It was a problem big enough to make Mavery back out.

  “What happened?” I looked at my father. “Is Rix okay?”

  “Pixie was picked up by the Iscariot.” Trent cleared his throat. “That’s a group of cultists that are kidnapping godlings to try to extract their class and transfer it to themselves.”

  “Is Pixie?” Miel shot to her feet.

  “Pixie is fine.” Trent motioned for the older woman to sit down. “Rix was able to save her and two of her sisters, but Mavery had to call in a favor with ArchBishop Ferdan at the Fane and…” He sighed. “Ferdan is working with the Primus.”

  “Which means Mavery just outed himself and the existence of four Godlings and a Hunter.” My veins ran cold as fear gripped my heart. “We’re not going to make it in time, are we?”

  “Whisper is already en route and should be there later today.” Trent took a deep breath. “But it gets worse.” He scanned the room for a moment as if he was trying to find the right words. “Rix’s father is Kire.”

  A pit formed in my stomach. “Did she know?”

  “She didn’t and the news hit her just as hard as it looks like it’s hitting you.” Trent eyed each of us.

  Ether was already pale, but she was even more ghostly as the blood drained out of her face. Justia was breathing faster, while Aelin seemed excited instead of scared.

  “Does this mean we have a mole in the Primus now!” Aelin bounced in her seat.

  “You’re not worried that Rix might have been the plant in our group?” Justia looked at her girlfriend.

  “Rix? Pfft.” The brown woman blew a raspberry. “She’s one of us, one hundred percent.” A hint of worry clouded her face as she looked at my father. “She’s one of us, right?”

  “Kire was unaware that Rix was alive.” Trent nodded. “He, like Whisper, thought she died sixteen years ago.”

  “But what does that mean now?” The only member of the Primus that I knew by name was Kire and the only reason why I knew that was because Kire had killed Trent’s wife.

  “It means that the Primus now know about the girls and will likely be sending trackers to hunt them down as we speak.” Trent looked at Miel. “It also means that if we leave the Cathedral, we will likely be intercepted before we reach Nyssa.”

  “Whisper isn’t strong enough to fight off godslayers.” Miel rose out of her seat. “We need to go now! We need to contact the witches and have them send guards to pick them up!”

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  “Sit down.” Trent cleared his throat when Miel didn’t immediately comply. “We have some time and I need to explain the rest of this before we leave.”

  “Every minute we sit here talking is another minute where Pixie is in danger. We need—”

  “Lyssa is protecting them.”

  Miel’s mouth hung open. “Is that supposed to make me feel BETTER?”

  “Who is Lyssa?” Aelin looked between the two.

  “She’s a Tier Seven god-killer.” Miel growled. “She’s one of Kire’s kids and looney as a half eaten box of crackers and… by the GODS!” She threw her hands in the air. “THAT’S why you are just now telling us how your Hunter is connected to all of this?”

  “Wait, you knew?” I looked at my father.

  The pale man nodded slowly.

  “Since when?” Ether demanded.

  “Whisper told me who she was in Wurn.” My father held up his hand to silence the questions. “Please. You already know that Whisper has been working for me undercover in Sipher’s organization for decades.”

  “Yes, but how did he know who Rix’s father is?” Aelin leaned forward on the table.

  Trent hesitated and waffled his head. “He knew her mother before Rix was born.”

  “There has to be more to the story than that.” Aelin groaned. “Come on, tell us!”

  “That’s Whisper’s story to tell, if he chooses.” Trent shook his head. “Rix is the spitting image of her mother, so I had Tres run some of her blood to see if it was a match to one of Kire’s kids and it came back positive.”

  Silence fell over the table as we all processed the new information.

  Ether broke the silence first. “So what does this mean?”

  “Our goal hasn’t changed.” Trent looked at Miel. “We need to get to the girls and get them somewhere safe, but Mavery isn’t going to let us bring them here.”

  “Where is safe for four Godlings and a Hunter?” I looked between the two older people. “The Vatican?”

  “The kingdom would be safer for them than that place.” Trent shook his head. “The Pope would turn them over to the first god-killer who showed up.” A hint of sadness crept into his voice. “Trust me.”

  “So let me get this straight.” I began counting on my fingers. “God killers have Cora. Kire knows about us and is likely sending people after us right now. A crazy woman is protecting Rix. And Mavery just abandoned us.”

  “Kire doesn’t know about the two of you.” Trent clarified. “The Primus is aware that Rix and Pixie are students here. Mavery told Ferdan that they were there to save some Mundane students who were being targeted by kidnappers. Ferdan resisted letting my agents into the Fane, so Lyssa broke in and got two of them out.”

  “If Lyssa is Kire’s daughter, then shouldn’t the Primus leave them alone?” Hope filled Ether’s voice.

  “Kire is part of the Primus, he isn’t the leader.” Trent shook his head. “And just because Lyssa is his daughter and has worked for the Primus doesn’t mean that they won’t kill one of their own.” He paused. “Wurn was part of the Primus and they Desolated him.”

  The news shocked me. I couldn’t believe that an organization could kill their own people and not have everyone leave and the organization disband. Or maybe that was why it was still around. Maybe the Gods that were part of the Primus were too afraid of being Desolated themselves if they crossed whoever was running it.

  I turned to my father. “What do we do now?”

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