All of this was getting to me. Not at once. Not always. Sometimes, it came in mild waves of anxiety. Then, after a few minutes’ worth of sweet nothing, it hit me hard, like a hammer, knocking the air out of my lungs. As we’d moved from town to town, seeing my face suddenly plastered on posters in places I’d never even been to before, I found myself going back to my roots. In my mind, I wasn’t hiding in Cellos’s house in the slums of Mykos. No, I was back home with my mother, in the Hadeen Domain.

With my fiery red hair, I’d always stood out there. Still, the people never made me feel like I didn’t belong. The Hadeen Cerixians were all good and kind and friendly. We took pride in how welcoming we were. Why, whenever we had guests, we rolled out all the good stuff—my mother’s nut-and-berry cakes, caramelized dried flower batons, and sweet seed sauces were phenomenal. And I made a mean harva tea.

We used to spend our mornings on the small balcony overlooking the southern edge of our town, Mehel. Endless dunes of red sand stretching across the horizon—a jagged line of black rocks that separated us from the blue sky. At night, especially when there were no clouds, I’d spend hours on the rooftop, counting stars and wondering if there were others out there. Other worlds, with people like us or slightly different from us… or our complete opposite. It didn’t really matter. What really fired me up, ever since I was a little girl, was the certainty that we were not alone.

And here I was, in a stranger’s bathroom, gripping the sink as if the ground would soon vanish from beneath my feet, with my life in the hands of aliens, of strangers from those other worlds I’d only dreamed of as a kid. On top of that, one of them in particular, made my heart beat a little faster. I’d never thought I’d feel this way, but this innocent crush did help—it gave me a reason to keep fighting. Maybe I’d survive this after all. Maybe he and I would get closer, and we’d see if there really was something between us.

Thinking of Taeral seemed to help with the panic attacks, too. In just a few days, he’d become my anchor, keeping me tethered to one spot. He stopped me from running off screaming—and that was, by far, the most frequent of my emotions since Acquis had clarified that saving Cerix required my sacrifice. My only comfort in all of this was that the Hermessi hadn’t directly attacked my mother to get me to cooperate. Then again, once the planet died, they all died, my mother included.

I washed my face with icy cold water. In here, it hadn’t frozen completely. Granted, I used what Cellos had gathered in a large metal bowl. The pipes were already blocked and frosted. Nothing would come through the faucet, other than a tired gurgle.

“What did I get myself into?” I asked my reflection in the mirror.

My eyes were sad and puffy. Technically speaking, I hadn’t gotten myself into anything. I’d been forcibly pushed into this situation. Me, a Hadeen girl with no dad who hoped to reach for the stars, someday. Maybe this was meant to happen, exactly so.

My survival instinct was strong. Unbreakable, even. I didn’t want to die, and I was ready to take any option that allowed me to live. But I also had to be realistic and mentally prepare for that worst-case scenario. I was ready to evacuate the whole planet and start anew somewhere else if it meant I’d get to live another day, but I understood the logistics behind such a move. Lumi wasn’t all-powerful. And this GASP organization of theirs was already spread too thin, their fae people falling victim to the Hermessi’s influence.

The same Hermessi that flowed through my veins, too…

I hadn’t told Taeral or the others about this recent development. I didn’t want them to get discouraged in any way. But I was already feeling the other elements resonating inside me. This feeling had begun shortly after Brann’s destruction, as if, in a way, the Hermessi were automatically linked to me, somehow, in his absence.

I couldn’t sense them approaching, and I sure as hell couldn’t eavesdrop on them, though I would’ve loved to be able to do that. But the buzz was unmistakably theirs, and it sent echoes sneaking around in my mind. Whenever I was dangerously close to giving up, they would try to seduce me into sacrificing myself. Those had to be implanted thoughts, because I wasn’t exactly into “power like I’ve never seen before” or “being one with the cosmos.”

Wiping my face with a dry cloth, I checked myself in the mirror once more.

