A Shade of Vampire 80 A Veil of Dark - Bella Forrest Page 0,39
work in the Aeternae’s favor. So, are we sure the empire’s leadership isn’t… I don’t know, in cahoots with them?”
“Good question,” Seeley whispered. He raised the issue with Zoltan. “Clarify this for me, then, Scholar. If your purpose is so noble, why are you all outcasts? Why isn’t the Aeternae empire rewarding you, instead of hunting you?”
“Not everyone agrees with our methods,” Zoltan replied. “Over the millennia, it has been our understanding that we are better off operating in the shadows. The fewer people who know what we do in the darkness, the greater our odds of success.”
“But you’ve got people infiltrated at all levels of the Aeternae society, right?” Seeley asked.
Zoltan nodded. “More or less, yes.”
“What about the Lord and Lady Supreme? Do they know?”
“If they did, we wouldn’t be hiding out here, on the edge of the world.” Zoltan scoffed. “Sometimes, the monarchs are best kept out of the loop on things like this. Our actions may seem questionable, but our sole objective is to protect the Aeternae.”
It wasn’t a good enough excuse to justify their atrocities, but I did feel a smidge of relief knowing my GASP friends were not in any immediate danger. Had the Lord and Lady Supreme been aware of and supporters of the Darklings, then Derek and the others would’ve been in trouble. I wondered who else the Darklings had reached in the upper echelon of Aeternae society.
“What about the death magic?” Seeley decided to revisit the topic. I knew it bugged him, and for good reason, too. “How’d you come across it? It’s not like you’ve always had the knowledge and resources to trap a Reaper and force them into telling you this stuff.”
Zoltan smiled, his lips parting. He was about to reply, but his attention, much like ours, was quickly drawn back to Veliko, who came back with Rudolph on a chain leash. The ghoul struggled occasionally but immediately calmed down when he saw me.
“Rudy…” I mumbled, my brain quickly putting two and two together.
“Here’s a good replacement for Ignatius,” Veliko said. “Rudolph, sit.”
“Remember, Rudy. Just like we talked about,” I told him, and he listened. Obedient and relaxed, Rudolph sat. The iron collar dug into his translucent skin, but he seemed much more accustomed to his condition now than yesterday. Slowly but surely, Rudolph was learning to live as a ghoul—a point of no return for Reapers. He could never go back to who he was, but he could certainly strive to be a better ghoul than most, much like Herbert and a few others before him.
“He’s a little young to be out and about like this,” Zoltan said.
“Nonsense. He’s got potential,” Veliko replied, motioning for two black guards to join the conversation. “Come over here, fellas,” he called out, and lowered his voice for Zoltan and Seeley’s ears only. “I’m going to prove it to you.”
“What are you up to?” Zoltan asked, understandably suspicious.
“Well, you were right. I killed a ghoul, so it’s my duty to give you a reliable substitute. I’ve been watching Rudolph in his ghoul pen. I’ve seen the way he carries himself. How polite he is with the guards. I think he’s got the potential to be a million times better than Ignatius ever was.”
My heart almost leapt, as I felt myself closer to freeing Seeley than ever before. Finally, after all these days and after all the struggles, a high-ranking Darkling had noticed Rudolph’s behavior. Getting him out of the “ghoul pen” and into a more casual position was the next step before Rudolph would be able to swipe a scythe and help get Seeley out of this mess.
With no Death or other Reapers around to help, we only had ourselves to rely on. I constantly wondered why she wasn’t sending more agents, but the question marks took a back seat, since Seeley was still in danger.
“Your benevolence irritates me,” Zoltan said. “I think I liked you better when you were trying to unseat me, Veliko.”
“Don’t be cynical, Scholar Shatal. I’m merely working toward the completion of our common goals,” Veliko replied. He smiled at the newly arrived black guards. “Thanks for coming over, fellas.”
“What is he up to?” I asked, not necessarily expecting an answer. Rudolph looked at me with questioning eyes, and I gave him a shrug in return. I had no idea what was going on here.
“Anyway, let me prove how useful Rudolph can be,” Veliko added, tugging on Rudolph’s chain. “One of these boys is carrying an Aeternae blood vial,