"We're under a lot of pressure here." I sighed. "There are only a couple dozen fae left to influence, maybe less, before the Hermessi hit their magic number and complete the ritual."

I focused on Seeley for a moment, while Time got his bearings. Herbert let out a long, spine-tingling howl, summoning his ghouls back to the dried-up oasis. We could hear them tumbling and dashing across the red desert.

"Are we sure we need these monsters?" Time asked.

"Specters may not be able to kill you, but they're perfectly capable of being horrible nuisances," Herbert replied. "While I know it's not the best way to get rid of them, we simply don't have the time or the resources to clear them all out."

"He's got a point. Summoning hordes of Reapers with the ritual currently unfolding wouldn't just be a logistical nightmare. It would be a waste of time," Dream said. "I'm not comfortable with it, either, but it's the best we can do with just hours on the clock. Especially since you're rather useless, for the time being."

"I resent that," he grumbled.

Nightmare laughed. "I'm sure you do. For what it's worth, it's good to have you back, brother. You are the least irritating among our kind."

The ghouls gathered around us, all of them wary of our presence, now. They kept a reasonable distance, nervously eyeing the Time Master, in particular, and whispering between themselves. I managed to reach out to Seeley, but his voice didn't sound encouraging.

"We've got a trace for Death, but Brendel caught up with us," he managed. I heard him cast a series of attack spells. "We're a tad overwhelmed here!"

As soon as I got his location, I looked at Dream, Nightmare, Time, and Herbert. "We've got work to do. The bearer of Thieron is in trouble. Brendel got to him. The others are trying to finish her off, but they need us. All of us."

None of them batted an eye, and I felt as though a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. We'd made a certain amount of progress, but not as much as I would've hoped for. We had the Time Master, but without his ability to stop time. Even so, it was still better than nothing. With nothing but hours left, we had to move fast.

We had to help Taeral.

Zeriel

No one had noticed me standing back during the evacuation protocol in Luceria. River must've thought I'd slipped through with Bijarki and the others, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Not only could I not leave Vesta behind, I refused to abandon my home planet. So, unbeknownst to anyone, I'd snuck out of the group and made my way through the castle's tight service corridors, unseen and unheard.

I'd come back to the sanctuary, my heart aching and burning.

Bijarki had every reason to go to The Shade. He had to be a father to Chantal. Frankly, I couldn't hold it against anyone from Calliope or the rest of Eritopia who'd chosen GASP over their home worlds. The decisions were individual and justified, as much as mine. Only, I'd chosen to stay.

And if I were to die, I wanted to die as close to Vesta as possible. Somewhere, in the back of my tormented head, I hoped that if we died together, we might end up in the afterlife together—provided, of course, there was something beyond. Our legends had never questioned what happened after death. We'd been raised to appreciate life and go down swinging when needed.

My stomach was the size of a pebble, and it ached terribly, as if a knife had been plunged in and twisted, repeatedly, over the course of hours. I could barely stand. My lips were dry. I hadn’t had a drink of water in a while. Us Tritones were quite attached to water, and the connection ran deeper than the mere need for hydration.

We got ill if we didn't swim for too long. The lagoon had been my home, an intrinsic part of my existence for as long as I could remember. But even so, as tired and as thirsty as I was, I didn't want to be anywhere else.

Looking up, I wondered if she could see me—at least from one of the windows.

Every muscle in my body was strained. My eyes hurt. I was all cried out and broken. The fact that I could still stand was a miracle. My body was threatening to shut down, but my soul refused to surrender.

"Zeriel, where are you?" River's voice came through the earpiece, which I'd forgotten to throw out.

I closed my eyes for a moment, taking a deep, scratchy breath. Pressing the answer button, I exhaled deeply. "Where I'm supposed to be."

She gasped. "No… please don't tell me you're on Calliope."

Tears welled up, clouding my vision. I was surprised I still had any.

"I couldn't go. I tried, River. I tried, but… Vesta is here."

"Zeriel, you can still survive this."

"For how long?" I asked. "A few more days? Months? Do you really think the Hermessi won't have enough power to raid the Earthly Dimension, as well? Let's not fool ourselves. I'd rather die here, with Vesta, than out there."

"You don't know that for sure," River insisted, though I could still sense the doubt in her voice. "The Earthly Dimension is different."

"No, it's not. Hermessi rule there, too. It'll be the same."

"Zeriel, be reasonable. There isn't enough evidence to suggest that."

I laughed, though it was bitter and mocking. "River, you're smarter than that. Understand that I am not leaving the love of my life behind. I'm useless against the Hermessi, anyway. We all are! Even the Daughters stayed here."

River didn't respond. For about a minute, I even wondered if she was still on the line.

"Zeriel… I'm sorry," she finally said.

I couldn't help but smile. "What on earth would you be sorry for? This isn't your fault."

"I'm sorry we couldn't do more. For you, for Vesta… for my husband, my daughter… my granddaughters. I'm so, so sorry."

She was crying, and only then did I understand how tortured she had to be over her decision to head back to The Shade. She'd left most of her family behind, in the sanctuary, with my Vesta. My sorrow was merely a fraction of what she had to carry.

"River, you're doing the right thing. The Shade, Earth… they're yours. Your home. You couldn't have done more than you already have. Not for me, not for your family, not for anyone. It is what it is," I said, my voice wavering. "I've chosen to stay and die here. Let me go the way I want to go. It doesn't make your choice any less right, okay?"

"This isn't fair."

"No, no, it isn't. But when has life ever been truly fair to us? Look at all the wars and misery we've all had to go through, just to get a flicker of peace and quiet," I replied. "Maybe Taeral will succeed. Maybe he'll find Death, and she'll stop it before it's too late, but we both know the odds of that, right now. Even if the others don't or can't see it… you and I, we know."

"We do."

"So, chin up, River. Don't waste your tears on me." I sighed, feeling my lips stretch into a warm smile as I looked up at the sanctuary. "If I am to die here, it'll be right. It's what I want."

I wondered if I could at least see my Vesta one last time. The winds howled above, swirling and shaking the giant trees that surrounded the clearing where the building had stood.

"Thank you, Zeriel," River said. "For your service. Your kindness. Your expired jokes and goodwill. I hope I'll see you again soon."

"If not here, perhaps in the afterlife," I replied. "It's been an honor serving with you and everyone else. If there's one thing I'll never regret, it's my decision to join GASP. Best thing I ever did with my life."

She tried to keep it together, but her voice was breaking. "We were all lucky to have you."

"Don't tell Jax where I am until it's over, one way or another," I replied, my finger already on the end call button. "I know he's got a secret crush on me. He'll flip out when he hears I never made it into The Shade."

River laughed softly. "I will keep my mouth shut."

"So long," I said, and ended the conversation.

My chest constricted. That might have been the last exchange I would ever have with anyone. Glancing up, I found something more important to focus on. My fiancée. Mere hours were left. I could smell death in the air, gathering itself up, preparing to spread out and swallow everything in its path.