mane, and Herakles gave her a polite but downright awkward nod. Her eyes had once been reddish-brown, but only a ring of it remained around the white irises, much like Nethissis and Kailani.
Riza’s enthusiasm began to simmer down, from what I could tell. We’d formed bonds in this crew. I saw them, better than most. Amelia and Raphael. Eva and me. Riza and Herakles. Acantha and Nethissis were double-edged blades, it seemed. Yes, they were going to be quite helpful on Mortis, especially since we didn’t know how Death would react to our presence there, but they also seemed to threaten the balance of two of these bonds in our midst. Acantha was clearly pretty sweet on Herakles, and Nethissis… Well, I’ll just have to talk to Eva about this before the claws come out.
Eva was reserved in her nature, but I doubted she’d last long if Nethissis started making moves on me. I’d be understandably flattered; however, any attempt on the part of Nethissis to garner my romantic attention would fall flat. My heart was leaning toward Eva, and I doubted it would ever change its sway.
“Good. So, you guys get ready, take some time to get to know Acantha and Nethissis a little better, and I’ll meet you all back here in…” Kailani said, glancing at Ibrahim. “How long till you find Mortis?”
“A couple of hours, tops?” Phoenix replied.
Kailani nodded energetically and shifted her focus back to us, finishing her sentence. “And I’ll meet you all back here in two hours!”
That sounded like quite the plan, and I was the first out the door to implement it. Eva was second, followed by the others. My pulse was racing with a strange composition—excitement, for we would finally go where Death lived; fear, for we would finally have a chance to talk to Death, and there was no manual on how to do that without getting ourselves obliterated, in case we got on her nerves; hope, for we were, in fact, one step closer to potentially stopping the Hermessi and their end-of-days ritual… and steely determination.
For I was in no way, shape, or form ready to say goodbye to this world without at least first experiencing Eva’s touch and kiss and everything else that she had to offer. The Lamia-vampire princess was a warrior, a fighter like I had not seen in a long time. There were layers there, which I looked forward to peeling away, one at a time, until I reached the core and experienced the full intensity of her.
Behind me, Nethissis cleared her throat, as if to tell me she was still there. We walked down the hallway, headed straight for the armory, and I thought to myself… This is going to be an interesting trip.
Vesta
After having learned that Harper was on her way back to Neraka, hidden inside a ghoul, I was quite conflicted in my emotions. Zeriel was on edge, too. Not to mention Derek and Sofia, though Derek had spoken in favor of Herbert. He remembered his own encounter with the creature and had tried to assure Sofia and Zeriel that Harper would likely be okay—Herbert was still in Ibrahim’s service, and would suffer dearly if he welched on the deal.
Varga and his newly enhanced team were getting ready to go to Mortis, thanks to Herbert’s memories. Taeral and his crew were still stranded on an unknown planet, and they’d reported some strange, spirit-related activity there. I’d tried to talk to Seeley about it, but the Reaper had put the lid on his information stream. According to him, he’d already told me enough to get him in trouble if I survived this second ritual attempt.
In the meantime, my angst didn’t subside. It only grew more uncomfortable, occasionally making it difficult for me to even concentrate. How could I keep my head clear, given my circumstances? I’d been forcibly kicked out of my body, with only my life-chain tethering me to it, and its links were still blackening further. More and more fae had been brought into the sanctuaries over the past few hours, each of them like me, souls barely holding on to their flesh. I was staring death in the face, with zero intention of leaving.
Seeing Zeriel by my crystal casing was, by far, the most painful part of this experience. We loved each other deeply, in a way that, according to Seeley, made our bond unique and everlasting. Zeriel was tormented over my situation. I could see it in his eyes as