A Shade of Vampire 83: A Bender of Spirit Page 3

  “I think they’ve got a different political map of Visio,” I said. “They probably have assigned provinces that they rule over. Danika’s turf has to be the imperial city.”

  “And Petra?”

  I shrugged. “Not sure. But I don’t think it matters much at this point. We’re only working on assumptions until these troglodytes say otherwise.”

  Sidyan stifled a chuckle. “Troglodytes. Good grief, you have a way with words, don’t you?”

  I wanted to answer, but the door opened again, and a Crimson guard announced another guest. “Ramus Malfas, Whip and Lieutenant of the Fourth Sector.”

  In walked a short and stocky man with what looked like an obsession with embroidered silks. He strutted across the room, his bejeweled cape dancing and capturing the light as he moved.

  “He looks like a really expensive sofa,” Sidyan muttered. It was my turn to cover my mouth to smother a chortle.

  “My liege,” Ramus said, sitting next to Danika. He gave her a long, almost uncomfortable lingering look. “My deepest condolences for your loss, Your Grace. The Lord Supreme will be missed.”

  Danika rolled her eyes. “Don’t be sleazy, Ramus. If that’s your idea of a joke, rest assured you won’t be getting more party invites anytime soon.”

  “Ramus really wants to get under your skirt,” Drezel remarked with a sly grin.

  Corbin pounded his fist on the table, startling everyone—including Sidyan and me. “You’re Whips of the Darklings, not teenagers. We’ve got serious matters to discuss, and while I would rather just continue to keep you all apart, we must come together now and prevail.”

  It was enough to make them all fall in line just as the next Whip came in, announced by a Crimson guard. “Rodique Argyros, Whip and Lieutenant of the Fifth Sector.”

  Rodique was a beautiful Aeternae woman who seemed to glide across the floor in her long white lace dress. A layer of red lace covered her head and shoulders, while her inquisitive amber eyes studied the room before she sat next to Drezel.

  “Not the most auspicious of meetings,” she sighed, “but let us hope the conclusion will have us all smiling.”

  Petra sighed too. “I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you.”

  “Why? What happened?!” Rodique asked, suddenly alarmed.

  “Have you been living under a rock?” Drezel replied. “The Reapers have come!”

  “Let us discuss this once the others arrive,” Corbin said glumly.

  Less than an hour later, the remaining Whips had made their way into the room. Fennel Ferris of the Sixth Sector; Icklas Rickin of the Seventh; Marios and Silla Levantes, brothers and Whips of the Eighth and Ninth Sector, respectively; Lyriana Amos of the Tenth Sector; Jolie Jasperstone of the Eleventh; and Rennert Gauss of the Twelfth. These were all the Whips and Lieutenants of a carefully drawn but alternative map of Visio, servants of the Master of Darkness, and all-around bad guys and gals. The villains in our story, and perhaps the most dangerous of all the Aeternae. Besides Corbin, of course.

  These people were responsible for the use of death magic, the capture of Reapers, and the murder of anyone who stood in their way. The vilest of creatures and makers of ghouls. Ironically enough, they could barely stand each other, and I didn’t need to be a psychologist to figure that one out. Their body language said more than their words ever would. The only unifying factor was their fear of and respect for Corbin Crimson, their Master. Well, that and the fact that they didn’t want to lose their death magic privileges.

  Corbin took a moment to bring them all up to speed. “I’m not sure all of you know, but Laramis has been overtaken by Reapers,” he said. Several gasps slipped around the table. “We can no longer hide from them.”

  “How many are there?” Drezel asked.

  “We’re not sure,” Corbin replied. “A few, but we don’t have numbers.”

  “This isn’t something we can sweep under the rug. I’m told ancient Reapers are present on Visio. As ancient as our founder,” Corbin replied. “We must adapt quickly and defend our Darkling republic.”

  “I’m not sure he understands what a republic is supposed to be,” I grumbled.

  “Up until now, we’ve operated in the shadows,” Corbin continued. “But the Reapers’ presence is a sign that the way we’ve done things before is no longer viable. They cannot be silenced, and Death has most likely been informed about this, as well.”

