We parked outside a diner.

  “Wait!” I stood up as everyone got ready to get off the bus. “Does anyone have any family here?”

  With there being so many of us, it had been almost impossible for there to not be an aunt/uncle/cousin in the cities we’d visited so far. While it had been advantageous for us that Jenne had an aunt in Mive, I wanted to be able to know what to expect before we walked into the Boly Diner.

  “Are you hoping that one of us has another older sister you can add to your harem?” Aelin winked at me from where she was leaning against the steering wheel.

  I glared at the blonde as I noticed Kara blushing from across the aisle. Aelin had gotten the idea that I needed a harem to protect my secret, since all the women would end up bound with me in what she was calling a ‘closed circle’. Aelin had found a loophole to be in that circle while not being romantically in my harem because she was in a monogamous relationship with Justia, who was my high priestess.

  The green brunette was the only true healer that we had in the group, and while she was my high priestess, she was also our level, which limited what she was capable of. But when we’d needed a high priest in Mive, she’d stepped up and done her job perfectly.

  “I’m not…”

  “You’re looking for a cousin?” Aelin cut me off with a smile. “Or is it a hot aunt since we got empty seats..?” Her eyes got wide and she giggled. “Or are you hoping someone has a single mother you can scoop up?”

  “Aelin…” I shook my head. Arguing with her would only encourage her. “Can we just focus on why we’re here?”

  “To expand your harem!” Jenne Violu high-fived her friend.

  I glared at the black-haired traitor. The golden woman was a point of concern for me. While it seemed that Trent trusted not only her, but her family, that didn’t do much to soothe the conclusion that we had come to that she was a spy. I hadn’t shared this reasoning with Aelin yet, simply because I didn’t want to sour the bond between the two if it was real. There was a good chance that Jenne was simply a spy in training who was completely loyal to Trent. I couldn’t imagine him letting her on the team otherwise, but until I knew for sure, I was trying to be cautious around her.

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  I shook my head as I turned to our teacher. Gesai was twenty-five, which was seven years older than all of us except Kara, but there were a lot of times that she didn’t feel like the one in charge. Like right now. Both of the older women were looking at me for direction.

  “Someone needs to stay with the bus…” I looked around the vehicle. I had a feeling I knew who was going to volunteer for that assignment.

  “I’m staying.” Rix Zeb was sitting in the seat in front of Kara. The golden redhead had been raised by bandits and had to kill her way through them to get out of that life. She was usually a loner, but I knew she had my back to the point that I simply expected her to be right where I needed her. I also knew that if given the chance, she would choose to avoid being in a crowd.

  “I’ll stay with her.”

  I looked over at the only other male student in our group. Shelly Zarboe was looking for brownie points. The dark man was with us under a form of duress. His older sister was the current heir of the family, but based on his achievements, he could replace her. His sister wasn’t just going to willingly give up her position, which meant that Shelly needed to gather as much backing as he could before she was able to arrange a marriage for him in another city or even Ward. Given my need to try to not give away my class, there wasn’t much I could do to help him, but hopefully Trent would be able to dream up something once we revived him.

  “Okay. Let Aelin know what you want to eat and we’ll have someone bring it out to you.” I nodded at the blonde. “You’re in charge of orders.”

  “Right, so Atlas, what type of waitress are we looking for..?” Aelin giggled as she looked around the bus. “Let’s see… what don’t you have..? Maybe an older golden girl? That’s the only one you don’t have yet.”

  “Astrid is a golden.” Jenne reminded her friend.

  “That right!” The blonde clapped. “You’ve got the whole rainbow! White, brown, black, silver, green, gold…” She pointed at Ether, Oz, Ren, Gesai, Fray, and where Astrid was laying in order. Her gaze focused on Kara. “And back to white. So that means he’ll take just about anything.”

  The two high-fived and ran off the bus.

  “Aelin! You didn’t…” I shook my head and looked at Justia. “Would you go try to rein in your other half?”

  The green woman nodded and headed after them.

  I gestured at the three women entering the diner. “Let’s go get something to eat. Klix is expecting us to be there tonight, so we need to get back on the road as soon as we can.”

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