She struck me as athletic. Slender but toned, with a confident posture and firm shoulders. Her pixie-cut blond hair was a rare sight, and therefore stirred my interest, for some reason. I liked the way it curled slightly around her temples. The beauty about her eyes, though, wasn’t the color. It was the sharp gaze she wore at all times, as if she could see straight into my soul and—crap, she saw me.
Herakles wasn’t as pretty to look at, but he was the first point of focus I had handy. I could feel Amelia’s eyes on me, now, and I was stunned by dread, as if I’d woken up naked in the middle of a GASP assembly hall.
“Then let’s get cracking,” I blurted, not liking the sound of my own voice. A tad too pitchy. “The portal awaits!”
The portal awaits? Are you intent on coming across as an imbecile?
Glancing around, I got a tinge of relief. No one noticed my inner turmoil—except Varga. The bastard was trying so hard to stifle a grin as his gaze darted between Amelia and me. I had to up my game. This was an important mission, and I couldn’t afford a single distraction. And Amelia was quickly becoming the biggest of them all.
“I hope I don’t have to see you again anytime soon,” Taeral said to Vikkal. There was a veiled threat underneath those words—a suggestion that, if Vikkal had anything to do with the exploding fae, he would be quickly bumped up on Taeral’s naughty list. The templar got the message, loud and clear, judging by the beads of sweat that blossomed on his tattooed forehead.
“Milord, I am here if you need my assistance, going forward,” Vikkal replied, then looked at Amelia. “Whatever happened during the Blackout, it didn’t occur again afterward,” he added. “When I said none of the fire fae in this kingdom could connect to the Hermessi like your people, that’s what I meant. If I’m not mistaken, the Hermessi did promise not to take over bodies like that anymore. I’m inclined to believe that they kept their word, and that this string of incidents has nothing to do with them.”
“Your heart’s in the right place, buddy,” I said. “But you shouldn’t think so highly of, as you called them, primordial entities. They’re ancient. Their moral and ethical compass doesn’t match ours. It might not exist at all. Therefore, we’re nowhere near excluding them from the suspect list.”
We left Vikkal with that food for thought, but I doubted he’d mull my words over for too long. The guy was too dedicated to this Hermessi cult of his to pay attention to the facts. We, on the other hand, were forged in the heat of battle. Half this crew had seen the power of the Hermessi first-hand. There was definitely a connection here. We just needed to find it.
Outside the temple, we linked hands with Taeral and he zapped us back to the palace. He spent a few minutes with his parents, then escorted us back to the portal. We stepped through and eventually reached Calliope. The sun was rising through the sky, prompting Amelia and Varga to pull their hoods and masks on for the minutes I needed to input Strava’s coordinates.
Once the mist turned blue, signaling an established link to my home planet, we went back in. As we walked through the transparent tunnel, marveling at other corners of the In-Between, I found myself going back to Amelia—wondering what kind of person she was.
She didn’t talk much. In fact, every sentence coming out of her seemed like an incredible effort on her part. She didn’t seem comfortable around crowds, either. When she was put forward at the council meeting, I was confident she’d collapse—whiter than a strip of paper, the poor thing.
I understood her intellectual capacities. I’d caught glimpses here and there from the way she talked and from the rapid eye movements she displayed while listening to others, as if recording everything in her head. I was, however, curious to find her limits. I’d heard about her father, too, and his vampiric prowess. I wondered if she was as deadly, if forced in such circumstances that would require lethal force on her part.
“Stop staring. It’s creepy,” Herakles whispered.
I shot him a sideways glance. He was sweating, but, despite his discomfort at going through the portal again, he’d found enough presence of mind to notice me watching Amelia. The schmuck.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, my voice low.
Amelia and the others were in front of us. I didn’t mind staying at the back, since it gave me a full view of her. The GASP leather outfit suited her perfectly, hugging every dip and curve like a coating. It made my chest tighten. Herakles was right. I should stop staring.
“Right, okay. Take that road,” he grumbled.
“I’m not allowed to look? It’s not like she can see me,” I hissed.
“I’m pretty sure she can feel you staring. She just won’t say anything because she’s a sweetheart,” Herakles retorted.
That left me speechless for a moment. He had a point. I could always feel someone watching me, after all. But I wasn’t ready to go down without a fight. “That being said, you should follow your own advice.”
Herakles blinked a couple of times, seemingly confused. I rolled my eyes in response.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he finally said, mimicking me to perfection.
“You son of a—”
“Here we are,” Taeral announced, cutting me off. He stepped through the Stravian portal.
We all joined him on the other side. Before us, the GASP base towered magnificently, made entirely out of diamond bricks. Multiple levels with arched windows and glorious towers sprawled on a half-mile radius in a circular structure. The tallest of the towers seemed to be poking the perfect blue sky. An inch higher and they might’ve broken through.
Sonic booms thundered in the distance—Perfects flying at high speeds.
Around the enormous GASP compound, where Ta’Zan’s colosseum had once stood, was the jungle. It hadn’t changed a bit. Still rich and dark, filled with all kinds of animal wonders. Birds chirped in the distance. A turquoise tiger growled, not far from where I stood. The wildlings had learned to stay away from our buildings, but some occasionally still ventured dangerously close, driven by curiosity and the smell of food wafting out of ground-level kitchens. I couldn’t blame them, especially in the rainy, colder season, when prey was harder to find in the woods and the fish moved deeper into the ocean.
“They’ve made some changes,” Varga observed, admiring the GASP base.
I nodded. “They’ve added towers and additional levels, yes. Our numbers are increasing, and we’ve started taking In-Between recruits, as well. Douma handled it, with Dmitri. Plenty of Nerakians and Eritopians hanging out here, these days.”
Several Bajangs and daemons could be seen on one of the open-air terraces facing west. Lunch was being served, judging by the scents coming down from there. Grilled meats and steamed vegetables. Tons of condiments. My mouth was watering. I looked at Herakles. He was barely holding on to a thread. I’d rarely seen a living embodiment of the term “hangry,” but Herakles was definitely a prime example.
“We should eat something,” he muttered.
I had a feeling he didn’t even realize he’d spoken out loud.
“Peckish forever, huh?” Varga laughed.
Taeral was in no mood, unfortunately. “We need to talk to Vesta first.”
Inside the GASP base, agents buzzed around like bees. Faulties and Perfects alike, with additional support from young Draenir, as well as our visiting colleagues. Peace reigned in my world, and it had made it that much easier for me to leave. I may not have been as tied to it as my brethren, but it was still home, and I wanted it to be thriving and tranquil.
Deep down, Vikkal’s words had had an impact on me, I realized. The Hermessi had allowed me to live during the Blackout. I should’ve been obliterated by the mass memory wiper when I took it to a high altitude, and it was activated. However, I wasn’t, and I knew the Hermessi were responsible. I figured I should’ve been more in their favor than against them, but the data we had was incomplete. What we did know pointed at them. It was hard not to suspect their involvement.
We found Vesta and Zeriel in one of the top-level control rooms, poring over training footage and taking notes. They both smiled when they saw us come in.
“Fish-boy! Long time!” I said.
Zeriel stood to shake my hand. As soon as we touched, he pulled me into a bear hug—well, as bear-ish as it could get, given that he was just half my size. A for effort, though. “You crazy bastard. Glad to see you again,” he replied.
