I didn’t bother showering.

  We were going to be in the Dungeon in less than an hour, so I didn’t see the point of getting that clean just to get dirty again. I’d been able to shower a few days ago when we left Mive and hadn’t really done much physical activity since.

  There were only three shower stalls in the waiting room’s bathroom, which were claimed by Aelin, Justia, and Ether. Rix already had on her blue-striped leather armor, and I was putting mine on as well. Our CBs weren’t locked here like they were in most buildings in the city, so it was as good of a time as any to get ready.

  Fray had scampered into the bathroom, leaving Rix and myself in the open room with Miel. Once we finished getting our protective layer on, Rix sat down in one of the metal chairs and started looking through information on her CB.

  “Why don’t you come over here and tell me about yourself?” Miel sat down on one of the chairs opposite the door to the bathroom and patted the seat next to her.

  I swallowed. There was no way that this conversation wasn’t going to be uncomfortable, but I was smart enough to recognize that her offer hadn’t been a question.

  “What do you want to know?” I sat down beside her. “I’m sure Klix knows more about me now than I know about myself.”

  “She does know quite a bit…” Miel looked me over. “But I want to know the things that aren’t in your file.”

  “Like what?” I glanced over at Rix, but my golden companion had shifted so that she was only watching us out of the corner of her eye. Redheaded traitor.

  “Like your plans for the future.” Miel held up her arm so she could look through her CB’s menu. “I know your history, and I can see your stats, but that isn’t what I’m interested in.” The short woman’s face got harder. “I know exactly how big of a target a Godling is, and there won’t be just one on your team. There’s two of you now AND a hunter. While Ether can hide what she is pretty easily from regular Adventurers, there are ways to tell who has divine lineage, and the agents of the Primus are equipped with them.” She nodded at the bathroom. “You’ve already bonded with a high priestess. Most godkin only do that AFTER they take a city.” The look she gave me dared me to lie to her. “Have you?”

  I shook my head and waved my hands emphatically. “NO!” I pointed at the bathroom. “Having Justia around was supposed to keep me grounded and give me someone to confide in and talk to!”

  “Yet my daughter fills that role.”

  “I…” I shrugged. “Things went wrong during our first mission. It messed with Justia’s head, then we got kidnapped, which didn’t help.” I sighed. “I do value Justia’s opinion…”

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  “But?” Miel prompted me after I left my confession hang in the air too long.

  “But I want her to have a chance to be herself for a while without having to worry about the box that people tell her that she needs to fit into.” I looked into the older woman’s red eyes. “Ether is always by my side, and I love her. It just makes sense to run things by her first.”

  “What about the rest of the women in this ‘harem’?”

  “I love each one of them in their own way.” I felt guilty that most of them had been separated from me for the last few weeks. “Gesai wants to help, sometimes to the point of hurting. She’s also fiercely loyal.” Guilt washed over me as I remembered the scars on her arms. “Oz is commanding and someone I know I can leave in charge. She’ll do what’s best for everyone even if that means she’s the one who has to take the smaller slice. Ren is…” I tried to think of a good way to put it. “She sees the little things that no one else does. She picks up slack that no one else notices.” I smirked as I nodded at Rix. “I don’t know if there is a drop of romantic feelings between us, but I know that the minute I need backup, Rix will be there. Even if she’s up against a Tier Five.”

  It could be argued that Rix wasn’t technically part of the harem because we’d never taken even one step in that direction, but Aelin claimed to be in it, so I felt it fell under Miel’s question. Also, I wasn’t bleeding, which meant Rix wasn’t offended by the inclusion, so I continued with the ‘honorary’ members.

  “Aelin frustrates me to death, but she’s like a little sister.” I smirked as I remembered the duel I’d gotten into over one of the other teams bullying her. Which reminded me of someone else. “Jovena is as prickly as a needlefish, but…” I closed my eyes as I thought about her. “She’s got a good moral compass even if she can be explosively violent.”

  That left the other two women in the bathroom. Actually, there was one more candidate, but I had no idea how Astrid was going to react to her inclusion, so that connection would have to wait until there was more than the couple hours that I’d been around her. Though considering that she was willing to let herself be killed to force us to take her friend with us because neither of them could tell us what was wrong. I had a strong suspicion that she was going to fit in with us just fine.

  “I know there was and will be an expectation of my relationship with Justia.” I shrugged. “I really don’t care what others want it to be. She feels like an older sister.” That left the last one. “Fray is fearless...”

  Rix snorted.

  I looked over at the redhead. “Yes, she’s afraid of literally everything, but!” I held up a finger. “When we were up against that Giant Acid Slime with the tentacles. Even though she was supposed to be being carried AND she knew that helping was going to get her hurt, she still jumped into a fight that was over her head. And that’s not the only time she’s done something like that either.”

  The golden woman shrugged. “True. We only need to be in a life-or-death situation for her to find her courage.”

  “That’s a lot of women.” Miel tapped her chin as she thought.

  “Blame Aelin. It was her idea. Something about living vicariously through me.”

  “Or you’re one of the few guys that she can tolerate.” Rix went back to her reading.

  “Really? She hides it so well.” Miel softly laughed. “I’m assuming that since you have a High Priestess already, you’re planning on taking a city and becoming an actual God?”

  “YOU WHAT!?!”

  Aelin was standing in the bathroom doorway, partway into tying up her blonde hair.

  “You’re going to be a WHAT?”

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