“They knew about me, too!” Trev replied.

“I figured as much when I heard the ruckus in here. It took me a while to sneak past the guards after I saw you coming down here and knowing that Esme was following you. Dammit, she’s losing consciousness!”

“What do we do?!” Trev asked.

My eyes rolled back, my whole being weak and mushy. I welcomed the darkness, though the sounds lingered for a few more seconds.

“You need to go into hiding. The Darklings are on to you,” he said to Trev. “And I need to take her to Amal and Amane. They might know how to save her. That scythe is one deadly toothpick, even for vampires and Aeternae.”

“I’ll be in touch,” Trev replied. Silence again. He must’ve left.

I couldn’t believe it. He knew? Was I imagining all this?

Had Zoltan’s Reaper scythe caused me to hallucinate, perhaps? Nothing made sense anymore, and I was so tired. So, so tired. I wanted to sleep.

“Have mercy,” a female voice croaked through my darkness. She sounded close. Was that the ginger Darkling?

The zing of a blade sang through the air. The squishing sound of flesh and blood disturbed by steel. The silence of death. I felt a pair of strong arms scooping me off the damp floor.

Sleep finally found me, my thoughts and memories jumbling into an unrecognizable mass, my mind exhausted and my body feeling like it was beyond repair. I surrendered to it. It was my time to rest…

Tristan

“We’re close to finding the protein,” Amane said, beaming with enthusiasm. “We’ve identified five proteins that are similar to what’s in Derek’s bloodstream.”

“With the two of us on both microscopes, it’s been much easier,” Amal added. “We were able to compare notes and eliminate the unlikely elements.”

Valaine had joined me in the study room to check up on the Faulty twins’ progress. Nethissis’s body had been moved next door, preserved with magic and encased in a crystal coffin, courtesy of the Lord and Lady Supreme, who’d had the empire’s foremost artisans to design and sculpt the piece. It was the least they could do, Danika and Acheron had said. I was inclined to disagree, but I was waiting for Esme to give me a sign before I could voice that thought.

I hadn’t heard from her since she’d left, and that worried me. It was exactly like her to do this, especially on covert missions, but I could never get used to it. I’d never had my sister’s patience.

Derek and Sofia were both excited, but tired. They hadn’t slept much over the past couple of days—the protein search, the Black Fever, the Darklings, and Nethissis’s death had all taken a toll, and it was beginning to show. Our leaders were worn out but had no intention of backing down. We’d come this far, after all.

“I’m glad to hear that,” Valaine said. “What about the Black Fever? I don’t mean to add any pressure, but I know Petra and my father will ask tomorrow.”

Amane sighed. Amal didn’t look too happy, either. Derek took the lead on this one, already knowing what they were going to say. “Progress is slow, I’m afraid. It’s a very complicated virus, from what I understand. It multiplies quickly in pretty much any conditions, so the first step is to figure out what environment isn’t favorable for its development.”

“We’re running different tests,” Amal said, pointing at several white boxes. Inside, she’d placed glass dishes with virus strains, using magic to replicate various temperatures and physical conditions—hot and dry, hot and humid, cold and dry, extremely damp, freezing cold, and so on. “As soon as we figure out which of these boxes show the slowest evolution, we’ll work from there. Our primary objective is to slow the current outbreak down and to isolate emerging carriers.”

“So far, we’ve identified one, thanks to my sister,” Amane continued. “We have yet to hear from Petra regarding the girl’s condition. We were promised she’d be safe but quarantined.”

“Petra is a woman of her word,” Valaine replied. “She might seem cold and odd to most, but I assure you she has the best interest of the empire in mind. That includes the Rimians and the Naloreans, as well.”

“I would like to see the girl tomorrow morning, if possible,” Amal murmured.

“Oh, I’m sure we can arrange something—” Valaine froze when the study room door burst open, and Kalon stormed in, holding Esme in his arms.

My heart stopped when I noticed the blood trickling from her wounded thigh, from her shoulder and side. She was unconscious and pale, and the frenzy threatened to crush my judgment altogether.

“I need help!” Kalon gasped.

Within seconds, my sister was laid on one of the tables, with Amal and Amane both at her side, checking her vitals and her wounds. Kalon was shaking, coated in a layer of sweat and anger.

