A Shade of Vampire 81 A Bringer of Night - Bella Forrest Page 0,54
Darkling who might hold valuable intel,” I said. “There’s something fishy here, Valaine. And you stand in the middle of it as a potential victim. I think you should be more worried about yourself and about the people you supposedly trust.”
She smiled, gazing ahead. “We’ve got Zoltan in chains, trapped in a cage. I made his brain bleed a little, and we’re about to bring him into the imperial city. After days of traveling and raids, we’ve finally returned with a small victory under our belts. That tells me the Darklings can be defeated, and that all those who stand with them will soon fall, just like Zoltan.”
“What if Kalon falls, too? What if you’re wrong about him?”
I loved my sister too much to see her suffer. I’d noticed the looks she and Kalon had been giving each other. I’d noticed the amount of time they spent together and how Esme’s eyes lit up whenever his name was mentioned. I knew she’d fallen for him, and I simply didn’t want her heart to get broken. She wasn’t the type to easily open up to other people, and the fact that she’d become attached to Kalon made her vulnerable, more fragile than she’d ever been before.
“I’m willing to bet my own life on his honor,” Valaine said. “I’ve known Kalon since we were children. If he’s keeping secrets, if he’s lying about something… it’s to protect someone. I want the truth as much as you do, Tristan, but I am not ready to give up on him. Not after more than five thousand years of knowing him.”
I let out a heavy sigh and glanced over my shoulder. “We should stop by the Visentis mansion after we deliver Zoltan.” I watched the disgraced Scholar as he huddled in a corner of the cage. He was a mere husk of the Aeternae I’d first met weeks earlier. A shadow of his former self. Defeat was not a good look on him, but it made me feel incredible.
“We will,” Valaine assured me. “My father will see to Zoltan’s lockup, and you and I will go check in on Esme and Kalon. Besides, Ansel might be a better source of information on the Darklings than Zoltan ever will. The boy is young and impressionable. This old hound would rather experience true agony and even die before he abandons his cause.”
She had a point there, and it further supported Esme sticking around Kalon and Ansel. It didn’t relieve any of the pressure building up inside me, but it was a truth I had to accept. As much as I disliked Kalon’s dishonesty, I also trusted Valaine’s judgment. She spoke with great passion and conviction—I couldn’t let my personal opinions get in the way of the truth. To be fair, Kalon had been nothing but helpful and protective toward Esme since day one. I could only hope that Esme might get him to talk.
“You don’t think Zoltan will snitch on the Darklings? Not even after that Veliko fella threw him at us like an old bone?” I asked.
Valaine shook her head. “Each Darkling is a cog in a greater machine. Zoltan is protecting the credo. The belief behind their faction. The idea that if they kill a certain Aeternae whenever the Black Fever comes back, it will stop it from wiping out our entire species.”
“And it’s your turn to die this time around,” I muttered. “It’s awful.”
“Believe me, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the concept. I don’t see how I could be causing the Black Fever,” Valaine said. “My blood is clean. No one’s gotten sick around me. How would it work, if it were true?”
It was my turn to shake my head. “I don’t know. But I’m certain we’ll get to the bottom of it. I didn’t come all the way here to end up burying you, Valaine.”
“Tristan… that is the sweetest thing that anyone has ever said to me.”
I looked at her. There was warmth in her dark eyes. A smile on her tender lips. Pink roses blooming in her porcelain cheeks. As evening settled over the land and winds blew from the north, I felt shivers spreading through my limbs, rapidly traveling under my skin. I became unable to break eye contact. Valaine had this hypnotizing effect on me, and whenever I got trapped, I experienced a quiet bliss.
“That I don’t want to see you buried?” I chuckled, trying to regain some of my senses.