“How will we get out of this, Inalia?” I asked myself.

Maybe my reflection had a better answer than what I’d come up with so far. If push came to shove, of course I’d take over as the Fire Hermessi and make sure my people survived. But that was still easier said than done. The rest of the crew wondered what the process implied. I, on the other hand, dreaded the thought of hearing such details. Sure, the clarity would’ve been welcome as to how the hell I was going to replace Brann, but knowing more would’ve made it all the more real, an actual possibility.

I didn’t have the stomach for that. Not yet.

“We’ll make the best of what we’ve got left from this deadline,” I murmured. “We’ll take it one hour at a time.”

Chances were we’d still find something in the original library. I was ready to turn the whole of Samotarcis inside out just to find it. But I also had to accept the possibility of utter failure.

“Stop it,” I reprimanded myself. “Stop bouncing back and forth like this. Pick your road and stick to it.”

I thought about it for a moment. There was no point in throwing myself around like this, enduring hot and cold showers of hope and dismay. It wasn’t just unproductive, it was torture. I was torturing myself over something I had very little control over to begin with.

“If they take you as a Hermessi, that means they’ll want you to do their bidding,” I spoke to the mirror. It felt nice, as if I’d separated myself from… myself. It helped put things in perspective for the briefest of moments. “It’ll be either that, or destruction. Then, Cerix will be screwed again, and your sacrifice will have been in vain.”

We’d talked about this aspect already, but it did help to say it again—over and over, until I chose the path in this epic conundrum.

“Hold on and fight this tooth and nail, then,” I mumbled, then stepped away from the sink, feeling slightly better than when I’d walked in. I was still pale as a whitewashed board, but at least my resolve was more persistent. That was a good start, as I was expected back inside the living room, ready to reach out to the Brothers of the Shadow.

A freezing gust of panic nearly swept me off my feet. I was going to meet the Brothers of the Shadow. The single most dangerous opponents of the empire. I’d grown up fearing them—militants with lots of anger and resources who devoted their entire lives to hurting the emperor, the government, and the Armed Forces. Granted, they’d always been less active in the Hadeen Domain because of how we were, as people. The Hadeenians loathed conflict. We were the first to accept the empire’s peaceful rule, in fact.

“Deep breaths,” I whispered, then walked out of the bathroom. “You’ve got this. Plus, you’re backed up by these amazing, super-powerful creatures who will torch the whole band of Brothers if they try to hurt you.”

The thought added that extra kick in my step as I walked through the dark corridor. I stopped when I noticed another small hallway connected to this one, to my right. For a moment, I thought I’d gotten lost, which was quite funny, given that Cellos’s place wasn’t exactly a palace.

I turned right and headed through the hallway, thinking I’d find the living room at the end. I was wrong. There was a room, sure, but not the one I’d initially come from. The door was slightly open, enough for me to see a light flicker inside.

“That’s odd,” I mumbled, then stepped forward and slowly pushed the door open farther. I held my breath, my eyes bulging as I found myself standing in front of an altar. Cellos had built an altar inside this room.

I recognized the candles, the painted symbols on polished rocks, and the rudimentary, hand-drawn illustrations of the Hermessi. This was meant to worship all four elements—all four sigils were present. Wait, hold on. Why were the candles burning?

Cerix’s Fire Hermessi was dead. I was expected to replace him. Until then, or until we figured out another way to save the planet, there wouldn’t be a single flame burning. The temperatures would keep dropping, and… how the hell were the candles burning?

It made me mad. Here I was, shuddering at the thought of my people freezing to death, and this guy had fire in his—Oh, dear. Better late than never, the realization smacked into me. First of all, the Hermessi hadn’t been truthful about this whole no-fire-just-doom business, since they clearly mustered enough of a flame to give to their followers. And second, Oh, dear sweet skies and seas, Cellos is a Hermessi follower!

