reflexes work. I’ve been locked inside a pencil box for decades. I needed this,” he replied. “Now, are you ready?”
“Ready to…”
“To get the heck out of here, for starters,” Herbert said.
“Yes, yes, I am,” I said and paused for a moment. “Wait, for starters?”
“We’re going to make a bit of a pit stop on the way to Neraka,” Herbert replied. “Nothing too long, don’t worry. I just need to figure something out about these ritual Hermessi. There are some ghoul buddies I haven’t seen in a while, and they might have the information I need.”
“Whoa. You’re taking me to other ghouls?!” I croaked, fear mercilessly gripping me by the throat.
“Relax, darling. I’ve no intention of defrauding Ibrahim. My freedom depends on it, and I didn’t give him everything I know about the Reapers to have them easily find me later, in a damn pencil box.”
Whatever was coming next, I couldn’t help but feel like I couldn’t do anything about it. Whether I liked it or not, Herbert was going to make this so-called pit stop and talk to his so-called buddies. I had no way of stopping him. The only thing I could do was brace myself and hope for the best.
Caspian was still on Neraka, waiting for me, and Herbert was maybe many things, but definitely not an idiot. Corrine had made it crystal clear that not delivering me safely back to my body would spell nothing but trouble for this peculiar ghoul. I had to rely on that.
What else can I do?
“Have a little faith in me, perhaps,” Herbert replied to my thought.
I’d forgotten about his ability to read me so easily. But yes… I could find a sliver of faith and put it in Herbert. He had my soul and every reason to keep his word to Ibrahim.
Varga
As soon as we got word from Phoenix about what had happened at Stonewall, Eva, Riza, Herakles, Fallon, and I rushed back to meet with him and Ibrahim in his office. The Daughters, Corrine, and Kailani returned to Stonewall in order to assist the Bajangs with the clean-up operation—the fallen felines had to be brought back so their pack could give them their proper burial rites.
There was a sense of urgency and agitation coursing through our base on Mount Zur. Many of our agents were tasked with protecting the cult prisoners—often from themselves. The crystal casings on their hands were painful now, because of the Hermessi’s increasing influence, but we couldn’t let them take them off, so we were stuck in an agitated limbo where GASP lieutenants constantly patrolled the prison cells, making sure that all the prisoners were still asleep. If any of them woke up, the others would scramble to bring in more sedatives and put them back down.
On top of that, Hunter was due to come back with his crew and a fresh batch of cult prisoners. They’d been raiding the southern woods, and that particular campaign had yielded impressive successes. Twenty cult members had been captured, and not one of them fae. It also confirmed our greatest fear: the Hermessi were reaching out to other species now, not just the fae, and this was likely happening on other planets, as well. It put the quarantined fae at risk, making that five million mark even more possible. Downright imminent, even.
“Harper’s gone?” I asked as we walked into Phoenix’s office.
He nodded. “Herbert took her. Ramin left Calliope. It seemed to stop the Hermessi’s offensive. So far, so good.”
“Can we trust Herbert to see this through?” Riza replied.
“We can. The terms are ironclad,” Ibrahim said. “He only has his welfare and his life to lose if he doesn’t take Harper back.”
“At least we have the advantage of none of the hostile Hermessi knowing about Harper and what she and Ramin did,” Eva chimed in. “Therefore, she’s not on Brendel’s most wanted list.”
“Glad you all got out of there in time,” Herakles said and shook Phoenix’s and Ibrahim’s hands.
“It was touch and go for a while,” Phoenix replied. “The Hermessi were quick to pick up on Ramin’s presence.”
Ibrahim nodded. “And yet, they didn’t come down in full force right away. They sent Shills. Surely, they must’ve known Shills weren’t enough to capture a Hermessi.”
I was genuinely surprised by this. “You’re right. It’s almost as if they weren’t trying hard enough. That’s odd, to say the least.”
“I’d have thought Firr would be extra flamey as soon as he felt Ramin here,” Riza added.
Eva thought about it for a moment, tucking a