a hard time looking at him like I’d looked at Rudolph—or any other ghoul, for that matter. I just knew, deep down, that this guy would end up surprising us somehow. “Rest assured, all of you, I will do my best to make sure we all return safely,” Time promised.
“Thank you,” Mom replied. “Soul and the others will work with us on this side of the problem. Unfortunately, none of our communication methods work between this realm and ours,” she added and looked at me. “That means that once you step through that shimmering portal, honey, you’re completely out of our reach.”
“We know that,” Astra took the lead. “Which is why we’re focusing on recon and not on anything else. We have established clear protocols of non-engagement, per GASP guidelines and hostile territory policies.”
Phoenix chuckled, his eyes glassy with tears. “My baby’s all grown up and totally mastering the GASP terminology. I’m a proud dad, for sure.” It made Viola giggle softly, and it drew smiles from each of us. Fortunately, and despite the dire circumstances, our ability to laugh had survived.
We were going to need it.
“I’m ready,” Astra said, breathing out slowly, then looked at me. “We have everything we need, right?”
I nodded once. “Blood supplies. Food. Healing serum. Invisibility capsules. Backup weapons and comms pieces. The works. We’re good to go.”
Mom and Dad wrapped their arms around me, holding tight for a while as I absorbed every second of this embrace. I remembered when I’d been only a kid, and they’d brought me over from Visio. The first thing they’d done as my parents, as soon as we’d set foot onto The Shade, was to hug me and promise me that I would always be loved and safe with them. It felt wrong to see Hrista destroy that oath they’d made to their son. She had to be stopped.
The others bid their farewells, while Mom whispered in my ear. “No matter what happens, remember you’ve got something to come back to, okay? Your mom, your dad, your brother and sister—”
“Who will absolutely be annoyed that they didn’t get to say goodbye like you,” I shot back with a bitter chuckle, though I understood why we’d had to keep this assembly small and discreet.
“You know we have to operate away from the others,” Dad said. “You’ll be gone, and yes, we’ll get our share of nagging from them, but in the end, they will come to terms with how this went down. It’s better this way.”
“Mhm, it’s better to ask for forgiveness than for permission, right?” I chuckled.
Dad reached out and grabbed me by the back of my neck. He pressed his lips against my forehead. He hadn’t kissed me since I was a kid, and it felt nice to feel his affection toward me at such a pivotal point of my existence. I caught a glimpse of Myst watching us. The endearment was there, written all over her face. I could see it. The sight of us warmed her heart, though I wondered how much familial affection she even remembered as a Valkyrie, and whether she missed it.
“You and Astra will lead this team, and you will get what you must from The Shade,” Dad said, drawing my focus back to him. His eyes drilled holes into my soul, and I was compelled to listen carefully. “You will alert the rest of GASP as soon as you get out there, by whatever means possible, and you will instruct them to standby until we find our way back to The Shade. Then you will come back to us son, okay?”
“Okay.”
Astra hugged her mom and dad, then gave me a confident nod. “I’m ready,” she said, though her voice trembled slightly.
“Cool. Let’s do this. I’m not a big fan of drawn out, emotional moments,” Brandon replied and clapped his hands once with renewed enthusiasm. Hammer, ever his faithful companion, let out a brief howl to express his own excitement about what would happen next—not that any of us had any real clue as to what awaited us beyond this realm. “Pinkie, remember your training.”
Astra smiled and put her hands out, palms in a vertical position as she took deep breaths. Her skin lit up white, and the air around her buzzed with a peculiar energy. It only intensified as the minutes ticked by, crackling furiously by the time a ripple emerged in front of her. Clearly, she’d been practicing.
I held my breath.
It looked as though space itself was the surface