“That’s very considerate of you,” Acantha replied, noticing the looks between Riza and Herakles. Judging by the faint surprise in her eyes, I had a feeling she’d just caught on about their dynamic. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be as persistent as, say, Nethissis, who was still hurling the occasional half-smile at Varga. Only, this time, I wasn’t as bothered. Varga had just kissed me. “Do you boys agree?” Acantha asked Herakles and Varga.
They both nodded, putting the batteries down on the platform’s stone floor. The swamp witches proceeded to draw the symbols required for the interplanetary spell, while the rest of us waited patiently. The crew had already said their temporary goodbyes to friends and family, mostly through the earpieces, since most of GASP was stretched across the board, operating on multiple allied planets at once. I’d yet to hear from my mother, though, and it hurt a little.
The fewer the minutes before takeoff, the more anxious I became.
Varga noticed, eyeing me carefully as he put his arm around my shoulders. I couldn’t stop my head from tilting and softly resting on his chest. “I see a form of pain in you,” he said. “What’s wrong, Eva?”
“My mom. She hasn’t yet reached out to me or come to see me.” I sighed. “We’ve been here for a little over three days, and… well, nothing.”
“Have you tried getting in touch with her?” he asked.
I shook my head slowly. “She’s the one who told me that, if I leave, I should never come back. I was hoping she’d come around by now.”
“She’s proud,” he replied, and I sensed a certain understanding coming from him. “And maybe she’s ashamed, too, for having said those words. Surely, she’s heard about our adventures. What if you try being the better Lamia and reach out to her first?”
I thought about it, but, as soon as I saw Phoenix and Ibrahim coming up on the terrace, I pushed the idea away. “It’s a little too late for that,” I said. “We’re about to leave, I think.”
Varga checked Phoenix and Ibrahim’s expressions. “Hmm… Yeah, they look pleased. But still,” he replied, looking down at me. “You could still leave a message for her. I told Mom and Dad and Lenny that I love them. Of course, they told me not to sound so fatalist, but hey… this isn’t going to be a regular exploratory mission. The risks are too high to ignore.”
“We got it!” Phoenix said, beaming at us.
“And we’re ready,” Nethissis replied.
Phoenix brought out a glass tablet, on which he’d reproduced the most convenient itinerary. Without an object from the destination, the interplanetary spell had to be steered from within. The fewer swerves and turns we’d have to make, the better. The straighter our trajectory, the smoother our journey. Of course, landing on Mortis was going to be the biggest challenge, but we had to get there in one piece, first.
Nethissis and Acantha both studied the stellar roadmap that Phoenix had drawn for us, while Ibrahim checked each of us from head to toe. He smiled at me. “You seem nervous.”
“Wouldn’t you be?” I chuckled.
“I’d be soiling my undergarments, sure,” he said. “But you’re well-equipped, Eva. You’ve got one hell of a team here, too. And I’m sure Acantha and Nethissis will stop at nothing to keep you all safe, throughout your journey.”
I knew that, and, despite my animosity toward Nethissis—which seemed petty and personal, if I thought about it—I was thankful that she was up here, with us. Two swamp witches were better than one, especially these ladies, who’d already made a name for themselves among the ranks of GASP. Yeah, we were in good hands, and we absolutely had one fantastic team, I thought, glancing around at the crew.
I also considered Varga’s advice regarding my mother. I had no way of reaching out to her, but I could certainly leave a message. If something awful happened and I found myself leaving this world for good, I didn’t want things to be left angry and bitter between us. Despite her complicated nature and annoying stubbornness, my mother loved me, and it only seemed fair that I let her know I loved her, too, even with all our fights.
“Ibrahim… Could I ask you to do me a favor?” I asked, wearing a hopeful smile.
“Of course! What is it?”
Varga stepped back and helped the crew with the serium batteries—they needed to be placed across the large circular composition of symbols that fueled the interplanetary spell. From there, the light bubble would draw its energy evenly and economically, without prematurely depleting the cylinders.
“Can you tell my mother that I’m not sorry for doing this, but that I love her?” I said, exhaling deeply. It felt good to get it off my chest, in a way, even though I was simply asking him to pass on a message.
Ibrahim nodded and gave me a soft shoulder squeeze. “You focus on your mission, Eva. Your mother will be fine. I think it’s why she hasn’t said anything yet. She’s letting you do your thing, without any distraction. I assume a conciliatory conversation between the two of you would take a while.”
“You think?” I asked.
“I’m certain of it. But I will let her know, I promise. Word for word,” Ibrahim replied, and I hugged him. He kissed me on the top of my head. “You’re not usually this affectionate, Eva. But I must say, it’s a good look on you.”
I laughed lightly as I stepped back. Ibrahim had known me for long enough to spot these differences. Yes, I was quite icy and distant to most people, and I had severe trust issues—it came with the territory of being the only child of a murderous Druid-turned-Destroyer and leader of an empire built on the corpses of innocent creatures. Maybe Varga was finally rubbing off on me. I sure didn’t mind displaying more affection toward those whom I thought deserved it.
Ibrahim was one such person. He’d been one of the few to speak in my favor when I’d first applied to become a GASP agent. He and Corrine had gotten to know me and my mother well enough to understand that I simply couldn’t follow the ordinary Lady of the Lamias path. They’d seen my potential, even when my mother had completely denied it.
“We’re good to go,” Acantha announced. “Everybody, get inside the circle in the middle.”
We did as instructed. This was a slightly different design, I noticed. It looked more like a modified pentagram, with dozens of new symbols added to the outer rim, and connecting lines drawn from the batteries toward the central circle, where we’d gathered.
Phoenix and Ibrahim stayed on the outside, both of them smiling, eager to see us go and succeed in what had to be one of the craziest endeavors we’d ever gotten into.
“Send us a postcard!” Phoenix said, prompting Varga to burst into laughter.
“We’ll let you know once we land. Telluris and earpieces are working, at least for now,” Varga replied.
Acantha and Nethissis began their chant, and the modified pentagram began to light up white. The serium battery cylinders hummed, the crystals glowing bluer and bluer. In less than a minute, the ball of light formed and swallowed us whole, its electric buzz tickling my ears.
A sudden gust of wind started to whizz across the platform, pummeling the light bubble to the point where I worried it might tilt us to the side before the incantation was complete. I could see Ibrahim’s and Phoenix’s silhouettes as they moved away from the spell. The light around us got brighter and stronger, but I was able to guess that both the warlock and the sentry boy-genius had made it back downstairs.
“The Hermessi are coming,” Fallon said, his brow furrowed. “My insides are squirming.”
“That’s new,” I commented.
“A Hermessi detector? Seriously?” Herakles replied, equal parts amused and surprised.
The witches continued their chant. This one sounded longer than the ones I’d heard before, but I figured it had to do with two new factors: one, the increasing winds that were hitting our light bubble from all angles, and two, the presence of the batteries in the absence of an object from our destination.
I found myself holding Varga’s hand, my fingers tightly wrapped around it, as I braced for the worst to come. Knowing the elementals, this barely skimmed the surface.
“They finally found us.” Varga sighed. “It was only a matter of time. Luceria is one of the high-risk spots, for now.”
