GASP had sent an entire fleet after us, and they’d wound up in flames. How many lives had been lost? How many were still alive? How many injured? The devastation was obvious, evidenced by the ravaged ships. Deep down, however, I’d done a quick math, based on the number of shuttles that were being captured—at least five hundred had gotten off the ships before they were destroyed. But without knowing how many fighters had been up there to begin with… My mind couldn’t wrap itself around what had just happened.
“How… How many ships?” I managed, my voice barely audible.
“Three. One was smart enough to stay back,” Ta’Zan replied. “My Perfects thought they could survive beyond Strava’s atmosphere and tried to go after it, but they quickly learned the hard way that they couldn’t,” he added, and I could hear the disappointment in his tone. “I think your friends grabbed some from the orbit. The others will wander in the vacuum of space for a while. We’ll see what happens…”
“How many casualties?” I asked.
“I only lost a few dozen,” he said. “But I can make more—”
“I don’t give a rat’s ass about your freakin’ Perfects!” I growled. “How many of mine? How many creatures did you have killed, you monster?!”
He scowled at me, then stood up straight, visibly insulted.
“They came here. They’re the ones who brought ships with warriors and dragons to my world, Derek,” Ta’Zan replied coldly. “We’re simply defending ourselves.”
“No! They came for us! They came to get us back! You imprisoned us, Ta’Zan! There were bound to be repercussions,” I shot back, doing everything in my power not to lunge at him again. The last thing I wanted was another crippling jolt to knock me out again.
He cleared his throat, then exhaled as he looked out at the clouds of smoke left behind by our ships. My eyes stung as I struggled to cope with what I’d just seen. I couldn’t. There were thousands of Perfects here, and they’d managed to destroy an entire GASP fleet. It just wouldn’t compute.
There must have been hundreds on those two ships. Hundreds of allies that had gone down in flames, killed because they’d come out here to help us. To save us.
“I reckon you had about eight hundred up there,” Ta’Zan relented. “About six hundred or more made it into the shuttles. I’ll give your people credit, Derek. They know how to evacuate to minimize their casualties.”
But who was up there? Who made it?
That was the only thing I could hear in the back of my head with troubling clarity. Ta’Zan’s people were far more powerful. He’d been right all along. There was no easy way for us to stop him, to take his Perfects down. Our numbers clearly meant nothing, since he’d made thousands of Perfects.
“You said there were only hundreds of your Perfects here,” I said quietly. “You lied.”
“No, there are about eight hundred Perfects here. In this base. There are plenty more on the other islands,” Ta’Zan replied bluntly. “You should phrase your questions better.”
“I can’t believe this.” I scoffed, rubbing my face with my palms.
I wanted to get up, but my knees felt weak. My heart weighed a ton. My head hurt.
“This is a harsh lesson you’re having to learn, Derek, but it’s necessary nonetheless,” Ta’Zan said solemnly. “I told you from the very beginning that we are superior to you and your people in every possible way. What we don’t know, we learn and implement faster than you can put your shoes on. So, when I say we’re going to spread out and populate this universe with perfection, I mean it. It’s exactly what we’re going to do, Derek, and you can’t stop us.”
For the first time, I understood the horrific truth behind his words.
Brute force wasn’t going to work on the Perfects. Our abilities weren’t enough, across the many species we’d allied ourselves with. Ta’Zan made them in bulk, each with the same basic structure—insanely fast and strong, able to destroy an entire fleet in minutes. We didn’t stand a chance against them.
By next week, their numbers would most likely double, if not triple.
I couldn’t fathom a way out of here. Most importantly, my conscience now carried the weight of maybe two hundred souls that had perished in GASP’s attempt to rescue us.
Mothers and fathers had lost their children. Brothers and sisters had lost their siblings. Lovers had lost their soulmates. Because of us. Because they’d tried to do the right thing. And more were going to perish soon enough, once Ta’Zan built his ships and took his people out into the universe.
