Mantle of the Gods [LitRPG / Slow Burn / FTB Harem]

We didn't have any more time to talk.

Ether, Gesai, and Zel got back first, which I assumed that Aelin and Jen would have to be thrown out of the mall since it was so near closing time.

"How was it?" I pulled Ether close to me and kissed her forehead.

"We got what we needed." The ivory woman slid under my arm, to lean on the cabinet with me. She gestured at Gesai, who had moved to the driver's seat. " Gesai has the supplies for her team and I have the stuff for ours. Did you find weapons?"

"Fray got a new katana and I had to commission hand axes for Oz. Turns out that Jen's aunt was working there. She said that she'd have the weapons waiting for us at the Temple." I looked at Zel, "Zel. Do you go shopping? Or do you have servants or a butler like Vee who does it for you?"

Ether elbowed me.

"What? I'm just trying to get to know her better." I looked at the silver woman sitting between me and Justia, "I've never been around someone who lived somewhere so fancy."

Zel slid out of the booth, tripped and ended up on the floor in front of me. She pushed herself up on her knees. "It's okay! I'll tell you whatever you want to know!"

Justia mouthed the word DESPERATE.

I nodded, which Zel took as me prompting her to answer the question.

"My parents have servants, but they didn't really pay much attention to me. So if I wanted something that wasn't provided, I had to find a way to get it myself." Zel tried to smile, "I've been to a lot of Mundane stores, since those sell the cheapest things."

My opinion of her started to change a little, though I wondered if she was literally throwing herself at me because she wanted out, or because she thought that I was her ticket to a life of riches. I decided to pull a Trent.

Unlike my fake father, I couldn't go down to the lower floors of the dungeon and kill one monster that was worth thirty thousand All. But I did know that twenty All was more than I'd been able to save after working for four years. Which meant the hundred All coin I took out of my CB would be worth a significant amount to someone who had to earn their own money like a Mundane.

"Here." I dropped the coin into her hands. "I don't have much, since I'm only Tier Zero, but I just realized my father didn't give you any spending money like he gave the rest of us. I know it's probably too late for you to spend it now, but we'll probably come back tomorrow and you could buy something for yourself then."

She looked at the coin, then over at Gesai, then back to me. She offered me the coin back. "Miss Alard already bought me some better gear tonight."

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

I put my right hand against the cabinet and my left arm was around Ether's shoulders. I tried to think of what to do next.

She must have misread the pause, because she continued. "If you'd like to do something nice, there's a really good ice cream parlor on the way home. You can get a cone for only one All. It's much better and cheaper than the ones in the mall."

She wasn't after All it seemed. I took the coin back and looked at Gesai. "Do we have time for a pitstop?"

"You're the ones fighting in the morning, not me." Gesai pulled up the menu on her CB, "I'll tell Aelin she's not getting any if she's not here before nine."

"Should we ask the ones back at the house if they want some?"

"Astrid likes chocolate!" Zel closed her lips tight.

I raised an eyebrow at the woman that was still on her knees in front of me. "You two are close?"

Zel nodded. "Our families are all close, but Astrid and I aren't heirs, so we were both ignored." She swallowed. "She's my only friend here." A smile started to creep across her face. "We used to sneak out all the time and go get ice cream, or see a show, or…" Her voice drifted off, then she was back. "We didn't think that I'd have a chance to go to the Cathedral, so when this happened, we were so excited." She shook her head. "That's why she was like that tonight. I have to leave this place." The silver woman wove her fingers together and pressed her fist against my chest. "I'll do anything to convince you to take me with you."

Fray's eyes went wide and she started shaking her head. Justia reached over the table and touched the other green woman's arm. She'd picked up on the same thing I had.

This wasn't the first time an anything offer had been made to me. Except this one didn't have a single drop of sexual energy in it. In fact, there was nothing in that offer but fear and desperation.

"Hey." I untangled my arm from around Ether so I could help Zel stand up. "What kind of trouble are you in?"

Zel trembled as she looked around the vehicle, "Why would you think I'm in trouble? I just offered…"

"He knows what you offered." Ether cut in. "He also knows that you'd probably make good on the nastiest thing his mind could think of."

They were the same height, but it felt like Ether was towering over Zel. "What he also knows is that there's none of this…"

I wasn't expecting the kiss. It was fierce and warm and passionate and it shut down everything else. For a moment, it was just the two of us there.

She pulled away before I could grab her.

"Or that…" Ether motioned at Gesai who looked like it was taking everything she had not to join in on the show and tell demonstration that Ether was putting on. "So…" The Tank poked the Shooter in the chest. "Unless that anything includes explaining why you have to get out of here, then you can bet your life he's not going to touch you."

It felt like my beating heart was the loudest thing in the room as Ether stared down at the other woman like a cat staring at a wounded mouse. It probably helped the analogy that Ether had shark-like teeth and Zel's only sharp teeth were normal canines.

"WE HAVE THE LOOTS!" Aelin burst into the RV, shattering the silence.

"AND IT'S SKILLS FOR EVERYBODY!"Jen jumped in behind her.

Aelin looked around at all of our faces. "Who died?"