A Shade of Vampire 81 A Bringer of Night - Bella Forrest Page 0,99
little bit longer,” I said. A bright light glimmered in the distance, and I knew, deep in my heart, that I’d found the fifth Beta element. “I think I see it.”
“Where?” Soul asked, following my gaze.
“The light,” I replied. “Don’t you see it?”
He shook his head. “Nah. Just stones and rubble.”
Then it had to be the fifth Beta element. If I was the only one who could see it, I was on the right track. Emboldened by this thought, I kept walking, albeit supported by Soul. We reached the ruins in a matter of seconds, as Phantom eased things up for us with a bit of Reaper world-treading. I was too tired and weakened to cover such a distance so quickly myself.
“Thanks,” I muttered, as Soul lowered me to the ground.
I knelt before a strange arrangement of rounded pebbles embedded in the ground. They were the source of the light, glowing brightly before me. They formed an eye, and each of them had a symbol carved into its shiny surface.
“Yeah, this is definitely it,” I said. “My whole being is buzzing.”
Morning joined me, taking my hand in hers. Her eyes were puffy, her lower lip quivering, but she held on. “Let’s do this one together,” she whispered. “Maybe I won’t see anything, but I don’t want you to do this alone. He’s my brother.”
I gave her a soft smile and used my free hand to touch every stone, looking for the memory trigger. “Hey, Soul?” I asked.
“Hm?”
“If I don’t survive this, can you water my yucca plant? She’s grown a lot this past decade.” He didn’t seem amused, so I raised an eyebrow at him. “Did the joke fly past you?”
“No, I got it. I’m just flabbergasted that you think I’d care about a friggin’ plant,” Soul said.
I chuckled. “There’s the Soul Crusher I know.”
My fingers found the memory stone. The surge knocked me out.
I opened my eyes, and I was me.
There was no one left alive on Cruor for me to see this through, which scared me. It meant I would be fully exposed to whatever I witnessed. But I felt someone holding my left hand. The Morning Star. Yes, she was with me, even though I couldn’t see her.
I was on top of a mountain. Darkness opened before me in the shape of a crater, eager to swallow me. To make me disappear.
Despair lingered in the air. It was thick and heavy, seeping through my skin. Black mist swirled around me. I followed its movements until he became visible…
“Ben,” I murmured.
He was alive, yet I hadn’t been put in his body to witness this. No, the Night Bringer had sensed my connection to him. I’d almost reaped Ben, after all. I was watching a moment in his life. A moment I’d only heard him talk about. A moment I‘d never wanted to see.
The Elder was headed toward him. I wasn’t sure which of the stranded Aeternae he’d been, but I could feel his hunger, his sense of alarm.
Ben knelt at the edge of the crater. The look on his face spoke of sadness and determination. This had not been an easy choice, but he’d made it. He lifted the vial to his lips.
“Oh, Ben.” I sighed, shuddering.
He was ending his own life. The elixir poured down his throat, and the Elder screamed.
My eyes stung as I watched Ben collapse, succumbing to the poison. He was dead, and the Elder, degraded by time and the Night Bringer’s influence, had no one left to influence or possess. This was the end of the line for him.
Without a body, without a soul to corrupt, the entity would eventually perish, and Cruor would be free of its last Aeternae curse. Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to do much good. Not for many more years. Not until I arrived.
“Do you understand now?” The Night Bringer’s voice came into focus.
I couldn’t see him, but I knew he was there with me. We were both watching the Elder wail, surrendering to his misery, unable to hold his misty form.
“I do. You did everything you could, considering…”
“This has been too much and for too long,” he said. “Ben and so many other innocent people died because of me.”
“It wasn’t your fault. You know that. The Spirit Bender—”
Night cut me off. “He lured me here because he knew how dark I could be. How toxic, if ever deprived of freedom. My pain radiated through everything. I killed it all, and I couldn’t control myself. I became lost.”