Part 82 (1/2)

Her father must have read her expression. ”Their realm was collapsing. Shade-Shade sacrificed himself to destroy their pattern. The chaos incinerated the lead necromancer-”

”Ephraim!” she gasped.

”Ephraim,” Cabe corrected himself. ”As to the others, the last I saw, their castle, their world, was crumbling, and they were caught by their own magic. They may be no more, but I'm not counting on it.”

”Whatever the case,” Gwen interjected, ”they are nothing to fear, at least for the moment.”

”No.”

But Valea no longer thought of them. She recalled her father's other words. ”Shade-he sacrificed himself?”

”Without hesitation.”

That made no sense. ”But Gerrod-the-the ghost of the original Shade-he was supposed to take over and use the body for the Lords' purposes. They had him under their control.”

”Somehow, Shade overcame him, I suppose. It's what saved us.”

No. Valea understood enough to know that only by Gerrod's own decision could Shade have withstood the possession. Gerrod had decided that his manic desire to live had been outweighed by what he would cause to happen afterward.

But it had not been that alone. Some part of her, some part that was and was not Valea, suddenly reminded her of Gerrod's love of Sharissa. Sharissa would have despised what Gerrod would have become. In the end, the ghost had likely come to that conclusion, too. He had instead given Shade the opportunity to undo the necromancers' evil and help the spirit of the woman he had loved.

”You said-” Tears wanted to flow freely from her eyes, but Valea fought them back. Tears for both aspects of one man. There was an emptiness in her heart at the sacrifices and the thought that he might be no more. ”You said . . . he's dead?”

The grim expressions on both her parents's countenances grew. Her mother pursed her lips and quietly said, ”This is Shade of whom we speak.”

So he very likely was not dead . . . but they feared what he might have become.

”Darkhorse is already searching,” Cabe added, growing more determined in his tone. ”I've alerted the Gryphon and King Melicard of Talak. They have the resources to watch also.”

Gwendolyn Bedlam nodded. ”From what I've gathered, he could be more terrifying than ever, my love. He is more whole now. The Lords may have unleashed a threat that would make theirs comical by comparison.”

”We won't let him. Shade will be hunted down no matter what.”

The elder Bedlams continued to discuss the possible danger. Valea listened to them, but she did not feel the fear that they did. Instead, her heart seemed to leap to life.

He was alive.