It was only a matter of time.
Then again, we weren’t quitters, either. As much as it hurt on the inside, the view before me only served to reinforce my determination to find a solution. We’d never faced something like this before. I couldn’t let Ta’Zan put me down like this. This was a challenge, and I never shied away from one.
I had to be like water and make my way through stone, if needed.
Sofia
It took a lot of self-control not to go crazy inside our glass boxes. None of us were accustomed to this form of captivity. It had been over half a dozen decades since I’d been brought to The Shade against my will, but that had turned out to be the best thing to ever happen to me.
This had none of the signs of a future positive outcome.
Dread kept my joints stiff, as I moved around and took in every single detail of our glass cells and the cave in which we’d been imprisoned. I worried about Derek, too, but, from what I’d seen so far, I was pretty sure Ta’Zan wouldn’t hurt Derek. My concern stemmed from the collar and knowing Derek well enough to accept the possibility that he might try to push its limits. Derek wasn’t one to just sit back and accept everything thrown at him, especially when it put him, as well as the rest of us, at risk.
Derek was a fighter by nature.
He’d overcome the darkness that had once come with vampirism. We’d found a way to make immortality beautiful and full of hope. We’d made friends and allies, we’d built an incredible family, and we’d saved millions of lives in the process, over and over.
Yet now we were the ones in need of rescue.
“Do you think they’re out there somewhere, looking for us?” Claudia asked, watching me as I paced the mossy floor of my glass enclosure.
“Probably, yes,” I replied. “It’s been at least a couple of days since we were due to return. At least, I think it has. Plus, they had eyes on us via the telescope. They must’ve figured out that something went wrong at some point.”
“I’m willing to bet there’s a search team on Strava, as we speak,” Xavier said.
“What good does that do if the planet is suddenly populated with these Faulties and Perfects?” Lucas scoffed. “We don’t know how many of them there are, but we do know they’re already fully grown. Which makes me think that Ta’Zan is churning them out ridiculously fast.”
“Yeah, except these cookies seem to be very fast, strong, and good at killing,” Cameron interjected, crossing his arms as he leaned against the glass box.
“What do you think Derek is doing out there?” Corrine asked me. Her voice was trembling, loaded with concern.
I sighed, then shrugged. “Ta’Zan said he was going to give him the tour,” I replied. “I guess he’s going to come back knowing more than we do.”
“Do you think he’s okay?” Vivienne asked, her gaze fixed on Xavier.
“I have to,” I said. “Otherwise I will lose my mind in here.”
The cave door opened with its familiar loud clang.
We all stilled and glanced in its direction.
“Derek!” I yelped, watching as two Faulties brought him in.
He had his arms around their shoulders, as they were helping him walk. Ta’Zan came in after them, looking more serious than before. I would’ve given anything to break out of my box so I could touch and hold my husband, but all I could do was watch as Derek was put back in his box, next to mine.
“Derek, are you okay?” I asked him.
br />
He looked pale, his eyes red and glazed with tears. He was distraught and in what looked like a lot of emotional pain. He didn’t even flinch or move when one of the Faulties removed his collar, then stepped back. The glass sealed itself back up.
I glowered at Ta’Zan. “What did you do to him?!”
“Nothing. Everything you see, he brought on himself,” Ta’Zan replied bluntly.
“Oh, man, I’d love to get out of this box and have you say that again to my face!” Xavier growled, punching the glass.
Derek pushed himself into a seated position by the glass wall separating our boxes and looked at me. The pain in his eyes tore me apart on the inside. He was like an open wound, raw and suffering so much, I instantly teared up.
“Baby, talk to me. What’s wrong?” I asked him.
He shook his head slowly, his voice barely audible.
“They went down in flames,” he murmured.
I shifted my focus back to Ta’Zan. “What happened?” I shouted. “What did you do?!”
Ta’Zan didn’t seem affected by what Derek had experienced, and he sure as hell didn’t look intimidated by Xavier’s threats. He took a deep breath before addressing us.