  Rodique exhaled sharply. She seemed troubled, and for good reason. Everything they’d been working toward was being threatened. “What shall we do?”

  “Danika’s suggestion seems like the only way to move forward,” Corbin replied. “We need the people’s protection. Call them living shields, if you will. It’s what our founder intended, should a wretched day like this ever come. We’ve been fine on our own, operating on the margins of society and not expecting the commoners or the monarchs to understand us. Now, however, for the first time since our inception, the Lady Supreme is a Whip and therefore an ally. She can help us transition into the light.”

  “You want us to go public?” Icklas replied, almost out of breath.

  “It’s our only means of survival,” Danika said, but Corbin raised a hand to silence her. It wasn’t Danika’s turn to respond—not on Corbin’s behalf, anyway.

  “If we gain the people’s support, we won’t need one another. We’ll have an entire planet on our side.” Corbin sighed. “We cannot take the Reapers on our own. Not the ancient ones.”

  “But if we have the entire empire on our side, it’ll be harder for the Reapers to pursue this war,” Drezel concluded, nodding slowly. “I understand.”

  “To be honest, I’m tired of living in the shadows, anyway,” Rodique conceded. “Our work is noble, and it should not be cause for shame.”

  “We can all agree that most people wouldn’t easily understand or accept our methods,” Petra chimed in. “But the time has come for them to finally say yes to the Darklings. They’ve been going through the same Black Fever terror since the beginning of time, and the only ones who’ve prevented the death of our species is us. The Darklings.”

  Corbin nodded his approval. “I’ve always been of the belief that our actions were best left secret. Our forefathers thought the same. But we’ve been going around in circles for too long, and even the commoners feel it. The voices in the courtroom were clear. The people are starting to agree with us, so we might as well come out in the open. We’ll lose the black-and-white thread. We’ll be legal and fully sanctioned by the empire. The Reapers will not wipe us all out. They cannot. It would disrupt the natural balance.”

  “Or so the Spirit Bender once said to our forefathers,” Icklas mumbled. “Why can’t he help us?”

  “You know our tradition. You understand how important it is for us to be able to defend ourselves, to preserve our way of life without having to depend on him,” Corbin reminded Icklas. “Summoning him would only prove we can’t survive these circumstances.”

  Danika raised a hand. “My liege, if I may. This is an extraordinary situation, and I must admit that I agree with Icklas here. The Spirit Bender might drive the Reapers away. He’s rumored to be powerful, stronger than others of his kind. Perhaps he could help us reset the clock so we can continue the cycle.”

  “Valaine needs to die,” Petra said. “That should still be our top priority. And since we must find her first, I also think we should ask the Spirit Bender to help. None of us have ever met him. Only our ancestors had that honor, and since we’ve been continuing his work for so long, why not bring him over? He could see for himself that we’ve fared well while he’s been away.”

  “They’re in for a rude awakening,” Sidyan whispered.

  “To secure the success of our mission and to make sure we not only continue the Black Fever cycle but that we also defend our stronghold, I rule in favor of summoning the Spirit Bender,” Corbin declared. “Petra has a point. Even with the people’s support, we might not be fully equipped to handle a g
rowing Reaper invasion, especially if Death gets involved—and that’s just a matter of time now.”

  Danika smiled. “The Whips and I will discuss a political campaign to further sway public opinion in our favor. Valaine did most of the work for us back at the courthouse.”

  “And I can summon the Spirit Bender,” Corbin said. “It falls upon me to do so, anyway.”

  “Let’s hope he responds,” Danika replied. “I’d hate option B.”

  “Wait, what’s option B?” I asked Sidyan, but he didn’t have an answer.

  “Nobody wants option B,” Rodique said, clearly displeased.

  “We’ll have to figure out what that is,” Sidyan muttered. “I don’t know how long they’ll wait before they accept that the Spirit Bender won’t save them, and they’ll have to take matters into their own hands.”

  Moving away from the gathering, we slipped through the walls. Only when we reached the main corridor could I breathe easily again. Standing there in the presence of so much evil had put a surprising amount of pressure on me.

