A Shade of Vampire 75: A Blade of Thieron Read online

  A Shade of Vampire 75: A Blade of Thieron

  Bella Forrest

  Contents

  Also by Bella Forrest

  Problems reading?

  Main Cast List

  Family tree

  1. Taeral

  2. Seeley

  3. Amelia

  4. Eva

  5. Taeral

  6. Eira

  7. Derek

  8. Sofia

  9. Derek

  10. Harper

  11. Taeral

  12. Taeral

  13. Amelia

  14. Seeley

  15. Taeral

  16. Riza

  17. Varga

  18. Raphael

  19. Taeral

  20. Sofia

  21. Sofia

  22. Derek

  23. Taeral

  24. Amelia

  25. Raphael

  26. Taeral

  27. Sofia

  28. Derek

  29. Sofia

  30. Taeral

  31. Taeral

  32. Amelia

  33. Taeral

  34. Eira

  35. Taeral

  36. Sofia

  Ready for the *PENULTIMATE* book of Season 9?

  Read more by Bella Forrest

  Also by Bella Forrest

  A LOVE THAT ENDURES

  (New! Contemporary romance)

  A Love that Endures

  HARLEY MERLIN

  (Fantasy/romance/adventure series)

  Harley Merlin and the Secret Coven (Book 1)

  Harley Merlin and the Mystery Twins (Book 2)

  Harley Merlin and the Stolen Magicals (Book 3)

  Harley Merlin and the First Ritual (Book 4)

  Harley Merlin and the Broken Spell (Book 5)

  Harley Merlin and the Cult of Eris (Book 6)

  Harley Merlin and the Detector Fix (Book 7)

  Harley Merlin and the Challenge of Chaos (Book 8)

  HOTBLOODS

  (Supernatural romance. Completed series.)

  Hotbloods (Book 1)

  Coldbloods (Book 2)

  Renegades (Book 3)

  Venturers (Book 4)

  Traitors (Book 5)

  Allies (Book 6)

  Invaders (Book 7)

  Stargazers (Book 8)

  THE CHILD THIEF

  (Action-adventure/romance. Completed series.)

  The Child Thief (Book 1)

  Deep Shadows (Book 2)

  Thin Lines (Book 3)

  Little Lies (Book 4)

  Ghost Towns (Book 5)

  Zero Hour (Book 6)

  THE GENDER GAME

  (Action-adventure/romance. Completed series.)

  The Gender Game (Book 1)

  The Gender Secret (Book 2)

  The Gender Lie (Book 3)

  The Gender War (Book 4)

  The Gender Fall (Book 5)

  The Gender Plan (Book 6)

  The Gender End (Book 7)

  THE GIRL WHO DARED TO THINK

  (Action-adventure/romance. Completed series.)

  The Girl Who Dared to Think (Book 1)

  The Girl Who Dared to Stand (Book 2)

  The Girl Who Dared to Descend (Book 3)

  The Girl Who Dared to Rise (Book 4)

  The Girl Who Dared to Lead (Book 5)

  The Girl Who Dared to Endure (Book 6)

  The Girl Who Dared to Fight (Book 7)

  A SHADE OF VAMPIRE SERIES

  (Supernatural romance)

  Season 1: Derek & Sofia’s story

  A Shade of Vampire (Book 1)

  A Shade of Blood (Book 2)

  A Castle of Sand (Book 3)

  A Shadow of Light (Book 4)

  A Blaze of Sun (Book 5)

  A Gate of Night (Book 6)

  A Break of Day (Book 7)

  Season 2: Rose & Caleb’s story

  A Shade of Novak (Book 8)

  A Bond of Blood (Book 9)

  A Spell of Time (Book 10)

  A Chase of Prey (Book 11)

  A Shade of Doubt (Book 12)

  A Turn of Tides (Book 13)

  A Dawn of Strength (Book 14)

  A Fall of Secrets (Book 15)

  An End of Night (Book 16)

  Season 3: The Shade continues with a new hero…

  A Wind of Change (Book 17)

  A Trail of Echoes (Book 18)

  A Soldier of Shadows (Book 19)

  A Hero of Realms (Book 20)

  A Vial of Life (Book 21)

  A Fork of Paths (Book 22)

  A Flight of Souls (Book 23)

  A Bridge of Stars (Book 24)

  Season 4: A Clan of Novaks

  A Clan of Novaks (Book 25)

  A World of New (Book 26)

  A Web of Lies (Book 27)

  A Touch of Truth (Book 28)

  An Hour of Need (Book 29)

  A Game of Risk (Book 30)

  A Twist of Fates (Book 31)

  A Day of Glory (Book 32)

  Season 5: A Dawn of Guardians

  A Dawn of Guardians (Book 33)

  A Sword of Chance (Book 34)

  A Race of Trials (Book 35)

  A King of Shadow (Book 36)

  An Empire of Stones (Book 37)

  A Power of Old (Book 38)

  A Rip of Realms (Book 39)

  A Throne of Fire (Book 40)

  A Tide of War (Book 41)

  Season 6: A Gift of Three

  A Gift of Three (Book 42)

  A House of Mysteries (Book 43)

