Sir Merrion shook his head slightly. “The King is merely worried, Miss. And the King told me that if you should ask why, I should say that it would be best for you to ask your father. He really said nothing else.”I regarded Sir Merrion for a moment. Okay, that first part was the truth. The last part, though, was an outright lie.With my Gift, I could tell that Sir Merrion was lying when he said that that was all the King had to say. But since I can’t read thoughts, I don’t know what the truth was or why he’s lying about it. I found Sir Merrion quite secretive, but I felt no malice or ill-intent from the elf Knight, so I decided not to press the issue. But that doesn’t mean I’m just going to blindly follow along.“Alright. If His Majesty is gracious enough to lend me one of his precious Knights out of concern, then I suppose that’s that,” I said, wrapping an arm around Freya’s waist. I pulled her

Agent Kaye had a little difficulty keeping the polite smile from slipping from his face. After the media conference, every Agent at HQ seemed like they felt it was their duty to let him know what they thought of what he did. Some gave him high-fives and appreciative pats on the back. Some rolled their eyes and whispered loudly about how arbitrary his remarks had been. And there were even some—only a handful, but still—who had the guts to ask him if the rumors about Alisa Vega and Jester Lee were true or not (for these people, he reserved the predatory cold smile Agent Alveston always makes before breaking a suspect’s spirit).Really, there are insensitive assholes everywhere, he thought in exasperation. Why can’t they just leave those two alone? Does it really matter when they started dating and who asked who out first?The AG had bigger things to worry about. Like the increasing Anomaly attacks. Like the ever-elusive Coven. Like the impending s

He found the Commander in her quarters, baking.As far as he knew, only the Fourth Special Unit Commander’s quarters had been built with its own kitchen—professional-grade, from the looks of things—a fully-stocked pantry, and a mini-bar. It was apparently one of the non-negotiable terms of her contract when she accepted the position.The kitchen and the pantry, Jester could understand. His mother told him that she learned to cook human food from the Commander, and if his mother’s cooking was any indication of skill, then surely the old lady was someone who could whip up something that could make even angels weep. But the minibar…The old lady had never drunk anything but coffee or tea the entire time he’s known her. Unless she actually spikes her tea with brandy, the Commander wouldn’t need so much space for bottles of alcohol she’s never going to touch. Another one of her many eccentricities.“What a

Jester explained what he had learned from the Commander to his mother on the drive to the hospital where Gregory Vega waited for them.“That would explain a lot,” his mother admitted. “If he’s been switching bodies every few decades since the Gaia Incident, then he must have had hundreds of identities by now. Provided he’s been here from the beginning, that is. It would definitely explain how the Coven remains so powerful yet so elusive…”Yes. If his father had survived the Gaia Incident and got blasted into Earth, it should have taken him just under a century before regaining enough of his power to actively work towards his resurrection. It would have taken him a few more centuries to gather the necessary resources and manpower, to research and plan his next move if he had been thoroughly depleted by that incident. Oberon’s goal probably hadn’t changed, either. He would make his play for immortality—true imm

In all the centuries since the Incident, Oberon had not met another pureblooded Gaian, no matter how hard he looked. All he found were the descendants they had left behind. Those who, despite having Gaian blood, were deemed by their parents as too mortal to bring back to Gaia—half-blooded children between humans, elves, and dwarves who only had the barest hint of their godly parents’ characteristics. It was against the law to leave even such weak offspring unregistered, but it happened more often than one would think. There were many among the higher nobility who felt it was unbefitting for them to have produced weaklings, and would never lay claim to them. As such, they often don’t even know what they really are. Having been a Sovereign for many years, Oberon had made it a habit to look the other way on several occasions, so long as the halflings don’t cause trouble. This gained him the favor and support of many of his less scrupulous followers.Gaian