the Nightmare worked tirelessly on breaking seal number 902, while I tried reaching out to Seeley again. I hadn’t heard from him since last night, and it wasn’t like him to just disappear—especially after the mystery he’d clearly stumbled upon there on Visio.
Death noticed my frown as I realized I wasn’t going to reach him this time, either. It was as if our telepathic link had been squelched. Something was wrong.
“What is it, Kelara?” she asked, sitting with her legs crossed in front of the ice hole, chains still binding her to the bottom of the lake.
The others moved around her, scratching symbols into the ice with the tips of their scythes, following a precise pattern, whispering spells and working to disable one more seal.
“Seeley’s MIA,” I said.
It was enough to stop everyone in their tracks. It even drew a scowl from Death, whose expressions had once been so smooth, so frosted, that it would’ve been damn near impossible to read. This whole situation was taking its toll even on her—and that said something.
“What do you mean?” Death replied, her cherry-red lips barely moving.
“I haven’t heard from him since last night,” I explained. “I’ve been trying to reach out to him, but there’s only silence. Seeley would’ve said something by now, even if there was nothing to report.”
The Phantom sighed. “You should tell Rudolph. It might mean trouble for him and his team.”
“Rudolph,” I said, calling out to the Reaper through our telepathic link. “Rudolph, are you there?” Several minutes passed. The First Tenners and Death stared at me, waiting for my face to light up as soon as Rudolph’s voice came through. “Dammit, Rudolph, say something!”
“I’m here,” he finally replied, sounding farther than ever. “What’s up?”
“What do you mean, what’s up?!” I croaked. “Are you kidding me? Where the hell are you?”
“On my way to Visio. We finally finished our work. The calamity was a bloody nightmare, killing way more people than we’d expected,” he said. “I’ve got a crew of six with me. We should be at the palace in about an hour, tops.”
“I can’t get ahold of Seeley,” I replied, Death’s dark and starry eyes still fixed on me. “Something’s wrong, and I need you to be careful once you get there.”
“Kelara, I will apprise you on the situation as soon as I reach Visio. Thank you for the warning. We’ll be cautious,” he said.
“I’ll be waiting for you to reach out. Find Seeley, please!”
Rudolph definitely got my message, even though silence settled in my mind. All I could do now was hope that everything would be okay. Then again, what were the odds of everything actually being okay on a planet seemingly without Reapers or ghosts? I didn’t like any of this, and Death’s insistence on keeping the intervention team small got on my nerves.
“I still think we should send a bigger team over there,” I said. “An army, if possible. Visio just doesn’t feel right.”
“Your persistence is unbecoming, Kelara,” Death said. “I told you, discretion is crucial at this point.”
“Discretion for what, exactly?” I asked. “Who’s pulling the strings over there? We don’t even know who that is or why they’re doing whatever it is they’re doing. We’re completely in the dark here!”
“What Kelara is trying to say is that you’re withholding precious information,” the Time Master interjected politely. “And it’s counterproductive. If you tell us more about what you know or think is happening on Visio, perhaps we will be less persistent in requesting additional Reapers to go there.”
He was definitely more eloquent than me. My very soul was cluttered with anxiety and concern, and Death’s annoyingly calm demeanor and refusal to answer the most basic of questions wasn’t helping.
“It’s not that I know more, or that I don’t want to tell you. I have a hunch, but it is worthless until we get more information from Visio,” Death said. “I appreciate your concern, Kelara, and I understand where you’re coming from. However, my previous statements stand. If there is a culprit involved, we do not want to spook him—or them, as the case may be. A discreet reconnaissance mission is the best way forward, until we learn more about that place.”
Resting my hands on my hips, I breathed out. It didn’t make me feel any better. “What if something happens to Rudolph, too?” I asked.
She thought about it for a moment, stealing glances at the First Tenners. Each of them wanted to say something, but they were genuinely frightened of her. They didn’t