All of you must go. Your species has been through enough with Azazel. It would be a shame if more of you were harmed now. Please.”
Rebel didn’t seem too happy, but she obliged. She motioned for her brother, Thorn, and the rest of the remaining Bajang crew to join her back inside the Stonewall citadel. That place was big and solid enough to withstand a violent earthquake, just as it had resisted many of the ocean’s tantrums. Hopefully, by the time the Hermessi got here, both Ramin and I would be gone.
“Ideas, anybody? I would like my sister to come back to me alive,” Phoenix said, his voice shaky. I could almost feel his anguish. It broke me.
“Hold on,” Kailani muttered, and gave Ibrahim a quick sideways glance. “Herbert.”
“What?” Ibrahim asked, slightly confused.
Corrine gasped. “Holy crap, she’s right! Harper is a soul. Herbert could—”
“Are you crazy, woman?” Ibrahim snapped, clearly exasperated. “Just earlier, we were debating the risks of letting a ghoul loose in exchange for information, and now, you want to hand him Harper’s soul? To what? To take her back to Neraka?”
“What are you talking about?” Ramin asked on my behalf.
“I have a trained ghoul in this pencil case,” Ibrahim replied, showing us the rusty old object. It took a few seconds to dig into my memory, because I’d heard something about this creature before. Corrine must’ve told us the story when we were kids. Or maybe Derek.
“Herbert,” Ramin said, picking up on my thoughts. “The ghoul that Derek used to make Jeramiah understand a few things about his father, Lucas.”
“Yes. Well, we brought him out, earlier, to see if we could get him to tell us more about Reapers, since we have no one else to ask,” Ibrahim explained.
“That is a fair assessment. My knowledge of Reapers is minimal. Death and the Hermessi have rarely mingled,” Ramin shot back. Of course. After all, by “rarely” he meant that time when Death had intervened in the Hermessi’s first ritual. Ramin himself had been created from the aftermath.
“Grandpa, it’s an option. I’m not saying it’s a surefire way, but it’s the only one we have, and Harper’s life depends on it,” Kailani pleaded with him. “I’m worried about anything involving a loose Herbert, but if we don’t at least try to get Harper back, she’ll… she’ll die anyway.”
“Honey, Kailani has a point,” Corrine added. “If Herbert wants his freedom, you could add this task to the deal. Information on the Reapers and returning Harper’s soul to her body on Neraka, intact. He’s part of this interdimensional thread of Reapers. He eats souls, yes, but with the right incentive, and given the extensive training you put him through, it should be enough to get him to do this.”
“You seem to trust Herbert more than I do,” Ibrahim muttered.
“I don’t. But like Kale said, what other option do we have?” Corrine replied. “If Ramin gets anywhere near Neraka, the Hermessi will come at him with everything they have, and they will destroy him and Harper.”
It didn’t take long for me to end up agreeing with Corrine and Kailani. “I’ll do it,” I said to Ramin.
“Are you sure?” he murmured to me.
“It’s either that or I die. Worst-case scenario, I die anyway.”
“Harper says she’ll do it,” Ramin interjected.
Kailani breathed out and looked at Ibrahim. “Okay. Now, let’s see if Herbert says yes to this new deal.”
Reluctantly, Ibrahim snapped open the pencil case and whispered a spell. As the gray mist spilled out from inside, tension rose across the continent. The ground trembled, ever so slightly, announcing monstrous things to come. The air was thick with dread and anticipation, as the Daughters nervously glanced around, ready to protect us with everything they had. They’d gotten themselves into a dangerous position here—the product of one Hermessi fighting against the others. I worried it wouldn’t end well for them, and Eritopia needed its Daughters now more than ever.
The mist transformed into a translucent mass, and as the creature began to form before my very eyes, I realized that Ramin and I were equally nervous about this. I could feel him, just as he could feel me. Given the impending threats looming around us, we ultimately agreed that this was the best way forward.
The Hermessi resistance needed Ramin, who’d refused to join Brendel’s side, even though she still had his son on Yahwen. Granted, Ramin’s determination had to at least partially stem from said son’s betrayal and decision to serve Brendel. And I needed to go