A Shade of Vampire 82 A Circle of Nine - Bella Forrest Page 0,29

you feel her?” I asked, overlooking my own feelings. There was a weight pressing down on my chest, but I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Visio was muddier than Vetruvia and Cruor, where my death magic sensitivity was concerned. Maybe the twins could sense things I couldn’t.

“Yes,” Morning said. “It’s like a weight pressing down on my chest.”

Ditto. So I was definitely onto something.

“But it’s difficult to pinpoint,” Night replied. “It’s like she is everywhere and nowhere all at once. As if she was disintegrated and redistributed all across Visio. Much like we were until not that long ago.”

“Yet it’s different,” Morning added. “I don’t know how to explain it.”

“Maybe it’s got something to do with whatever seal Spirit bound her with,” I suggested. “Night, you did say Unending got it the worst out of all the First Tenners Spirit hurt.”

His expression morphed into something dark and sad. “That’s what Spirit told me when he trapped me.”

Phantom stepped forward, her galaxy eyes wandering constantly. “How much do you guys want to bet we’ll have a better chance of finding the Unending if we get to the very core of the Darklings? After all, if Spirit did help these people, they’re likely to know something about our sister, too.”

I couldn’t help but flash her a grin. “In that case, we should definitely get in touch with Seeley and his gang of misfits. We’re all after the same thing.”

“No,” Soul insisted. “We do not make contact with Seeley or anyone else in his company.”

“But we could follow their trail,” Widow replied. “Kelara is right.”

Normally, I wouldn’t have taken such satisfaction from his statement, but it felt like a small victory against Soul, who’d gone from a caring and compassionate lifeline to his usual mean and cold self. I wasn’t sure whether he was doing it on purpose or not. Perhaps I’d misunderstood, and his sympathy during my Cruor ordeal had been something else entirely. Either way, it felt nice to beat him at this.

“Told ya,” I shot back, grinning at him.

“Yes, let us follow your Reaper friend,” Night said. “Maybe we’ll get closer to Unending. Maybe we’ll feel her more.”

We had our work cut out for us. We not only had to find Unending, but we also had to figure out what sort of seal Spirit had put her under. From there, we had to figure out how to break that seal—and that was my biggest challenge. My instincts told me it would fall on me to resolve this, and I had a feeling I’d have to go into it blind, just like every other trial I’d been through.

It was a tedious job… serving Death.

However, leaving the Unending to suffer was not an option. For all the hate I had toward the Spirit Bender, I had to undo his legacy. I had to set things right.

“I don’t get it,” I said, my shoulders dropping. “Seeley needs our help, too. Chances are he’ll be more than happy to help us. Since when do we all go around blindly obeying Death, huh? Aren’t you tired of this senseless secrecy?”

Phantom frowned. “What are you trying to say?”

“We need help. And Seeley needs help. Why do we have to move separately? Why do we have to struggle on our own when we could be stronger together? Why should we let Petra do whatever the hell she wants? She’s been mocking souls for eons, and she’s about to do the same with Nethissis.”

“Death has been quite specific. We’re not even supposed to know about Sidyan and the others,” Widow replied with a shrug.

“I want you all to look me in the eyes and tell me honestly that you think this is okay,” I said firmly, unwilling to let it go. I believed in our strength, not just our individuality, and I needed them to have more faith in themselves, as well.

“It’s not okay,” Morning murmured, drawing startled looks from the others. “She’s right. Death is trapped. She’s proud. She doesn’t want the world to know how the Spirit played us all. She underestimates the extent of the damage he caused. We need to up our game, and Kelara has a point. There are more of us here on Visio now, trying to do the right thing.”

“We’re better off doing the right thing together.” Night surrendered. “I for one am still reeling from the number of awful things the Darklings have been getting away with this whole time. Tiptoeing around these fiends is no longer an