Death was capricious and unpredictable. That much I could tell from what I’d seen and heard so far. And both Taeral and Eira were too young and unprepared for this encounter. That being said, it was too late to turn around now. “We might as well get this show on the road,” I said quietly to myself.
“So. What do you want?” Death asked, her tone rather clipped, as if we’d disturbed her from an important and time-consuming task.
I had to give her credit. She sure knew how to set a crippling mood.
Vesta
Exhaustion was setting in after my brief “ghostly” chat with Zeriel. I’d had some minutes all to myself, with Seeley gone for a bit. The “bit” turned into an hour, eventually. He’d only briefly excused himself before vanishing—he’d seen something in the sanctuary, something that had troubled him, but I was too worn out and tired to ask him anything about it. Frankly, I was more focused on finding a way to give Zeriel more complex messages, but I needed a fresher state of mind.
In the meantime, however, I allowed myself to smile more, as Derek and Sofia had come in bearing some good news, along with some that was anything but. Harper was back in her body, delivered by Herbert, whom Ibrahim had released from his bond. I wasn’t sure whether they were worried about the ghoul being out there on his own, but I figured we had much bigger issues to deal with, for the time being. It had been my understanding that Herbert was remarkably well behaved, unlike others from his unnatural species. While I was thrilled to know Harper was safe and soon to deliver new information she’d picked up from Herbert, I didn’t like the thought of what had happened with Ramin.
The flames had gone out on Neraka, much like on Cerix when Brann had been destroyed. It seemed reasonable to assume that Ramin had suffered a similar fate, given his brazen rebellion, but it still hurt. He was one ally we simply couldn’t afford to lose. The details of how that had come to pass had yet to come through, and I hoped Harper would be able to fill in the gaps. Derek had said that his great-granddaughter needed an hour to recover, to feed, and to get reacquainted with her body, and that Phoenix was in constant contact with her, recording all the information she’d come back with.
We’d also learned that Taeral and his crew had been on Mortis all along, without even knowing it. That had made their reunion with Varga’s team all the sweeter. I remembered breathing a sigh of relief at the thought of that group finally back together, though we weren’t sure where they stood with their mission to find Death. No one had been able to speak to them over the past thirty minutes, but River was with Viola now, on Calliope, keeping an eye on the comms line, while the Daughter listened carefully to her Telluris link.
As always, the universe gave us servings of hot and cold in such contrasting snippets that it made our teeth and our souls hurt. On one hand, we rejoiced that Taeral and his band were inching closer to their meeting with Death. On the other, more fae were falling under the Hermessi’s influence, our allies were gradually incapacitated, and the elementals grew stronger with every hour that passed. We’d taken more damage than we could bear, but we were still standing. I thought it was nothing short of a miracle, certainly better than nothing.
Glancing at my soul-chain, I shuddered. Another link had gone black. Only three healthy glowing ones remained, and dread was once again gnawing its way through my stomach. Death had to come through for us; otherwise, I was inevitably screwed. Zeriel had gone back to the Calliope base on Mount Zur to catch up with the rest of that division—he was better off out there, hunting cultists or protecting that fae sanctuary, than here. I knew he’d be back in a few hours, which gave me some time to rest before I tried to talk to him again.
“What’s up?” Seeley’s voice snapped me from my thoughts. He’d materialized right in front of me, but I hadn’t noticed him. Fortunately, his sudden appearances no longer startled me.
“Nothing much. Counting the links on my life-chain,” I replied, noticing his sullen expression. It made me frown. “What’s wrong? Also, where did you go? You’ve been gone for an hour. Not that I didn’t enjoy the silence.”
He scoffed. “Sorry about that, I needed some time to just think. As for what’s wrong… Where should I begin?”
“Oh, you are pissed off,” I said, eyes wide and ears ready to listen. “Talk to me.”
Seeley shook his head slowly. “I hate the fact that you’re right. I think that’s what irks me the most.”
“Now you’re talking in riddles. Care to elaborate?”
“Well, none of this is okay. It’s not natural!” he snapped, pinching the smooth bridge of his nose. “Vesta, I’ve been doing this job for a long time, never doubting when someone’s time was up. But a few things have come to light, developments I hadn’t even thought possible, and… dammit, you were right.”