“Derek saw what happens when you come into my world with hostile intentions,” he said bluntly.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Lucas replied, frowning.
“Three of your people’s ships came in,” Ta’Zan explained. “Only one made it out. My Perfects are not to be toyed with, and no matter how many dragons, witches, and whatever else you had on those vessels, they will still prevail.”
“They’re dead. Maybe two hundred of them. About six hundred were captured.” Derek sighed, wiping the tears from his face and gradually regaining his composure. “They came here looking for us. There are thousands of Perfects now. Our fleet didn’t stand a chance...”
It took us a few moments to understand what both Ta’Zan and Derek had just said. The magnitude of their statements, however, hit us quick, hard, and without mercy. My stomach dropped, and my knees gave out.
“No… What did you do?!” Corrine cried out, punching the glass. “You animal!”
“We are all animals,” Ta’Zan retorted. “Only we’re the smartest and most advanced ones. Let this serve as a valuable lesson to you all. I told you, abandon all hopes of escape, because you’ll be here for as long as I find you useful. Be hostile, and you will pay the price. There’s no stopping us.”
He gave us all a brief nod, then walked out, accompanied by his two Faulties. The creatures looked sad and fearful, both females with dark blue scales covering parts of their bodies, and long black spikes for hair. One of them gave me a quick glance over the shoulder. I could see the regret in her big yellow eyes. They felt sorry for us.
As soon as the door closed behind them, we all shifted our focus back to Derek.
“Derek, honey,” I said to him, my voice shaky. “Did you see them? Our people?”
He shook his head. “I only saw the aftermath. I’d tried to attack him earlier, but the collar electrocuted me until I lost consciousness. It’s why I’m so weak now… When I woke up, Ta’Zan pointed at the sky, where the ships had once been. There were three, indeed. The smaller one pulled back out of Strava’s atmosphere, before the Perfects could get to it.”
“What about casualties?” Vivienne asked.
“And the third ship… Did they get out?” Kailyn added, her brow furrowed as she struggled to keep it together. Aiden looked just as bad.
He shrugged. “The Perfects obliterated the ships… Only the two, though… The third one moved back in time... Debris scattered all over. There were escape pods, but they intercepted each and every one of them,” he replied, running a hand through his thick black hair. “Ta’Zan will probably keep them for their genetic material. He said about six hundred made it.”
I got down on my knees, trying to stay as close to him as possible. “Derek, what did you see up there? What… What did Ta’Zan show you?”
As much as part of me was inclined to, I couldn’t give in to despair. I had to take all the pain I was feeling and stow it away. I had to focus on a way out for us. GASP wasn’t going to get us out of this one, it seemed. Too many had died already, trying.
“Sofia, he’s a monster,” Derek said. “A cold, calculated, and intelligent one, but a monster nonetheless. The Perfects are real, and he’s mass-producing them in the span of a few hours, shaping their minds to fit his plans, his narrative.”
A minute passed in gloomy silence, as we continued to take it all in. Despair was chipping away at our resolve. I could see it in their eyes. I could feel it in the air. Derek, however, despite his physical weakness caused by the shock collar, sounded more determined than ever.
“Chances are he’ll bring the survivors here,” he said. “Ta’Zan will want to use their genes to make more and different Perfects. Hundreds of samples.”
“So, what do we do, then?” Lucas shot back. “I don’t intend to spend an eternity cooped up in this box.”
“I don’t know,” Derek replied, resting the back of his head against the glass. “I need time to think. Right now, as it stands, it’s not looking good. There are thousands of Perfects already. Double in a week. He plans to take on the entire universe and completely wipe out every creature that he deems inferior.”
“You mean Ta’Zan,” Ibrahim muttered. Derek nodded his response. “So, then, what? He’s building this perfect army and using it to repopulate the universe? And he’ll kill our people off in the process?”
Derek nodded again, making Ibrahim curse under his breath.
