether.

“I need help!” Kalon gasped.

Within seconds, my sister was laid on one of the tables, with Amal and Amane both at her side, checking her vitals and her wounds. Kalon was shaking, coated in a layer of sweat and anger.

“What the hell happened?!” I snarled. Resting a hand on Esme’s forehead, I could feel her temperature. It was abnormally high. “She’s burning up. What happened to her, Kalon?!”

“Our mission with Trev. It went sideways. The Darklings knew about his allegiance. They knew he’d met with us. They knew everything,” Kalon managed, unable to take his eyes off Esme. Amal and Amane proceeded to cut pieces of her combat suit in order to access the wounds.

A big black gash crossed her thigh, and the sight of it made my stomach churn. It didn’t look natural, and both Faulty sisters were baffled and confused.

“What’s that?” I asked, dread clutching my throat.

“I… I’m not sure,” Amane replied. “I haven’t seen anything like this before.”

“What weapon was used? Where did this happen?” Amal asked Kalon. Valaine moved close to his side, visibly concerned. There were a few black veins still visible around his eyes. He… He must’ve gone into full Aeternae mode, and that worried me even more. Nothing here made sense!

“In the basement. There’s a whole network of tunnels and hallways and chambers,” Kalon said. “I think the Darklings have been using it for a long time. They’ve infiltrated everywhere.” He looked at Valaine, his eyes glassy and filled with fear. “There are still Darklings among the gold guards, too. Trev met one of the ringleaders. It… It was Zoltan.”

We all went blank and silent for a split second, stopping everything as the name sank in, and the face associated with it came into focus.

“Zoltan… Zoltan Shatal?” Valaine managed, completely blindsided. Kalon nodded once, staring at my sister. I could almost feel the guilt surging through him. He felt awful. I could see it in his eyes.

Amane wiped the blood from her face and other wounds, meticulously cleaning and disinfecting them, while Derek cut his wrist and drained some of his blood into a glass vial. Amane looked at him. “I’m going to need more,” she said. “Esme has lost a lot of her own.”

Sofia exhaled and gave some of hers, as well, filling several vials, which Amane then set into a steady drip, the needle piercing my sister’s wrist. I could barely hear her heart beating, and that just made everything worse. It became difficult for me to concentrate.

“Yes, Zoltan Shatal. The chief councilor of Visio is a damn Darkling,” Kalon said, his voice trembling with rage. “Esme was following Trev, and I was following Esme… I worried, naturally. When the Darklings jumped them, I was still halfway through the corridors, sneaking through. There were so many hostiles down there, it was unbelievable… all clad in black leather or black armor… it didn’t make sense. By the time I got there, Esme was already injured; Trev was about to get killed. I lost it.”

“You released your full strength,” Valaine concluded, her index finger brushing over a dark but fading vein under his right eye. He nodded again.

“And Zoltan?” I asked, already itching to kill that two-faced son of a bitch.

“He vanished,” Kalon said. “I started tearing into his people there, just to stop them from killing Trev and Esme. And he was gone.”

“Did you see what weapon was used?” Amal insisted, swabbing the black gash on