Despite the gloom and doom that had been following us around since the beginning of this mission, none of us seemed anywhere near calling it quits. On the contrary, we were all driven now more than ever to stop the ritual and to save our worlds. Getting Eirexis had certainly contributed to our overall state—it was proof that we could still do this. That all wasn’t lost just yet.

My mother shook her head. “No, but they’re working hard to get him back home,” she replied. I sensed the tremor in her voice, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. Her husband, her soulmate, had been taken because of me. Despite her fragile emotional state, my mother wasn’t going to give up. “I need you all to focus on Zetos next,” she continued, looking at me. “I think I’ve made that more than clear.”

I nodded. “We will. Thanks for letting us crash here. I’m surprised the Hermessi didn’t come looking for us.”

“Well, you or Riza would’ve immediately zapped us out of here, if they had,” Raphael replied.

“I might’ve had something to do with it,” Mom said, clearing her throat. She gave me a sheepish half-smile, as if I’d caught her doing something exceptionally naughty—which was quite ironic, since I’d always been the troublemaker in our family.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I’ve sent out some local GASP agents to act as a diversion. I had them fitted with Devil’s Weed, borrowed some of your clothes from The Shade and Calliope… They’re out there now, pretending to be you. One of the witches was even kind enough to change their appearance with magic,” she explained.

“Whoa,” Eva said, her eyes wide. “You sent out copies of us? As decoys?”

My mother sighed. “I’m not proud of myself, if that’s what you want to hear. But the agents volunteered, late last night, after you all went to your rooms, worried you wouldn’t be safe. It kept the Hermessi away, in the end, and that’s all that matters.”

“What about the agents?” Herakles replied. “Where are they now?”

“Still moving. They update me every other hour or so. They make themselves seen by various fae in different cities—one of the team members is a jinni, so that has helped them,” Mom said. “I didn’t tell you because I wanted you all to rest and recover. You have a hard day ahead of you.”

“No, it’s okay. It’s actually… It’s a brilliant idea,” Riza said. “I actually feel five percent dumber for not having thought of it first.”

“It won’t last long, though,” I muttered. “The ruse, I mean. I have Eirexis. There’s a possibility that Brendel, at least, will look for its energy signature in that group of agents when she finds them.”

“Right now, the Hermessi are having a hard time catching up to them. Unlike you, they don’t have to be somewhere specific, so they just move around from city to city,” Mom said. “It’ll buy you all at least a few more hours before they catch on.”

“Thank you,” Lumi finally spoke. “It’s an excellent tactic, and we shouldn’t shy away from using it, going forward. It will likely work every time, until they catch on. I will also think of a way to conceal Eirexis’s energy signature. It’s bound to cause us trouble later. An object with such power and age is easy to sense by entities of creation like the Hermessi.”

“How is everybody else in GASP?” I asked my mother.

She sighed again—a recurring reaction with her since my father had fallen ill, and it had gotten more accentuated since he’d been taken. “Troubled and working hard on their own plans. You know Derek and Sofia are preparing a mission to Yahwen.”

“Yes. When is that expected to happen?” I replied.

“Today. Time isn’t on our side,” Mom said.

Nethissis gasped when the Widow Maker materialized next to her. She nearly jumped out of her skin. “Holy… You scared me!” she snapped.

“Sorry,” he shot back, his tone low and desert-dry.

“Where have you been?” I asked him.

“Around. Making some inquiries,” he said. I had nothing to study in terms of deception, as far as the Widow Maker was concerned. His entire body, including his head, was covered in leather. The only part of him I could see were his eyes, which sheltered dark galaxies within.

“Inquiries? With other Reapers?” Amelia replied.

He nodded. “I’ve been trying to get in touch with Death, and I couldn’t figure out why it didn’t work. I do now. I don’t like it, but I trust her judgment.”

“Wait, I’m confused. How does a Reaper go about getting in touch with Death?” I asked.

Chuckling, he looked at me. “It’s a little too early for your Reaper training, don’t you think?” His snark wasn’t sharp enough to merit a response. He knew I wouldn’t entertain him. I gave my mother a sideways glance, knowing my future Reaperhood was still a slightly sensitive topic for her. This was something she and I had already talked about, briefly. In a sense, she was relieved that I’d been marked by Death, since that meant I wouldn’t die. At the same time, she was a little unsure about how she felt regarding my Reaper future. Overall, however, she’d understood the facts and would eventually accept them, though it didn’t stop her from worrying about me.

