Aelin was banging on the door to the RV.

  “COME ON YOU TWO! IT’S TIME TO GOOO!”

  I rolled out of the sleeping bay and slipped my pants on as I headed for the door.

  “Someone had the smart idea to lock the door from the inside.” I rubbed my eyes as I paused at the door.

  “If we hadn’t, then she would have been in here at first light.” Gesai growled as she slipped a pair of green shorts over her silver legs.

  I waited until she was decent, then unlocked the door. I shook my head as it swung open. Back when I’d been a Porter, waking up at 5AM was the norm. Now, with all the later nights, it was getting later and later when I was finally rolling out of bed.

  I checked the time. 7:56AM.

  “Took you long enough.” Aelin thrust a breakfast sandwich into my hands, then tossed the other one she was holding at Gesai. The short, brown woman pushed past me and climbed in the driver’s seat. “Trent left an hour ago and told us to tell you not to sleep in too late.” She gathered up her blonde hair and put it in a ponytail.

  “Thanks for letting us sleep in…” I moved out of the way as Justia and Ether climbed in.

  “She wanted to get you up at seven-thirty.” Justia sat down in shotgun. “But Ether hadn’t woken up yet, so I was able to hold her off.”

  I glanced out into the yard, then looked at Ether. “Fray’s not with you?”

  “She went with Trent.” Ether sat down in the booth, then nodded at the door. “He took Kara too, but mom…”

  The door was pulled out of my hands as it opened. The older version of my wife stepped into the doorway.

  “Is coming with you.” Miel shook her head as she looked over at Gesai. “Seriously? A level reducer?”

  “You have one.” Gesai tore a bite out of her breakfast sandwich and chewed furiously. She swallowed the bite before she continued. “So don’t start with me.”

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  “I got one because I wanted to be with a Mundane who would never be able to handle my levels…” Miel closed the door behind her, then gestured at me. “Not someone who is going to overpower you long before he outlevels you.”

  “He’s…” Gesai took a deep breath. “Okay, so he’s going to have more stats than me before he reaches my level, but do you know how long that’s going to be?”

  “So you’re just impatient?” Miel clicked her tongue as she shook her head. “Girl, when you have a lifespan like ours, what’s waiting a couple years?”

  “So you’ve always made perfect choices?” Ether glared at her mother. “Or not done something impulsively for someone you care about?”

  “That’s completely different.” Miel faced her daughter. “I did what I did to protect you, not because I was afraid some guy would bone my sister.”

  “MOM!” Ether’s face turned even paler as she blushed.

  “Miel…” I sighed. “I take it you don’t agree with what we’ve done, but that doesn’t change the fact that it was our decision to make, not yours.” I linked my arm in Gesai’s. “You can either be happy for us, or…” I motioned at the door. “We’ll wait to leave until you can get a car to follow us in.”

  I felt like a rabbit as those red predator eyes sized me up. I knew that the only thing that could stop her from strong-arming us into anything was the deal that Trent had with Klix. Even with Gesai’s level boost, none of us would be able to even scratch her.

  Aelin ignored the feud that was going on behind her and backed the RV out of the parking space behind the clinic.

  “It seems the choice has been made for me.” Miel sat down in the chair behind Aelin.

  The tension in the vehicle barely lessened, but at least it didn’t look like Miel was going to get violent. Not that I’d seen the queen’s guard fight at her power level. But knowing how much stronger she was than any of us, it wasn’t something I was keen to witness.

  “You’re going with us to get Rix and Pixie, aren’t you?” I had hoped that she’d stay behind at the Cathedral, but there wasn’t a reason for her to do so. Ether was going to be with me and Rix and Pixie were in the Fane Ward. That put all of the Godsired on this trip, which meant our strongest fighter needed to be along to make sure we were safe.

  “Yes.” Miel folded her arms. “I’m staying close to you and Ether as long as I’m not sent to do someone else’s job.”

  There it was. The reason why she had a problem with Gesai. The publicity stunt that we’d been doing the last two days had forced Miel to watch Gesai’s class as part of our whole ‘engagement announcement’. Now that we could physically be together, that would mean Gesai would be spending more time as my primary bodyguard. I tried to think of some way to reassure Miel that she was still going to be needed, but I couldn’t come up with any that made sense. I made a mental note to talk to Ether about it when we had some alone time.

  I glanced at the two higher-level women and decided that silence was a good thing right now. The one thing I did know was that it was going to be a long ride back to the Cathedral.

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