A Shade of Vampire 79 A Game of Death - Bella Forrest Page 0,66

Kalon replied, shaking his head. “She’s an Aeternae. Part of the ruling class. Not to mention all the other Aeternae they’ve killed over the years.”

The Rimian sighed deeply, aching from his position against the column. “Word has it the Darklings offer up the life of an Aeternae as a sacrifice, and that it usually stops the plague from wiping all of them out.”

“What?” I croaked. “How the hell is Valaine’s death going to stop the Black Fever? It’s an actual disease. Sacrifices are so primitive! What are these Darklings thinking?”

“I don’t know. But they spend considerable amounts of time and resources to find the right Aeternae, every time. Every fifteen thousand years they do this. The attacks, the killings, they usually spike before the Black Fever breaks out. Then, once it fades, the Darklings fall back into the shadows. We’ve theorized that they kill the wrong people, frequently, looking for that right Aeternae… It’s likely they’re after Valaine now because they think that if they sacrifice her, it’ll stop the Black Fever,” the Rimian explained.

I looked at Kalon, and he was as outraged and as befuddled as me. “Are they insane? A murderous cult?” I asked.

“Well, they’re definitely not the anarchists we thought they were,” Kalon muttered.

“And the Red Threads? What are you up to?” I asked the Rimian.

“I told you. We’re revolutionaries. I’m telling the truth. We were going to kidnap Lord Kalon here for ransom. We need funding for weapons.”

Kalon and I exchanged an intrigued glance, before I moved my attention back to the Rimian. “What about Nethissis? What do you know about her death?”

“Who’s Nethissis?” the Rimian asked.

“Our witch friend. Copper hair, yellow eyes…”

He nodded slowly. “Right. I’ve seen her. But I don’t know. Where was she killed? And how?”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out, as well. We found her in the palace gardens,” I said.

The Rimian scoffed, visibly disgusted. “That place is teeming with Darklings, and most people don’t even know it. They’re impossible to detect. As for your friend, I honestly have no information. But if she was killed by Darklings, then she probably saw or heard something she shouldn’t have. Otherwise they would’ve let her be. If there’s one thing I know about the Darklings, whoever they are, it’s that they do not kill without reason. They’re always looking for sacrifices to the Black Fever. Call it a cult, if you will. Their faith demands blood.”

I wasn’t entirely satisfied with his answers, but I also knew he couldn’t give me more. His heartbeats were steady, his pulse even and strong. There was no deception in his response. This was all he knew, and it bothered me for two important reasons: one, it didn’t bring me any closer to Nethissis’s murderer, and two, it merely verified that Valaine was the Darklings’ target. That put my brother at risk, as well, since the two had become more or less inseparable since last night’s attack.

“This isn’t good,” I said, getting up and turning my back on the Rimian. Kalon joined me, equally concerned.

“What do you think?” he asked, leaning closer.

“He’s telling the truth,” I replied. “But it’s not helping much, is it?”

“We know they’ll keep going after Valaine,” Kalon said. “They won’t stop until she’s dead. I reckon our only chance to figure out who the Darklings are is if we capture one of them alive.”

“What about the Red Thread here?” I whispered.

“Oh, he’s liable to be charged with treason. He’ll have to surrender his friends to avoid the death penalty, at best,” Kalon said. “Conspiring against the Aeternae, trying to kidnap me… both capital offenses.”

We turned around to face the Rimian again, only—he was gone. His ropes were loose, the ends cut neatly with a blade.

I gasped. “Crap.”

Something moved at the back, through the darkness. A door opened, light pouring through as the Rimian escaped. My heart started thumping, angry in its rhythm, as I realized he’d played us. While we’d been interrogating him, he’d been working on his ties, likely using a blade he must’ve kept up his sleeve or something. I had not thought to check his sleeves, nor his boots. This was a terrible mistake.

“Come on!” Kalon said. “We need to get him!”

He dashed across the hall and bolted through the back door. But this was supposed to be the end of a cul-de-sac. Where was the Rimian going? I remembered seeing a tall wall behind the house, but I doubted he had the ability to jump over it, especially after I’d