A Shade of Vampire 82 A Circle of Nine - Bella Forrest Page 0,5
confidence is adorable. I can only hope once she’s dead, Corbin Crimson will be easier to reason with. His love for his daughter is severely clouding his judgment, and we need the army on our side if we’re to go public.”
I froze, trying to understand what she’d just said. Was she hoping to turn Corbin to the Darklings’ side? Or was Corbin already a Darkling, held back by his love for his daughter? The latter possibility sounded absurd, considering he’d spent days hunting Zoltan and his Darklings. The former, however, sent icy shivers down my spine.
An Aeternae like Corbin could not be easily swayed, especially if the Darklings did get their way and killed his daughter. But if Petra was this confident this early in the game, I had no choice but to worry. She had a plan to get to Corbin, and I knew nothing about it.
“If we go public, and he sees how many of us there really are, he might change his mind,” Timotheus suggested, but Petra didn’t seem convinced.
“Let me address the people of Laramis first, then we’ll organize our next few steps,” she said. “I’d rather leave Corbin for later. Like I said, Valaine is damaging his judgment, and we need her out of the way.”
“Will you speak to the Master of Darkness?” Timotheus asked. “Our town is ready to stand up and rise to the occasion, should he approve our outing. I’ve already spoken to most of them. Many agree with me.”
“If you lead and they follow, then good,” Petra said. “And yes, I’ll speak to the Master.”
Timotheus got up, beaming with satisfaction. “Then we’re off to a good start! I shall go ahead and make sure everyone is in the square. See you soon, Petra.”
She smiled again but didn’t say anything. Instead, she watched him leave, and I could swear she was sizing him up. I had a feeling Petra found Timotheus attractive, but I doubted it would end well for the guy, considering she already had four sons with two different fathers, neither of whom was around anymore.
Simmon was the first to break the silence after the door closed behind Timotheus. “What do we do, Mother?”
“About what?” Petra asked, staring at the door.
I craned my neck just enough to see outside through a nearby window. I watched Timotheus walk by, a smile persisting on his lips. Farther away, standing beneath the shadow of a sprawling tree, was Seeley—he’d made himself visible, but only to me. He was watching the house, his brow furrowed. I could almost feel his gaze piercing through the walls as he considered ways to rescue me. It had to be his way of trying to reassure me that he had yet to give up on me.
The irony of my situation did not escape me. After all, he’d saved me once back in the palace basement, and I’d saved him once back in Astoria. It was his turn to save my ghostly backside again—provided, of course, that he could do it without jeopardizing our mission from Death, which trumped everything whether we liked it or not.
“About the Master of Darkness,” Simmon said. “Will we really go speak with him?”
She stifled a chuckle. “We won’t go anywhere. I will, when the time is right. Until then, get up, and let’s head out. The people of Laramis need to hear me. It’s time to set the record straight, and it’s time we start taking what is ours. No one will hand anything to us on a silver platter.”
“What about Kalon and Ansel? When do we go after them?” Tudyk wondered aloud, looking downright frustrated.
Petra opened the door, the sun glazing her in a bright white light. She seemed made of a fine porcelain, not moving for a few moments as she glanced back at her sons and younger brother.
“All in good time, my darling. All in good time.”
Her answer didn’t seem to please the boys, but it was all they would get out of her. As they walked out, I found myself growing increasingly lonely while Atlas lay on his side like a lazy dog. I’d yet to find a solution for my predicament, and now… I was left on my own with my thoughts. The worst position for someone like me to be in, given the circumstances.
Panic had a tendency to creep up on me in moments like these. Panic, in turn, provoked chaos and encouraged bad decisions. I needed a smart way out, not a forever deadly one.