“All those lives already lost,” Derek breathed. “They’ll be picking the others off, one by one. No more Eritopia. No more Neraka. No more In-Between as we know it. And when he’s done with this universe, he’ll spill out into the next, too. The Supernatural dimension. Our world, as well. They’re all out in the open right now. He’ll wipe them all out. He’ll replace us with his so-called Perfects, his supreme, genetically engineered beings.”
Claudia scoffed. I briefly looked at her, noticing the anger come up to the surface. There were tears in her eyes, but she refused to shed a single one. She took deep breaths, then straightened her back and gave Yuri a half-smile.
“If this is the end of the world,” she murmured, “then at least I’m spending it with you. However, Ta’Zan seems intent on destroying everything. That means our kids, our grandkids. The people we love most. Are we really going to let him do that?”
I shook my head. “No. But how do we stop him?”
Corrine gave Claudia a soft nod, then looked at me. “We find a way,” she replied. “We always find a way, Sofia.”
I wanted to believe that, with all my heart.
But the reality, this time, was different. The odds weren’t in our favor. If GASP had brought in dragons, witches, and our other allies, and the Perfects had managed to destroy them so quickly, it didn’t look good at all.
“Think about it this way,” Derek said, once again reminding me why I’d fallen in love with him. The way in which his mind worked was fantastic. “We’ll have some six hundred GASP fighters in this place. If we find a way to get to them, we could do something from the inside.”
“Destabilize the Perfect society,” my father replied, his interest piqued.
It seemed to me that brute force and military assaults were not the solution to this devastating problem. We were dealing with an incredibly intelligent creature that had quite the god complex. His Perfects were the ideal weapons, and, worst of all, they worshipped him and believed everything he said. Abaddon had made that very clear.
This was nothing like what we’d dealt with before.
We had to get a little bit more tactical, devious, and creative.
I gave Derek a soft smile. “I’m on board with that,” I whispered.
“Preaching to the choir, sister!” Claudia shot back.
There was no other way. We had
to think outside the box. But first, we had to get out of these glass boxes. We were useless in here.
Hazel
Tejus held me close as our ship returned to Calliope.
We all barely spoke on the way back. The devastation we’d just witnessed was too much to bear. We’d all been at war before, but we’d been on the winning side. We’d brought freedom and peace to other worlds. This, it felt more like defeat. Granted, most of our troops had survived, but we didn’t know what was going to happen to them next. Nothing was guaranteed.
Once we were back in the control room on Mount Zur, however, the grief stage withered away, making room for anger. Harper, Phoenix, and Serena were livid, and I couldn’t blame them. I felt their pain, their rage. I felt it on top of mine and Tejus’s, too.
Field, Aida, Vita, and Bijarki waited for us in the control room. They’d seen everything through the massive screens mounted on one of the walls. Their eyes were puffy, their faces pale. I couldn’t shake the pain in my chest as I made my way to the first chair in front of me and collapsed in it.
There was a separate screen where we’d set up a live feed for the entire fleet’s vital signs. Over 80 percent of it was blinking red. At first glance, it didn’t look good.
“I suppose you saw everything,” my father said, looking at Field.
He nodded slowly, while Vita and Aida hugged Serena and Harper—the two most affected by the disaster. We still couldn’t believe what we’d just witnessed.
“We saw everything through your ship’s feed,” Field replied, briefly glancing at the vitals screen. “That one went over 80 percent in the red from the moment the two ships entered Strava’s atmosphere. All comms were cut off.”
Harper blinked several times. “So, we don’t know if they’re all dead,” she murmured. “I mean, you all saw the escape pods. They took them out intact; they didn’t destroy them.”
Those lights were useless, since comms were cut off from the moment the two ships had entered Strava’s atmosphere. Whatever those flashing creatures were using to block our channels and signals, it also terminated the system’s connection to our fighters’ vital signs. The 20 percent were on our ships. We’d steered clear of their blockers by staying on the outside.