A loud hiss emerged from a corner. Covering our mouths, we scattered and checked all eight of them. Nethissis and Lumi found the source first. “It’s here,” Lumi said, her voice muffled by her sleeve.
We looked down and noticed the air rippling as another gas was released. Eva passed the healing potion vials around, which we downed quickly. Less than thirty seconds later, the color drained from her cheeks. “Crap, we just wasted some potion.” She sighed, her serpentine tongue flicking over her lower lip.
“Why do you say that?” I asked, bracing myself for another type of poison to turn me inside out in painful convulsions.
“It’s not toxic. It’s not poison,” she replied. “I recognize the scent… the taste,” she added and fumbled through her backpack, looking for something.
“What is it?” Taeral asked, his brows set in a confused frown.
She stilled, raising her gaze to look at us. “It’s my truth serum,” she said. “It’s not in my backpack anymore. The Soul Crusher took it and set it up as a trap here, and we just unleashed it on ourselves.”
“Oh, good, now everyone gets to hear about how insecure I feel when I’m around you fabled warriors of GASP.” Herakles snorted, then paused, his eyes popping wide as he became aware of what he’d just said. “Crap.”
“So, the serum is effective.” Raphael chuckled.
“What’s your biggest fear?” Herakles asked him, scowling.
“Manticores,” Raphael replied promptly, and quickly covered his mouth.
Taeral grinned. “Seriously? Why manticores? They’re allies.”
“They’ve got poisonous tails. I’m sorry, but there’s something about them that just creeps the heck out of me. I can’t help it. I met Pheng-Pheng once, and I had nightmares for weeks. They all ended with her coming after me, and that stinger coming down and killing me.”
“You’re a Perfect. Manticore venom isn’t deadly to you.” Amelia tried to reassure him, though she had trouble keeping a straight face.
Raphael snapped. “It’s an irrational fear, I know, just… leave it at that.”
The Soul Crusher laughed. “It’s definitely working! Thank you, Eva!”
“I didn’t give you the serum. You stole it!” Eva shot back, genuinely unnerved. She exhaled sharply, giving me a worried look.
“It could be a lot worse,” I said to her. “It could be poison, or darts, or whatever else he’s got planned for us. How long until it wears off?”
She shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’m unable to identify the concentration.”
The hissing had long since stopped, but the serum was already working on us. It wasn’t until the Soul Crusher spoke again that I realized the implications of him using it on us, at this stage in our mission. We’d all been thinking things about each other, some less flattering than others. The pressure and the urgency had taken their toll on every member of this crew, but we’d had the privacy of our own heads in which to vent and cool off.
That was gone now, and the Soul Crusher was ready to let loose. “Okay… let’s start with some easy questions,” he said, stifling a chuckle. “Who’s your weakest link, in your opinion?”
“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.”
