A Shade of Vampire 82 A Circle of Nine - Bella Forrest Page 0,40

be a Darkling, no matter how wary he’d already been back at the house. That kind of allegiance wasn’t easy to get over.

“So, what will we do next?” I asked. “Amal and Amane have the shuttle, and Derek and Sofia have found a new safe spot, but that’s just the beginning. The bare minimum we have to do in order to get ahead.”

“That’s true,” Tristan said. “I think our main challenge is to prove whether or not there is a connection between Valaine and the Black Fever. We just couldn’t push ahead with that until we got you back, Esme.”

Kalon sucked in a breath. “This reminds me—what exactly were your findings regarding the Black Fever samples? Given everything we’ve all been through, I’m afraid some of the details of our earlier communications have slipped by.”

“We found similar elements on a molecular level, that both the Black Fever strain and Valaine’s blood had in common,” Tristan said. “Amal and Amane are convinced they’re derivates from death magic. At first we thought it was mazir, until we realized mazir and death magic have a lot in common, too.”

“So, to summarize this jumble, death magic is at the core of everything wrong with Visio—including the Black Fever—and it’s also present in Valaine’s blood?” Kalla asked, a stern look settled on her face. Whenever she moved, her bone necklaces rattled softly.

“I think I know something,” Kalon said, looking at his brother. “Ansel, has Mother ever referred to the Black Fever as a curse? Has she ever said anything along the lines of, ‘The curse must be stopped’?”

Ansel nodded briefly. “I believe she did, yes. Especially where killing Valaine was concerned. She often said the curse starts with Valaine, though I could never make much sense of that statement, given Valaine’s age.”

“Right. You see, Mother never referred to the Black Fever as an actual disease. She once called it the curse of being an Aeternae,” Kalon replied. “As if it’s something we all have to go through in order to be what we are.”

“Wait. So Petra basically confirmed that it’s a death magic curse?” I asked, frowning.

“Sort of, yes. Almost unknowingly. In private she’s got a looser tongue than in public,” Kalon said, not hiding his amusement. “Guess it’s coming in handy right about now.”

“I’m still not clear on this. What do I have to do with the Black Fever, even if it’s a curse? I didn’t cast it. I wouldn’t even know how to do such a thing! I’ve never learned death magic. Up until a few days ago, I didn’t even know death magic existed!” Valaine replied.

“Mother often mentioned a cycle,” Ansel chimed in. “The ten-thousand-year cycle at the end of which the Black Fever returned. The Darklings believe there’s a harbinger among us, whenever ten millennia end. It doesn’t matter how old said harbinger is, only that they’re unknowingly responsible for bringing the Black Fever back.”

Valaine cursed under her breath. “And apparently, I’m the harbinger, this time around.”

“Yes,” Kalon said. “I think that’s what this is all about. We could use Mother’s confirmation, but she’s not here for that.”

“I can’t say I mind,” I grumbled, crossing my arms.

Tristan and Valaine exchanged glances. There was meaning in their eyes, and it broke my heart to see the glimmers of suffering that fluttered across Valaine’s face. She had done absolutely nothing wrong, yet she’d been dragged into the very middle of this mess.

“I wonder… why is the Black Fever early now?” Kalla asked the million-dollar question. Given that we knew what the disease really was—and assuming Valaine was in fact connected to it—this was the next and most important thing for us to investigate. “Why has it come back after five thousand years rather than the usual ten?”

Kalon thought about it for a moment, eyeing each of us carefully. “When did the first cases of Black Fever occur?”

“A couple of days after Tristan’s crew arrived, I think,” Valaine said. “Why?”

“Maybe there’s a connection,” he replied. “Maybe the outsiders’ arrival precipitated the curse somehow. I doubt it was premeditated, so perhaps a side effect?”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but yeah, we really do need Petra to clarify a few things here,” I said, rolling my eyes. “We’re just bouncing theories around, and there isn’t much action for us to take if all we have are assumptions.”

“Esme, I’m just as uncomfortable with the idea that we might’ve precipitated this Black Fever outbreak somehow,” Tristan replied. “But you and I both know we can’t exclude the