I thought about it for a moment, unable to stop myself from smiling. “I guess I should be more pleased with hearing those words come out of your mouth, but I’m not. Can you tell me about these… developments you mentioned?”
He paused, looking at me as if he’d only now realized he’d said more than he should’ve. “No, not yet,” he replied. “I have to take it up directly with Death, first. She’s the only one who can clarify a few things for me, including what rules are valid, given these unnatural circumstances.”
I blinked rapidly, trying to process my own response. “Do you know they found her?” I asked, and Seeley seemed surprised. “Mm-hm. They found her. She’s on Mortis. Phoenix has the astral map back on Mount Zur. Turns out Taeral was already—”
“Phoenix has the astral map,” he interrupted me, suddenly focused on what I assumed was his most important mission. I doubted he’d even listen to anything else I’d have to say. He’d locked on to Mortis, already. Everything unrelated simply faded from his consciousness. “Vesta, I need to go for a little while.”
“Okay,” I said, shrugging. “It’s not like I can do much while you’re out. I’ll be here.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, no, I’m not leaving you here on your own,” he said. Looking around, he seemed to have set his sights on someone, though I couldn’t see them. He reached out and grabbed an arm. “Come here!”
A figure emerged through ripples of air, now visible and clad in a black-and-white suit, much like his. A Reaper, and he was terribly confused, even outraged. “What the hell, Seeley?!”
“Vesta, this is Rupert. He’s currently watching over Vita, and he’ll be keeping an eye on you, too, while I’m out,” Seeley said, matter-of-factly.
It baffled Rupert, whose copper hair hung in loose curls over his freckled forehead. “I will?” he asked, his voice barely audible. Seely gave him a firm nod.
“Hi, Rupert,” I replied. “Welcome to the madness, I suppose.”
“What madness? What… Seeley, what the crap, man?!”
Seeley gripped Rupert’s shoulders, giving him a most intense look. “You have to do this for me, please. I helped you out once. It’s time to repay the favor. Just for a few hours, and then I’ll be right back.”
“Dude, it wasn’t that big of a favor,” Rupert protested, prompting Seeley to narrow his eyes at him, a cold grin slitting his face.
“Dude. I saved your scrawny ass from a painful demotion after you lost those triplets’ souls. Need I remind you that I’m the only one who knows they became a ghoul’s dinner?” he asked, one eyebrow raised.
Rupert sighed. “I would’ve been fine.”
“No, you wouldn’t have been fine, because your fumble came on the heels of a massive failure of Earthly Reapers, and you know it. Now, stop being such a wuss, and just stay with Vesta and Vita until I get back,” Seeley retorted, moving to leave. He stilled and pointed a finger at him. “And don’t let them see each other until I return. Under no circumstances. Is that clear?”
Rupert nodded. “Okay. That’s not allowed, anyway.”
“I know, but little miss Four Elements here can be persuasive,” Seeley said, scowling at me. I knew he’d meant it as a reprimand, but I couldn’t stop myself from giggling. I took it as a compliment. “Vesta, I’m serious. Try to stick to the rules for once. I’m hoping to come back with clear proof that you were right all along, and not just in my measly opinion. You wanted me to step up and do something. Well, here I am, stepping up and doing something. So, out of respect for that, can you promise you won’t do anything that gets Rupert in trouble?”
I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly as I thought about a reasonable response. Crossing my arms, I smiled at him. “I promise I won’t do anything that Rupert wouldn’t want to do of his own accord.”
Seeley rolled his eyes so hard, I worried they might fall out, while Rupert watched me with a skeptical pair of pursed lips. “It’s better than nothing. I’ll take it. I might regret it, knowing you, but I’ll take it,” Seeley said. A moment later, he vanished, likely off to check Phoenix’s astral map, looking for a way to Mortis.
Seconds passed in awkward silence, while Rupert and I stared at each other. I was still amused by Seeley’s opinion of me. Yes, he’d gotten to know me quite well over the past few days, and he’d understood my determination to survive this hot mess. He was aware of how manipulative I could be, if given the chance.
“You won’t do anything that I wouldn’t want you to do?” Rupert asked warily.
I grinned. “Don’t worry about it. You’ll see what I mean.”
