The vampire-fae frowned. “It’s kind of hard to explain, but there are residues of his thoughts in my head from his possession.”
“That’s interesting,” I replied, though a little concerned. “Would you be able to remember more?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know if there is much else left up here,” he said, pointing a finger at his temple. “I wouldn’t dare say yes. What I can confirm is that he had every intention of going full rebel after our encounter in Nevertide.”
“I take it he’s going to help us further down the line?” Sofia asked as we took our seats around the council table. I’d even missed the feel of its smooth glass surface, which Phoenix and Dmitri had recently outfitted with magi-tech to display images and workable keyboard buttons. It was like a giant, highly functioning glass tablet, powered by serium batteries, and I loved it. She moved to pull up an image of Cerix at the center of the table, complete with the most recent data. “He’s not just going to sit on the sidelines?”
Fallon nodded. “He’s out to sabotage the Hermessi children’s detention on Yahwen, first and foremost. He wants his daughter free and safe, and he knows that other rogues will feel empowered if they see him involved. That’s what I’m making out of these memory bits, anyway. I mean, I understand his reasoning.”
“I’m even inclined to assume he’s going to have a group of rebel Hermessi shadowing us along the way, too,” Lumi added. “That’s what I’d do if I were him. Or keep an eye on this crew, myself. Brendel’s become much more vicious now that she knows what we’re after. Our only advantage here is that, after she snatched Thieron and broke it into three pieces, she was no longer able to touch them. She can’t move them from wherever they are.”
“We know Eirexis is on Cerix, but it’s good to know that, wherever the other two are, she can’t lay a hand on them or move them,” Acantha said.
“It also means they’ll be waiting for us on Cerix.” I sighed, running a hand through my hair. I gave Eira a brief glance. She was pale, her breathing ragged, but she was gradually recovering. She’d been through enough already, much more than any other Cerixian—except, perhaps, Inalia.
Derek added a new profile to the Cerix display on the table. It highlighted a picture of a woman, seemingly middle-aged, with long, curly brown hair and green, foxlike eyes. I recognized her tunic uniform, as I’d seen it on Dellon Figgen before—the former prime minister of the Cerixian Empire, disgraced and imprisoned during our first visit.
“We sent a delegation over to Cerix shortly after you left, as you may recall,” he said. “They’ve been sending daily reports, not only on the Hermessi cult’s activities but also on the state of this diplomatic relationship we’re trying to build with the Cerixians. So far, so good, though there hasn’t been much progress in capturing more cult members.”
“Who’s that?” I asked, nodding at the curly-haired woman, though I pretty much knew the answer already. That tunic was unique to Figgen’s former role.
“The new prime minister, Medina Gahad,” Derek replied. “She’s been vetted and selected by Emperor Tulla himself. She served on the Defense Ministry prior to Figgen’s arrest.”
Eira frowned. “I know her. She’s pretty straightforward, though I’ve never liked her methods. She tends to resort to machinations that border on illegal or dangerous, just to get her way. Granted, it did get us bigger funding for the military branch, but still… Forgive me if I stay on the fence as far as she’s concerned.”
“Do you think she’ll be a liability to us?” I asked her.
She shook her head. “I doubt it. She is loyal to the empire. Born and raised in the Hadeen Domain, like me. I’ve only met her a few times, but she left a lasting impression on me. Let’s just say I don’t see us becoming friends anytime soon, but I’ve never had trouble obeying her authority,” she said, the corner of her mouth twitching. “She knows how to be imposing.”
“Ah, fierce lady with a whip, huh?” Raphael chuckled.
“I bet you’ll find that to be quite the challenge,” Amelia commented, a smile flickering across her face.
Derek laughed lightly. “She’s been extremely cooperative and helpful. All six agents we’ve sent there have returned favorable reports of her. Which, in my book, is good, given that Cerix is hostile territory, to your crew in particular, through no fault of the people.”
“The local Hermessi will be dying to get a piece of us,” Herakles grumbled. “Leb and Sebbi, especially.”
“I doubt we’ll be able to rely on Inalia, this time around,” I said, remembering Harper’s harrowing account of her and Ramin’s experience on Yahwen. “She’s had no choice but to serve the ritual Hermessi, and I’m pretty sure she’s under new scrutiny after her… minor intervention in Harper and Ramin’s escape.”
“We can’t force her to help us,” Eira agreed. “She’s done enough for us.”