  “So Corbin will be trying to reach out to Spirit,” I said, drawing the meeting’s conclusion.

  “Obviously, he won’t have much luck with getting an answer, since Spirit is in the arms of Nothingness now.”

  “Nothingness?” I asked, frowning at him.

  “It’s what we call it sometimes. The death beyond Death. Where entities like myself go if we’re destroyed and thus denied passage into the afterlife.”

  “That option B really creeps me out. What could it entail?” I wondered.

  “I wouldn’t know, but if we stick around long enough, we might find out. Even so, there is only so much the Darklings can do without Spirit. He’s not here to change the strategy for them, and they don’t really understand that the First Tenners are involved. Sure, they mentioned ‘ancient’ Reapers, but I doubt they know which ‘ancients’ they’re talking about.”

  “Maybe Spirit left them a rulebook or something?”

  “Corbin would have it,” Sidyan said.

  “Either way, our work here clearly isn’t done. Do we report everything we’ve heard to Death and await further instructions?”

  He nodded once. “She might have an idea about what option B is, too.”

  Even so, I didn’t find any kind of comfort in Death. Not anymore. Not after all we’d been through without her, and especially not after everything we’d learned about Spirit’s handiwork here on Visio. I doubted Death herself was aware of the full extent of his actions.

  But she still called the shots, so we had to see what she had to say about all this. We knew more now than we did five hours ago, and this was the kind of progress I’d been waiting for. Simply killing all the Darklings wasn’t an option yet—I had a feeling we wouldn’t be able to do that until we figured out exactly what role they played in the Unending’s seal.

  The Spirit Bender had done something to her, and the Darklings had played a part in preserving her condition. Until they outlived their usefulness, the upper echelon of this faction couldn’t be killed. I hated this murkiness, but I found comfort in knowing that it wouldn’t last forever. And perhaps Death might clear up some things for us.

  Lumi

  “Of course,” I said after Sidyan spoke to Death through their telepathic connection. “Of course, she doesn’t know what option B is.”

  “And she still won’t send us more Reapers,” Sidyan grumbled.

  “Remember what she told Seeley about that, though. An army of Reapers wouldn’t be able to undo what happened here. Only Death can.”

  “But how does that help us?” he asked, understandably exasperated. “We’re stuck here eavesdropping on these maniacs while they’re mobilizing for war. It’s unconscionable!”

  I put a hand on his shoulder, and he stilled under my touch. “It just makes it all the more important to free Unending, so the First Tenners can join forces and get Death out of the remaining seals.”

  “And what do we do until that happens?” he replied. The look of defeat on his face nearly broke my heart, but he’d brought me this far, and I wasn’t going to let him flounder. Not when we were so close to figuring it all out.

  “We help Night and the others. We help Sofia. We get Derek out of here,” I said firmly.

  Sidyan thought about it for a while, then started walking toward the dark room where Derek was being held. I stayed close, my hand gripped firmly in his as we slipped through the walls and reached the cell. Maya stood up as soon as she saw us, her big eyes twinkling with pure joy.

  “Okay. Let’s do this,” Sidyan said as he revealed our presence to Derek.

  The vampire jumped back so fast, I thought he might make a hole through the back wall of his cell. He sucked in a breath, his eyes widening at the sight of me. “Lumi? What the… you scared the life out of me! What… what are you doing here?”

  “Ah, Derek. That is such a long story, and we really don’t have time for that right now,” I said. “Ready to leave this place?”

  “Where am I, exactly? I mean… I don’t remember how I got here.” Derek’s hair was disheveled, and dark rings had settled around his eyes. He looked exhausted, and I doubted he’d gotten any sleep since he’d been captured.

  “You’re still in the imperial palace,” Sidyan said.

  Derek stared at him for a few seconds. “You’re a Reaper.”

  “And your observation skills are impressive,” Sidyan replied dryly.

  “Like I said. Long friggin’ story,” I cut in, giving Sidyan a warning glance. “Come on, Derek. Let’s get you out.”

