Nerina [eShort Series]

Revenge P.2 | v

"I'm—dead." She knew it but to see it made it final.

"In a matter of speaking but not completely."

He rushed to say not completely as if it mattered. She already knew her fate. She had already seen it. Nerina had never feared death, until now.

"Dead is dead." Nerina had to tell herself not to panic. She knew it was happening—had happened. She just had to keep her cool. She just had to focus on something else. She was dead and it was—she was dead.

"There is also limbo. The world between. It's a long story."

"I clearly have nothing but time." She was dead. The concept was harder for her to comprehend and come to terms with than she had expected. Death seemed final when you were not the one—being dead. Talking to an ex-lover did not make the transition any better to comprehend and come to terms with either. Whom else was she going to casually run into in this afterlife? How many of the wailing faces was she responsible for putting there? She hoped they did not harbor a grudge.

Fionn told her everything.

And everything made the transition even worse. "Latvia brought Eve back to kill me?"

"Yes."

"If she could do all that why didn't she just kill me herself?" With a thought, Nerina would have been a pile of ashes without all the pomp and circumstance.

"Because she made a pact with me. She was not to harm you."

Nerina scoffed. "Directly. However, indirectly was fine. Some ironclad pact you made."

"I hadn't thought about that."

"Clearly."

There was silence for a while before Fionn spoke again. "When I found out I had her banished. By then the only thing I could do was release you from that dungeon."

"You? You got me out?" Nerina had thought Eve had set her free to cause some damage. A test she had passed—in a matter of speaking. This knowledge took that little victory away from her.

"I'm sorry. All of this is my fault."

Nerina could hardly find a reason to debate that. She had killed Eve before she and Fionn met. Both of them meeting had led to Latvia's jealous tantrum that had led her to resurrect Eve. Which led to Eve setting her on fire and her being dead. His point was valid.

"Doesn't matter. I'm dead now."

"But I can bring you back."

"Latvia got banished for meddling in that kind of magic."

"I am the king. There are special allowances for situations with exceptional circumstances."

"Like my sire ruling the world," Nerina mumbled.

"Yes."

"What do you think I can do about that? She is creating an army."

"And you would be our army."

Nerina laughed so hard she started to hurt. "One person is not an army. Why can't you do it yourselves? If you can all raise people from the dead a pesky vampire shouldn't be a problem."

"You will be provided with all you need to kill Eve."

Nerina raised an eyebrow sensing there was more. "And?"

"And Latvia."

Now Nerina really laughed hard. She laughed so hard she came loose from the stake. She fell writhing in pain though she could not stop laughing. "I'm thinking I'm better off dead. Ah, look at that. I already am."