ghouls could be useful in these circumstances. The other ghouls were hidden, and it would take a while before we could convince them it was safe to come out. First, however, I had to make sure the First Tenners weren’t going to simply reap them on sight. Kelara had no control over them, after all.
“Ah, you made it,” I said, my tone clipped as I tried to keep my cool.
There wasn’t much in this world that could still intimidate me, but the First Tenners were certainly having an impact on my composure. These were titans of our species. The very first of my kind. I was in awe of them, but I also had to seem like I had a handle on things—two states I needed to somehow reconcile.
“It wasn’t easy.” Kelara chuckled, shaking my hand. “It’s good to see you free.”
“Yeah, I have Nethissis to thank for that,” I said.
She frowned slightly. “How is she holding up?”
“We don’t really know.” I pointed a thumb over my shoulder. “She’s in there, unharmed so far.”
Kelara shifted her focus to Lumi and Sidyan. “Good to see you two, as well. Sidyan, where’s Maya?”
“What business do you have with her?” Sidyan retorted, as defensive as I’d expected. It made Kelara laugh.
“Relax, dude. I just want to meet her!” she said. “I have no business reaping ghouls, especially considering their potential usefulness in what’s about to go down.”
“And what’s about to go down, exactly?” Lumi asked.
Soul cleared his throat. “Perhaps some introductions are in order before anything else?”
Kelara shot him a grin. “You’re right. My manners are atrocious. Seeley, Lumi, Sidyan… some of these bozos you’ve already met and some you haven’t, so to make sure you all know each other, I’ll just go through the whole roster and let you do the handshakes, if you want. Lumi, swamp witch and vessel of the Word. Sidyan, Reaper and owner of a pet ghoul, apparently. Seeley… well, he’s already quite notorious.” She motioned toward the First Tenners. “Meet the Soul Crusher, creator of mind-breaking puzzles and mini-dimensions. The Phantom, creator of alternate realities and gorgeously deceptive dreamscapes. The Widow Maker… well, he doesn’t create much other than terror and violence, but sometimes that’s enough to get the job done.”
“You flatter me,” Widow muttered. It was hard to tell whether he was serious or joking.
“The Morning Star, bringer of light and happiness, sometimes too much of it and sometimes cramming it down our throats even when we don’t want it,” Kelara said, prompting Morning to gasp as if she’d just been horribly insulted. “Truth stings, I know. And the Night Bringer, harbinger of darkness, and the missing link between the Aeternae and the vampires, as it turns out.”
Lumi’s eyes widened. I worried they’d soon pop out like marbles. “You… you’ve got some explaining to do,” she mumbled.
“Yeah, I didn’t get to the details about how you turned the Aeternae into Elders,” I said to Night. “I’m sure you’ll find time to catch up on that topic.”
“That aside,” Night replied, looking at Kelara, “you can be quite savage, you know that?”
“Let’s just say it’s the least I can do for all the agony you and your sister put me through prior to your release,” Kelara shot back. “We’re even now.”
“Fair enough,” Night said, moving his attention to me. “I understand you have a Darkling problem here.”
I smiled, a sense of relief bursting through me like the first rays of sunlight in the morning. “You could say that, sure.”
“And you don’t have any workable options, given your resources,” Widow added, his gaze already fixed on the house. “Oh, wow. I haven’t seen Atlas since he was first made.”
“You know that ghoul?” Kelara asked.
Widow nodded once. “A Bounty Reaper of the highest caliber. No wonder he’s been such a handful for you guys, even in ghoul form.”
We watched Simmon and Aganon as they went inside the house just as Petra returned to the grand salon. Atlas’s posture stiffened in her presence, and the younger sons shot to their feet as soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs.
“They’re preparing for something, though I’m not sure what. I can’t get close enough without Atlas making noise,” I said, my nerves stretching taut again. I’d been around Petra and the Darklings long enough to know that things could always be worse with them.
Kelara put a hand on my shoulder. “It doesn’t really matter what they’re up to. We’re all in this together now. We’ll figure it out, and we’ll kick