We’d watched the remarkably awkward exchange with bulging eyes and jaws bravely reaching for the floor, but we hadn’t said a single word, until my little slip. I was equal parts astonished and thrilled. Amelia and I had not had much of a chance to talk about the bonds forming inside our crew, but we were both aware of the subtle changes. Eva and Varga were already an item, and maybe half of us had seen it coming.
With Amelia and Raphael, however, things were… different. He was a peculiar creature to be around. On one hand, he could be charming and funny and carefree, pretty much anything a girl would love in a guy. On the other hand, he still lacked life experience. He was only a little over a year old, basically made by Ta’Zan inside a Petri dish. Most of his social interaction techniques had been picked up along the way, and he could easily come across as brutally blunt or suffering from foot-in-mouth syndrome to anyone who didn’t understand his short but complicated history.
He was also an extraordinary creature who, despite his social shortcomings, displayed a thirst for knowledge that I’d seen in only a handful of people. He was dying to know more. He listened carefully to everyone around him and ended up mimicking whomever he found interesting or appealing—but he did it with such confidence that it came across as natural.
“I think he handled it pretty well,” Herakles muttered, doing his best to avoid eye contact with him or Amelia, who already knew I’d heard them.
“She did not expect that.” I chuckled, keeping my face close to his in a bid to keep our conversation discreet. I didn’t even realize how close we were until I felt his warm breath brush over my nose. Instinctively, I licked my lips, which, in turn, made his gaze drop. I straightened my back almost instantly, adding several inches of space between us. I’d been so consumed with Raphael and Amelia’s dynamic that I’d almost forgotten how Herakles and I had also gone from complete strangers to… something much more interesting.
“I’m glad for him. Went right out and said it,” Herakles replied, smiling vaguely.
Unable to look at him, I trailed invisible swirls around the base of my water glass, trying to keep my pulse under control. My lips were tingling, and there were butterflies flapping around in my stomach, gradually turning into dinosaurs. Herakles had an impact on me, and I doubted he was even aware of it.
In many ways, he was a lot like Raphael. There was this otherworldly purity about him, unique to most Stravians since day one. But he had some years of life, even if some had been spent in stasis, back on the island of Noagh. He knew how to handle himself around other people, specifically females. I had a feeling he understood more about relationships than me, though I was the one who’d grown up with solid examples around me—my mom and dad, Nuriya and Sherus, not to mention the rest of GASP and the Novaks. I’d seen love flourish, over and over, across generations, but I still had no idea how to approach such a topic with someone like Herakles.
He oozed self-confidence in a way that made my spine stiffen and my knees go weak, but it hadn’t led us anywhere. I’d been waiting for him to say something, to make his move and let me know that he was interested. I could tell from the way he looked at me that he was… but I needed him to say it. Loud and clear.
By contrast, Raphael had been quite conservative with his emotional expression. Yet he’d found the courage to speak up, not only to ask Amelia out, but to ask her in front of her parents. In the meantime, I was stuck at this table between my parents and Herakles, naïvely waiting for a similar development. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted him to say something. The more it irked me that he didn’t.
“Yes, he asked her out. It wasn’t that hard, it seems,” I said flatly.
Herakles was surprisingly quick to capture my tone—but so was my mom. “Miffed that Herakles didn’t ask you first?” She giggled. It got her a deadly glower from me. However, that didn’t have the desired effect. It only made her laugh harder, while my dad eyed Herakles and me as if we were some kind of comedic performance.
I’d missed something, for sure. “What… What do you mean?” I asked her.
“Oh, come on, honey. Do you think the two of us are blind or something?” she asked, nodding at my dad. “It’s so obvious, it’s hilarious.”
“I’m confused,” Herakles croaked, his forehead smooth. Beads of sweat budded gently along his temples. I could only imagine the heat of embarrassment that was burning through him, for I was feeling my own. The two of us had stumbled beneath my parents’ magnifying glass, and there was no way out.
