Lumi took over the conversation, while another topic was being handled on the opposite end of the table. Mona was keen to return to the sanctuary in The Shade, to help Arwen and the other witches with the fae’s care. I listened to them for a while as they discussed the field missions aimed at apprehending cult members. They’d run into a solid problem. The Hermessi were recruiting across species, now, and in larger numbers than before. The more we captured and brought back to Mount Zur, the more popped up to replace them.
“It’s becoming a futile effort,” Kiev grumbled. “But we can’t stop. If we let them proceed, our fae quarantine areas will be in even more danger.”
“That’s a bit of a catch-22, isn’t it?” Caleb replied. “Don’t worry, we’ve got more volunteers coming in from Neraka and Eritopia. In light of these events, creatures who hadn’t considered GASP before are now signing up to join the federation.”
Derek sighed. “We’ll keep dispatching units as needed, but I think we’ll also need to fortify our defenses around Mount Zur. The cultists might still try to break their colleagues out of our jails.”
“They’re useless, anyway. The prisoners, I mean,” Yuri said. “The Hermessi are going to great lengths to stop them from talking. We’ve got about two hundred in there, now, and they’re all in magically induced comas to stop the physical pain that the crystal hand covers cause them. We can’t take them off, or else we’ll have another room-exploding incident.”
“We hold our ground on the prisoners, then,” Sofia suggested. “Keep them down, and maybe secure a couple more locations for the future captives.”
“Agreed, on both your proposals. More locations for the incoming cultists, and increased security across the board,” Kiev replied.
Tejus cut in. “I’ll bring in more troops from Nevertide. The sentries have been immune to the Hermessi’s whispers, so far. If you need security for the prisons, I’m sure Ash and Ruby will be happy to assist us.”
“Werewolves, vampires, and jinn have also proven themselves effective,” Lawrence said, after having stayed quiet for most of the dinner. “I haven’t heard of any of them being turned by the cults.”
“What about the Perfects?” Derek asked, glancing around the table.
Caleb shook his head. “We lost two. We’re hoping to get them back once we stop the ritual.”
I couldn’t help but appreciate his choice of words. For Caleb, it wasn’t a question of “if,” only of “when.” We needed more of that relentlessness, in my opinion. I dared not call it optimism, for optimism was the downfall of inexperienced fools. It was determination that pushed us forward, sprinkled with a little bit of hope that we might secure a tomorrow for ourselves, one way or another.
“What is your impression of GASP so far, Raphael?” Dad asked, distracting me from the founders’ conversation. I turned my head to find the Perfect watching me once more, before shifting his focus to my parents.
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” he replied firmly. “It’s given me a purpose, more than I could’ve hoped for from Strava.”
Dad smiled. “I’m glad to hear that. We’re all better with you as part of this project.”
“Thank you. On another note, I’ve read in a few papers from different cultures across the GASP spectrum that it is customary for a male to ask the parents of a female if he wishes to court said female,” Raphael said, his bluntness making me choke on the blood I’d just begun sipping. I coughed harshly, swiftly getting my breath back, only to hear him dig himself into a deeper and more awkward hole. “I’ve noticed it in different civilizations, including yours. Well, sort of yours, since neither of you is human anymore. Humans. I mean humans.”
“Oh, God…” I whispered, staring at him. He didn’t even look at me. Despite his word fumble and sudden topic change, he still watched my parents carefully, his chin up and his gaze stern. As if he wasn’t even aware of how he’d said what he’d just said.
I stole a glance at my parents—poor things. Their jaws had dropped slightly, but they’d yet to find the right responses to this… whatever this was. What is it, actually? Is he trying to ask for my mom and dad’s permission to date me?
“I just thought it would be respectful of me to address this with you before I speak to Amelia,” Raphael added.
“Well, I—” Mom tried to say something, but I interjected, almost brutally, snapping at him.
“What the hell? You could’ve asked me directly!”
“Maybe I didn’t make myself clear,” he replied calmly, while my parents’ mouths turned into tiny, flat lines. Whether they were stifling stinging remarks or waves of laughter, I wasn’t sure, but my face was burning so hot that I didn’t even care. “I understood that it was a mark of respect if I asked your parents first. Human culture seemed quite straightforward on this.”
“I think you’ve been reading from the wrong century,” my dad managed, and pressed two fingers against his temple, as if warning a headache to keep its distance.
Raphael blinked rapidly, genuinely confused. “You mean your customs changed?”
“It means that if you want to ask me out, all you have to do is ask me out,” I said.
I’d been so irritated by the way he’d put this that I’d failed to notice the incredible thing that was happening tonight. Raphael had been contemplating a date with me. He’d even read up on ways of asking me, and—oh, dear sweet heaven and hell, open up now and swallow me whole…
“Would you like to go on a date with me?” Raphael asked me.
It sounded so simple, yet its impact was powerful enough to shatter my consciousness into the tiniest pieces. For a moment, I expected to melt or, worse, go into a full panic attack, complete with hyperventilation. But I didn’t. I held myself together, my heart screaming in my chest, until I found my response.
“Okay.”
A second passed in tortuous silence. I didn’t dare take my eyes off him, worried he’d change his mind. Or, worse, that I’d imagined this entire scene.
“Thank the flippin’ stars,” I heard Riza say from across the table, and shot her a brief scowl. She quickly looked away and pretended to participate in whatever conversation had captured the rest of my crew’s attention.
“Glad you two sorted this out,” my dad said, raising an eyebrow at Raphael and me. Mom gently squeezed his shoulder, prompting him to turn his head so he could give her a reassuring smile. I figured, in their hearts, they were secretly happy that I’d said yes. My social life had been practically nonexistent prior to this Hermessi debacle. Speaking of which…
“Given our precarious situation, however, when and where do you suggest we go on this date?” I asked Raphael. His expression hadn’t changed, steely and brimming with resolve, as if he would’ve been wholly unprepared for rejection.
“We’re off to run Death’s errands tomorrow morning,” he replied. “So, tonight?”
When had we gotten to this point? What had happened to push him to ask me out? My brain was overloading itself, straining every synapse in order to remember and identify the exact moment that might’ve made Raphael feel like this. Inwardly, I couldn’t believe that this was happening. Yes, he’d kissed me, but I hadn’t dared to think he’d ask me out this soon, despite the stolen glances and his handholding and the kiss—Jeez, Amelia, you’re either blind or dumb or both.
“Might I recommend a walk on the north side of the island?” Mom chimed in, wearing the most polite and neutral smile she could’ve mustered. I had to applaud the woman: she knew how to control her facial expressions infinitely better than me.
Raphael finally allowed himself a more relaxed reaction, his lips stretching into a satisfied grin. He nodded, welcoming the idea of a midnight walk on the beach. The swooning girl inside me was doing somersaults at this point, giddy and giggling and screeching with excitement. The rest of me had no idea how to react.
I was going on a date with Raphael. Out of the blue, and right before we’d venture into darker and deadlier territory. He was right, though. We didn’t know what tomorrow might bring, but we still had tonight.
Riza
Both Herakles and I had heard the entire conversation between Raphael, Amelia, and her parents. In our defense, we hadn’t meant to. But the moment Raphael had mentioned asking a female out, our heads had spun, almost automatically.
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.