I had not seen this coming, and I didn’t know what to do next. My breath became ragged and quick, my blood curdling as I tried to keep myself focused. I wasn’t safe here. None of us were! Cellos was playing us all…

I rushed back to the main corridor and stormed into the room, barely holding myself together. My hands and face were burning—and literally glowing. The sight of me startled Cellos, who jumped from his stool and wound up in a corner, as far away from me as possible.

“Inalia, what’s wrong?” Taeral asked, visibly alarmed.

“He’s got a Hermessi altar,” I said, my voice trembling. “He’s one of them!”

“A cult member?” Raphael deducted, and I nodded in return. He then glowered at Cellos, who, despite his robust figure, had suddenly become very small.

Eira shot to her feet and almost instantly drew her sword, its sharp tip firmly pointed at Cellos. The betrayal she must’ve felt had to sting. “Please, tell me she’s wrong, Cellos.”

He didn’t say anything for a while, until we all started hearing the winds howl outside. Then, he chuckled.

“What the hell is so funny, Cellos?!” Eira snapped. “You… You betrayed the empire far worse than your stint with the Brothers! The Hermessi are our greatest enemy, do you understand that? They seek to destroy us all! Not just Cerix! The entire universe, wiped clean!”

“The chosen will survive,” Cellos replied, narrowing his eyes at her. “Remember, Eira, when I told you it pays to be well informed? You should’ve paid more credence to the Hermessi worship and writings. You would’ve found it all there.”

“Oh, so you’re okay with killing billions, so a handful, including yourself, would survive?” Amelia asked.

Cellos nodded. “The truly faithful will be given a clean, new world, to start over. Then, we’ll be able to build a society that can never forget the Hermessi worship, that can never forget where they came from!”

“Oh, wow, he’s as far down the rabbit hole as anyone can get,” Varga muttered, genuinely creeped out. I, on the other hand, was livid.

“You’ve been stalling us. Holding us here while the Hermessi caught our scent,” I said. “Did you know we’d come around?”

Cellos shook his head. “Your presence here was a gift from fate. It’s a clear sign that the universe wants to be cleansed. All I had to do was…” He paused and took out a small wax pellet, which he’d crushed in his hand, letting a deep purple liquid seep out. “All I had to do was give them a signal.”

That was his signal. It dawned on me then that the Hermessi were employing new methods of contacting their followers. That wax pellet had to be one of them—but what was that liquid? There was no time to ask, as the ground beneath us started to shake, rattling me to the bone.

The Hermessi were coming. Taeral put his hands out. I caught one. Cellos seemed to know what we were about to do, as he lunged at me, desperate to hold me back.

“You’re not going anywhere, Inalia! You’re going to be the next Fire Hermessi, whether you like it or not!” he shouted.

Eira swiftly kicked him right in the groin with her boot. It threw him backward. He collapsed on the stone floor, whimpering from what had to be sheer agony. Eira didn’t care. “Stall us so the Hermessi can catch us, catch Inalia to force her to do something against her will, conspiring with life’s greatest enemy… Cellos, you’ve stooped so low that I hope you die a slow and painful death,” she said.

He tried to get up and come after us but Raphael threw a knife at him. The blade went straight through Cellos’s neck. I heard myself gasp as the portly Cerixian collapsed and quickly bled out.

“No need for your overlords to know where we’re going,” Raphael said dryly.

“I didn’t think of that,” Eira murmured, eyes wide. She took Amelia’s hand, linking herself back to our group.

Just in time, too, as the rock walls began to crack—deep, asymmetrical gashes that shot from the ground toward the roof. This whole house was going to collapse in less than a minute. But then, it was no longer our problem, as Taeral teleported us out and back to the edge of Mykos, where we’d first come through.

The foul stench of betrayal didn’t sit well with any of us. At least we’d gotten out of there in time. I mentally thanked the stars for gifting me with such poor spatial orientation. Had I not stumbled into that altar room, I never would’ve seen the Hermessi coming until it was too late.