“What the hell happened?!” I snarled. Resting a hand on Esme’s forehead, I could feel her temperature. It was abnormally high. “She’s burning up. What happened to her, Kalon?!”

“Our mission with Trev. It went sideways. The Darklings knew about his allegiance. They knew he’d met with us. They knew everything,” Kalon managed, unable to take his eyes off Esme. Amal and Amane proceeded to cut pieces of her combat suit in order to access the wounds.

A big black gash crossed her thigh, and the sight of it made my stomach churn. It didn’t look natural, and both Faulty sisters were baffled and confused.

“What’s that?” I asked, dread clutching my throat.

“I… I’m not sure,” Amane replied. “I haven’t seen anything like this before.”

“What weapon was used? Where did this happen?” Amal asked Kalon. Valaine moved close to his side, visibly concerned. There were a few black veins still visible around his eyes. He… He must’ve gone into full Aeternae mode, and that worried me even more. Nothing here made sense!

“In the basement. There’s a whole network of tunnels and hallways and chambers,” Kalon said. “I think the Darklings have been using it for a long time. They’ve infiltrated everywhere.” He looked at Valaine, his eyes glassy and filled with fear. “There are still Darklings among the gold guards, too. Trev met one of the ringleaders. It… It was Zoltan.”

We all went blank and silent for a split second, stopping everything as the name sank in, and the face associated with it came into focus.

“Zoltan… Zoltan Shatal?” Valaine managed, completely blindsided. Kalon nodded once, staring at my sister. I could almost feel the guilt surging through him. He felt awful. I could see it in his eyes.

Amane wiped the blood from her face and other wounds, meticulously cleaning and disinfecting them, while Derek cut his wrist and drained some of his blood into a glass vial. Amane looked at him. “I’m going to need more,” she said. “Esme has lost a lot of her own.”

Sofia exhaled and gave some of hers, as well, filling several vials, which Amane then set into a steady drip, the needle piercing my sister’s wrist. I could barely hear her heart beating, and that just made everything worse. It became difficult for me to concentrate.

“Yes, Zoltan Shatal. The chief councilor of Visio is a damn Darkling,” Kalon said, his voice trembling with rage. “Esme was following Trev, and I was following Esme… I worried, naturally. When the Darklings jumped them, I was still halfway through the corridors, sneaking through. There were so many hostiles down there, it was unbelievable… all clad in black leather or black armor… it didn’t make sense. By the time I got there, Esme was already injured; Trev was about to get killed. I lost it.”

“You released your full strength,” Valaine concluded, her index finger brushing over a dark but fading vein under his right eye. He nodded again.

“And Zoltan?” I asked, already itching to kill that two-faced son of a bitch.

“He vanished,” Kalon said. “I started tearing into his people there, just to stop them from killing Trev and Esme. And he was gone.”

“Did you see what weapon was used?” Amal insisted, swabbing the black gash on Esme’s thigh. Tiny black spots framed it, standing out on her pale, almost white skin. I had never seen her like this.

“It was strange. Like a half-moon,” Kalon replied, frowning and crossing his arms, never looking away from Esme, who seemed to be asleep.

“A half-moon,” Derek repeated after him, then pressed a button on his earpiece and walked away from the table. He was talking to someone, but I could not hear what he was saying, my attention shattered, most of it focused on Esme’s slow heartbeat. When he came back, Derek was livid, and I didn’t know what to make of it, except suspecting that there was more trouble ahead for my sister.

“Derek, what is it?” Sofia asked, while Amal and Amane kept working to stabilize Esme.

“I think I know what weapon was used. But it… it’s strange,” Derek said. Looking at me, he could see that I was already on the edge of sanity. “A Reaper scythe.”

I felt as though someone had snatched the ground from under my feet. Gripping the table’s edge, I gawked at him for a while. “A what, now?” Not that I didn’t know what a Reaper scythe was, but what the hell was such a blade doing all the way here on Visio? “Why would Zoltan Shatal have a Reaper scythe?”

“Kalon?” Valaine asked, hoping he might have some answers.

He shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m sorry. I’ve never seen that thing before.”