Klix was already out of town.

  The ivory Goddess had things to gather if she was going to be ready to do a seal transferring when Atlas arrived. She’d downplayed what all went into such a task. Now that the seal was no longer connected to the trap that had been containing Mive, it wasn’t nearly as dangerous, but Trent was still stuck inside in it and if she wasn’t careful, she could hurt the teacher or young girl.

  Her communicator buzzed and the name on the display drew a sigh out of her. Nineteen years ago, she’d thought it’d been a good idea to hook up with the handsome God, but she’d spent many days since regretting it.

  “Iver.” Klix growled as the white haired God appeared on the screen in front of her.

  “How is my brother?”

  “No pleasantries?” Klix raised an eyebrow. “Haven’t you learned any manners?”

  “You don’t deserve manners…” The ivory God snapped. “Not after what you did.”

  “What I did?” Klix toyed with the idea of closing the communication, just to see how much it would irritate him. “I don’t remember being the only one there.”

  “Your gaggle of witches…” Iver shook his head. “I’m not getting into that with you again. How is my brother?”

  Goading him was only going to drag out the conversation and Klix was already starting to remember why she hated interacting with the older of the two brothers. At least Trent had been nice to her until about twenty years ago when she’d tried to seduce him. She’d underestimated his devotion to Dee, but considering that he’d fathered a child not long after that, he wasn’t as devoted as he’d professed.

  “Trent’s alive.” Klix tapped her claws on the seat as she shifted. “I’m heading back to my city now to get ready to free him.”

  “Can you handle it or do I need to come and do it?”

  “Magic may not be my primary discipline.” Klix growled. “But I can do a seal claiming.”

  “With an inverse seal?” Iver eyed her. “Have you ever done one of those?”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “Have you?” Klix gritted her teeth. Until two weeks ago, inverse seals had been only theoretical as far as she knew. But she understood enough of the theory to help Trent’s son claim it. Once it was brought into his pact, she could walk him through how to release his father, then Trent could clean up any rough edges that might persist.

  “If you don’t think you’re up to it…”

  “I said I can do it.” Klix realized that she had started to raise her voice. She took a deep breath through her nose and slowly breathed it out through her mouth. “Was that the only reason why you called?”

  “You know how important this alliance is.” Iver glared at her. “Without Trent…”

  “You wouldn’t be able to lead it.” Klix cut him off. “The other Gods might be impressed by your coffers, but there’s nowhere with a quality of living like my city.” She narrowed her eyes. “For everyone.” That even the Mundane had access to the best quality of living was something that she prided herself in.

  “Maybe you would have coffers if you didn’t spend it all trying to coddle those who can’t contribute.” Iver held up his hand. “I don’t want to fight. I just want to make sure that you can handle this.”

  “I can handle it.” Klix gripped the edge of the seat to keep herself from screaming at the other God. “And I’ll make sure that he plays his part.”

  “You’ve found a woman to pretend to be you?” The other ivory God smirked. “I didn’t think anyone could replicate your personality.”

  There were a lot of things that she wanted to say, but that would just prolong this headache and she really did need to talk to a few other people before she made it back to her city.

  “I’m sure he’ll call you as soon as he’s out.” Klix had to force herself to keep the smile off of her face. She just hoped that she would be able to listen in on it. “Always a pleasure.” She waved at the screen and the image of the unpleasant brother vanished.

  Klix could have made some concessions if she’d believed for a moment that Iver was truly worried about his brother’s wellbeing, but she knew that if his hand wasn’t being forced, then the profit-obsessed God wouldn’t have bothered even checking in. What made it blatantly obvious was the one person that Iver had been careful to not mention at all. Just thinking about her had Klix typing out a recipient for her next call even though there were others who she probably should have called first.

  It was one of the few times that Klix was glad that the eighteen-year-old on the other end looked more like her father, minus that she insisted on dying her hair pink. The willful woman had begged her to set all of this up and even though it had meant more interactions with Iver, and probably earning more ire from Trent, Klix felt that it’d be worth it.

  “Hi my little Pixie.” Klix felt some of the angst from her previous conversation dissipating.

  The younger woman smiled, revealing razor sharp teeth. “Hi mom. How’d it go?”

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