“I’ll bet Velnias made a mess in there.” Heron smirked, then looked at Avril, who was still reeling from the loss. “He’ll be okay, babe. He’s resourceful. And we’ll get him out of there before they take him away. We’re going into stage two now, anyway.” He then looked at Jax and me. “Right?”
“Yeah, as soon as the others—” Jax started, then paused as Caspian came to the garden, accompanied by Fiona, Zane, Pheng-Pheng, and Arrah. No Harper.
That dull pain I’d experienced earlier was back with a vengeance, tearing my stomach apart. I couldn’t help but groan and take several deep breaths to keep myself on the level.
Dion checked the front of the mansion, then came back shaking his head. “They weren’t followed, either,” he said, touching his red lens to reposition it better.
“Did it work?” Jax asked.
Caspian was completely distraught. He barely even noticed Cadmus, until his lieutenant came up to him and gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. They hugged like brothers, while I carefully checked the others’ expressions. They were equally upset.
“It worked,” Fiona murmured, crossing her arms. “They have Harper.”
“They had traps waiting in the corridor outside Lumi’s room,” Zane explained. “You were right. They were ready for us, with or without a tip from us.”
“I think they tranquilized her,” Fiona added, her brow furrowed. “They injected her with something, and it knocked her out.”
Caspian cursed under his breath. Cadmus stayed by his side. It was literally the only thing anyone could do at that point.
“I know it sounds awful, but that’s very good,” I muttered, crossing my arms. “It means—”
“It means that Harper is a prisoner!” Caspian shot back.
I had known this was coming. It had taken a lot of work to get him on board from the very beginning. He had every right to be angry. It was one thing to talk about planting your lover in the enemy’s claws, and something else entirely to watch it happen.
“It means we have her on the inside now,” I replied firmly. “You need your head on your shoulders for this one, Lord Kifo.”
“We learned our lesson with Alles, where the enemy’s resourcefulness is concerned,” Jax interjected. “We made a tough call, but it had to be done. We need the Maras and the daemons to get comfortable and cocky. They have to think they’ve got the upper hand here. Whether they’ll keep her as leverage to get the rest of us, or just consider this a first victory in picking us off, one by one, this is the first time we are truly one serious step ahead of them.”
“It paves the way for stage two, as well,” I added. “With Harper on the inside, we have a better shot at getting Lumi out. You said they had traps ready. Which means they suspected we’d come. They now think we played into their hands. And that, Lord Kifo, is very good.”
The air got cold, all of a sudden. Nevis sure liked to make his presence known. He came onto the stone path, frost spreading beneath his bare feet. Colton and Neha were right behind him, clearly pissed off. I didn’t see Caia and Blaze anywhere. Another groan escaped my throat, my stomach once again in tatters. I should’ve been content. The plan had worked flawlessly. But it still felt terrible.
My conscience be damned.
“Wait, where are Caia and Blaze?” Avril breathed, her eyes wide with horror.
“They’re up on the seventh level, doing their part,” Nevis replied.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Scarlett gasped, her gaze darting between him and me.
I pressed my fingers against my temples, fighting back an incoming migraine. “I’m sorry we didn’t tell you,” I said. “But only Nevis, Harper, Jax, and I knew about it. It was best if the rest of you didn’t carry the burden, too.”
“I presume you’ve been briefed on the way back,” Jax muttered, raising his eyebrows at Colton and Neha, who replied with sullen grumbles and brief nods. Obviously, they weren’t pleased either.
“We would’ve appreciated the heads up, though,” Colton replied, scowling at Nevis.
The rest of our group was stunned, staring at us and probably unable to believe what was happening. Nevis, on the other hand, was as cool as a cucumber, offering a shrug in return.
“You all had deniability,” he said. “The dragon and fae included. They certainly didn’t see it coming.”
“Did the Lords buy it, then?” Jax asked.
“They most certainly did. Lord Obara is expecting me tomorrow to sign truce papers,” Nevis replied with a smirk.
