lock of black hair behind her ear. Golden-green scales had begun to grow just beneath the lobe. Only a few, enough to remind me that, one day, she’d be all covered in them, before shedding and revealing a new Eva altogether.
“Firr destroyed Mount Agrith but didn’t kill anyone,” she said cautiously. “What if that gesture was a forced message? What if he sort of… I don’t know, had to do it? Firr was, after all, a rebel. I doubt he’d take pleasure in turning against us. They have his child, and that’s the only reason why he switched sides, in the first place. I’m starting to doubt his evil intentions, if I’m honest.”
“It seems reasonable to think that,” Ibrahim replied, inclined to agree. “It would explain why he and/or his brethren sent the Shills, instead of coming down themselves.”
“That being said, we certainly shouldn’t rely on any kindness from Firr or any of the others. Wei hasn’t stepped in yet, but I really don’t want to find out where his allegiance lies right now.” I sighed. “There’s too much going on at once, and I admit, I am not emotionally prepared for another betrayal.”
Phoenix smiled. “I get it. I imagine we all feel the same way. Besides, the Shills did kill some Bajangs, so there was definitely aggression in the Hermessi’s reaction, just not as much as we’d have thought. Anyway, that’s done, for now. My sister is on her way back to Neraka, and Ramin is off Calliope. Hopefully, he’ll find a safe spot to meet with the other rebels in the meantime.”
“Does Caspian know?” I asked.
“Yeah, he’s been notified. This is coming at the right time, too. Harper’s body is hours away from certain death,” he said, his voice uneven. His aura burned yellow and red in fear and anguish. He loved his sister fiercely, and I couldn’t blame him for feeling this way. I’d have gone to hell and back to make sure my Lenny was okay.
Ibrahim clapped his hands once, to move the discussion along. “I do have some good news,” he announced, the corner of his mouth twisted into a sly half-grin. “I’ve been digging through the many… many memories that Herbert transferred to me about Reapers and Death and all that side of their business. It will take some time to make sense of most of it, but… I think I’ve found Mortis.”
“Whoa…” I managed, my eyes bulging.
Phoenix chuckled. “I know, right? As soon as Ibrahim gives me all the details he can, and I find you Mortis’s coordinates, I can go back to locating Tae and his crew… and obviously send a team over there to retrieve them.”
“Herbert was on Mortis?” Eva asked.
“At one point, a very long time ago. I’ve seen a few things there. It’s mostly woods and, from what I could tell, wandering spirits, but I did see a building atop some waterfalls. Weird place. But Herbert knew, for a fact, that he couldn’t be there for too long, let alone go anywhere near that place. Death lives there,” Ibrahim recounted. “I have enough data for Phoenix to get you an exact location.”
Just then, Kailani appeared in the middle of the room with a faint huff. “Okay, I’m done with Stonewall. What did I miss?”
Ibrahim frowned. “What do you mean you’re done with Stonewall?”
“I’m not needed there anymore. Viola and her sisters and Grandma are perfectly capable of handling it,” she said. “I’m anxious to know what you got from Herbert, so spill it, Grandpa. All of it!”
Once she learned about Mortis’s location, Kailani went quiet, nodding slowly as she processed the information. Her aura glistened in shades of blue and green, a mixture of determination and resolution I hadn’t seen in anyone in days. The Hermessi had certainly managed to clamp down on our collective spirit, but they couldn’t stifle our individual resolve. And Kailani’s seemed stronger than ever.
“You’ll need to prepare for the trip,” she said after a long pause, looking at me. “Gear, weapons, the whole shebang. You should bring pulverizer weapons, too, just in case.”
“Those are kind of big and clunky, though I wouldn’t mind them in case we run into Shills,” Eva mused, pursing her lips.
“We’ve made a newer, slightly more compact model,” Phoenix said. “Smaller, but equally potent. Prior to this Hermessi problem, we were still testing them in the shooting range, but they passed all the marks. They’re good to go in the field, if you ask me.”
“And given the urgency, I doubt