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

Rix helped me get Oz into a bunk.

Gesai looked worried but stayed in the booth.

"Where are we?" I looked at Whisper, who was leaning against the cabinet. Sydney had turned around in the passenger seat and was sitting there. Rix moved into the space next to Gesai.

"We were just finalizing how we were going to get out of the city." The blonde man glared at me. "What were you doing?'

"Getting some perspective." I looked at Sydney. "What is your deal with Trent?" I looked at the unconscious man lying by Whisper. Astrid was in the fourth bunk, but they were too afraid to move him. The ivory man had started to stabilize, but he was still ashen and sickly.

Sydney looked insulted. "Why would you...?"

"Your niece is warded against high-level charming." I was tired and didn't have the patience for this dance. "Someone doesn't just have something like that. And not only does Trent say that we can trust you, but so does HE." I pointed at Whisper, "And Tres." I smiled as she flinched when I named the God. "But they don't trust your in-laws, which means that the Violu are spies of some type. I need to know what your deal with Trent is so I can decide what to do next."

"And why are you deciding?" Sydney looked over at Gesai.

I stepped in between them. "Because I am Trent's son, which means she will do whatever I say." I nodded at Whisper. "And so will he."

"Excuse..!"

"Shut up." Rix cut off Whisper's rant.

Sydney bit her lip as she looked at me. "I… Can't tell you." She started tapping her finger on her arm. "But I'll do what I can to help you."

I hadn't been expecting a confession. There had been a small part of me that had hoped that by coming on strong, she'd lump me in with whatever deal she had with Trent. I assumed it was some type of seal like the one I had. I started wondering just how many people he had bound to him like that. Considering how long he'd been alive, it was probably a bigger number than I'd guess.

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"Okay, then can you tell me where my friends are being held?'

Sydney shook her head. "I'm sure I could find out, but there's a limit to how much I can poke around."

"Okay, how about this? Trent asked Astrid if she knew what happened to Mive and if her stunt had something to do with Mive's disappearance. Would you go catatonic too if I asked you questions like those?" I was hoping that I would be vague enough that if it would, I wouldn't have just knocked out our best help.

"I know Mive hasn't been seen in just over ten years." Sydney looked at Trent, "But I don't know why." She turned back to me. "And while I may not know why Astrid tried to get killed in the pit, I can guess that it had something to do with the seal that they tried to put on Vanya and Sephia about that same time."

"They tried to seal your kids?" Whisper eyed her. "And you let them?"

"I already had a protective seal on them both, so the one like Astrid has didn't embed itself." She shook her head. "So I know it's not Mive that put the seal on them, but for it to do something like that…"

That was probably why Trent thought he could handle it. If the seal wasn't stronger than whoever had sealed Sydney's kids, then he wouldn't have been too worried about himself. I was tempted to go in myself, but if Trent wasn't able to get out, then I would definitely get stuck.

"Whatever. We need to talk about how we're going to get them out of here. Like I was saying, I know a way out…"

"No." I knew that Whisper wasn't compelled to stop talking, but he did it anyway. "We're not leaving without the others."

"Are you kidding?" Whisper sighed. "You don't even know…"

"That's enough." Rix silenced his rant again. "Don't speak again unless someone asks you a question."

Whisper glared at her, but crossed his arms and settled in.

"Look, I know Tres said that they will probably all be ransomed back to the Cathedral and banned from the city, but I can't just leave them behind." I looked at Sydney. "Astrid was so worried about us not taking Zel, that she was willing to die to force our hand. And I don't think that was bravado either. It felt like she was making a choice between which one of them lived by who we took."

"So you want to stay to rescue Zel?" Gesai eyed me. "She's not even part of the team yet."

"She is on my team right now." I looked around the room. "And our team is with her, which means there's a chance that whatever it is that the women were so afraid of, our team has seen it. And I don't trust that there won't be an accident where something happens to all of them." I turned to Sydney, "So we aren't leaving until we rescue them."

"I'll see what I can find." Sydney got up and put her hand on my shoulder as she walked past me. "You remind me a lot of your father."

Whisper coughed.

"Thanks." I watched her leave and looked at my CB. We still had a few hours until morning. "We should try to get some sleep." I looked at the other three people. "I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day."