“I’m not interested. I thought you’d have noticed by now that I’m into you,” he said, matter-of-factly. It shut my brain down with phenomenal speed, leaving me speechless and wide-eyed and probably looking like he’d dropped a boulder on my toes. It made him chuckle softly, and, when I failed to respond, he inched closer, the tip of his nose poking mine, his natural scent filling my nostrils and sending my senses flaring. “Eva, we’re about to go talk to Death. I’m sorry if this surprises or shocks you, but I’d rather get it off my chest now, before it’s too late.”
Before I could even process anything resembling a coherent reply, he leaned down and caught my mouth in a brief but incredibly sweet kiss. His lips were soft, and he tasted like a thousand good dreams, all rolled into one. I felt the tips of his fingers tracing my jawline, while relishing the deliciousness he offered in what ultimately felt like a mere split second.
He pulled back and exhaled, his smile broadening as he looked deep into my eyes without saying another word.
“Okay,” I breathed.
He chuckled and took my hand in his. It felt surprisingly warm. I was buzzing with newfound energy, but unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. It was as if I’d just licked one of those serium batteries. He kissed my knuckles gently, then let go.
“Come on, let’s go. We can continue this conversation later,” he said, the dark veil that settled over his eyes telling me that he had more in store for me. I only hoped we’d both live until then. That Death wouldn’t screw this up, somehow.
I nodded slowly. “Okay.”
Again, nothing else could be formulated. My brain was mush. My cheeks were on fire. And my lips… oh, they tingled. I’d felt his tongue during the kiss, briefly nudging mine. I’d only realized it now. The taste of him lingered.
We pulled on our hoods, masks, and goggles. He picked the serium batteries back up, and I joined him as we went up the stairs. The sun was setting, a purplish blotch on the western sky, but it was still powerful enough to burn a vampire’s skin without covers. My knees were jelly, I realized as I got past the last step. The rest of the team waited in the middle of the platform, basking in the afternoon sunlight.
There was a sense of hopefulness coming in, and I was more than happy to jump on that particular ship. We’d made it this far, after all. We could do so much more…
“I was doing some thinking just now,” Riza said. “Energy-wise, you should start with Eva and me first, if you need more than those serium batteries.”
Both Acantha and Nethissis frowned slightly. Riza smiled, giving me a fleeting glance.
“Thing is, I’m a jinni. I’m chock full of energy. And I’m pretty sure a Lamia-vampire hybrid like Eva is more than enough to get started with,” she added. “I can still teleport if my energy levels are lower, for example. If you drain Varga and Herakles first, we’ll all be vulnerable. They’re our first line of defense, and it’s been like this since we started the mission. Additionally, you can draw more power from Fallon, if Eva and I aren’t enough. Just leave Herakles and Varga last, is all I’m saying.”
“That’s very considerate of you,” Acantha replied, noticing the looks between Riza and Herakles. Judging by the faint surprise in her eyes, I had a feeling she’d just caught on about their dynamic. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be as persistent as, say, Nethissis, who was still hurling the occasional half-smile at Varga. Only, this time, I wasn’t as bothered. Varga had just kissed me. “Do you boys agree?” Acantha asked Herakles and Varga.
They both nodded, putting the batteries down on the platform’s stone floor. The swamp witches proceeded to draw the symbols required for the interplanetary spell, while the rest of us waited patiently. The crew had already said their temporary goodbyes to friends and family, mostly through the earpieces, since most of GASP was stretched across the board, operating on multiple allied planets at once. I’d yet to hear from my mother, though, and it hurt a little.
The fewer the minutes before takeoff, the more anxious I became.
Varga noticed, eyeing me carefully as he put his arm around my shoulders. I couldn’t stop my head from tilting and softly resting on his chest. “I see a form of pain in you,” he said. “What’s wrong, Eva?”
“My mom. She hasn’t yet reached out to me or come to see me.” I sighed. “We’ve been here for a little over three days, and… well, nothing.”
“Have you tried getting in touch with her?” he asked.
