My head hurt.

  I tried to blink the fog away, but Klix grabbed my arm and hauled me to my feet before I could fully see.

  “Wait!” I pointed at Astrid. “Can you get that seal off of her?”

  Klix glared at me. “Not here.” She paused and sighed. “We’re leaving. We can talk more at the Capitol.”

  “Why are we going there?”

  “Because that’s where his bunker is.” Klix pointed at the unconscious God. “And we have to confront the current Six.”

  “We?”

  Klix glared at me. “For now. You are staying within arm’s reach.”

  As we exited the tent, there were two of the red personal guards standing on either side of the door.

  “A group of scavengers has crossed the barrier.” One of the guards reported.

  “I’ll handle it.” Klix motioned around the room. “Get them loaded up.”

  The ivory Goddess pulled me behind her as she hurried out the door.

  Before I even had a chance to protest we were outside and I saw a group of four Adventurers that had surrounded the moving van. It looked like two Power types and two Magic types by their weapons. They were in their mid fifties, so their level would probably be at the high end of Tier Four, though it could be higher since they were bounty hunters and PKs gave a lot more experience than monsters.

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  “We were here first!” One of the ones with a sword pointed it at Klix. “Don’t…”

  He froze and she never stopped walking. I didn’t even see her hand move as they just fell apart as she walked past them. I had no idea what level she was, but it was high.

  The crowd started running like they were next on her kill list. I looked at the van and Whisper was in the driver's seat, but I didn’t see Rix. I had no idea where the Shooter was hiding, but I hoped it wasn’t close. I doubted that Klix would hesitate long enough for someone to tell her that Rix was one of ours.

  “Did you have to kill them?” I finally found my vocals as we approached her car.

  The ivory Goddess stopped and pointed at the crowd. “There were at least twenty more in the crowd waiting to see if they could swoop in and steal the kill.” She pointed at the pile of goo on the ground. “These were the foolish ones that were eventually going to get someone in the crowd killed. By taking care of them now, I saved lives today and someone else’s life in the future.”

  I swallowed. It made a little bit of sense, but it also felt really extreme.

  “Besides.” Klix posed. “That type of disrespect for a Goddess deserves punishment.”

  “Can you call it punishment if they’re not around to learn from it?” I realized that I might have overstepped when I saw her face.

  “Another thing to talk about.” She pulled me in front of her and pushed me towards the car. “Get in.”

  One of her personal guards held open the door for us. I was curious why they hadn’t stopped the hunters, but I was also curious how the bounty hunters had thought that it was a good Idea to get this close in the first place. I didn’t know how much Whisper was worth, or what the Six had added on to it, but apparently it was enough to make them think the risk was worth it.

  I climbed into the vehicle and sat down beside Ether.

  The inside of the car was very similar to the one Mavery had rode in when we’d gone from my hometown of Zeb to the Cathedral. There were two rows of seats inside that were covered in some type of leather. Both rows faced each other and the divider in between the back and the driver was completely walled off.

  “Atlas!” Ether hugged me.

  “Are you okay?” I squeezed her back, then maneuvered her towards the other door as Klix got in and sat on the seat against the divider.

  “So…” Klix eyed me. “What are you planning to do with my granddaughter?”

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