Fiona scoffed, panting with rage. “What are you smiling about? Caia and Blaze are prisoners? You sold them out for… for what, for the mission? We need to get them back! We didn’t agree to any of this!”
“You should’ve told us! This isn’t right!” Avril snapped.
Just like Caspian, they had every right to be angry. But this was neither the time nor the place for us to nurture their broken hearts—even though it killed me on the inside.
“Everybody, calm down!” Jax hissed. “And keep your voices down, too. Control your emotions. You’re GASP agents. We’re at war here. Everything is part of the final plan. We didn’t share it with everyone because we knew how you would react. And we understand your anger; we definitely do. But we need to get this done right.”
“Velnias will be fine down there. Those COs are probably dead already. He’s probably sabotaging the prison and the daemon tunnels as we speak,” Zane chimed in. “I doubt he had any plans of coming back with the group tonight. In fact, I’m willing to bet we’ll see him again, soon enough.”
Avril sucked in a breath. “You think?”
“Absolutely,” I cut in. “As for Caia and Blaze, we wouldn’t have had them taken, had the Druids not come up with those anti-mind-bending lenses. They’re safe down there. In fact, they’re an added bonus right now, because the Maras think they’ve got our firepower all under their control.”
“I’ll tell you one thing,” Nevis replied. “They’re both quick and smart. They caught on fast and played their part. The dragon will still want to punch me, though, I’m pretty sure.”
“I’d worry more about Caia, if I were you,” Avril muttered. “That girl can pack a serious uppercut.”
“Avril, I apologize for causing you and your friends grief. But it had to be done this way,” Nevis replied. “I suggested it after everyone left because I knew it wouldn’t sit well. But I have faith in your friends. They probably hate me right now, but they see the bigger picture, too.”
“Right now, we have three agents on the inside,” I reiterated. “The Maras think they’ve crippled us. They have no idea. Most importantly, they’ve also been made aware of Shaytan’s failures, correct?” I added, looking at Nevis, who replied with a nod. “Which means they’ll be summoning the daemon king to Azure Heights soon, since he refuses to let Darius go back. With the dragon in their possession, a creature that Shaytan covets, the Maras will get an upper hand on the daemons. Our aim was to sow discord and plant our agents inconspicuously. Mission accomplished.”
A couple of moments passed. The noises in the city gradually died down.
“Now, we’re all going back to Meredrin to set up stage two of our plan,” Jax said, as Arrah opened the secret tunnel door.
“Our troops are in position throughout the gorge,” Neha replied, putting an arm around Pheng-Pheng’s shoulders and pulling her close. “Ready for our orders to attack.”
“And we’ve planted charms and explosive charges in specific parts of the city,” Patrik added.
“These are extreme measures we’ve taken, but they’re taking us somewhere concrete,” I replied.
Fiona cleared her throat. “Speaking of extreme measures, we discovered something in the Palisade, where they’re keeping the witch,” she said. “They had a spell going, through a hybrid contraption. A mixture of Druid and swamp witch magic. They used it to hijack Telluris and speak to GASP on our behalf, pretending to be us. Laughlan and Ryker migh
t know something about the Druid part. Vincent said they tortured them for it.”
My stomach dropped, finally defeated by everything to which it had been subjected. My knees got weak, and I took deep breaths in a bid to calm myself.
“Wait, what?” Jax replied, equally shocked.
“They’ve been talking to GASP,” Fiona murmured. “Vincent destroyed the spell before we could get to him, though. He said his mother knows how to do it.”
“So that’s how they’ve been keeping GASP and Calliope at bay,” I breathed.
“Well, the shield is doing its part, too,” Zane replied, pursing his lips. “I knew they had tricks up their sleeves, but this was unexpected, even for me. The Exiled Maras are despicable, to say the least, but I’ve got to hand it to them. They’re brilliant.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, well, I look forward to watching their brilliant heads roll on the ground. Let’s go,” I said, then made my way into the tunnel. “We need to get ready for tomorrow. Shaytan will be coming to collect his prize, and we want to be there when that happens. Harper knows what she has to do.”