I shook my head slowly. “She’s the one who told me that, if I leave, I should never come back. I was hoping she’d come around by now.”
“She’s proud,” he replied, and I sensed a certain understanding coming from him. “And maybe she’s ashamed, too, for having said those words. Surely, she’s heard about our adventures. What if you try being the better Lamia and reach out to her first?”
I thought about it, but, as soon as I saw Phoenix and Ibrahim coming up on the terrace, I pushed the idea away. “It’s a little too late for that,” I said. “We’re about to leave, I think.”
Varga checked Phoenix and Ibrahim’s expressions. “Hmm… Yeah, they look pleased. But still,” he replied, looking down at me. “You could still leave a message for her. I told Mom and Dad and Lenny that I love them. Of course, they told me not to sound so fatalist, but hey… this isn’t going to be a regular exploratory mission. The risks are too high to ignore.”
“We got it!” Phoenix said, beaming at us.
“And we’re ready,” Nethissis replied.
Phoenix brought out a glass tablet, on which he’d reproduced the most convenient itinerary. Without an object from the destination, the interplanetary spell had to be steered from within. The fewer swerves and turns we’d have to make, the better. The straighter our trajectory, the smoother our journey. Of course, landing on Mortis was going to be the biggest challenge, but we had to get there in one piece, first.
Nethissis and Acantha both studied the stellar roadmap that Phoenix had drawn for us, while Ibrahim checked each of us from head to toe. He smiled at me. “You seem nervous.”
“Wouldn’t you be?” I chuckled.
“I’d be soiling my undergarments, sure,” he said. “But you’re well-equipped, Eva. You’ve got one hell of a team here, too. And I’m sure Acantha and Nethissis will stop at nothing to keep you all safe, throughout your journey.”
I knew that, and, despite my animosity toward Nethissis—which seemed petty and personal, if I thought about it—I was thankful that she was up here, with us. Two swamp witches were better than one, especially these ladies, who’d already made a name for themselves among the ranks of GASP. Yeah, we were in good hands, and we absolutely had one fantastic team, I thought, glancing around at the crew.
I also considered Varga’s advice regarding my mother. I had no way of reaching out to her, but I could certainly leave a message. If something awful happened and I found myself leaving this world for good, I didn’t want things to be left angry and bitter between us. Despite her complicated nature and annoying stubbornness, my mother loved me, and it only seemed fair that I let her know I loved her, too, even with all our fights.
“Ibrahim… Could I ask you to do me a favor?” I asked, wearing a hopeful smile.
“Of course! What is it?”
Varga stepped back and helped the crew with the serium batteries—they needed to be placed across the large circular composition of symbols that fueled the interplanetary spell. From there, the light bubble would draw its energy evenly and economically, without prematurely depleting the cylinders.
“Can you tell my mother that I’m not sorry for doing this, but that I love her?” I said, exhaling deeply. It felt good to get it off my chest, in a way, even though I was simply asking him to pass on a message.
Ibrahim nodded and gave me a soft shoulder squeeze. “You focus on your mission, Eva. Your mother will be fine. I think it’s why she hasn’t said anything yet. She’s letting you do your thing, without any distraction. I assume a conciliato
ry conversation between the two of you would take a while.”
“You think?” I asked.
“I’m certain of it. But I will let her know, I promise. Word for word,” Ibrahim replied, and I hugged him. He kissed me on the top of my head. “You’re not usually this affectionate, Eva. But I must say, it’s a good look on you.”
I laughed lightly as I stepped back. Ibrahim had known me for long enough to spot these differences. Yes, I was quite icy and distant to most people, and I had severe trust issues—it came with the territory of being the only child of a murderous Druid-turned-Destroyer and leader of an empire built on the corpses of innocent creatures. Maybe Varga was finally rubbing off on me. I sure didn’t mind displaying more affection toward those whom I thought deserved it.
Ibrahim was one such person. He’d been one of the few to speak in my favor when I’d first applied to become a GASP agent. He and Corrine had gotten to know me and my mother well enough to understand that I simply couldn’t follow the ordinary Lady of the Lamias path. They’d seen my potential, even when my mother had completely denied it.
