“Herakles,” Raphael replied and gave his friend an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. It’s the damn serum. It doesn’t make you any less valuable to us… and you are still my best friend.”

Herakles said nothing, as more members of our crew said his name out loud. When my turn came, I sighed. “Eira.”

“What?” Eira replied, clearly stunned. “Why?”

“Herakles gives it his best, at all times. Emotionally, your head’s not in the game,” I said. “You lack our particular experience across worlds and cultures. Deep down, you’re still a Cerixian, and thus limited. It’s not a bad thing.”

It wasn’t enough to stop her from deflating like a beachball left in the sun for too long. But I couldn’t control my honesty anymore. I’d thought this about her for a while now, but it had never made her less worthy of being on our crew. Given our bloodlines and genes, there was bound to be a weaker side and a stronger side.

“I’m not that far behind you and Herakles, though,” I added, breaking into a cold sweat. “I’m just a vampire-sentry. There’s only so much I bring to the table.”

Jaws dropped among us, but Herakles kept a straight face throughout. And since I couldn’t read his aura anymore, I couldn’t tell how he felt about all this.

“I’m sorry,” Amelia said to Herakles. “I really am.”

“We all are,” Taeral added. “You’re vicious in combat, but… you have tighter limits than most of us, Eira included.” He threw me a cold glare, and I raised my eyebrows in return.

The air thickened around us. I could cut through it with a knife. This was just one of the things we’d all hoped to keep to ourselves but the Soul Crusher had forced us to expel. Herakles, however, chuckled. “Guess the Widow Maker was right.”

“But you’re not—” Taeral tried to reply, but Herakles cut him off.

“Enough with the excuses and the apologies. Jeez. You think I don’t know that I’m your… weakest link? It’s why I always try twice as hard and sleep less. But I’m a damn good tracker, I’m invested in this mission, I’m deeply fond of you all, and that doesn’t change. I’m aware of my value, even though I sometimes lose track of it myself. So cut it out.”

We all relaxed at once, our shoulders dropping from the sudden release of pressure. He wasn’t mad, and that was what really mattered. Eira even smiled at me. “In a way, you’re right, Varga,” she said. “And it’s okay. I can’t become a badass GASP agent overnight. We all have limits, right?”

Lumi chuckled. “Look at me. I’m at the whims of my patron, the Word. Sometimes I manage to save us, and sometimes I’m pretty damn useless.”

“Also, I’m in love with Riza. Thought I should let that out while I’m still under the serum’s influence,” Herakles said, stunning everyone—Riza, especially. “I might not have the courage to say it again later. Provided there’s a later. Maybe that’s why I’m saying it now, because there might not be a later.”

“Oh, just stop,” Raphael replied, laughing and covering his face with both hands.

Riza, the poor soul, was speechless, her amethyst eyes fixed on Herakles. He gave her a sheepish smile. “I’m sorry. It’s just… You’re something else, entirely. I’m in awe of you, and I barely recognize myself when I’m around you. With the end of the world just around the corner, I simply don’t think we have time to go slow and nice and easy and whatever. You deserve to know how I feel.”

“Okay… I… I think we can talk about this later,” she replied gently.

“I think I’m going to vomit,” the Soul Crusher interjected, reminding us that he was still around, listening and likely laughing his ass off. Son of a... “Next question, since the first one got way too soppy for my taste. Taeral! Are you willing to let your father die, if that’s what it’ll take to complete this mission and save the world? Be honest, little prince.”

Taeral’s forehead smoothed. He looked at each of us for a few moments, then lowered his gaze. “Yes.”

Silence followed.

“You realize no one is going to think less of you for this, right?” Raphael replied, watching him. “I think we’d all do the same thing if we were in your shoes.”

Eira nodded, taking Taeral’s hand in hers. “Sherus would want you to do this, as well.”

“I know,” he whispered, but it was impossible to ignore the tears gathering in his eyes. This hurt him deeply, and we were all witnesses to the kind of suffering he’d managed to keep to himself until now.