One by one, we slipped through the tunnel—our nerves stretched beyond their means, our hearts riddled with a toxic mixture of hope, determination, and fear, and our minds focused on the single most important thing on our to-do list: survival.
Harper
My body felt heavy. My limbs made of lead. My mouth filled with cotton.
I licked my lips and lifted my head, instantly regretting the move. A sharp pain cut through my brain and settled somewhere behind my eyes, spreading into an uncomfortable heatwave.
My arms were stretched out. I tried to move them. Chains jingled.
Uh-oh.
I finally managed to open my eyes. I was in a dimly lit room, its walls covered in swamp witch symbols painted in—judging by the faint scent—blood. Upon a quick self-assessment, I found I was chained up to one of the walls.
My wrists and ankles had shackles with swamp witch symbols engraved on them.
All the weapons I’d been carrying on top of my leather suit, along with my backpack and shield, were gone. Nevertheless, I still had tricks up my sleeve.
I groaned from the pain, then stilled at the sight of my cellmate.
In the middle of the room, gagged and tied to a chair, was the swamp witch.
“Lumi,” I breathed, suddenly over the moon, despite my circumstances.
Her head was down, and her eyes were closed.
They kept her clean and dressed in their Azure Heights style, with a simple but elegant black velvet gown, bodice, and white lace details included. Her hair was a peculiarly bright orange, pulled up into a waxed bun on the top of her head. There were black tattoos covering her temples, her cheeks, and her neck—a combination of swirls and squares, reminding me of Maori tattoos of New Zealand natives.
Her skin was pale. Her nostrils flared as she slowly opened her eyes.
They were so strange. The irises were streaks of white with a fine blue outer border. The pupils were tiny black dots. They looked as though they’d been carved out of marble and polished to perfection. They scanned the room, as she took deep breaths.
“Lumi?” I raised my voice.
Her head snapped up. Those tiny black pupils found me. Her eyes widened.
My heart broke to see her like this. Her aura flared red—so much pain. She’d been tied up and gagged like this for thousands of years. They probably kept her under a lot. I didn’t even want to know how they fed her or how they gave her water. It sent chills down my spine to even think of millennia spent in a dark room, tied to a chair.
Every single one of these Maras deserved to die for what they had done to her.
“I’m Harper,” I said softly. “I’m here to save you.”
A minute went by in heavy silence. She then measured me from head to toe, her gaze lingering on my cuffs, and scoffed.
“Well, yeah, I know I don’t look like I can do much right now, but trust me. I’ve got a plan,” I added, then gave her a confident smirk. “We’re getting you out of here, Lumi.”
There was doubt in her almost-white eyes. Not that I could blame her.
I was chained to a freakin’ wall.
But I was down there, with her, in the middle of enemy territory. It broke my heart to think of Caspian and what he was probably going through at this moment, but I drew strength from the hope that we’d be together again soon.
Stage one of our plan was a complete success, as far as I was concerned.
My next challenge was staying alive and whole and, most importantly, getting Lumi out of Azure Heights.
Almost there, Harper.
Derek
Less than a day after we’d discovered the lies being fed to us through Telluris, I had the whole of GASP mobilized and taking action. Corrine and Ibrahim worked with Viola on developing a transporter for us—a ship, of sorts, that could be inserted into the interplanetary travel spell and transported across the galaxies to Neraka.
Draven continued his communications with the impostors on Neraka. It was imperative to keep the act going, to let them think they were still fooling us. That way, we had the element of surprise on our side. It made my blood boil each time he confirmed contact with them. We’d gone over possibilities of who the impostors were—at this point, however, the only likely culprits were the Exiled Maras.
We just couldn’t understand why they were doing this. What was their end game?
And, most importantly, where was our team?