“We’re good to go,” Acantha announced. “Everybody, get inside the circle in the middle.”
We did as instructed. This was a slightly different design, I noticed. It looked more like a modified pentagram, with dozens of new symbols added to the outer rim, and connecting lines drawn from the batteries toward the central circle, where we’d gathered.
Phoenix and Ibrahim stayed on the outside, both of them smiling, eager to see us go and succeed in what had to be one of the craziest endeavors we’d ever gotten into.
“Send us a postcard!” Phoenix said, prompting Varga to burst into laughter.
“We’ll let you know once we land. Telluris and earpieces are working, at least for now,” Varga replied.
Acantha and Nethissis began their chant, and the modified pentagram began to light up white. The serium battery cylinders hummed, the crystals glowing bluer and bluer. In less than a minute, the ball of light formed and swallowed us whole, its electric buzz tickling my ears.
A sudden gust of wind started to whizz across the platform, pummeling the light bubble to the point where I worried it might tilt us to the side before the incantation was complete. I could see Ibrahim’s and Phoenix’s silhouettes as they moved away from the spell. The light around us got brighter and stronger, but I was able to guess that both the warlock and the sentry boy-genius had made it back downstairs.
“The Hermessi are coming,” Fallon said, his brow furrowed. “My insides are squirming.”
“That’s new,” I commented.
“A Hermessi detector? Seriously?” Herakles replied, equal parts amused and surprised.
The witches continued their chant. This one sounded longer than the ones I’d heard before, but I figured it had to do with two new factors: one, the increasing winds that were hitting our light bubble from all angles, and two, the presence of the batteries in the absence of an object from our destination.
I found myself holding Varga’s hand, my fingers tightly wrapped around it, as I braced for the worst to come. Knowing the elementals, this barely skimmed the surface.
“They finally found us.” Varga sighed. “It was only a matter of time. Luceria is one of the high-risk spots, for now.”
“Hold up, how is it that you can feel the Hermessi coming?” Riza asked Fallon.
He shrugged. “I’m honestly not sure. I think maybe Kabbah left me with something. It’s just a guess.”
“I think what really matters is that he’s capable of sensing them,” Riza replied. “A preemptive reaction would’ve been even better.”
“What, like me sensing them before they actually manifested?” Fallon asked, one eyebrow raised. “Hermessi premonitions? Sister, you are reaching!”
“Desperate times, my friend!” Riza said with a grin. “But we’ll make do with what you’ve got, don’t worry.”
The light bubble began its ascent, making us all wobble. We could hear the gale-force winds roaring outside. Thunderclaps rippled above us, sounding like angry giants eager to crush us. Despite the irregular upward trajectory, however, the swamp witches managed to get us to a higher altitude.
The light bubble made startling crackling sounds whenever lightning struck it. Fortunately, all that did was load it with more energy. Varga and I held each other close, and so did Riza and Herakles, while Fallon stood awkwardly between us, hands behind his back. The swamp witches were in front, with their backs to us, moving forward with their chants, as the bubble kept rising.
We swayed in the beating winds for a while, but once we pierced the atmosphere, silence became king. I breathed out, relaxing in Varga’s arms. We briefly glanced at one another and smiled. We’d made it off Calliope, for starters.
I wouldn’t dare be the optimist on the crew, but I was inclined to believe that we were off to a good, albeit bumpy start. However, that thought was quickly pushed away when Acantha and Nethissis, having finished their chant, turned around to smile at us. They weren’t even aware of their nosebleeds.
“Yikes,” Riza gasped and took out two linen tissues from her backpack. She handed them over to the witches, who seemed confused.
“Your noses are bleeding,” I said.
Alarmed, they grabbed the tissues and wiped their noses. Both turned pale when they saw what they’d collected. “Oh, dear,” Nethissis murmured. “I think we strained ourselves a little back there.”
