“You’re right. I love you most. But I won’t mind if they all develop crushes on you. They’ll want to become good soldiers. To impress you. It’s a win-win for the Fire Star,” Taeral said, flashing her a cool grin. It made her laugh lightly.

“Taeral, ever the practical spirit,” I said, my heart growing fonder as I watched them. Only then did I notice the sparkling diamond on Eira’s finger. That was new. A good sign, too. “How did your parents react to your engagement?”

They stared at me for a moment, before they noticed my gaze fixed on Eira’s ring. Taeral took a deep breath. “They were thrilled!”

“That was after Nuriya said, ‘Finally!’, of course,” Eira added.

“Congratulations,” I said. “I hope your union will only bring out the best in each of you.”

“Thank you,” Eira replied, her joy fading again. “We didn’t feel like it was a good time to announce it, given what happened with Nethi. We thought we’d wait for a little while longer.”

“She’d be so happy for you.” I sighed.

“Lumi, now that you’re here, we were actually wondering,” Taeral said, his tone more cautious than usual. “Would you like to officiate our wedding? I couldn’t think of anyone better, especially after what we’ve been through together.”

His question took me by surprise, and I was speechless for a good long minute. “I… I’d be honored,” I finally said, partially thrilled to take over for Ibrahim and Derek for once. They’d been doing most of the weddings in GASP, usually in tandem with one of the local rulers—like the Daughters of Eritopia. “I’ve never performed a marriage ceremony before. I have, however, picked up a few things since I’ve joined GASP.”

“My mother thought we should ask Derek, so the two of them could officiate,” Taeral said. “But I’d like you to do it, instead. You mean a lot to us, Lumi.”

Something grew in my chest, three sizes bigger than before, warmth spreading through my body as I looked at Taeral and Eira. They were truly a life-size cure for any kind of grief, purely by being themselves. That was such a rare and precious quality. Of course I’d join them together before the world and the universe itself.

“You just need to let me know when you set the date,” I said after a long pause. Soon enough, my main objective came back into focus, and I felt compelled to set everything else aside. “I need to talk to you, Taeral.”

“I figured you wouldn’t be in the mood for a casual visit,” he said.

“No one knows I’m here. I’d like it to stay that way,” I replied, eyeing him and Eira carefully.

“We won’t tell anyone,” Eira replied.

“Not even if GASP people ask us?” Taeral wondered, and I shook my head.

“No one. They all think I’m mourning at my summer house. I’ve left enough magic clues around to make it clear that I should not be disturbed,” I said.

“Okay. Got it. How can I help?” he asked.

I looked at Eira for a moment, deciding that I could trust her with this, too. She and Taeral were basically one. If I put my faith in him, I put my faith in Eira, too. “I don’t believe that what happened to Nethissis was an accident. Regardless of what they’re saying over on Visio, I simply cannot accept that.”

“I thought you’d say that,” Taeral muttered, lowering his gaze.

“We said the same thing,” Eira replied, giving me a pained frown. “Something’s not right there.”

“I would like to investigate, but the Aeternae have been very clear about any additional foreign presence on Visio,” I explained. “Besides, I wouldn’t want anyone butting into my business. I want to go there, but I can’t use any of the traditional methods, because they would immediately spot me.”

“They would definitely see the interplanetary spell coming,” Eira said. “The Aeternae have their eyes on the sky at all times.”

Exhaling sharply, I dove right in. “Exactly. I need a Reaper’s help for this.”

Taeral stilled, his eyes wide. He wasn’t shocked, per se. He seemed surprised that I’d asked so quickly, without easing him into it more. I could tell he’d expected me to ask, for I was one of the very few people who knew about his… extracurricular activities since the Hermessi apocalypse had been thwarted.

“I was hoping you might be able to find me a Reaper to take me to Visio, unseen, undetected,” I continued.

“I’ve been using Thieron to quietly observe the Reapers around here and in Eritopia,” Taeral said. “But I haven’t let anyone see me. You want me to just walk up to one of them and ask for help? They’re loyal drones, Lumi. They won’t just say, ‘Yeah, sure, let’s do this.’”

For the past few months, Taeral had been learning to use Thieron better. He’d told me a few weeks back during one of our post-Hermessi follow-up meetings that he’d figured out how to make himself invisible to other Reapers, and he’d spent nights treading the In-Between with them, eavesdropping on conversations and the few spells they cast, depending on their assignments. Not all Reapers handled reaping, exclusively. Some were given other, so-called administrative tasks, though Taeral had never gone into detail about them. He’d picked up a few death spells along the way, too—nothing too flashy or powerful, given that he was limited as a living being, but good enough for him to practice, since he was destined to become a Reaper once his life was over.

