She didn’t like it.

  I could tell by the look on her face that the thought of going back in there scared her.

  “Why do they need me?”

  “Harror said it’s an Inverse Seal, so if someone of a higher level tries to break the seal, then it sucks them in and uses their magic to make the seal stronger. So they need a High Priestess that is low enough level that they won’t get trapped themselves to unravel it, then break the seal.” I hated that basically what I’d just said was that she was the only one who could do this and she knew it.

  “How..?” The green woman sighed. “How would I do this?”

  “Harror said she would walk you through it and that a team would go in there to protect you from demons while you worked on it.” I knew I needed to add the last part. “I’ll have to go in too…” I nodded as Ether looked up at me. “You can come too.”

  Ether smiled, but my response set off her sister.

  “Why should Ether go in there?” Kara stepped towards me, which caused Ether to move in between us. “Why risk her life?”

  “Because it’s her life.” I rubbed Ether’s cold ivory arms. “I have to go because that’s the only way that Justia can open or close the Bequeathal Chamber. Justia has to go because she is the one who can get us in and the one who can free Mive.” I looked down at Ether. “Ether is the only other one of my team who can go inside, so I feel like she should have the option to go in if she wants.”

  “That’s…”

  “The way I do things.” I interrupted Kara. “If you don’t like it, then you can ask your Grandmother for a new assignment.” I took some satisfaction from her wince.

  The Scarlet didn’t say anything, though I had a feeling that she had a lot that she wanted to say.

  “So what do…”

  “I’m going with you.” I could feel Ether’s glare fixate on her sister, daring the older woman to object.

  I turned to Justia. “I know it probably feels like you don’t have a choice, but I’m serious. If you’re not comfortable with this, let me know and I’ll tell them to find another way.”

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  “No…” Justia shook her head. “I’ll do it.”

  I didn’t like the hesitation in her voice, but I had a bad feeling that it may have had something to do with Rix and I didn’t want to say anything about our Hunter in front of Kara.

  “When do we start?” The brunette was looking at Kara, not me.

  “We’ll have to talk to the Goddesses, but I would think that They’d want to start as soon as we can.” I was starting to feel the cold myself, but it looked like the Healer had something else on her mind. “Is there something else I haven’t thought of?”

  “It’s just the Dungeon Break…” Justia looked over at Ether. “Why would the Demons have done something that would have made everyone run out of the city if their goal was to possess as many people as possible?”

  “What if the Cult thought that they had a chance to take over the city while the Six were dead and Mive was out of commission?” Ether looked at Justia. “It was almost a full day since Gesai killed the Six before the Dungeon Seed was detonated and you can get here from anywhere in the Ward in that amount of time.”

  “If it is the Cult, then that would mean that Wurn wasn’t where their stockpile was.” The implication of that sent my mind after a Unilop. “And it would mean that there are two things that we are fighting against here.”

  “It’s also worth remembering that the Demons were able to hide in the Six for almost a decade. How are we supposed to know if someone has been possessed?”

  That was a very good point. “Maybe Mive knows a way.” I tried to give the others a reassuring smile. “He’s been able to observe them for a decade. Maybe He knows a way…” My voice trailed off as I realized that if the Kitsune God did know of a way to tell, then he would require something in exchange for that knowledge. “But we won’t know until we ask.”

  Ether stopped me from reaching for the door. “What do we tell the others?” She nodded at Justia. “What do we tell Aelin?”

  I almost told her that Aelin understood that there were things that she couldn’t be told all the details of, but that felt a little harsh.

  “We’ll tell them that we’re working on it.” I shook my head. “That’s all we can tell them at the moment. Until Trent wakes up and can seal things better, we don’t have much of an option.”

  “What about Klix?” Ether looked up at me.

  I thought about it for a moment. I could tell that there was a part of Ether that was wanting to believe in her grandmother, but I doubted that Klix would help us exactly how we wanted. But I knew whatever we said in front of Kara would get back to the Goddess. “Compared to everything else that needs her attention, I doubt she’s going to want to divert attention to something like that.”

  Ether sagged into me, but nodded. “Okay.”

  I kissed her gently, then looked into her eyes. “It’s going to be okay.”

  She just nodded and reached for the door.

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