“We had no choice. The Hermessi were beating us into a pulp. It was only a matter of time before they broke the spell bubble. We kept pushing upward, while they tried to take us down,” Acantha replied. She took a deep breath. “We’ll be okay.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. “If you need vampire blood to heal, all you need to do is tell us.”
“Thanks. Let’s hope not,” Nethissis replied, her tone a little too dry for my taste. It probably had to do with the fact that Varga and I were still holding each other.
Sucks to be you, then.
“We just over exerted ourselves, that’s all,” Acantha said, her gaze fixed on the glass tablet that Phoenix had given her. “We’ll follow the map. It’s a relatively simple trajectory. If we need additional energy, we’ll be counting on you and Riza.”
I gave her a brief and confident nod, internally bracing myself for the trip ahead. Part of me worried that the nosebleeds were symptoms of something perhaps more problematic, but it was too soon to form an accurate opinion.
The possibility of exertion made sense, given the trouble we’d had taking off. From here on out, our challenge was to steer the light bubble in the right direction. Fortunately, Acantha and Nethissis were both ready for it.
My heart was still racing. The prospect of meeting Death was finally making its presence known on the horizon, and my brain was hard at work, trying to process the entire concept once again. I could only hope that we’d get there, and that we’d find her, and that she’d help us…
Riza
I didn’t like the looks of Nethissis and Acantha. They said they were fine, but it couldn’t really be fine to get a nosebleed after performing a powerful swamp witch magic spell. With their backs to us and their focus on the interstellar road ahead, I couldn’t tell if they were getting any better—but I sure as hell couldn’t take them at their word.
I worried about them, because we needed them to steer the light bubble in the right direction, then get it down to Mortis, past a potentially aggressive atmosphere. The one thing I’d learned from Kailani and Lumi, even before the apprentices had come along, was that if the Word made you bleed, it usually meant extensive internal damage—the kind that would take longer to heal.
Those nosebleeds were not a good sign, and we were relying on them to get us to Mortis. I, for one, was prepared to have my energy depleted if it helped, but in the end, it all came down to Nethissis and Acantha’s ability to steer and control the interplanetary spell. It was too late to turn back now, so the only thing I cou
ld do was hope and give them everything I could in order to help them.
We settled on the bottom of the light bubble, huddled next to one another on the floor—a makeshift surface made of solidified energy, on which the modified pentagram continued to glow white against its amber backdrop.
“How are you ladies holding up?” Herakles asked the witches about half an hour in.
We’d left Eritopia behind, with its multicolored planets and marble moons and circling clouds of pink-and-orange stardust, and we were headed somewhere deep into the In-Between, many light-years away. The spell traveled at a consistent light-speed, billions of stars dashing past us like ephemeral flickers, tiny blips swooshing left and right, gone forever from our sight.
The silence was comforting, though, and I’d slowly begun to relax, my shoulder pressing into Herakles’s. He didn’t seem to mind, though I could hear his breathing hitch from time to time—as if he was holding it for minutes on end, then pausing to inhale.
The witches didn’t answer straightaway. I gave Herakles a concerned look and repeated the question, louder this time around. “Nethi, Acantha, are you okay?”
“Yeah…” Nethissis replied, her voice faded. She didn’t sound okay.
“Do you want to look at us for a moment?” Fallon asked, watching her intently.
She gave us a glance over her shoulder. Fresh blood was trickling from her nose, and her eyes were dark and puffy. “I told you, we’re okay,” she said.
“No, you look like you’re minutes away from kicking the bucket,” Eva shot back and got up.
“Didn’t I tell you the spell weakened us a little bit?” Acantha replied. “We’ll recover. These are just some unpleasant side effects.”
“Screw that. Drink some of this,” Eva said. She bit into her wrist, enough to open up one of her veins, and pushed it against Nethissis’s lips. “Don’t be foolish, and drink. It’ll make you feel better.”
Nethissis pulled her head back and looked down at Eva’s wrist with genuine disgust. “I’d rather have a healing potion.”
A Shade of Vampire 73: A Search for Death Page 13
