I’d never felt this much tension in a room.

  Not even when Trent had been squaring off against Sipher had there been this much tension. Nevah looked completely unfazed and smiled as he spread his arms wide.

  “Trent! My favorite grandson!” The ivory God pulled the other man in to a big hug.

  Trent let his arms stay by his sides until the embrace was over, then glared at the older man. “What are you doing here?”

  “Well, I heard about the boy…” He held up his hand for a high-five. “Oh, come on. You can’t leave me hanging. I always wanted to get Divine Potential mixed with our bloodline!” He pointed at his raised right hand. “This is me congratulating you for something I couldn’t do.”

  I felt the blood drain out of my face as Trent slowly reached up his hand and lightly patted the God’s palm. Maybe Nevah is just playing along. I could feel my heart speed up. As lackluster as the reunion had been, at least I’d been able to say that I’d met my father, but if Nevah was denying ever being with my mother, then I wasn’t sure who was my real father.

  Trent moved in front of me as Ether bumped me with her elbow.

  “Your face.” My wife whispered in my ear.

  I blinked as she kissed me on the cheek. It took me a moment to realize that I was wearing the shock I felt on my face. I closed my eyes and focused on being in the moment. I’d have a chance to talk to Trent about my parentage later.

  The rest of the RV seemed to be oblivious to my shock as the conversation continued.

  “Didn’t you tell me the last time you saw me that you were disappointed that I refused to remarry?” Trent grumbled.

  “Bygones!” Nevah laughed. “Look! You did what I couldn’t and mixed the bloodlines and now we’ve got the ultimate harem king!”

  “”I’m not…” I sighed as Aelin giggled. The last thing I needed was for her to have a reason to push me to include more women. Ether and Gesai required enough attention and while I loved that Oz didn’t need much and Ren had a way of being there for me, I couldn’t help but feel like I was losing out on a lot of time with the other two.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “You want to turn him into a weapon?” Trent shook his head. “Get in line.”

  “I don’t want to turn him into one.” Nevah winked at my teacher. “He’s already a weapon. I just want to give him the best chance of surviving.”

  “By getting the Primus to allow me to take my mother’s city?” I butted into the conversation. “Doesn’t the Primus know what my mother’s bloodline can do when mixed with yours?”

  “That was a long time ago.” Nevah waved his hand. “I’m sure there are records of it somewhere, but I’m the only one old enough to know what went on back then.”

  “So you’re what, wanting me to create the kingdom here?” I eyed the older man.

  “Think about it!” Nevah laughed. “A world where all the cities are connected and people are free to roam the space in between cities and don’t have to worry about monsters, Dungeon outbreaks, or wars between the Gods?” He nodded. “Yes! That sounds like a utopia to me!”

  “That’s what the Kingdom is like?” Aelin’s brown eyes sparkled.

  “For the most part, yes.” Nevah grinned. “Maybe I can tell you about it some time.”

  “You really think the other Gods would allow that to happen?” Miel bristled. “The Kingdom trades with us sometimes, but crossing the sea is dangerous.” She looked around the RV. “The other Gods won’t let you take their power.”

  “Which is why he needs time to grow!” Nevah pointed at me. “He can’t grow too fast, either, or they’ll notice, but if he sticks to his mother’s city, then most of the Gods will ignore him until he takes the city for himself. He just needs to be ready for the ones that are going to move against him when that happens and the few who would try to eliminate him before.”

  The last part made me sit up straight. “You said few. Who else besides Slece wants me dead?”

  “She’s the main one and since she’s so close, the one you have to worry about the most.” Nevah frowned. “Though I have to applaud you for taking someone from her favored house into your harem.”

  “Oz is a Mite and even though her mother is a Reace, she has no affiliation with that house.” Trent cut in.

  “Her chosen is also in that class.” Nevah looked from Trent to me. “Did he tell you that?’

  I swallowed. I knew that there was a Sabil Reace in my year, but I didn’t know what being a Chosen meant. I looked over at Trent. “Is that bad?”

  “Not something you have to worry about.” Trent huffed as he looked at his grandfather. “Was there anything else you wanted to scare him with?”

  “I already sent you the details of the treaty.” Nevah tilted his head towards Nakten. “Your boy wants you to be the one to do the seal, so I’ll leave you to it.” He moved past my father and stopped at the door. “Good luck, my favorite. I can’t wait to see how you change the world.”

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