A Shade of Vampire 80 A Veil of Dark - Bella Forrest Page 0,75

sun. The light got brighter, expanding and swallowing everything in its path. It maintained a tight radius. Seeley and I managed to drag ourselves away.

We heard Veliko scream. Then Zoltan, followed by other Darklings.

A giant ball of light had temporarily enclosed them, causing serious, deep burns and a whole lot of pain. I recognized that swamp witch magic. It was hardcore, continent-reshaping, titanic mojo. And Lumi, who, for some reason, was here, on Visio… she’d put a lot of energy into it.

Sidyan appeared in front of Seeley and me.

“Sid,” Seeley mumbled, looking up in astonishment. Sidyan was the glimmer I’d seen!

“The wards are down,” he said to us. “We can leave.”

Lumi joined us, still amber-incandescent, as the light ball faded behind her. It had practically boiled the Darklings, leaving third-degree burns all over their bodies. Zoltan was down on his knees, forehead to the ground and Seeley’s scythe over his head, muttering the same protective spell, over and over.

“I can’t kill them while they’re using death magic and scythes,” Lumi said. “But this will slow them down for a few minutes. Let’s go.”

“But… How?!” I managed. “What… What just happened?”

Lumi gave me a soft and loving smile. “Isn’t it obvious? The universe brought me here, Nethi. The universe brought me to you.”

Sidyan touched her shoulder with the blade of his scythe, using his spare hand to grab Seeley’s forearm. “Come on, we’ll catch up in a bit.”

And just like that, the four of us were gone. Darkness enveloped me for the briefest of moments, and I felt the sweet relief I’d longed for since I’d first found Seeley in that basement cell, tethered to the wall.

We were finally out of the Darklings’ reach. All thanks to Lumi and her uncanny new friends.

My dear Lumi…

Seeley

We found ourselves on a hilltop about five miles south of Astoria, surrounded by blossoming fruit trees and tall, yellow-and-orange shrubs. I could almost taste the freedom I’d thought I might never experience again. It was a drizzle of honey on the tip of my tongue.

West of Astoria, firmly planted down the main road, I could see a caravan of at least three thousand Aeternae troops, their armor shining gold, silver, and red under the noon sky. They were less than an hour away from the abandoned city, and I knew it meant a possible escape for the Darklings. It didn’t matter now, though. We’d gotten away from them, and that was, by far, the most important aspect of this entire situation.

There was a lot to unpack from all this. A lot to catch up on.

Sidyan hugged me, his grip firm and tight as he laughed. Taking a step back, he patted my shoulders. “You have no idea how good it is to see you!” he said.

“Right back at you,” I mumbled, glancing to my left.

Lumi and Nethissis faced each other, mere inches of compressed air left between them. At least they could see each other again, as long as Nethissis held on to a scythe, or if I or other Reapers revealed her—I’d kept her visible since she set me free. They couldn’t touch, though. Nethissis was a translucent spirit. Lumi was still a body of flesh and Word magic—and boy, had she delivered!

They didn’t say anything, taking a few minutes to just stare in wonder, surprised and relieved to meet again, despite the events that had irrevocably torn them apart. I, too, was in awe—not so much by Lumi, whose power I’d come to know, already… but by Nethissis.

It wasn’t unexpected that Nethissis could hold a scythe, since a ghoul had passed it on to her, but being able to perform rune-breaking spells… that had been a leap of faith, and it had paid off. There was definitely something about her spirit, something that made her special. I wasn’t sure if it had something to do with her unnatural death. Maybe she was predestined to be a Reaper, like Taeral, hence her ability to use the scythe so well.

Her act of freeing me had always been a shot in the dark. A hope I’d held on to without telling her. I hadn’t wanted to disappoint her with the prospect of it not working. I’d needed her armed and ready and willing. Amazingly, it had all worked out.

She’d not only successfully performed Aloquian Mavris twenty freaking times, she’d also literally cut a rune chain off a ghoul. If the former had been more possible for a spirit with a scythe, the second had definitely been a