He could move from one planet to another, but only on more local levels, within the same solar system, mostly. He could hide and reveal himself to the living, the dead, and those in between alike. He could even bind spirits to a certain place using a string of runes he’d picked up from the other Reapers. He could also reveal Reapers in his proximity, as well as spirits and ghouls, even when the latter did not want to be found.

Only Eira and I knew about it, since Death would’ve blown a fuse if she ever found out. As far as she and the other Reapers were concerned, Taeral was merely safeguarding Thieron, waiting for Death’s release in order to return it to her.

“I understand you’ve been keeping a low profile, Tae, but I need your help. I have to get to Visio. I am positive that I’ll be able to get to the truth of what happened to Nethissis, as long as nobody knows I’m there, especially Derek and his crew. She… She deserves this much.”

Eira nodded faintly. “Derek’s team can’t stir much trouble there. They’re after the day-walking protein. But, to be fair, if anyone on Visio is responsible for Nethissis’s death, we can’t let them get away with it,” she said, looking at Taeral. “You can help.”

Taeral stared at her for a while, and I had a feeling they both knew something I didn’t. To say that I was intrigued would’ve been a gross understatement, but I kept quiet, waiting for him to give me an answer. I’d already made my case. There wasn’t anything else I could tell him to earn his favor. The ball was in his court.

He shifted his gaze to me, a twinkle of mischief animating the embers in his eyes. “There’s something I haven’t told you about my more recent immersions in the world of Reapers,” he said.

“Okay…” I breathed.

“I think I can help you. I just didn’t consider it an option. But Eira is right. Whatever is happening on Visio, we cannot let anyone get away with Nethissis’s murder,” he replied. “I won’t be able to take you there myself, because it’s too far away—”

“And the whole of GASP has its spotlight on you, since you were entrusted with Thieron,” I interrupted him. “I know. It’s why I asked you to put me in touch with a Reaper.”

“There’s a solution. But you’ll have to see it for yourself in order to understand the lengths we’re about to go to for Nethissis… for your mission,” he said.

I couldn’t help but frown, slightly confused. “What are you talking about?”

Taeral gave me a half-smile. “Trust me, you’ll have to see it to believe it.”

My curiosity had swelled into a monster, eating me up on the inside. What had Taeral been up to since we’d last met? What had he uncovered in the veil between the world of the living and that of the dead? Most importantly, who was going to help me get to Visio?

I had more questions than I’d thought, but I also trusted Taeral. If he said he had a way, then he had a way. But I was dying to know what it was. Whatever method of transportation he’d provide, I understood that I was one step closer to reaching Visio, to finding out who’d killed my Nethissis and why. That was all that mattered.

Esme

We had a lot on our plates after only a few days on Visio. It wasn’t just Nethissis’s death that was haunting us—though, as far as I was concerned, it was by far our most pressing issue. Derek, Sofia, and Amal were still working on identifying and isolating the day-walking protein from the Aeternae’s blood, in the hopes of turning all vampires into day-walkers.

The emergence of Darklings and their murderous attempt against Valaine had also taken center stage, along with the possibility that they might’ve had something to do with Nethissis’s demise—we had no proof of this, though. No motive. It was difficult to move it past the assumption point. On top of that, the premature return of the Black Fever, which threatened to decimate the Aeternae population and had no cure, was equally troubling. With our hands full like this, Tristan and I had decided to divide the tasks between us as efficiently as possible.

He and Valaine were following the Darkling angle, mainly because they had yet to figure out how the group had infiltrated the palace. Kalon and I focused on interviewing the palace gardeners first, hoping we’d get an answer as to how Nethissis had made her way out here—and how a damn fox had managed to kill her.

The first three interviews had not yielded much, though I couldn’t fault the Rimian gardeners for it. They’d all told us the same thing. They’d been having trouble for years with keeping the foxes out because of the gardens’ exquisitely attractive biodiversity. The animals’ presence here was not odd.

Golden guards were stationed by the palace’s back doors, and they were a recent fixture. Danika and Acheron had apparently ordered them to stay close, because their eyes were on us at all times.

“You know they’re watching us, right?” I asked Kalon as we moved to interview a fourth Rimian gardener. He waited close to the bush where we’d found Nethissis, sweating rivers as we approached him.

Kalon glanced over his shoulder, then back at me. “You mean the guards?”