  A Tangle of Hearts (Book 44)

  A Meet of Tribes (Book 45)

  A Ride of Peril (Book 46)

  A Passage of Threats (Book 47)

  A Tip of Balance (Book 48)

  A Shield of Glass (Book 49)

  A Clash of Storms (Book 50)

  Season 7: A Call of Vampires

  A Call of Vampires (Book 51)

  A Valley of Darkness (Book 52)

  A Hunt of Fiends (Book 53)

  A Den of Tricks (Book 54)

  A City of Lies (Book 55)

  A League of Exiles (Book 56)

  A Charge of Allies (Book 57)

  A Snare of Vengeance (Book 58)

  A Battle of Souls (Book 59)

  Season 8: A Voyage of Founders

  A Voyage of Founders (Book 60)

  A Land of Perfects (Book 61)

  A Citadel of Captives (Book 62)

  A Jungle of Rogues (Book 63)

  A Camp of Savages (Book 64)

  A Plague of Deceit (Book 65)

  An Edge of Malice (Book 66)

  A Dome of Blood (Book 67)

  A Purge of Nature (Book 68)

  Season 9: A Birth of Fire

  A Birth of Fire (Book 69)

  A Breed of Elements (Book 70)

  A Sacrifice of Flames (Book 71)

  A Conspiracy of Realms (Book 72)

  A Search for Death (Book 73)

  A Piece of Scythe (Book 74)

  A Blade of Thieron (Book 75)

  A SHADE OF DRAGON TRILOGY

  A Shade of Dragon 1

  A Shade of Dragon 2

  A Shade of Dragon 3

  A SHADE OF KIEV TRILOGY

  A Shade of Kiev 1

  A Shade of Kiev 2

  A Shade of Kiev 3

  THE SECRET OF SPELLSHADOW MANOR

  (Supernatural/Magic YA. Completed series)

  The Secret of Spellshadow Manor (Book 1)

  The Breaker (Book 2)

  The Chain (Book 3)

  The Keep (Book 4)

  The Test (Book 5)

  The Spell (Book 6)

  BEAUTIFUL MONSTER DUOLOGY

  (Supernatural roma
nce)

  Beautiful Monster 1

  Beautiful Monster 2

  DETECTIVE ERIN BOND

  (Adult thriller/mystery)

  Lights, Camera, GONE

  Write, Edit, KILL

  For an updated list of Bella’s books, please visit her website: www.bellaforrest.net

  Join Bella’s VIP email list and she’ll send you an email reminder as soon as her next book is out. Tap here to sign up: www.forrestbooks.com

  Copyright © 2019

  Nightlight Press

  Cover design inspired by Sarah Hansen, Okay Creations LLC

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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  Main Cast List

  Amelia (daughter of Erik and Abby Novalik – vampire)

  Eva (daughter of Azazel and Tamara – druid/lamia/vampire)

  Herakles (creation of Ta’Zan – Faulty)

  Raphael (creation of Ta’Zan – Perfect)

  Riza (daughter of Horatio and Aisha Drizan– jinni)

  Taeral (son of Sherus and Nuriya – fae-jinni)

  Varga (son of Ashbik and Ruby Goode – vampire-sentry)

  Family tree

  If you’d like to check out the Novaks’ family tree, visit: www.forrestbooks.com/tree

  Taeral

  My father had gone missing, and Brendel was responsible.

  No one else could’ve done this. No one else had reason to hurt me as much as she had. He’d already been stricken by the Hermessi’s influence, but that hadn’t been enough to pull me away from my mission. We’d all agreed that maybe Brendel had done it to persuade me to stop searching for Thieron’s pieces.

  But it was too late to turn back, and no reason—not even my father’s survival—was good enough for us to stop. Plus, we’d gotten Eirexis, Thieron’s handle. It had come at a great cost, with Acantha sacrificing herself in order for us to claim it. Surprisingly, it had also given us a new ally. The Widow Maker was one of the first Reapers in existence and, until yesterday, the guardian of Eirexis.

  Free of his duty, he was now eager to help. He sided with Death on this, and it was already a commonly accepted fact that Death didn’t want the ritual to happen. Still, I worried it wasn’t enough to give us a clear shot at winning this battle.

  The Hermessi’s influence was still growing, and it had claimed the first fae of the soon-to-be five million that they needed to annihilate life in the In-Between and the Supernatural Dimension. Of all the universe’s planes, these two were the most vulnerable, and were where the Hermessi had been most active since the beginning of time. The Earthly Dimension was momentarily clear of any potential ritual damage, but it was still vulnerable to Hermessi from other worlds. We already knew from Ramin’s intel and his own incursion into Yahwen that Brendel planned to use Hermessi children, forcing them to ascend, to become full Hermessi, and to spill out into the Earthly Dimension and populate its many barren planets.

  That was part of the reason why she’d abducted so many of them, hiding them on Yahwen, in the oldest twenty-planet solar system of the In-Between. Incidentally, that system was also where Brendel intended to complete the ritual—though we weren’t sure whether it would be on Yahwen or on one of the other nineteen planets. She’d also taken the children to persuade their parents to support the ritual. That hadn’t worked as well as she might’ve hoped, since Ramin still fought against it, and Kabbah had risen to fight Brendel directly.

