A Search for Death (A Shade of Vampire #73) - Bella Forrest Page 0,2
flow thicker into the horizon.
“Varga and his team are back on Calliope now, but they can’t stay there for much longer,” Lumi replied, looking at me. “Even with the Devil’s Weed on them, they’re still a target for the Hermessi, much like us.”
“I would’ve wanted us to find the Nekronos system together.” I sighed, shaking my head slowly. But, with every hour that passed, I began to consider the possibility that we might not make it back in time to regroup with Varga and get to Mortis, where Death supposedly dwelled.
“That might not happen, unless Phoenix finds us first. And he needs to find Mortis before he finds us,” Lumi said. “Reaching out to Death is a priority, given the current fae numbers.”
Eira got up, wearing a half-smile and a glimmer of curiosity in her ocean-colored eyes. “So, do we explore this place, at least, and come back to this cliff when it’s time to leave?”
“That might be a good idea,” Amelia replied. “There’s nothing left for me to do here. We might as well see what this place is like.”
“I’ll lose my mind if we don’t get moving,” Raphael grumbled.
I couldn’t blame him. I couldn’t blame any of them. None of us were made to wait in silent limbo while someone came to rescue us. We were the ones who usually did the rescuing, after all.
Varga’s voice came through in my head, thanks to our still-active Telluris link. “Telluris, Taeral! Tae, you there?”
“I am. What’s up? Where are you?” I asked.
“Oh, we’re on Mount Zur, waiting for Phoenix to give us Mortis’s and your location. But that’s not what I wanted to talk about,” he replied, and I could tell from his voice that something was off.
“What’s wrong?”
“Um… You’re not going to like it, and I’m sorry you’re out there, somewhere, and not here…”
“Varga, get on with it,” I said, my nerves quickly stretching to newfound limits.
“It’s your dad. Sherus. He… He’s under the Hermessi’s influence.”
The silence that followed as he waited for my response was deafening. The news had hit me like a punch, right in the gut. My knees turned to mush, my legs no longer able to hold me. I slipped down to the nearest rock and exhaled sharply.
Lumi, Amelia, Raphael, and Eira were all watching me, eyes wide and curious. Varga had only reached out to me via Telluris. They didn’t know yet. I glanced up at them, my heart aching.
“My father. He’s now among the more than 3.5 million fae under the Hermessi’s influence,” I managed, then turned my attention back to Varga, despite the gasps erupting from my crew. “Varga, do you know how it happened?”
“Nuriya isn’t sure, but she suspects it was a non-fae cult member. All six of his new guards are currently in detention, pending an investigation,” he said.
After GASP had begun placing the fae in quarantine, they had agreed to assign GASP agents to protect the leadership of our allies’ planets. My parents had been given a detail of six vampires and werewolves. According to Varga, the Hermessi might’ve gotten to one of them. Deep down, I had known it was only a matter of time before my father became a victim, too, especially since he was such a high-profile target, but it still hurt me deeply. It made my plight all the more desperate, because I had an additional and extremely important reason to succeed in this endeavor of ours. If I didn’t, my father would perish, and I couldn’t, for the life of me, consider failure as an option.
“How’s Mom?” I asked Varga. “How is she holding up?”
“Dude, your mother is a freaking warrior queen,” Varga replied. “She’s keeping it together, and she’ll be overseeing the interrogations. Sherus is in the sanctuary on the Fire Star now. He’s in good hands, so don’t worry about him for now.”
“That’s an impossible thing to ask of me,” I murmured.
“I know. But I… we need you to keep your head in the game,” Varga said.
I nodded, looking at my team again. “Rest assured, V, I’m focused on our mission, now more than ever. There’s nothing I can do about my dad, and I know Mom is there to make sure nothing happens to him. It’s on us, now. It’s on us to carry on and stop the Hermessi.”
“I’m sorry it got to this,” Varga replied. “We’ll keep you updated on Phoenix’s progress. In the meantime, if there’s anything else, we’ve got Telluris. Don’t hesitate to use it.”