A Shade of Vampire 91: A Gate of Light - Bella Forrest Page 0,37

as he looked at Dafne, then at the rest of our crew. One by one, we felt the chill of the ice dragon’s gaze, along with the silent promise of the bad things that would happen if we didn’t come back with Dafne alive and in one piece. I couldn’t blame him.

Dafne hugged her mother, Elodie, then stepped over to her father, taking his hands in hers. “You know we’re right about this,” she said. “We’re the best equipped to spy on those freaks, Dad. We’ve dealt with them before. We’ve learned to use some of their tricks, too. Besides, we work well as a team. It’s how we survived here before the Flip.”

“It is not our intention to fight the clones, the Berserkers or Hrista, but to gather information and help GASP prepare for a proper counter-offensive,” the Time Master added. Behind him, Aphis stood dark and silent, his eyes measuring us from head to toe, as if he was becoming acquainted with his new teammates. I had never crossed paths with the ghoul before, as Time had usually chosen to show up on his own, leaving Aphis in a subtle form. “Right now, we don’t know what’s going on in The Shade or whether the rest of the federation is aware of what has happened.”

Blaze scoffed. “So you’re just going over there for a quick visit.”

“Yes!” Jericho replied, genuinely exasperated. Of every parent we’d had to convince, Blaze and Caia had been the ones with the hardest heads. Mom and Dad had come around relatively quickly, but the fire dragon and fae couple was being downright stubborn.

“And Myst needs you because of your fire power,” Caia muttered, visibly dissatisfied at the prospect of her son going away once more. “This is wrong on so many levels.”

“Not really,” Phoenix replied, his arms crossed and his mind made up. “It’s the price we must pay as Shadians and fighters of GASP. As supernaturals, really. Our families, our parents, our children and probably our grandchildren, too. We have no choice but to jump in and go to battle for those who need us. We did it once or twice ourselves, and it made our parents sick with worry. I figure it’s only natural that we be put through the same thing now. We can’t ask our children to step back when an injustice is committed, simply because we love them too much to lose them.”

His words struck a chord in all of the parents present. Dad hid his smile, while Mom fought back tears. In the end, he spoke the truth, and his words achieved the unanimous greenlight that my crew and I had been hoping for. We would’ve gone either way, but it felt much better to have the support of our parents and loved ones prior to embarking on this new and dangerous adventure.

Silence settled over the group for a good minute as the truth permeated every other concern the Shadians might have had regarding this expedition. It was obvious that this had to be done. Could it have been assigned to more senior GASP agents? Sure. The Shade was full of them, and I had faith in their abilities. But none had interacted with the clones, the Berserkers, or Hrista like we had. If anyone had the experience and necessary knowledge of the enemy, it was us.

“Well, you’re already packed up,” Lethe conceded, nodding at his daughter. She and Jericho had small bags attached with stainless-steel rings. In these bags, they had a minute amount of invisibility magic, red garnet lenses, and healing paraphernalia in case they needed it. Should the dragons turn, the bags would remain attached through the stainless-steel rings to their collars. Yes, Dafne and Jericho were absolutely packed up and ready to go.

“We have to support them,” Elodie told her husband. “It’s our duty.”

“It is, yes,” Blaze sighed, finally reaching the general consensus. He put an arm around Caia’s shoulders, and I could almost hear the conversation that the two of them would have later that night. “What can we do to help?”

Jericho smiled. “Just hope for the best. We have already prepared for the worst.”

“This is one of those rare instances where I’m glad I’m not alive,” the Time Master muttered. It earned him a sly half-smile from Aphis. The ghoul was striking, not only through his preference to stand upright, but also because of his deliberate silence and stolen glances. I could tell there was something different about Aphis, and I had