A Shade of Vampire 79 A Game of Death - Bella Forrest Page 0,52

us what we will or will not do,” Dina replied as she took her scythe out. The glimmer of its silver blade sent shivers running through me like vivid droplets of ice, making my very essence run cold.

“Well, first of all, I can take you to Seeley,” I said, holding my chin up. “Or you can spend the rest of the day looking for him, which, in turn, might get him into deeper trouble. The sooner we get him out of that cell, the better.” I paused, measuring each of them from head to toe. “Your choice.”

Rudolph narrowed his galaxy eyes at me. “You said ‘first of all’. What’s second?”

“Are you seriously listening to her?” Lisl murmured, slightly aghast.

I stifled a smirk as Rudolph raised a hand to shush her again. It seemed like a pattern with Lisl. In this particular case, I welcomed it. “Second, my death was not natural. A ghoul killed me. It was not Zoltan’s intention, since he didn’t even realize I was there until that monster broke my neck, but… still, unnatural death. I think that should be considered before raising any of your scythes to me. You should at least discuss this with the big kahuna, Lady Death and whatnot.”

It was difficult to keep my cool, but it worked. Dina put her scythe away, her shoulders dropping, as Rudolph nodded in agreement. “That makes sense. Not that we like it, but I don’t see the harm in you assisting us, at least until we get to Seeley.”

“Then can we reap her?” Bert asked, eyeing me nervously.

“What’s the rush? It’s not like I’m hurting anybody,” I grumbled, crossing my arms.

“We’ll see when we get there,” Rudolph replied. “Let’s free Seeley first and figure out exactly what’s going on here.”

I motioned for them to follow me, thankful to have bought myself at least a few more minutes. Maybe luck would be on my side later on, as well. I needed to make a case for my resurrection. It was possible. Seeley could get the authority from Taeral and Thieron, much like he’d done for the five million fae. It was a sliver of hope that I refused to relinquish.

“Where is Zoltan now?” Rudolph asked as I guided them out of the library and toward the lower levels of the palace.

“I don’t know. Probably pretending everything’s okay,” I said. “He’ll be back at some point today, which is why we need to get Seeley out of there soon.”

“Is he okay?” Lisl asked, her voice softer than before. I had a feeling she liked Seely, and that… irked me just a little bit. This wasn’t the time or the place to experience such a troubling pang in the pit of my stomach, but I couldn’t help it.

I nodded, looking straight ahead at the end of the hallway. That was our shortest route to Seeley’s cell. “He’s bound by death magic, but he’s all right.”

“Anyone else involved, besides that Zoltan?” Rudolph replied.

We went through several doors and down the stairs. I momentarily reveled in my newfound ability to disregard solid matter at my choosing. It was actually kind of fun—an unexpected perk to an otherwise gut-wrenching condition which I hoped to fix without having to give up on life.

“He’s got guards down there. Black armor. Not many, from what I’ve seen, and not as skilled with death magic as Zoltan is,” I said. “They come and go in shifts, checking the corridors. It’s a maze down here.”

Gliding down the spiraling stone steps, I felt colder than usual. Maybe it had something to do with the underground atmosphere, but I didn’t like it. The lights were dim, barely flickering on the wall-mounted torches, casting shadows that danced across every inch of amber-lit limestone.

The entire picture chilled me to my spiritual bones.

“Zoltan also has a Reaper scythe,” I remembered. Glancing over my shoulder, I noticed the Reapers’ startled grimaces. The more I told them, the more troubled they got, and for good reason.

“One of us should definitely reach out to the Time Master now, before we even get to Seeley,” Lisl suggested. “This isn’t right. Rudolph?”

He nodded slowly. “Yeah, I’m on it.”

A spine-tingling growl erupted as soon as we set foot in the main corridor. It came out of nowhere—this massive, bulky, shimmering shadow. Rudolph screamed. I gasped and jumped to the side, just in time to see the carnage unfold.

The ghoul took Rudolph down first, biting so hard that the Reaper literally passed out, his wounds black and strange. The