A Shade of Vampire 84 A Memory of Time - Bella Forrest Page 0,21

keep digging into her past,” I said.

“How? She’s about to kill the whole planet right now.” Soul scoffed.

“I’m not sure, but I know she wants to fight. She wants to be free.” Tears filled my eyes. Love and grief took over, along with an excruciating form of Black Fever. My skin burned, yet I refused to let go. I held Valaine closely as the curse worked its way through me.

My insides liquefied. My heart slowed down.

“Tristan, she will kill you,” Phantom cried. She looked like a little girl, a sister who was afraid to lose the people she cared about the most. The Reaper was reduced to tears as she watched me succumb to the Black Fever.

“I will die if that’s what it takes,” I managed, resting my head on Valaine’s shoulder. “Though… to be fair, I’m not sure… how much longer… I can last…”

My voice was breaking. Forming words had become a laborious process. As much as I’d tried to fight it, the darkness was finally taking me down, one cell at a time. Soon nothing would be left of me at all. Maybe then I’d return to the void where I’d met the Unending. Where it was quiet and peaceful. Maybe then I’d get to test my theory about how long it would take for one’s spirit to go mad in the absence of everything that made this life worth living.

“Death…” I whispered. My last resort had finally come to me. Facing the end in the arms of my beloved had finally pushed me to do the one thing I hadn’t even thought of before. I opened my heart and mind in prayer as I sought Death beyond this realm. “Dear Death… Sacred Death, hear my prayer,” I said, my voice getting stronger.

The wind howled around us. The darkness festered and ate away at me. I was hanging by a thread, images flashing through my mind—Esme… Mom… Dad… our childhood in The Shade… our numerous adventures in all of Earth’s most hidden places… sharing fruit with the natives of Amazonia… participating in the aboriginal rituals of southwestern Australia—oh, I’d had a lot of fun throughout my short life. There was so much I still wanted to do, but fate appeared to have other plans for me.

“Death, hear my prayer unto you,” I continued, yearning for my soul to connect with the Lady of Reapers herself, wondering if she could hear me even though we didn’t share a telepathic connection. “I need your help. Your daughter, your beloved Unending needs your help. We’ve come far in our quest, but we cannot go any further. Darkness and suffering surround us. They eat away at us. I beg you, Death, to give me something, anything, so I can save Unending. So I can love her forever.”

“What the hell is he doing?” Soul blurted.

“Praying,” Morning said. “He’s praying to Death.”

“Wow. When’s the last time that happened?” Widow asked. I heard the question, but I couldn’t see them anymore. My eyes were closed as I held Valaine tight and repeated my prayer over and over until my voice echoed beyond the confines of space and time—or so I hoped.

“Billions of ages ago,” Night replied. “Back when the world was still young. Back when Death had just made us. Proto-humanoids worshipped her directly, remember? There were so many of them, too.”

“Ah, right. The early planets from the In-Between. Before the other dimensions created their own life,” Morning said. “Millions prayed to Death every night. She could hear them.”

“Sometimes she would answer a prayer or two, as well.” Night chuckled.

“Do you think she can hear Tristan now?” Widow asked.

“We can help him get the message across,” Soul said. A moment later, his voice joined mine in prayer. “Death, hear my prayer unto you. I need your help. Your daughter, your beloved Unending needs your help. We’ve come far in our quest, but we cannot go any further. Darkness and suffering surround us. They eat away at us. I beg you, Death, to give me something, anything, so I can save Unending.”

Soon they were all chanting with me. Our prayers met in the ether, melding into one single voice, one powerful message that hopefully transcended the planes of existence.

“Death, hear my prayer unto you…”

“Your daughter…”

“Your beloved Unending needs your help…”

“Darkness and suffering…”

“I beg you, Death,” I said. “To give me something, anything, so I can save Unending.”

This was the closest we had ever gotten to the truth. The closest the Unending had gotten to finding her