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea.” Derek sighed.

  I was utterly baffled by his response. “Are you crazy? You’re a prisoner here,” I said.

  “But I’m still useful to Danika as long as Sofia has Thayen,” Derek replied. “I assume you’ve been sneaking around this place, eavesdropping?”

  Sidyan and I both nodded. It made Derek smirk.

  “And you’re likely under the impression that they don’t know you’re here?” he added, and I suddenly felt like the world’s biggest fool. Petra had sensed Nethissis thanks to her Bounty Reaper scythe. What were the odds she hadn’t figured out a way to detect hidden Reapers, too? It would be naïve to think we’d seamlessly spied on her until now. Without Petra saying so herself, however, all we could do was speculate and keep taking risks.

  “They’ve been talking freely in another room,” I muttered. “They could’ve jumped us if they knew we were there. Besides, Sidyan took additional precautions in concealing us.”

  “They?” Derek asked.

  “The twelve Whips and the Master of Darkness,” Sidyan said. “They’ve been gathering to discuss their next steps now that we’ve taken Laramis.”

  “You did what?” Derek blurted, even more confused.

  I took a moment to briefly relay what had happened to that point, including the violent takeover of Laramis and the discovery of Unending. Derek’s jaw dropped several times, but he didn’t interrupt me. No, he remained quiet and listened, finally on the same page and fully aware of what was at stake. The circumstances had changed for everyone involved in the short time he’d been Danika’s prisoner.

  “That’s all the more reason for me to stay here,” Derek said after a moment’s thought. “You and Sidyan are at risk. If the Darklings capture you, they’ll have a swamp witch and a Reaper as leverage. It’ll push our people to make a difficult and potentially deadly decision. But if they only have me… it’s different.”

  “Excuse me, but how is it different?” Sidyan asked.

  “I told you. I’m useful to Danika as long as Sofia has Thayen. And if the Darklings haven’t made a move on you by now, it’s probably because they’re scoping you out and trying to figure out whether you have backup or not,” Derek said. “Trust me, Danika and Petra are incredibly cunning.”

  “Oh, trust me, I know,” I muttered, crossing my arms.

  “I’d give anything to leave n
ow,” Derek said. “I hate to think about what this might be doing to Sofia, but… in the end, I can make Danika talk. Petra and Corbin, too. They assume they’ll be able to kill both me and Sofia once Thayen is back, so they’re not afraid to spill some of their more precious secrets. You two, on the other hand, are way too valuable to stick around like this. I’ve seen what the Darklings can do, especially the Whips and the Masters. They’ve got dangerous tricks up their sleeves. Petra gave you a taste back in Laramis when she took Nethissis, right?”

  Frustration gnawed at my stomach. Derek had a point. We’d been so focused on getting intel out of these people that we hadn’t spent too much time worrying about the risk of capture. But the longer we stuck around, the more vulnerable we became, especially with not one but twelve Whips present.

  “Maybe he can find out what option B is,” I said to Sidyan. “They’ve already revealed to him that Corbin is the Master of Darkness and Danika is a Whip. Derek might be onto something here.”

  “So, what? We leave Derek here?” Sidyan asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Yes,” Derek said. “And if things get hairy, I just need to be able to reach you so you can bust me out.”

  I fumbled through my dress pockets and produced a small green bead made of glass and filled with an alarm spell I’d devised a couple of weeks back. I gave it to Derek. “Hold on to this,” I said. “If things get, as you so eloquently put it, hairy… break the bead. I’ll know you’re in trouble, and we’ll find you in the blink of an eye.”

  “Wow, you people really like to take chances.” Sidyan scoffed.

  “We’ll go to great lengths to accomplish something, yes,” Derek corrected him. “This is important. I understand the value of your mission, too, but we can’t risk you both getting captured as well. Not to mention this little ghoul,” he added, looking at Maya for a moment. “Especially after the damage you delivered to their forces back in Laramis.”

  “If there’s trouble, you can zap me over here in an instant,” I said to Sidyan. “And in the meantime, Derek can engage Danika in conversation.”