“I know. And I do trust you. You’re a Novak. Ta’Zan should know better than to mess with a Novak.”
I chuckled. “He’s got a few Novaks in his dome. He probably thinks he can totally get away with what he’s done so far.”
“He can’t. Not while you’re breathing, babe.”
We laughed and reminisced for another hour or so, while the rest of the cave structure buzzed with preparation activities. All the ingredients we needed for the pulverizer pellets had been brought back to the cave, and Amal and Rakkhan were busy preparing the ammunition.
I left my chamber and went back to the main hall, with Caleb still on the line. I was his eyes and ears, for the time being.
“How’s everybody else holding up?” he asked, after we’d clarified that we loved each other too much to let anything or anyone get between us.
I stilled on the edge of the circular hall, leaning against the black stone as I took it all in. No one was standing still. Faulties, Perfects, and Draenir alike, the Stravians worked hard to prepare the ammunition and explosive charges, carefully guided by Raphael, Amane, Amal, Rakkhan, and Douma.
“You’d be amazed what tolerance will do for a society,” I mumbled. “They’re getting along so well.”
“Who?” Caleb replied.
“The Faulties. The Perfects. The Draenir. Without Ta’Zan, they’re perfectly… normal. You’d be amazed.”
“I’m not surprised. People, in general, aren’t born bad. We’ve already seen it with Douma and Araquiel, right?”
“Mm-hm. Speaking of which,” I answered, stifling a chuckle, “Douma and Dmitri are totally a thing now.”
“No way!” Caleb exclaimed, as if we were dishing on the latest gossip. Truth be told, we did like to keep tabs on what went on in The Shade and in GASP. Caleb, in particular, was quite ecstatic whenever a new couple formed. I found it downright endearing, more proof that there was a sweet and soft side he only showed me and, sometimes, Hazel, Benedict and the grandkids. “Then again, they were close from the beginning, if memory serves me right.”
“Yeah. We put him in charge of keeping an eye on her, prior to removing her memory chip—”
“And her head.” He chuckled.
“Believe it or not, I think the spark was there from the beginning,” I said. “Even though she was loyal to Ta’Zan, Douma exhibited a soft spot for Dmitri. She never would’ve admitted it, though. She was so stern and proud.”
As I spoke, Douma and Dmitri were wrapping up sticks of explosives in what looked like slim bands of white linen. They didn’t speak much, but they kept stealing glances at one another as they put the sticks together to create full charges, which they then handed over to Araquiel and Raphael, who mounted the small, remote-activated devices on them.
“In Douma’s defense, there is something about Dmitri that just gets to a girl’s heart,” I added. “I think it runs in the Blackhall family.”
“It’s not the charming wit, for sure,” Caleb shot back.
I covered my mouth so no one would see me grin, thankful that Bastien wasn’t on the line with us. He would’ve growled. I shifted my focus to Elonora. She and Nevis had been missing for the past couple of hours, and I was old and experienced enough to know what they’d been up to—not that her flushed cheeks hadn’t made it obvious already.
“Caleb?” I breathed.
“Yeah.”
“I don’t want you to worry too much about me,” I said, watching Elonora as she joined Douma and Dmitri in packing the explosives. “I’ve got the best people I could’ve asked for with me.”
“Oh, that much I know,” he replied.
“I’m serious. I mean, Elonora alone is enough to take down an entire city, if she sets her mind to it. This girl’s got enough grit for an entire army regiment. She’s fierce and determined. She’s more like Claudia than I thought, and I mean it in a most positive sense. No wonder Nevis is head over heels with her.”
“He’s got the hots for Lenny? The icy Dhaxanian prince? Mr. I’m-Too-Good-And-Superior?” Caleb shot back, clearly amused. He secretly liked Nevis because he reminded him of his younger self—cold and ruthless, shrouded in mystery, and capable of some scary deeds to get what he wanted.
“Oh, yeah. I wonder what Ash and Ruby will say about that.”
“How’s Varga?” he asked.
“He’s okay. Equally stressed about all this, but in good humor and determined to see this through. You should see this boy fight, Caleb. He’s scary smart on the battlefield,” I said. “He and Lenny are incredible when they’re together. It’s like their minds are connected, and they can anticipate each other’s movements.”
“How are the Faulty twins coming along?” Caleb replied.
Amal and Amane were inseparable, which made it slightly awkward for Ridan, who had trouble leaving Amane’s side. The dragon and Amal were sort of competing for Amane’s attention, from what I could tell. It was cute, to say the least.
“I think Amane has already forgiven Amal,” I explained. “She’d been living with the dread that her sister was blindly devoted to Ta’Zan. I guess a part of her was terrified that she might have to kill Amal to stop her, if that were the case. Since she learned the truth, though, it’s like a weight was lifted off her shoulders.”
Amane had lit up since she’d made peace with Amal, in a complete 180-degree turn from the other day. She was happy.
“She looks happy,” I murmured.
“She’s got the dragon swooning over her, and her sister back by her side. I’m guessing this is as happy as she’ll ever be, in her mind,” Caleb suggested.
I had to agree. “Amane once believed Ta’Zan to be superior to everyone, to be the only one who could lead her and her people into the future. She left him because she realized what a filthy liar he was, and she thought her sister was indoctrinated beyond salvation. Until she met us, and Ridan, specifically, my guess is that Amane didn’t think there would be light in her life again.”
“Yeah, then the dragon barged in and set everything on fire,” Caleb replied.
Looking around a little bit more, I settled my sights on Vesta. She and Zeriel were helping Rakkhan with the pulverizer ammunition, pouring the completed liquid into small glass pellets created by Lumi. The Tritone king was nuts about Vesta—it was painfully obvious, since he couldn’t take his eyes off her and kept spilling the pulverizer liquid.
“Stop overpouring!” Rakkhan snapped.
“Sorry…” Zeriel mumbled, then tried again with another glass pellet. It didn’t take long before he found himself staring at Vesta again.
