A Shade of Vampire 80 A Veil of Dark - Bella Forrest Page 0,82

it to him,” Lumi tried to assure me. “Just give it some time, while we follow them and stay close to the Darklings. Our main objective is to find their leader, and I am inclined to assume that Zoltan will lead us to that person. Then, we can pay him back in kind for what he did to you, as well.”

“Getting you back into the world of the living hinges on this, too,” Seeley reminded me.

“She didn’t promise us that,” Sidyan replied.

“Well, she’d better.” I scoffed. “After everything we’ve been through, and after everything we’re about to do, I damn well deserve it!”

Lumi gave me a faint smile, and I wished I could just hold her in my arms. Even with her so close to me, I suffered because I couldn’t touch her. I couldn’t find some comfort in her embrace. She’d been like a mother to me. Heck, she’d come all the way to Visio to seek retribution for what had happened to me.

“The better we do, the higher our chances for a reward,” Sidyan advised. “It’s the only thing that helps me function right now,” he added, lowering his voice as Maya and Rudolph came back to us. He continued to avoid using Death’s name, just to keep Maya close.

“Let’s go after Tristan and Valaine,” Seeley said. “I doubt Corbin will get anything useful out of those prisoners.”

I followed his gaze and noticed that half of the captured Darklings were in terrible shape, dried blood around their nostrils and under their eyes. They were pale, barely able to even sit up, let alone talk. The others were sullen and silent, staring at the cage’s steel floor. I could see what Seeley meant. Besides, judging by their clothes alone, these were all underlings, likely not as well informed as, say, Veliko.

Corbin needed higher-ranked members of the faction if he wanted better intel. The Darklings did a pretty good job of circulating information in a secure fashion. Unfortunately, Veliko was gone. Even the loss of a hand had not held him back—his survival instincts were clearly strong.

As much as I hated to admit it, our best bet was to go after the Darklings again and stay with Zoltan until he brought us to their leader.

Seeley took my hand in his, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Brighten up,” he whispered. “At least I’m free and no longer at risk of becoming a ghoul. I cannot thank you enough for everything you did, Nethissis.”

Warmth spread through me—the sweet kind, powerful enough to smother the anger that had previously taken over. “I promised I’d get you out.”

“And you kept your word. Now, let me give you mine. We will finish this, okay? We’ll catch them. We’ll find their leader. And when Death is free, it will all be over.”

I nodded slowly, temporarily numbed by his deep and dark gaze. I would never tire of his eyes, I realized. I could spend days and nights just counting the many stars reflected in them—snippets of the very universe that had made us, that had brought us together in such a peculiar way. Truth be told, our predicament was the better of the many ways in which this could’ve gone.

“At least we’re all together,” I mumbled, briefly nodding at Lumi, Sidyan, and the ghouls. “It’s infinitely better than just me, a helpless little spirit.”

“You’re not that helpless anymore, though, are you?” Seeley replied, grinning at the scythe in my hand. “I swear, you are the most capable and resourceful ghost I’ve ever come across.” His smile faded, his expression suddenly riddled with grief. “I’m just so… so sorry I couldn’t get to you in time.”

An ache settled in my chest. I knew he meant it. But I needed to give him some sense of relief, since he didn’t deserve to torture himself like this anymore.

“It was my choice to go down in that basement, Seeley,” I said. “My responsibility. My life to put on the line. You were tasked with following us, without interference.”

“Well, yes, but I would’ve—”

“You know, sometimes I think the universe just throws these challenges at us to see how we handle ourselves,” I said, cutting him off. “Maybe this is a test of sorts. Maybe we were meant to end up like this. At least I can touch you.”

He looked down at our hands. How neatly they fit together. How good his spirit felt touching mine. He nodded slowly. “I suppose it’s the most beautiful silver lining either