I woke up in bed.

  It was dark outside and I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but Ether was laying on my chest. I saw a light on the other side of the closed door and heard voices, so I slid out from under Ether and walked to the door.

  “He lives!” Gesai got up from the table where she was sitting with Whisper, Klix, and Mive. it didn’t surprise me that Harror wasn’t in the room, nor that Kara was sitting by the door to the room I’d been in. Though it was strange to see her wearing jeans and a red shirt. Given that I’d never seen her not in her armor, I did a double take for a moment when I saw her.

  The room itself looked fairly plain. I wondered why Mive hadn’t housed us in one of the finer buildings, but it might have been the easiest one to put us up in. There were stairs going up and down to my right along with three more sets of doors and four doors on the other wall. There was what I assumed was a large window on the wall to my left, but that was covered with thick black curtains.

  “How is everyone..?” I winced as I saw the pair of crutches leaning against Mive’s chair. “Sorry.”

  “I would consider a leg for my life a fair trade.” The kitsune smiled. “It will take the Healers some time, but a leg can be grown back.”

  “Still…” I choked as Gesai wrapped me in a hug.

  “I was so worried about you!” The silver woman squeezed me a little too hard.

  “Ges! You’re… Too strong!” I gasped for air as she released me.

  “I’m sorry! Are you okay?” The older woman moved back, but kept a hand on my shoulder. “Klix leveled me up a little and I’m still getting used to controlling my strength.”

  “I’m okay.” I walked over to the table and sat down in an empty seat next to where Gesai had been sitting. “Where are we?”

  “It’s the Dispatcher’s station.” Gesai sat down as soon as I did. “It was one of the few buildings that…” She looked over at Mive. “Wasn’t damaged.”

  I’d forgotten that with monsters in the city, a good portion of the city had been destroyed. I looked down at my CB and saw that it was almost nine at night. It’d been just before noon when the fighting had started. I wasn’t sure how long it’d lasted, but I hadn’t been asleep for too long.

  “How bad was everyone..?” I tried to think of a good way to ask about their levels.

  “Kara was the only one who lost levels besides Mive.” Klix glanced over at her granddaughter. “It didn’t zero her out like the Fox, but almost.”

  That would have been why she wasn’t in her armor. She was too low level to wear it.

  “Sorry.” I grimaced. “I tried to get everyone out as fast as I could.”

  “You disobeyed an order is what you did.” Klix leaned forward and tapped her nails on the table. “You’re lucky that worked.”

  I tried to force a smile, then looked at Mive. “What about Trent? Have you woken him up..?” My question tapered off as the kitsune shook his head.

  “I…” Mive looked at Klix. “Don’t have the power right now to honor our deal, but I believe that we have reached an agreement?”

  I looked back at the ivory Goddess. “What’s he talking about?”

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  “You can’t just destroy a seal like that without hurting the person it’s on.” Klix leaned back in her seat. “But you can claim it if the owner isn’t around any more.” She sighed. “Once we get to my city, I can open it up for you to claim. Once you do, you should be able to let your father out.”

  “What do you mean if the owner isn’t around anymore?” I looked at Mive. “You’re not..?”

  “No.” The fox-man shook his head. “But the seals were attached to the curse. When you separated that from me, the curse died as well as the connection it had to all of the seals. It’s not as simple as Klix is explaining, but with some help from her, you’ll be able to take over the seal since there isn’t anyone else that it’s anchored to.” He swallowed, “Though that will make it like the ones you’ve already given out.”

  “Oh…” I swallowed. “You mean like the one Gesai has.”

  The kitsune nodded. “Exactly.”

  “What about Zel? Or any of the others that the demons put seals on?” I looked at Klix. “Who is going to take theirs?”

  “The fox can take them once he’s strong enough.” Klix folded her arms. “The deal was to get Trent out.”

  Whisper must have seen the confusion on my face. “What she means is that since Astrid’s seal was triggered, the only way to reset it is for someone to claim it. No one else had their seal triggered, so Mive can wait to claim them until he’s strong enough.”

  “Is Zel going to be okay?” I looked at Gesai. “Astrid was willing to die to get her out of here.”

  “Zel…” Gesai shook her head. “You can’t bring her with us. We already pulled strings to get Jovena in and there isn’t a spot for her on any of the other teams.” The redhead shrugged. “And you can’t claim her seal and leave her here.” She held up her hand. “And even with Klix’s help, Mive is too weak to claim it right now.”

  “But…” It left a bad taste in my mouth. “Couldn’t you claim her seal?”

  Klix chuckled. “You have to be Godkin to be able to have a seal like this bound to you.” She swiped her hand in front of me before I could ask my next question. “No.”

  “Maybe Trent can…”

  “I’ll do it.” Whisper sighed. “I know enough to be able to do it if she’s willing.”

  “But you’re…” I was trying to think of the right word.

  “A criminal?” Gesai offered.

  “Some might say that I’m merely wanted, but that is why I said if she was willing.” Whisper glared at the woman next to me. “Besides, I need to go to Tres for a while. We’d be safe there and I could teach her about the Dungeon.”

  “I guess that could work…” I looked at Gesai. “How long are we staying here?”

  “We’re leaving for Klix in the morning.” The silver woman nodded at the Goddess. “She’s leaving a team of her Scarlets here to help with a city sweep and she’s going back too. Something about ‘important business’ that she has with Trent.”

  “Does this have to do with that meeting he told me about?” I looked at the Goddess.

  Klix grinned and stood up. “I still have arrangements to make. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  I expected Kara to follow her down the stairs, but Ether’s sister stayed in her seat.

  “Still babysitting?” I nodded at the row of empty chairs across the table from me.

  Kara nodded slowly, but didn’t get up.

  “I guess I should probably try to get some more sleep.” I yawned as I stood up. I’d just woken up, but I still felt tired.

  “Before you go…” Mive grabbed the crutches and stood up. “I fear that I have been unable to honor my side of the deal, and given my current state…” He bowed his head. “I’m afraid that I must ask that you allow me to pay you with something of equivalent worth at a later date.”

  “I don’t know that you need to do that.” My eyes wandered to his missing leg. “I learned who my mother was and I’m sure you made a deal with Klix to get her to help me.” I pulled my eyes back up to look at his face and could tell that he wasn’t going to be satisfied with that. “How about this? Harror said that if one of the Godkin touched you while inside the Bequeathal Chamber that we’d start a struggle for control of the mantle and only one of us would survive. Do you know why I was able to touch you twice, but we’re both still alive?”

  The kitsune grinned. “I suppose that would be information of some value.” He tapped on his chest. “When I smuggled you out of Gar, I took you into my Bequeathal Chamber when we left the city. Since I brought you in, it attuned you to this Mantle. You couldn’t claim this mantle even if you Desolated me yourself.”

  “Good to know.” I held out my hand. “Does that make us even?”

  Mive took my hand. “The deal has been completed.”

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