A Shade of Vampire 90: A Ruler of Clones - Bella Forrest Page 0,87

balance. My husband and I kept our communications telepathic, but we weighed every pro and con we could come up with. This wasn’t the first time we were having this conversation, but it was this abundance of cautiousness that had kept us safe and together for so long. We listened to one another, and we had trust in ourselves, too.

Death can handle the World Crusher, Tristan said. She’s right. It shouldn’t be your problem. Besides, she’s Death, you know? Big force of the cosmos, completely free and in possession of Thieron. She’s learned some lessons from the Spirit Bender too. I think she’s perfectly capable of finding and dealing with her first-made.

I agree, I replied. It still makes me feel uneasy, but that’s mostly due to my guilt about how the World Crusher got out.

Exactly, he said.

What about Anunit? I asked, going over every single doubt that had nagged me from the moment I’d first met this oddball of a Reaper.

She’s small potatoes compared to what we’ve dealt with. An enhanced scythe and perhaps too much information, but that’s about it, Tristan said. I’ve got your weapon, and I’m confident I can disable her as soon as she’s done with you.

I’ve taught you the spell and everything else you need.

Exactly, he continued. Besides, Anunit got what she wanted by showing you the truth about Death. Tristan took a step forward, closing the distance between us and kissing me softly on the lips. For a second, all our troubles went away, and I was my purest self once again. I wanted more of this. So much more. You’ve wanted this for so long, he said. We didn’t plan for things to turn out this way, for the World Crusher to be set free in order to complete this trial, but Death said she’ll take care of it. Maybe for once we should just go with our gut feeling and follow this dream to the end, don’t you think? I am tired of watching you struggle, and I only want what’s best for you. Always, my love.

I gave him a warm smile, thankful for him as always, then turned to face Anunit. “What happens if I change my mind while I’m in my body?”

“I’ve put the breaking spell in there,” she said, pointing at the dice in my hand. “You can’t have immediate access since you might accidentally recite it in your dreams or something. It’s in there, you’ll just have to dig for it.”

This was it. The moment I had been waiting for.

The more I questioned it, the fewer doubts I had as Anunit answered my every concern with clear eyes and a confident smile. This obviously wasn’t her first rodeo. It was mine, but it was time to press on. There wasn’t anything else I could do for Death. If push came to shove, I’d find the breaking spell and set myself free. But until then, I would have a body and be able to truly live for the very first time.

“Okay, let’s do this,” I said.

Anunit came closer, gingerly closing my hands around the die. “It won’t hurt, but it will probably feel a little funny when you wake up.”

“Thank you,” I told her aloud, and thought my “I’m sorry.” As soon as the spell was done and I was in my new body, Tristan would pounce and take her down. I didn’t feel too bad about it, though. Anunit wanted me to hate Death. The Reaper had done her part in this wretched circus, for sure. But despite her many shortcomings, there was more to my maker. She was the closest thing I’d ever have to a mother, and none of the things she had done had ever been with the sole purpose of hurting me. Her character flaws had caused plenty of chaos, but nothing deliberately hurtful.

Death was something abstract, a manifestation of a power I only thought I understood. We were but servants who’d had no say in our making. The universe was a vast and complicated sandbox. But through this jumbled mess of strangeness, I had found Tristan, and Tristan had found me. We’d fallen in love. Nothing would tear us apart. That much I knew for sure.

This was my chance to give him a family. He deserved it. He was a good and righteous and wonderful man. He deserved to have a living wife and living children, if only just once in what I hoped would be a very long lifetime. As Anunit began