A Shade of Vampire 82 A Circle of Nine - Bella Forrest Page 0,1

the Black Fever. Not that you’re the source of it. Biologically and chronologically speaking, it still doesn’t make sense.” She shot Ansel a harsh look. “You need to get that through your head. We have absolutely no proof for what the Darklings are saying.”

The young Aeternae nodded slowly, giving Valaine an apologetic smile. “Either way, it doesn’t matter what I think. I’m not a threat to you. Not anymore.”

Valaine couldn’t help but chuckle. “I doubt you ever were a threat to me, but I do admire your bravery. You have potential. Perhaps now you will use it wisely.”

“After my own faction tried to kill me? Yeah.” Ansel sighed, his head lowered in shame.

Amal cleared her throat, making us all look her way. “Petra is a Whip of the Darklings. Most of her sons and even her brother are Darklings,” she said. “To me, that is the scariest part of this. I trusted her. I followed her lead in everything to do with the Black Fever and the Aeternae. And now she’s still out there, scheming and plotting… Will we do nothing to stop her?”

“Oh, we definitely will do something,” I replied. “It’s time we take matters into our own hands. With the empire in disarray and Danika lending her ear to the hearsay of Darklings, we have no other choice.”

Sofia raised an eyebrow at me. “What do you mean?”

“It’s time to sneak a team onto Visio,” I said. “Unfortunately, we no longer have Acheron’s green light for a bigger operation, but we can still try to bring over a few people to help us find Petra and anyone else involved.”

“I can definitely talk to Rose and Caleb about it,” Sofia replied. “But the airships and the telescopes will spot them. I’m pretty sure the Aeternae have their eyes on the sky now more than ever, since we’ve escaped.”

Tristan groaned with frustration, running a hand through his dark hair. “Sofia’s right. Two possible scenarios Danika might be considering at this point are that we’ll either try to get off the planet or that we’ll bring in GASP troops. She’ll be pointing every lens she has at anything that might be headed for Visio.”

Amal gasped. “Our shuttle! We can use it!”

“As a distraction,” Amane continued. “If we find a way to get it back, that is.”

“Exactly. We fly the shuttle around to get the Aeternae’s attention focused on us. We’ll have to coordinate with whomever you’re thinking of calling over,” Amal said. “Once we know the Aeternae are busy sending their airships after us, the team can come in and immediately switch on the invisible forcefield.”

I found myself nodding and smiling, finally seeing a light at the end of what had briefly felt like a wretched, dark, and never-ending tunnel. There was hope. We had options. The Aeternae were not superior to us from a techno-magical standpoint, even though the Darklings did dabble in death magic. We could wriggle our way out of this mess with just the right amount of coordination and determination.

“We need more of our people,” I said. “Acheron’s death must not go unpunished, and the Darklings are a clear threat. We have to take them out before they get the whole empire amped up about capturing and killing Valaine.”

“Good trackers,” Tristan suggested. “The Darklings are very good at hiding when they have to. It took Valaine and me some work to stay on their trail.”

Sofia gave me a wink. “Hunter. He’s our best tracker. Kailani will be more than happy to join him, and we could use a powerful swamp witch by our side. I think Lumi is still grieving in isolation. Rose said Nethissis’s death hit her really hard.”

“Yes. We’ll put together a team from The Shade,” I said. “That’s fine. But in the short term, we still have our work cut out for us. Nethissis’s body is still in the palace, and we can’t leave her there for much longer. Someone will find her eventually.”

“On top of that, Esme and Kalon have yet to reach out,” Tristan replied. “I’ve waited as long as I can… I need to go find my sister.”

Amal exhaled sharply. “And we have to get our shuttle back, too.”

“And find another safe house,” Ansel said, peeking through the dirty window. “I can smell the silver guards now. They’re maybe a few blocks away. Because they’re combing the streets, it will take them some time to get here, but the quicker we get out, the fainter our traces will be when they do