show you why I’ve been Scholar for fifty thousand years, and why you’re still a puny underling after a hundred thousand.”
They stared each other down, and Veliko’s contempt was more than obvious. Even so, he didn’t engage Zoltan. I had a feeling he was definitely planning something, though. This frustration of his had been simmering on a low fire for a very long time. It was bound to boil over, especially since Zoltan had, in fact, pushed himself into an uncomfortable corner with Ignatius. For the moment, however, he seemed to have retained his authority.
But Zoltan was also useful, at least to Seeley and me, and despite how much I hated him, he was still needed. Zoltan was the only thing that stood between Seeley the Reaper and Seeley the ghoul.
“What about Valaine?” Veliko asked, staring at the runes on Ignatius’s chain. The tips of his fingers were smudged with ashes. “How do we take her out?”
Zoltan sighed, settling back on the ground and leaning on a protruding rock close to Seeley. “I’m waiting for my scouts to give me her whereabouts, but I am willing to bet she’s looking for us. We left her new friend, Esme, in bad shape. Surely, Valaine will be out for retribution. It’s in her Crimson blood.”
“I’m going to revisit this, so we’re clear. Are you absolutely sure she’s the one we must kill?” Veliko replied.
“Her birth coincides with the end of the last Black Fever. And there are things about her that have always struck me as odd. I am convinced that she’s the source.”
“Whoa… the what now?” I croaked, looking at Seeley.
“What do you mean by source?” Seeley asked.
I’d thought the Darklings were out to kill Valaine as a sacrifice of sorts, to appease the Black Fever and make it go away. That had been my understanding of this cruel tradition. Clearly, I’d been missing some important details.
Zoltan raised an eyebrow at Seeley. “Why did you think we’re out to kill her?”
“As a sacrifice,” Seeley said.
Both Zoltan and Veliko laughed. “You fool. Do we really strike you as mindless fanatics?” the Scholar chuckled.
“Well, you’ve got the makings of a murderous cult, for sure. You terrorize innocent people. You abduct Reapers and force them into becoming ghouls. You use ghouls and death magic. You kidnap Rimians and Naloreans and sell them as blood slaves to fund your operations,” Seeley said. “I have to say, nothing you do speaks in your favor. So, yes, the idea of sacrificing Valaine in a bid to stop a deadly plague doesn’t sound that far-fetched.”
“We do not sacrifice Aeternae. We don’t just go around killing people without a noble purpose,” Zoltan replied. “The Black Fever doesn’t stem from the Rimians or the Naloreans, Reaper. They’re carriers, yes, but they’re not the source. One of our own is. Every ten thousand years or so, the plague returns, and each time, we must find its Aeternae source and kill them. It’s what has stopped the Black Fever from wiping out all the Aeternae.”
Seeley gave me a quick glance, and we both appeared to understand what this new development entailed. There was a possibility that Zoltan was telling the truth—in which case, Tristan and the others needed to know. I didn’t agree with killing Valaine, however. I imagined studying her blood might yield better, more permanent results.
“And what is it about Valaine that makes her your target?” Seeley asked.
“None of your business. You wouldn’t understand, anyway,” Zoltan retorted.
Veliko smirked. “I’d like to know, Scholar. You’ve yet to share such details with us. Your faithful servants, might I add.”
Zoltan waved him away. “I will not have my decisions questioned. Let us wait for the scouts to come back with intel, then we’ll discuss the next step. In the meantime, and since you decided to kill one of our ghouls, I’m tasking you with finding Ignatius’s replacement. We need a few trackers to hunt and raise alarms around the compound. Astoria won’t be safe for much longer.”
Veliko thought about it for a while, a smile stretching across his face. He got up and walked away, disappearing behind several stone monoliths, their corners dulled by the wind, the rain, and the passage of eons since Astoria had last been inhabited.
Inching closer to Seeley, I found myself in awe of the Darklings. There was a method to their madness, and I had to recalibrate my judgments regarding them.
“These really aren’t just mindless fanatics,” I murmured. “They’ve got a pretty solid purpose. And it seems to