I scowled deeply. Tarran chuckled.
“I know just the place. You might want a cloak.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I hissed. “Where is Nightsdeath?”
“Beginning the hunt for his… physical form, I assume.”
My whole body stiffened. “That would be a futile endeavor.”
“He thinks he might be able to sense Rainyte if he gets close enough. Though he’s causing a lot of disturbance in his wake already.”
A sudden terrible realization hit me.
“He needs pain to survive,” I muttered, more to myself. “Maybe he even needs death.”
There was a monster on the loose, and I couldn’t believe Auster and the other High Celestials had become so focused on me that they were letting him terrorize the continent.
“You know he needs to be stopped,” Tarran said carefully, as if I might lash out in defense of Nightsdeath.
I had to admit I was conflicted.
“I need to figure out what his being here means. Nyte still hasn’t awoken or he would have come for me. I can’t do anything to Nightsdeath without risking that it will kill Rainyte too.”
Tarran turned and started walking, hands slipping casually into his pockets. It was either follow him or hope my stealth was enough to get me to the kitchens alone, at least.
Internally cursing, I jogged to catch up, trusting he’d sense guards or the High Celestials and warn me.
“Our sister is in Vesitire,” Tarran said so nonchalantly, but it slammed into me. I didn’t know what shocked me most: the termourandsisterthat linked me and Tarran closer than I thought he would be willing to admit right now or the mention of asisterthat had my mind rapidly sifting through memories to find a name and a face.
“Laviana,” I said; the face that accompanied her name unfolded clearly in my mind. Two-toned black and white hair, harsh green eyes, and firm but elegantly beautiful features.
She was the daughter of two of my guardians: a shadowless and a celestial.
None of us were siblings by blood, but we had been raised so closely, with all of them having been born before I came along, that we always considered each other family.
“Where?” I asked.
“Around the outskirts, last I heard.”
“Do you know what she’s doing here?”
“Likely still leading the vampire movement for equality.”
More threads of memory started weaving together in my mind.
“If you’re not part of that cause, what are you part of?”
“Who said I wasn’t?”
Tarran would never give me full answers or be straight with exactly what he hoped to achieve.
We reached the kitchens with a few stops and Tarran’s complete guidance using his heightened sense to make sure I wasn’t found before I could at least eat.
I dug into any leftovers I found in various concealed containers or under rags, ending up with a mouth too full of bread, cheese, and meat.
Scanning for water to wash it down, I found Tarran holding a cup out to me with a look between disgust and concern over my ravaging. I took it sheepishly.
I couldn’t decide if Tarran’s kindness, however negligible, would eventually call for a price.
