“Anthony, Henry, and their team can come to Emerald Moon with me,” Dad points out, and I feel relieved that he invites everyone to our pack. It means I can spend even more time with Elodie and introduce her to the pack. At the same time, we can continue to work on this, unfortunately, rather big problem ahead of us.

“I will need to go back to my own pack,” Arman points out. “I have duties to attend there.”

“You should take a rest, though,” Harmony suggests with a smile. She is a tough woman and a kickass beta. I’m not surprised the Moon Goddess paired her with an equally kickass warrior.

Arman nods. “Don’t worry, light of my existence,” he tells her with his usual stoic face. The fact that he just called her light of his existence without cringing or even moving a muscle of his face makes me stare at him in complete awe. Tony looks similarly perplexed. “I will be careful. I want to further dive into Auset’s mind, too.”

“About that.” Uncle Elden narrows his eyes at Arman. “Arman exhausted his strength not only for today but for the next couple of days. Until he has it back, there is no diving into anyone’s mind.”

It’s funny because Arman is that stoic and strong lycan, but eye to eye with Uncle Elden, he is like a boy being scolded by his dad. By the narrowed glance my own father tosses me, I figure I shouldn’t make fun of others being reprimanded by daddy dearest, though.

“But aren’t we running out of time?” Anthony asks, worry laced in his voice.

Uncle Elden looks at him thoughtfully for a moment before he shrugs. “You could jump into action now, with half of your strength and not knowing what you’re up against, or you could try to unravel as much as possible to be prepared. Sometimes, it’s good to know as much as possible. Sometimes, it’s better to go into action fast.” He pauses, exchanging a gaze with Dad. “So, what will it be?”

Is he giving us the chance to make the decision? I swallow nervously. This is, in one way or another, a test, but not just that, it also means Tony and I carry the responsibility of this decision.

It’s the first time for both of us to lead an operation.

Arman is weakened,Tony links me.And he is our best bet if we want to know what’s going on. We would just run around like idiots looking for something we don’t even know about yet.

We could instead use the time to research what Arman already saw in Auset’s mind, like the attack. We could even research the deity he saw… and on Bastet,I point out.

Tony nods.If we are in any way up against a deity, it’s better to be prepared.

I open the mind link to Elodie, too, filling her in on what Tony and I are talking about. I want to know what she thinks and wants. After all, it’s initially her and Elise’s project. By the way her eyes gloss over, I know she is letting her sister in on it, too.

Elise and I agree,she tells me, a smile curling her lips.Thanks for not going above our heads.

“We’ve just discussed it,” Elodie starts, gesturing towards me to continue.

“We’ll go with your advice and wait until Arman regains his strength,” I say.

“Meanwhile, we’ll research what we already know and prepare properly.”

Dad looks at us with a hint of surprise before his lips tug into a proud smile. “Good.” He nods.

“Look at the both of you,” Flora squeals, patting Tony’s head before dabbing my cheek. “So grown up all of a sudden!”

Elodie chuckles next to me.

“With all this talk about goddesses and deities, my head is spinning.” Dad sighs.

“That’s what we have Henry for.” Tony chuckles. “He is the brain.”

“No kidding.” Arman nods towards me. “You know a lot.”

“I just like to read,” I admit, feeling embarrassed by so much attention on me.

Elodie’s hand finds its way to my knee and squeezes it lightly.Credit where credit is due,she tells me.

The others start asking me things about the several goddesses whose names came up during our research, like when we visited Jade, and I tell them a bit about the complicated family history of Isis and Osiris. Uncle Elden knows quite a lot, too. As a lycan crown prince and the future king of the throne and head of the Council, he has always studied a lot; he knows more about the different kinds of shifters and their deities, as well as other supernatural beings. His vast knowledge is truly impressive, and I make a mental note to ask him to lend me a few books to read up on these topics more.

He and Dad further discuss the attack on Auset and the small arrow Arman was able to steal from her mind.

“We should definitely examine this one,” Elodie says. “I will take it to the Council and have it properly examined. That is if it’s alright with everyone involved.”

“It’s probably the best idea,” I agree.