It didn’t take long for Trent to add a pair of daggers to the seal.

  I pulled the collar of my shirt back so I could look at the shield emblem on my chest.

  The emblem had been split into four parts: a shield for Ether, a sword for Pixie, a pair of daggers for Rix, and a staff for me. Now the staff was crossed over the shield and another pair of daggers was where my staff had been. It seemed a little weird to use a staff to represent me on the emblem when I used a spellgun, but I wasn’t the one designing the seal, so I was stuck with whatever Trent came up with.

  I rubbed the place over my heart where the seal rested, invisible to almost anyone else.

  “Rix and Pixie are going to be able to tell that we added someone else to the seal, won’t they?” I looked over at Trent, who was cleaning up his hands in the sink across from the booth.

  “They’ll know.” The man pretending to be my father finished washing his hands, then pulled a towel off the refrigerator and dried them.

  The others had gone into the Temple already, but I’d hung back for a little bit because I wanted to talk to him.

  “Is it safe to talk?” I looked at the broken window.

  “I’ve got a privacy bubble up, so no one that’s Tier Seven or lower is going to be spying on us.” The ivory man hung the towel back on the handle. “That’s on my list of things to fix while the rest of you are in the Dungeon.”

  I nodded. We’d eaten lunch while he’d worked on Nakten. With a little luck, we’d be finished in eight hours, but that was going to make it a late evening.

  “What Nevah said about not being able to add Mom’s bloodline to his line…” My voice trailed off. “Does that mean he’s not my father?”

  “Probably.” Trent sat down on the couch and leaned back. “That horndog likes to brag about his conquests, so I don’t see why he wouldn’t have rubbed it in that he got to her too.” He took a deep breath and let it out.

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  “So who is my real father?” I thought about Pixie. “Iver?”

  “No.” Trent shook his head. “Klix said that Gar chickened out that night, so she wasn’t there.” He inclined his head. “Plus, your birthday puts your conception almost a month before that.”

  “You can see my actual birthday?” It was the first time I’d heard about it. The Priests at the Temple in Aurox knew what year I’d been born, but they’d just guessed about how old I was and put that in my information.”

  “Mive told me.” Trent shook his head. “Though we need to be careful what we tell Mive. I was worried that there might be a leak, but this is worse than I feared.”

  “So do you have any guesses as to who my dad is now?” I swallowed. “Whisper was certain you weren’t.”

  “Dee was the only Goddess I’ve been with.” Trent’s brown eyes got misty. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “Sorry.” He sniffled, then wiped his hands on his jeans. “I don’t have a problem continuing to claim you.”

  “Thank you.” I didn’t know what else to say. I knew that I’d put him in a bad situation by claiming to be his son.

  “It’s the least I can do. It helps me feel a little better about the child that I lost when Dee died.” Trent shook his head and slapped his knees, then stood up. “Sorry, we’re not talking about me. You’ve got the same bloodline I do, so you don’t have to worry about someone calling you a fake.” He shrugged. “Truth be told, I assumed it was Nevah because he tries to procreate with any Goddess that will let him, but that means that I have hundreds of uncles running around out there, so it could be any one of them.”

  I thought about what he said. Even if I didn’t know who exactly my father was, I was still part of Trent’s bloodline, his family. Which made him looking after me make a little more sense.

  “Thanks.” I smiled at him.

  “For what?” Trent shrugged as he slid into the driver's seat so he could better see how badly the window was damaged.

  “For taking me in.” I touched the seal on my chest. “You and Mavery were right; I wouldn’t have lasted out there on my own. I’m truly grateful that you not only decided to look after me, but that you took me in and let me be family.”

  “Noblesse Oblige.” Trent smiled at me. “Remember that when you have power and take care of those who need protecting.”

  “I promise.” I gave him a thumbs up, then jumped out of the RV. I had a feeling the others had been waiting on me for a while and we had a long afternoon ahead of us.

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