Mavery wasn’t happy to see us.

  “I thought I told you to only bring the Atlas and the awakened one.” The almost bald green man turned to Trent.

  “I’m on a time crunch.” Trent folded his hands in front of him. “Having to track down all my students is going to take time that I don’t have.”

  “Yes, yes. I know.” The green man rubbed his eyes. “Jyscor is a 13-hour drive, and then you have a boat ride to Iver.” He looked at the CB on his wrist to check the time, then looked at Trent. “I’ll try to make this as quick as I can.” He turned to Miel. “I’m told you are serving as a protector?”

  “That’s right.” Miel leaned against the wall as the four of us took seats at the long table on either side of Trent.

  “I would like to remind you that you’re not in Klix, nor do you enjoy the protections of one of the Scarlets.” Mavery coughed into his hand. He turned away from us as he struggled to get the coughing fit under control.

  I glanced over at Trent, but my father shook his head before I could ask.

  “Now then…” Mavery cleared his throat as he turned back to us. “Where was I… Oh, yes.” His eyes narrowed as he focused on Miel. “So I need your vow that you will abide by the rules here.”

  Miel bristled. “This isn’t what we agreed to.”

  “Your agreement was with him and not me.” Mavery tilted his head. “I’ve already talked to your mother.” He pointed at the door. “Feel free to call her to verify.”

  The white-haired woman glanced at us, then turned back to the Archbishop. “One moment.”

  Once she was out of the room, Mavery turned his attention to me. “You’ve been busy.” He pointed at Ether. “You awakened the Goddess in her and…” His eyes drifted over to Aelin. “Brought a Mundane into your inner circle.”

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  “The last two Mundane from Aurox were a Godling and a Hunter.” I folded my arms. “I would think you’d want to see if you get the hat trick.”

  “Is she a godsired?” Mavery glared at me.

  “Well, no.”

  “And it’s my understanding that you need to sleep with the women to awaken whatever latent class they have.” The Archbishop raised an eyebrow at Aelin and Justia. “Looks like my attempt at finding you a suitable priest backfired.”

  “That’s…” I sighed. “What does it matter?” I motioned at the couple. “They’re happy and that means Justia will be able to do her job better.”

  “Part of her job is to make sure that you don’t attract the ire of the Primus by siring a school full of godkin.” Mavery growled. “It’s hard for her to do that if she’s not in your bed.”

  “I have that under control.” Ether spoke up, drawing the attention of the old man.

  “Ah, yes, the awoken runaway.” The green man clicked his tongue. “That doesn’t inspire a lot of faith in me that you’re going to stick around once the Primus shows up.”

  “Is there a point to this?” The more I talked to Mavery, the more irritated I got with him.

  “The point is that if you mess up and get caught, then we’re all on the hook for raising a godling outside of the official channels.” Mavery coughed again. “And now that I’ve been dragged into this scheme by the witches, the odds of this blowing up in our faces have gone up to a certainty.” He shook his head. “The best way to keep a secret is to tell no one.” He pointed at Aelin. “You brought someone who isn’t involved into a private meeting about things that she’s never going to understand.” He leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. “We’ve got four more just like you and I can guarantee that they’re just as loose with this information as you are.”

  “Aelin—”

  “It doesn’t matter.” The Archbishop stood up and slammed his hands on the table. “This whole scheme has gone too far and I’m too exposed, so I’m out.” He made a shooing motion with his hand. “Trent is taking full responsibility for this whole debacle, but I’m washing my hands of it. If something blows up again, contact one of you God friends, but don’t expect me to be doing you any more favors.”

  I watched the old green man sweep out of the room. The door slammed shut, and then a moment later, Miel walked in. She took a seat on the other side of Ether and looked at Trent.

  “What just happened?” The older woman looked around the table. “Why did he just storm out like that?”

  “There’s been a development with Rix.” Trent sighed and lowered his head into his hands. “We’ve got a problem.”

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