A Shade of Vampire 82 A Circle of Nine - Bella Forrest Page 0,25

“We’re on the edge of our seats here.”

I had to admit this was somewhat refreshing. It had been a while since we’d all been in the same room planning an operation. I appreciated the periods of peace, but a little bit of action never hurt anyone. Part of me was adrenaline hungry. I could do with some fieldwork.

Taeral took his seat at the head of the table, shifting uncomfortably several times before he truly settled. “She won’t help,” he finally said. “She claims it’s none of our business and that she’s already got people investigating.”

“Seriously?!” Kailani snapped and rolled her eyes.

“I told her the Darklings were using death magic and controlling ghouls somehow,” Taeral continued. “She said she knew. She said our people should just steer clear of the Darklings. That her agents would handle it.”

“So, you got the same response as last time,” I said, exhaling sharply. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“She probably thinks we’re in over our heads with this one,” Caleb surmised.

Rose nodded. “She’s not far off the mark. Technically speaking, we are in over our heads.”

“That doesn’t mean we should all just step back and do nothing,” I said.

“We could get the crew out of there and forget all about Visio,” Rose replied. “But Mom and Dad both said they’re not going to let Danika or the Darklings—or anyone else, for that matter—scare them off their mission. Tristan, Esme, Amal, and Amane all agree. They’ve come too far to give up now, concerning both the Black Fever and the day-walking cure. They’re absolutely determined to stop the Black Fever from spreading, and I can’t say I blame them for wanting to do the right thing.”

I ran a hand through my hair, trying to figure out our best course of action. Amane would’ve been great at this point, but I already knew where she stood. The Faulty twins were invested in their science. They weren’t going to back down.

“I tried to get Death to cooperate, I really did.” Taeral sighed. “But she insists that the living and the dead should not interact in any way.”

“Can anyone see the glaring irony, since… you know, the Darklings?” Kailani replied, throwing her hands in the air. Hunter caught one and brought it to his lips, dropping a kiss on her knuckles. It seemed to have a soothing effect on her, if only for a moment or two.

“But we know the Spirit Bender might’ve had something to do with the Darklings’ ascension,” Taeral said. “And I’m confident that’s why she wants us to stay away. She doesn’t yet know the depth of his involvement. It’s not like he’s still around for her to talk to him about it.”

“Trust me, no one’s sad about the Spirit Bender’s departure,” Rose muttered.

“She’s still working on her release. To that end, she’s trying to get all the remaining First Tenners to help her,” Taeral added. “She’s said before that she might be the only one who’s capable of undoing whatever Spirit did on Visio.”

“We can’t just wait around until that happens,” Rose said. “The situation on Visio deteriorated within hours of Acheron’s assassination. Besides, we have no guarantee that Death will free herself in time to stop whatever it is the Darklings are building up to. Maybe Danika doesn’t quite understand this yet, but we are, in fact, trying to help her and her people. It’s not something we can turn a blind eye to. That’s not part of our ethos as GASP.”

“And I wholeheartedly agree,” Taeral replied. “Which brings me to the distraction I mentioned earlier. The Time Master contacted me through a telepathic connection after I left Aledras. He didn’t say a word while I was there, but he felt the need to speak to me afterward. He must’ve had a way to talk without Death somehow overhearing him.”

“Okay. What did he say?” Rose asked, her interest piqued.

“He thinks we should get involved. That we should do whatever we can on our end to protect our people on Visio, along with every other innocent person who might end up on the Darklings’ kill list,” Taeral said. “Valaine included.”

Caleb frowned. “Why does he want us to go against Death’s advice?”

“According to him, some assistance from the living won’t hurt the Reapers already stationed on Visio,” Taeral explained. “He thinks the Darklings will screw up much faster if both sides of the universal spectrum are chasing them. If we send our agents to Visio with the sole focus of bringing the Darklings down while the Reapers