“That being said, my only hope is that she won’t support Leb or Sebbi in their attacks,” Eva replied. “What about Acquis?”
Eira scoffed. “I don’t know. He may be my father, but… I can’t say I know him well enough to trust him. As far as Cerix is concerned, the fewer Hermessi we deal with, the better.”
“The Devil’s Weed will help with that,” Sofia reminded us. “You’re not going in there publicly. Chances are they won’t even know you’re there. Not unless you make yourselves heard or seen.”
“You make it sound so easy.” Varga chuckled bitterly. “We’ll be as careful as we can, but let’s face it. They’ll know we’re coming. Eirexis is there, and the clock is ticking. They’ll be on the lookout. Their Shills and Titans and whatever else they cook up out of those pink waters will have their noses sniffing, their ears twitching, and their eyes open, waiting for the slightest hint of our presence.”
“And Eirexis’s location will be an absolute hotspot,” Eva added. “I don’t have any qualms about assuming that outside Hermessi will join their protection detail. Brendel knows the dangers that Thieron poses to her cause. She will stop at nothing to destroy us before we retrieve it.”
Nethissis raised an eyebrow at Medina’s picture on the table. “Then we know what we have to do,” she said. “We’ll use the pink waters to travel straight to Cerix, because we’ll be immediately spotted if we use an interplanetary spell. Medina What’s-Her-Face will have to arrange for our palace entry in secret. The fewer people who know we’re there, the better.”
“Our only challenge will be to find a safe pink water cave to travel from,” I replied, feeling my brows pull into a tight frown. “And make sure there aren’t any Shills hatching when we come out the other side.”
Cerix’s pink water cave was deep in the Lemnos Woods, where the Brothers of the Shadow had been nearly wiped out by the Shills. Amelia and Raphael had stumbled upon the pink water there, deep underground, where the Brothers had also stored the empire’s original library. I would rather die than go through that experience again. We’d been acquainted with the Shills there, and I sure as hell wasn’t willing to fight them again. Not there, not anywhere.
“We’ll use invisibility paste,” Amelia said. “We’ll be careful and quiet as we swim upward. Thing is, the Shills were made there because the Hermessi knew we were in the area. If they don’t know we’re coming—”
“They won’t bother to make Shills,” Raphael finished her sentence, grinning. “That brilliant brain of yours is still working at full capacity, thank the stars!”
The rosy blush in her cheeks was barely noticeable to anyone who hadn’t witnessed their rapport’s evolution from the moment we’d been assigned to this mission. Something had shifted between them, and there was a warmth that hadn’t been there before. I doubted that Raphael and Amelia themselves were aware of this change, while I hoped we’d all live to see where it might lead, later on.
“A considerable chunk of those Lemnos Woods tunnels collapsed when we fled the Shills,” Herakles reminded us.
“That’s not going to be a problem,” Riza replied. “The pink water cave is untouched, and the Hermessi wouldn’t let it crumble since it’s so important. We’ll just teleport straight to the top as soon as we get out of the water down there.”
“That being said, I think we have a plan,” Lumi said.
“We could try going from Hellym,” I suggested. “It’s dormant again, for sure. Yamani is dead. There’s no one there to ring the alarm for the remaining Hermessi. We could fly in via interplanetary spell, sneak through the cave, and pray for the best as to what we’ll find on the other side. Once we get topside on Cerix, I’ll be able to teleport us directly to Emperor Tulla’s palace.”
Derek thought about it for a moment. “Sounds reasonable enough,” he said and checked the clock on the wall. “You should take a few hours to rest and replenish your energy, heal whatever injuries you still carry.”
“And leave in the morning,” Sofia continued. “We’ll have dinner and hash out a plan for the entire GASP federation, while we’re at it. We all have our work cut out for us, I’m afraid.”
Murmurs of agreement rippled across the table. With that in mind, I got up from my seat. “If it’s all right with everyone here, I’ll take an hour to quickly visit my dad.”
“Of course, Tae,” Lumi replied, giving me a gentle smile, though the sadness in her eyes couldn’t be masked. I didn’t like the pity that they all seemed to be aiming at me, but it couldn’t be helped. They felt sorry for me for good reason. After all, my father was one of the future five million fae that would be severed from their bodies, which the Hermessi intended to use as weapons of cosmic destruction. “Take all the time you need. We’ll be right here.”