Sofia and I made our way up to the platform on top of Luceria. Corrine and Ibrahim had tweaked the final details on the ship. It was beautiful. It looked like a large capsule, capable of holding up to two hundred Shadians and Eritopians. The exterior was coated with a metal alloy designed to withstand any extreme temperature in the vacuum of space, from insane lows to scorching highs.
The Daughters of Eritopia had assisted Viola and Phoenix in preparing the interplanetary travel spell. Viola had even made tweaks to the spell, after having spent the entire night translating more of the swamp witches’ book. She’d found a couple of useful modifications, which she’d applied to the final formula.
“This way, if we don’t have access to Neraka, the spell will allow us to steer it to the nearest surface for landing,” Viola explained as we went over the details.
Corrine, Ibrahim, and the other witches made the final preparations inside the capsule, setting up an atmosphere and gravity system, along with air filters and various other amenities, in case we had to spend more than twelve hours on that thing.
“Let me get this straight,” Sofia said, crossing her arms as she looked at the capsule. “We have the destination, but we can’t see it. We don’t even know if it’s still there. How will the interplanetary spell work?”
Viola sighed, flipping through her notes. She’d pulled her reddish pink hair into a loose bun, keeping a pencil behind her ear for quick modifications. I found her to be adorable, despite her goddess-like abilities. Fearsome, yet so kind and delicate. I could see why Phoenix was so smitten.
“If Neraka isn’t there, for some insane reason, we have the red beads,” she explained. “Which means the interplanetary spell will take us wherever Neraka is. If Neraka is still there, but hidden or shielded, making it impossible for us to land there, I’ve edited the spell in a way that allows me to manipulate its course and land the ship nearby—on a neighboring planet, or even one of Neraka’s moons.”
“And the ship is now ready,” Corrine said as she emerged from the capsule, followed by Ibrahim, Shayla, and Arwyn. “There’s an entire atmospheric system created inside the walls. You’ll be able to use it for days on end, safely.”
Sofia nodded slowly, then frowned. “What if we have no choice but to come back here?”
She was worried sick, and I couldn’t blame her. Our children and friends were out there. We had no idea whether they were okay, or even still alive.
“I’ve got that covered,” Viol
a replied with a confident smile. She held up a piece of obsidian glass. “This is from here. Phoenix has packed all the other ingredients we need for another interplanetary spell to return, on top of other charms. You know. Just in case.”
Phoenix came out from the other side of the platform, carrying the duffel bag he’d loaded with swamp witch spell ingredients. He was accompanied by the rest of the Daughters, all clad in colorful silks and wearing their golden masks. Viola was the only one who adhered to the Calliope dress style and didn’t bother wearing a mask. She’d chosen to live among the people, anyway.
“Okay, we’re ready to go,” Phoenix announced.
He’d geared up, weapons and charms ready. I’d assembled a large team of GASP members and Eritopians to help us with this.
“The team is downstairs, waiting for your signal,” I told Phoenix.
He nodded, then rushed downstairs and got the others. One by one, the veteran GASP members and allies joined us on the platform. They each gave me a brief salute as they went inside the capsule, guided by Corrine.
“I see you’ve put together quite the squadron of heavyweights,” Ibrahim replied with a smirk.
“What choice did we have?” I muttered, as Sofia leaned against me.
Draven and Serena joined us, both geared up and ready to fly with us.
Lucas and Marion, Pippa and Jeramiah, Vivienne and Xavier, Benedict, Hazel and Tejus, Heath, and Grace and Lawrence were all making their way onto the ship. They were all fuming, eager to get their kids back. Field and the other Hawk brothers joined them, along with Anjani, Jovi, and Dmitri. We had a hefty alliance of werewolves and fire and ice dragons joining us from The Shade, along with several dozen vampires.
From the In-Between, Sherus had sent over two dozen fae fighters, and Draven had summoned Jax’s wards along with the best warriors of White City. Several Druids had come to assist us as well, along with two dozen incubi and succubi.
“We’ll join you, too,” Safira, one of the Daughters, said, then nodded at Nova. “Our little sister can stay here and help Aida and the others look after Calliope while we are gone.”