Moments later, the light was gone. Ledar was still on his knees, but the casings had broken. His hands were free, but there was no elemental energy for him to use against us. The Ekar bird had vanished, replaced by Ramin’s full fire figure. Joy soared through me at the sight of him.
“It worked!” I breathed, holding on to Caspian in order to stop myself from jumping around like a maniac. “It friggin’ worked!”
Ramin looked at me, his voice now heard by all those present. “I will need some time to fully recover,” he said. “Thank you all.”
“Attaboy!” Zane exclaimed, smiling.
“Welcome back, Ramin,” Fiona replied. “It’s good to see you.”
“You… You ruined me…” Ledar managed between fractured sobs. “You… You took away the only thing that made me special.”
Ramin sighed. “A Hermessi’s power isn’t meant to make you feel special. It’s an honor and a responsibility. Something you didn’t deserve, because you were ready to use it in order to disrupt the natural balance of things.”
“On top of that, screw you,” Zane added, giving Ledar a disgusted look. “Being a daemon is also an honor. Being a daemon made you special enough. It’s no one’s fault but your own that you felt inadequate or insufficient. You didn’t deserve to be a Hermessi, and you certainly don’t deserve to be a daemon, either.”
“Maybe some time in prison will teach him a few things,” Fiona suggested. “We can’t just let him walk out, anyway.”
Ledar seemed shocked. “What?”
“You conspired to destroy Neraka,” Zane said. “By joining Brendel, you became an enemy of our kingdom. Did you think there wouldn’t be consequences, boy?”
“No, no, you can’t do this! No, please!” Ledar cried, but no one listened.
The daemon soldiers surrounded him and slapped a pair of charmed cuffs around his wrists. They hauled him up and dragged him away, his pleas for mercy echoing down the narrow alleyway. It didn’t matter if the other Hermessi heard him now. He was powerless and useless to them.
“What will you do now?” I asked Ramin. “They can’t destroy you without an heir.”
“No, but they can still try and trap me,” he replied. “I am able to move, though. I’ll keep myself in motion, to dodge them.”
Around us, Infernis seemed to come back to life. The lava lakes glowed brighter. The fire had returned to Neraka, its strength full and healthy, much to the other Hermessi’s chagrin. It gave me a sense of completion, of snarky satisfaction, knowing we’d pulled one over on them for once. It felt nice not to be on the receiving end.
“I will keep working against the ritual, Harper,” Ramin said after a pause. “And we’ll see each other again soon.”
“Be careful, please,” I whispered.
“I have the upper hand now. The most they can do is try and stop me, but I’ve learned my lesson, already. I know their limits, and mine, too. They can’t kill me anymore.”
“We’ll be here if you need us,” Caspian said. “Whatever it takes to stop this ritual, you can count on us.”
“I know,” Ramin replied.
A moment later, he vanished into thin air, leaving nothing but a thread of black smoke behind. We left the slums quickly afterward, heading back to the palace and making sure that GASP was made aware of what we’d accomplished. Ledar was fitted with another set of crystal hand covers as soon as he landed in jail—we, too, had learned our lesson from the Mount Zur incidents. Maybe Ledar wasn’t useful to the ritual Hermessi anymore, in terms of his future as a Fire Hermessi, but they could still force him to do their bidding, like they’d done with the other cult members.
I welcomed the smile that had settled on my lips. We’d saved a friend and a powerful ally. We were still in the game, determined to push through and secure a future for ourselves. I wasn’t sure we’d win, since it all depended on Taeral and his crew now, but I knew that each of us was ready to do everything in our power to fight this.
Vesta
The Calliope sanctuary was slightly different from The Shade’s. It had been expanded to accommodate all the fae that had been brought in from The Shade, and its ceiling was much taller. Tall windows covered each wall, allowing all the sunlight to come through, but filters had been applied to every glass panel, making it hospitable to vampires, as well.
Fortunately, my crystal casing was placed next to those of the Novaks. I was close enough to Ben, Grace, Caia, Vita, Lucas, and Kailyn, which served my purposes, as I was still determined to get either Rudolph or Kelara to reveal us to the living. Most of our loved ones had been dispatched on various GASP missions connected to the Hermessi cults, while my parents had been permanently placed in quarantine, no longer allowed to come visit.
It drove them nuts, of course, but they didn’t complain too much. I’d heard Arwen mention them, saying they were resigned to their quarantine condition, knowing it would help keep them safe. They didn’t even want to think about them joining me in here or me dying because of the Hermessi’s influence, for that matter, and neither did I.
The general mood in the fae sanctuary had been elevated with more of us in here, smiling and hugging and saving one or two more links from our life-chains. Seeley was gone on his mission for Death, and I occasionally thought of him, wishing him nothing but success. He was relentless. I trusted he’d help Taeral and the others pull through. Then again, I’d become more optimistic since the Reapers had allowed us fae spirits to see and touch each other.
“I see it’s still working,” Ben said, his arms crossed as he stood next to Caia and me. We were both watching a group of Calliope fae touching and giggling as some of their chain links shed their blackness, glowing amber once more.
“It’s temporary, but it’s buying us precious time,” I replied. “It’s good. It’s better than nothing.”
“Do we know exactly how it’ll go for us, should Taeral’s endeavor fail?” he asked, lowering his voice, not wanting the others to hear.
Caia sighed. “We’re not sure. Once the life-chains turn black, we die. That’s for sure. It will likely coincide with the Hermessi hitting five million of us, or it will be followed by it, shortly thereafter. I guess our bodies will be theirs for the taking as soon as we’re dead, but they’ll only be able to complete and unleash the ritual once they have all five million of us.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’ve gathered, as well,” I said. “Either way, we die, unless Taeral saves us.”
Ben nodded slowly, his brow furrowed. He didn’t like the sound of that any more than I did. But it was our current reality, and there wasn’t much else we could do at this stage.
Lucas had his gaze fixed on Crane, who only had one healthy link left on his life-chain. Hopelessness defined his features, his shoulders slumped as he sat next to his crystal casing. “I’m not liking the looks of him,” Lucas muttered. “None of the fae spirits were able to help him.”
“You heard the Reapers earlier,” I said. Kelara, Malleus, Rudolph, and the others were close by, watching us carefully, without participating in most of the conversations. They’d been trained to keep their distance and not engage, after all. “His will to live must be dwindling.”
“Yeah, but how do we get it back up?” Lucas replied. “I’m really not interested in finding out what happens when one of us dies,” he added, and looked at Sidyan, his Reaper. “Hey, you! Reaper tool! Can’t you do something about this?”
Sidyan rolled his eyes. “For the umpteenth time, no. You sound like that old grandpa who keeps forgetting basic things, like where you put your car keys or the fact that you’re not allowed to drive anymore.”
I stifled a laugh. As dark and as cold as he seemed, Sidyan was so salty and sassy, it was impossible not to appreciate him. He seemed tailor-made for Lucas, who was just as acid, if not worse, on a good day.
“And you’re useless, as usual,” Lucas replied.
