I ran towards the danger.

  I wasn’t sure why. There was a part of me that felt responsible for whatever was attacking us. I didn’t want the crew or the ship to have to fight a monster that was hunting me.

  Miel met us at the stairs to the upper deck.

  “NO!” She pointed back the way we’d come. “Back to the RV!”

  “That’s a Sea Dragon up there!” I pointed up at the ceiling. “It’s here because of me!”

  “A what!” Aelin peeked around the Scarlet.

  I looked at the two green women on the stairs behind her. As much as I wanted to get up to the main deck, there was no way I could make it around all of those people.

  “We don’t know what it is.” Miel stepped in front of me and motioned for the other three to come down the spiral stairs. “Which is why we’re going to go to the RV and let the professionals handle it.”

  “You know—” My ears popped as a privacy bubble wrapped around us.

  “We are not in a secure space.” Miel growled. “I get that you’ve got a fancy deal with the Primus, but there are still aspects of how Gods come to be that the general populace doesn’t need to know.” She pointed back the way we’d come. “RV. Now.”

  “But—”

  “What are you going to do that Trent can’t?” Miel glared at me. “Seriously? If it is a Sea Dragon out there, then what do you think you’re going to do about it?”

  “Have you seen one?” Aelin grinned as she looked at our teacher.

  “Only in images when we were preparing to go to the Shrine Ward twelve years ago.” The older woman sighed. “They’re rare now; I don’t even know the last time one was spotted.”

  “Cokrael killed one almost a decade ago.” Nakten took a step back as everyone looked at her. “What? Dad keeps up with that kind of stuff.”

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  “You and I need to have a long talk…” Anger burned in Miel’s red eyes.

  “She’s one of us now.” I hated that I was defending someone who was part of the Primus, but now that she was one of my people, I wasn’t going to let her be harmed.

  “Do you realize how much we could learn—”

  The ship rocked, forcing all of us to grab onto something.

  “That doesn’t matter now!” I dropped to my knees to slip my fingers through the holes in the floor. I was glad that it was made out of grates, which let me be an anchor for Ether and Nakten. “We need to go help them!”

  Miel grabbed onto the handrail of the spiral stairs, while the other women made it to the wall behind the stairs.

  “The only way that you’re going to be any help is if all of them come down here!” Miel glared at me. “And there’s no way that I’m letting you do that alone!”

  “He won’t be alone.” Ether touched her CB and began pulling her armor out of the crystal on her wrist. “Aelin, help me get this on.”

  “NO!” Miel reached out and grabbed her daughter’s arm. “I’m not letting you go up there either!”

  Ether met her mother’s glare. “Let go.”

  “This is why we should have awakened me!” Nakten threw her head back. A smirk crossed her face. “I’m sure we still have time for a quickie.”

  “Sex isn’t the trigger!” I blurted out.

  “What now?’ Nakten’s eyes widened. “But Lord Nevah said—”

  “Rix triggered her bloodline when she offered herself to go in Aelin’s place.” I let go of the grate with my right hand and touched Ether’s arm. “And Ether and I were together for months before she awakened.” I shook my head as I looked at the Anubis. “So it’s not sex. I don’t know what it is.”

  “That’s…” Nakten tilted her head to the side. “Maybe we still try?”

  “Not now!” Ether pulled her arm, but her mother wouldn’t let go. Her glare focused on the older woman. “Mom, let go.”

  “You have no idea—”

  “They’re right.” Nakten sighed as she pulled her jacket out and slipped it over her shoulders. “Trent being up there is only going to ensure that everyone else dies and the ship sinks.” She motioned between the three of us. “It’s three on one and we’ve got a better stat ratio than he does.”

  “Four.” Fray stepped forward and pulled out her jacket, then her sword.

  Aelin looked over at Justia, who nodded. She picked up Ether’s chestplate. “It’s six.”

  Ether smiled as she looked at her mother. “We’re going.”

  “I can’t—” A tear rolled down the older woman’s cheek.

  The ship shuddered, forcing us all to crouch to keep from getting knocked off our feet.

  The door to the main deck swung open, releasing a blast of screams down the stairs.

  “You know we’re right.” I took a deep breath as I stood up. I held out my hand towards the other woman. “Get everyone down here. We’ve got this.”

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