“Nethissis, my darling!” the Soul Crusher said. “Would you be able to live with yourself, going forward, knowing that Acantha was persuaded to sacrifice herself in your place?”

This question was like a punch in the gut for all of us, but Nethissis took it the worst, and understandably so. She gasped, gawking at us without the Soul Crusher here for her to stare at, directly.

“What… What are you talking about?” she asked, her voice uneven and weak.

Lumi was baffled. “How could Acantha have known that Nethis’s life was at stake? None of us knew, at the time. We were all offering ourselves as sacrifices for Eirexis. What… What are you talking about?”

“Oh… Oh, my, you didn’t know,” the Soul Crusher replied, clearly amused.

“This isn’t funny!” Nethissis screamed, tears already streaming down her cheeks. “This isn’t funny at all, you son of a bitch!”

Eva and Lumi wrapped their arms around her, as Nethissis caved in and let out a hearty cry. She’d been holding a lot of pain in since she’d lost Acantha. Lumi was old enough to process the loss differently, but Nethissis was still green, still prone to emotional breakdowns and perfectly natural weaknesses where her closest friends were concerned.

I’d known, the moment I’d met her and Acantha, that they were like sisters. Their auras carried a permanent golden glow for each other. I’d seen the crimson mist coming out of her body when Acantha had died. My heart had broken with hers…

“You’re being an asshole,” I said, glancing up, wondering if the Soul Crusher was somewhere above the ceiling. It made sense, since there were no levers or hidden mechanisms there to trigger. “At least tell us what this is all about!”

“I’m not going to,” he shot back. “But you should definitely ask Seeley when you see him.”

I was baffled. What did Seeley have to do with this? He’d saved us from Yamani, but we hadn’t seen him since. This was not just confusing; it was bordering on insane.

“What on earth are you—” Lumi said, but the Soul Crusher hurried us away from the topic, as if he’d stepped into something he wasn’t that willing to handle.

“Moving on! How do you all feel about Taeral, Eira, and Lumi being unable to die, huh? Isn’t it annoying? Death marked them, but not the rest of you? Huh? Isn’t it… I don’t know, insulting, maybe?” the Soul Crusher asked.

It hit me then. I understood what he was doing. And I didn’t like it one bit.

“We don’t like it,” I said. “But it wasn’t our decision, and it wasn’t Eira’s, Lumi’s, or Taeral’s, either. In the end, it doesn’t matter. We’re in this together! Hell, if these three survive, at least they can carry on with the mission, and all won’t be lost.”

I spoke from the bottom of my heart, and I didn’t need the serum to tell this truth.

Taeral gave me a half-smile, meant as a thank-you. I welcomed it and shook his hand in return. I hugged Eira, too, which caught her by surprise. “I’m serious. Whatever happens, we’re in this together. It doesn’t matter what our abilities are.”

“What matters is what’s in our hearts,” Riza replied. “I feel totally useless without my ability to teleport, and I’m totally crushing on Herakles, too.”

We burst into laughter, caught off guard by the last nugget of information. Herakles cupped her face and kissed her deeply. Raphael pulled us all into a group hug, his long arms holding us together.

“Whatever happens, we’ve got this, okay?” he declared. “Weak or strong, scared or not… We’ve got this. Ninety-nine levers left. Let’s do it!”

“I’m not liking your attitude,” the Soul Crusher grumbled.

“Well, you can stick it up your—”

“Raphael!” Amelia chastised him, though she struggled not to laugh.

Inebriated by the sudden strength in our dynamic, I separated from the group. A grin stretched across my face as I took in our surroundings. “Forget the psycho Reaper for a moment. He’s just messing with us, making it harder. Let’s focus on the damn levers.”

“Finding the right one is still a needle-in-a-slightly-smaller-haystack situation,” Eva replied.

I took her hand in mine, squeezing gently. “You heard Raphael, right? We’ve got this.”