A Shade of Vampire 80 A Veil of Dark - Bella Forrest Page 0,52

reappeared between us, and I gasped, certainly not used to such sudden movements. His grin, however, quickly caught my attention. “What is it?”

“You both need to see this,” Sidyan replied, and took my hand, as well as Maya’s.

A split second later, we were on the surface, smack in the middle of a road. Trees rose on both sides, a forest so tall and thick that I couldn’t see much other than the night sky above. Ahead, however, there were twinkling lights. The neighs of horses made my ears twitch.

Focusing, I managed to see better as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. A caravan of Aeternae soldiers, many of them on horseback. A cage packed with prisoners and a couple of carts, each pulled by sturdy Visions.

I couldn’t make out much past that point, but I spotted Tristan, a familiar figure, and my heart started jumping with excitement. “Is that…” I murmured, my voice fading.

“Tristan Vaughn and Valaine Crimson,” Sidyan said. “This is their caravan. We’re on the Green Road, Lumi. We’ve been on the Green Road since we left the palace basement. The tunnel goes right underneath, following the same path.”

“They’re headed to Astoria,” I replied, remembering the little bits of intel I’d picked up from Taeral. The Visio GASP crew regularly communicated their routes and findings back to GASP base, and Taeral had been kind enough to keep me in the loop about it. “On the east coast. I know they’re looking for Zoltan and the Darklings.”

“They’re onto something, for sure. As are we,” Sidyan said. “I eavesdropped on the soldiers for a hot minute. They’ve got Darkling prisoners. They’ve been raiding the settlements along the Green Road.”

“Then we’re going the same way!” I exclaimed.

“They can’t know that,” Sidyan replied, his gaze darkening. “We can follow them. Maya can keep tracking the tunnel underground, and the two of us can stay close to your friend. But they cannot know we’re here.”

I scoffed. “Obviously. I know that.”

For the first time, Sidyan didn’t roll his eyes at me, nor did he have a snarky comeback. Instead, he shifted focus to Maya. “You take the tunnel, Maya. If you see any ghouls or Darklings or Reapers, you know what you have to do, okay?”

The ghoul nodded briefly as she shimmered away. A moment passed, and she was gone, probably sniffing through the tunnel, right beneath us.

“We’ll find the Darklings, Lumi,” Sidyan reassured me.

“What bugs me is that Death isn’t doing more about this place.”

“I’ve tuned into Reaper radio, so to speak. She hasn’t sent anyone else. I can’t speak to Kelara about this, or any other Reapers, given my situation with Maya,” Sidyan replied. “But I know, I know as surely as I know that the sun rises in the east… I know Death has a plan for Visio. Whatever it may be, we will learn about it, too. Until then, the best we can do is investigate.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“She’s under the seals now. Looking for the other First Tenners to help her get free faster,” Sidyan said. “I’m positive she’ll come to Visio herself, when she can.”

“But we don’t know how long that will take.”

Sidyan shook his head. “That doesn’t mean we can’t at least do something to help Seeley and the others. Maybe even get revenge on Zoltan for what he did to your witch friend.”

This was his peculiar way of comforting me. I wanted to thank him, but reality reared its ugly head, leaving me with no choice but to exhale sharply, embittered by frustration. “I can’t kill him. He’s got information. Whatever the Darklings are doing, they must be stopped. Zoltan might be an important tool in that endeavor.”

“Fair enough. But a little torture wouldn’t hurt,” Sidyan said. “Well, it wouldn’t hurt you. It would definitely hurt him.”

I chuckled. “What’s up with you? All of a sudden, you’re Mr. Sunshine, optimistic about the torture of Zoltan Shatal. I have to say, it seems out of character for you.”

Sidyan smiled. “It’s been a couple of days with nothing but faint traces of Reapers and ghouls. I feel like we’re onto something much better now. I suppose it gives me a little kick in the heels. Besides, if Zoltan had killed Maya, I would’ve wanted to make him pay, too. It might not look like it, but I do sympathize, Lumi.”

As we walked behind Tristan and Valaine’s caravan, I realized I really enjoyed hearing the sound of my name coming from Sidyan’s lips. There was a particular depth in