A Shade of Vampire 79 A Game of Death - Bella Forrest Page 0,4
said after a long and heavy pause. “I just don’t.”
“I’m with you there,” I replied, while my gaze wandered across the garden.
Its lushness and beauty no longer appealed to me. The red and orange blossoms no longer made my heart flutter. The smell of freshly cut grass no longer made me want to smile. I would forever associate this place with the murder of Nethissis…
“Do any of them seem deceitful to you?” she asked.
“You mean, among the Aeternae? Honestly, no. In the absence of hard, opposing evidence, I can’t really blame them for actually buying the phillim fox angle. They didn’t know Nethi like we did,” I replied. “Hell, in their minds, anyone who isn’t an Aeternae is somewhat inferior. Death by venomous critter isn’t exactly abnormal in these parts.”
“But someone did this to her, Esme. Someone conspired and got to her.”
“Yes. And I promise you, I’ll find out who’s behind this. I doubt we’ll get much help from the Aeternae, though. This is a diplomatic mess, and they will not take kindly to having one of their own accused of murder,” I said.
“You know, she didn’t have any family,” Lumi replied, her voice uneven.
Closing my eyes for a moment, I tried to picture Nethissis as a child, with copper-red hair and curious yellow eyes. “What happened to them?”
“Her mother died. She never knew her father.” Lumi sighed. “It was during a time when the Lamias and the Druids didn’t exactly get along.”
I felt sorry for Nethissis. She didn’t have anyone to bury her. “She’s got plenty of people who will mourn for her, though,” I said, thinking out loud. “Amal will preserve her body. We’ll bring her home to Calliope. We’ll bury her there, where she belongs.”
“Before that happens, I need you to dig deep into that world. Turn over every damn pebble, if you have to, Esme.”
“I will. I promise you, Lumi: Nethissis will be avenged.”
“I’ll speak to Taeral, in the meantime. Maybe he still has some Reaper connections he hasn’t told us about. Or maybe he can reach out to one of them,” Lumi said, her tone dropping to ice-cold levels. “One of Death’s people can go to Visio and find out what happened. Someone must’ve reaped her by now.”
I nodded slowly. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. Perhaps we can get some answers.”
It pained me to hear Lumi like this, but I knew it was her way of coping. She had a tendency to detach herself from a situation in order to look at it from the outside, with a clear head. I wasn’t sure she’d be able to pull it off this time, but she was definitely trying. Her focus on speaking with Taeral seemed like the best she could do, given the circumstances.
I watched quietly as the golden guards placed Nethissis’s body on a gurney and carried her into the palace. Amal, Derek, and Sofia followed them, forming a quiet procession through the garden.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about what happened,” Kalon said, coming closer. He seemed cautious in his approach, as if fearing an outburst on my part—not that he was wrong. I was a bomb waiting to explode at this point.
I briefly glanced at him, noticing the warmth in his otherwise cold blue eyes. “Thank you,” I whispered. Behind him, Valaine and Tristan exchanged opinions and scenarios, neither of them convinced that Nethissis’s death had been an accident. At least I wasn’t the only one in our crew thinking that—though Amal had already voiced her own suspicions about this.
Petra, Corbin, and Zoltan made their way back inside the palace. I kept my gaze fixed on them, temporarily hypnotized by the shimmering folds of black velvet that poured down Petra’s back, undulating like a stream under the midnight moon.
“I know you can’t be convinced that what happened to Nethissis was an accident,” Kalon said slowly. “And I don’t wish to change your mind. I trust your instincts. You knew Nethissis better than any of us.”
I looked at him, surprised by his softness and his sincerity. After all the back-and-forths we’d had, I would’ve expected a darker, perhaps more mysterious version of him to present itself, but… Kalon was genuine in his remarks. I needed that. Badly.
“You do realize we’re going to investigate this?” I asked.
He shrugged. “You do what you have to do. But you can count on me, Esme. I’ll support your every endeavor, until the truth comes to light. You must be willing to accept said truth, though, regardless of where