My dad pointed a finger at him, then at me. “You like her,” he said, and proceeded to point at him again, “and she likes you. You two are either in denial or completely oblivious about it. Frankly, I’m rooting for the former, not the latter, because you’re both intelligent creatures, and, well, I didn’t raise a slow-poke!”
“Wow…” I managed.
Herakles was swift to surrender. He sighed deeply. “You’re right. You are absolutely right. Please, accept my apologies. I am in denial. I’m not sure about Riza, but I know myself.”
“What are you apologizing to us for?” Mom asked, still very much amused, while I squirmed in my chair, wondering why I wasn’t just teleporting myself out of the room to save whatever was left of my ego. My parents never pulled any punches with people, especially those they’d deemed important or meaningful to me. Clearly, Herakles had popped onto their radar. “Make it right, Herakles.”
He nodded energetically and looked at me. “Would you like to go for a walk tonight?”
“What the—are you serious?” I snapped. “At least be original about it.”
“Yeah, don’t copy me. It’s insulting,” Raphael intervened as he got up and pulled Amelia’s seat back so she could join him. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we’ve got a date,” he added, grinning like the sly devil that he loved to be. Amelia held back a chuckle of her own as she followed him outside.
Suddenly, Herakles and I were the stooges, while my parents, along with Amelia’s, had set their sights on us. Their relationships had flourished in different times and circumstances, and they seemed to have very little sympathy for tribulations such as my own or Amelia’s. I didn’t hold it against them; it was a parent’s job to embarrass the child whenever they got the chance. I’d been weak to let this happen, in the first place.
“You may not have as much time as you might think,” my mom said, suddenly turning serious, her voice trembling slightly. “If you want to take advantage of it, we’ll never question your decision.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but Fallon shot to his feet and sucked in a wheezing breath, startling everyone at the table, including Herakles and me. His eyes rolled wildly as he threw his head back. Varga was quick to jump to his aid, but Fallon recovered and kept him at arm’s length.
“Hold on,” he said. “It’s not a possession. Wait…”
He inhaled deeply several times, enough to regain his composure.
“What is it, then?” I asked, eyeing him with concern.
“A Hermessi is coming,” he replied. “I can feel him. I felt Kabbah before, too, and even Brendel. It’s like a strange tickling in the back of my neck. I learned to pay attention after our episode in the white space.”
Derek was the first to reactively stand up. “A Hermessi is coming here?”
There was fearful anger in his eyes, and we all understood him perfectly. It was a common feeling among all those who were alive and aware of the threat that the Hermessi posed against us.
“Don’t even think about possessing me!” Fallon shouted, nervously looking around. “I’ve had enough of that crap, dropping like a log whenever one of you mooks needs to talk to us!”
Amelia and Raphael were already out, but I didn’t think we should call them unless absolutely necessary. Unless there was hostility here. My instinct told me that wasn’t the case. A crackling sound made us turn toward the door. A bright green figure stood before us, the vibrant energy licking at the air around it. His voice echoed across the hall. “I do not wish to harm anyone.”
“Who are you?” Derek asked, his frame stiff and tense. Sofia slowly got up, staying close to him. “What do you want?”
“I am Tebir. Your Earth Hermessi,” he replied. “I speak on behalf of the few rogue elementals left to fight against the ritual.”
Almost instantly, I felt my muscles relax. The tension that I’d been compelled to cut through with a knife, moments earlier, had begun to dissipate. We knew of Tebir. We knew of all four Hermessi of Earth and their pacifist intentions. This was a friend, not a foe, for the ritual’s influence had yet to reach this dimension, as far as the local Hermessi were concerned.
“This is… unexpected,” Fallon blurted. “Also, thanks for not hijacking me.”
“I don’t need to possess you, hybrid, though I admit, it is tempting. Your being is full of power and potential,” Tebir said. “I do see what Kabbah saw in you. But I am here to speak to you all, not hold any kind of leverage against you.”
“Okay… How can we help?” Sofia asked.
“I’d like to first apologize for showing up here unannounced,” Tebir replied. “I would rather have stayed in my side of the realm, but the dire situation demands my direct involvement.”