“Telepathy,” he continued. “We’re linked to Death through our minds. Though, mind you, that only applies to the upper circles of Reapers. She doesn’t talk to all of us.”

“So, what, you got demoted and lost your telepathic connection to Death?” Raphael asked, more or less seriously, though I could see a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“No, Chicken Wings. The moment I agreed to help you, I was cut off from Death, for reasons I am not at liberty to say,” the Widow Maker retorted.

“You’re not at liberty to say… That’s a synonym for ‘I don’t know,’ right?” Amelia replied. She certainly knew how to deliver a good burn, and I couldn’t help but appreciate the way she vindicated Raphael. I knew he’d tear down an entire mountain for her, in return. For a moment, I smiled inwardly. Even through these trials and tribulations, love still found a way.

The Widow Maker didn’t respond. Instead, he looked at me again. “When are we beginning our search?”

“Soon,” I said. “I was hoping we’d try to contact Fallon again via Telluris or the comms system.”

We’d tried repeatedly since we’d reached the Fire Star last night, but Fallon was still MIA. We knew he was with Kabbah, and Nevertide’s Earth Hermessi had promised us that, as long as he was with him, Fallon would be safe. That didn’t stop any of us from worrying, though.

“He is no longer linked to the comms system,” Amelia said. “I spoke to Phoenix about it, and he checked all the active earpieces. He keeps them all in a program, so he can see who’s connected and who isn’t. Fallon is inactive.”

“What about Telluris?” Varga asked, understandably concerned for our friend.

“Nothing yet,” she said. “I tried earlier, too.”

“Kabbah is keeping him busy,” Raphael muttered.

“I’m still confused as to why Kabbah needs Fallon now,” Mom interjected, frowning slightly. “I thought they were powerful enough to manifest on their own.”

“They are. But Kabbah, ever the old and experienced elemental, figured out that Fallon’s hybrid body is a good conduit for him. It amplifies his already titanic powers,” Amelia explained. “It’s helping him against Brendel and the other Hermessi, and it’s what kept them busy on Cerix while we searched for Eirexis.”

“Oh… Would that apply to any Hermessi?” Mom asked.

I immediately understood what worried her. I, too, was a fae hybrid and thus, in her mind, equally prone to Hermessi possession if, say, Brendel wanted a way to fight Kabbah on equal terms. “I think it only works for vampire-fae hybrids,” I said, in a bid to reassure her, though I wasn’t entirely sure myself. “Fallon is the only such creature in existence.”

It didn’t exempt me from a potential possession, though. We lacked that certainty, but my mother didn’t need to know that. She already had enough to worry about.

“GASP should spread the word to its remaining fae agents,” Lumi suggested. “While it’s still dangerous for most fae to become vampires, the few who could would still be vulnerable to Hermessi possession, like Fallon.”

“By the time that happens, I think it’ll be too late,” Eva replied. “The Hermessi are closer to the five million fae mark now. Vampire-fae hybrids emerging should be the least of our concerns. It takes time for the process to take place. By the time they would succeed and survive the transformation, the Hermessi would have the ritual complete. It just wouldn’t matter.”

“I still worry about him,” Varga grumbled. “Fallon, I mean. What if Brendel takes Kabbah down?”

“I don’t think she can. That’s why Kabbah took him over, after all,” I said. “They’re stronger together. Granted, not strong enough to destroy that elemental bitch, but they can still put up a phenomenal fight. We all saw it.”

The Widow Maker clapped his hands once, demanding our full attention. “Okay. Now that we’ve got all the soppy parts out of the way, what’s the action plan regarding Zetos?”

I couldn’t help but frown. I’d thought we had that covered. My mother had already sent out decoys to keep the local Hermessi busy. All we needed to do was look for the most ancient spots on the Fire Star, where Brendel would have tossed Zetos over four million years ago. I explained that to him, and he literally laughed in my face.

“You cannot be this naïve… to think that what you did on Cerix for Eirexis will work again for Zetos,” he replied. “It won’t.”