We were in the largest dining room.

  Klix had moved everyone into the largest room, while she and Harror were discussing what to do in the private dining room. Trent and Astrid were laying on the floor on one corner of the room we were in. The Goddesses had Mive and were working on freeing Him of His bindings. The Six had been taken to a building across the street with a Scarlet and a Root to watch over them.

  Gesai was doing her best to keep our team calm, but there was only so much that could be done in such a stressful situation. Fray looked like she was about to have a serious panic attack and Zel wasn’t looking much better. It probably didn’t help that Kara was hovering around Ether. Having one of the Scarlets so close had at least kept Aelin and Jen to serious and brief questions.

  Oz was watching the people who were outside the front window, while Shelly was doing his best to stay out of everyone’s way. Ren, Justia, Aelin, and Jen were in the kitchen and whatever was being cooked smelled amazing. The one person I hadn’t seen yet was RIx, though I had a feeling that she’d show up once there was a way for her to help out.

  The door between the dining areas opened, drawing all of our attention.

  “Atlas.” Whisper growled as he said my name. He nodded with his head to tell me that my presence was needed. When I got up, Ether moved to follow me, but the bandit held up his hand. “Only Atlas.”

  I thought about arguing, but the look on his face told me that I wasn’t going to be able to get him to budge on that. I pulled Ether close and gave her a quick kiss. “I’ll be right back.”

  She lightly touched my arm. “Be careful.”

  “I will.” I gave her a smile that I wasn’t feeling. When I walked past Whisper, the blonde man closed the door between the two rooms.

  Mive was on a table and the look on the Goddess’s faces didn’t look promising.

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  “What’s wrong?” I looked at Klix. I wasn’t sure what Harror knew, though I had a feeling that it wouldn’t be long before my secret was out.

  “This is an inverse curse.” Harror pointed at the kitsune.

  “What does that mean?” I looked at the three of them to see which one would answer.

  “It means that it feeds off of his own magic.” Harror shook her head. “It’s also directly applied to his mantle, which means…”

  “That you need a high priest to open it.” There were only the four of us in the room, which I assumed meant that neither of them had brought theirs. “You want to use Justia.”

  “She has already worked with the Mantle, so she can open it.” Harror looked at me. “If we were to try to attune another Priest to it, then there is a chance that we would become stuck as well.” The green Goddess looked at Klix, then me. “She is the one who must.”

  “She can’t go in alone.” Whisper looked at me. “Mive can’t close it without his high priest and the demons killed Fare, so if we’re going to free Mive anytime soon, then both of you have to go in there.”

  “What if the demons attack like they did last time we were in there?” I looked at them. “And why isn’t Justia in here?”

  “We will send in a team with you.” Harror looked puzzled. “I’ll have to go so that I can tell the little one what to do.” The green Goddess nodded at Klix. “The thief has agreed to provide one of her reds and this one will go as well.” She turned back to me. “And why would we include the little one? She will do as her God directs.” She shook her head. “Though to have an attendant at such a young age…”

  I wanted to argue, but I could tell that it wouldn’t make much of a difference.

  “What about the Dungeon Break?” I nodded towards the front. “What are we doing about that?”

  “I’ll take care of that.” Klix grabbed my shoulder and her claws bit into it. “It looks like every floor through the sixties broke out there. We’re putting up a perimeter, but this city isn’t going to be cleared anytime soon.”

  “Is backup coming?” My mind instantly went to Slece.

  “The Dispatchers are sending in more Adventurers to deal with all the floors and help hunt down the Floor Bosses. But nothing can really happen until we get all of the higher Tier portals closed.” Klix shook her head. “This city is going to burn.”

  I looked down at the unconscious God lying in front of me. “I’ll talk to Justia.”

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