Five
I dash into the meeting room on one of the lower levels of the mountain and drop into a chair, noting that I’m the last person to arrive. The other five members of Chase’s team are already seated. Meeting time, I tell Chase. In case you want to add anything.
“Late again,” the elf girl with the spiked hair mutters from across the table. “You know some of us have actual jobs to be at in, like, ten minutes, right?”
I open my mouth to ask when last I was late, but Gaius gets in first. “Oh, did you find a new job, Ana? How wonderful.”
She absently twists one of the piercings in her left ear. “Yeah, well, we might be busy cooking up the biggest mission of our lives, but I’ve still got bills to pay.”
“You know you’re welcome to stay here if you—”
“Thanks, but no,” Ana interrupts. “I li