  By taking over Fallon while we were on Cerix, Kabbah had given us the moment we’d needed to get Eirexis. We’d ended up removing another prime minister from the planet’s leadership, throwing diplomatic efforts for a loop. To be honest, I worried no stable relationship could be forged with any new world as long as the Hermessi continued their efforts to destroy us.

  “There’s an upside to what’s been going on in the fae sanctuaries,” my mother said in the early hours of the morning. “We know the fae’s spirits are there, and that their resistance to the Hermessi’s influence is making the elementals’ rise stagnate. They are still more powerful than they’ve ever been, but we’ve managed to buy a little time, thanks to the fae spirits and their Reapers.”

  We’d spent most of the night trying to get some rest. I’d woken up every hour just to check for news about my father, but nothing had come through. We needed the sleep, though, more than anything. Our Cerixian adventure and the losses it had come with had taken their toll on us. We were spent and close to exhaustion, both mentally and physically.

  “That’s one silver lining,” I replied, refilling my backpack with healing potions and invisibility capsules. These two had become essential to every single mission, and Lumi always made sure we had as many as we might need or might be able to carry. “The other is that we did get this,” I added, gently tapping Eirexis, which I’d strapped to my thigh.

  Amelia had helped fashion two sets of straps for me—one for Eirexis, making sure I wouldn’t drop it or lose it under any circumstances, and one for Yamani’s scythe, which was still a valuable weapon against the Hermessi. It had led me to Eirexis, and I would never part from it.

  “Phoenix and Dmitri have teamed up to scour every intelligence source we have across the GASP Federation,” Mom said. “The whole of the In-Between and the Supernatural Dimension know that your father was taken. We’ll find Sherus, I promise.”

  The rest of the crew joined us in the throne room, which had been sealed off from public access and surrounded by dozens of vampire and werewolf guards. With the Devil’s Weed on us, we wouldn’t be discovered right away, but Brendel and her cohorts were bound to come over soon enough… since Zetos was here, on the Fire Star.

  Unable to get the image of my father’s empty crystal casing out of my mind, I thought of what we’d tell Lidera, his sister. “Where’s Lidera these days?” I asked my mother.

  She lowered her head, sadness dwelling beneath her eyelids. “She’s in the quarantine on Purgaris. Lidera has spent the last couple of years traveling through Eritopia. When the Hermessi influence hit, she was studying with the young Druids in charge of Purgaris. For her safety, she’s being kept there, protected, for now.”

  “She doesn’t know about dad, does she?”

  “No. I wouldn’t tell her yet, either, given everything that’s going on. She’s better off staying there in relative safety,” my mother replied. “Relative” being the key word here. There was only so much GASP could do to protect the fae from the Hermessi’s growing influence.

  “Okay, we’re ready to deploy,” Varga announced.

  Indeed, they’d all brought their backpacks and swords and pulverizer weapons, and they all shared a similar expression of determination, along with the kind of spunk I loved about each of them.

  Eira gave me a soft smile. “How are you?”

  We hadn’t spoken since late last night, after we’d all gone to our rooms. Just to be careful, my mother had arranged for our accommodation in the servants’ quarters, making sure none of the fae still in the palace knew that we were there. Secrecy was of the utmost importance, given that the Hermessi cult had spread to non-fae, as well. I’d thought about going to Eira, just so I could be near her, but I didn’t. She’d needed all the rest she could get.

  “Eager to do this,” I said.

  I knew she was worried about me after my father’s abduction, but that was a painful topic that I couldn’t bring myself to address. My mother had assured me that GASP was doing everything they could to find him. I needed to focus on f
inding Zetos, instead.

  “Any word about Sherus?” Amelia asked.

  Lumi and Nethissis were still mostly quiet and grieving. I doubted they’d gotten much sleep last night, but the anguish was bound to gradually subside. Time had a way of healing all kinds of wounds, even those left behind by wonderful people who’d chosen to die so that the rest of us could survive.

  Despite the gloom and doom that had been following us around since the beginning of this mission, none of us seemed anywhere near calling it quits. On the contrary, we were all driven now more than ever to stop the ritual and to save our worlds. Getting Eirexis had certainly contributed to our overall state—it was proof that we could still do this. That all wasn’t lost just yet.

  My mother shook her head. “No, but they’re working hard to get him back home,” she replied. I sensed the tremor in her voice, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. Her husband, her soulmate, had been taken because of me. Despite her fragile emotional state, my mother wasn’t going to give up. “I need you all to focus on Zetos next,” she continued, looking at me. “I think I’ve made that more than clear.”

  I nodded. “We will. Thanks for letting us crash here. I’m surprised the Hermessi didn’t come looking for us.”

  “Well, you or Riza would’ve immediately zapped us out of here, if they had,” Raphael replied.

  “I might’ve had something to do with it,” Mom said, clearing her throat. She gave me a sheepish half-smile, as if I’d caught her doing something exceptionally naughty—which was quite ironic, since I’d always been the troublemaker in our family.