4. Kian

As the limousine"s windows turned opaque a few miles before the entrance to the tunnel, Syssi"s soft sigh drew Kian"s attention.

"Part of me wishes we could just live on the Silver Swan," she said quietly because Allegra was still sleeping. "It was so nice to be with our family and friends, and we enjoyed spending time together."

Leaning over, Kian pressed a kiss to her temple. "Sometimes, I fantasize about moving the entire clan permanently to a cruise ship. But we would need a much larger one for that." He smiled. "Perhaps we can purchase a decommissioned aircraft carrier. Those things are the size of a city. We could remodel it to include gardens and all the other amenities we have in the village."

Syssi chuckled. "As if you don"t have enough on your plate already. Besides, I don"t want to live in a floating city, and the Kra-ell even less so. Just try mentioning another sea voyage to them and see their reaction. I think they would be less horrified about boarding a spaceship bound for Mars."

Kian didn"t laugh. "I wouldn"t mind settling on Mars. No Brotherhood and no threat from the Eternal King. Just our people finally living in peace."

Across from him, his mother smiled knowingly. "Without adversity, you would not know what to do with yourself, my son."

"Not true. I might finally have time to read all the books on my wish list."

Syssi cast him a skeptical look. "I love reading, but I can"t imagine doing only that for the rest of our never-ending lives. Let"s talk about sunnier topics, though. Jin and Arwel"s wedding was a great finale to the cruise. For some reason, it was more boisterous than all the other weddings."

"The reason is obvious." Kian chuckled. "Everyone was overjoyed that it was the last one. Don"t get me wrong, I love weddings, but this was like overdosing on too much of a good thing. After the marathon of ceremonies, I need a break."

Syssi patted his arm. "There"s a long list of couples eager to tie the knot on the next cruise, so your respite is not going to last."

Kian groaned. "I need at least a year before we go on another sea voyage, and my new rule will be no more than two weddings per cruise."

Annani nodded, her eyes sparkling with mirth. "We will have to convince the other couples to have their parties in the village square, Sari"s castle, or in my sanctuary. I think that my sanctuary is the most beautiful venue, and all future weddings should be held there."

Kian arched a brow. "And where will you house everyone? You don"t have enough room to host the entire clan."

Annani shrugged. "We can always build an annex to the existing structure."

It was more challenging than she made it sound, but it was doable, and Kian liked the idea of having a well-hidden escape location that could house all of their people.

He wouldn"t want to live there full-time, but having the option appealed to him, especially since the keep had been compromised. They were still using it and would probably continue until it became clear that it was too risky.Hopefully, it wouldn"t come to that because moving the crypt would be a nightmare.

The gods and their mates were heading to his old penthouse in the keep, and Okidu was with them to open up Amanda"s. There were only three bedrooms in each, and he needed rooms for four couples as Jasmine and Edgar were with them. They wouldn"t be staying there long, but they needed a few days to organize everything for the Tibet trip.

Tomorrow, Kian planned to meet with Aru to discuss the expedition"s logistics. The possible retrieval of the Kra-ell royal twins was a mission of paramount importance. If they were as powerful as the Eternal King feared, having them as allies could tip the balance of power in the clan"s struggle against the Doomers and later against the king.

The bewildering part was that, somehow, the key to it all was Jasmine. Kian still had doubts about relying so heavily on divination and visions to guide the gods on their quest. His pragmatic nature rebelled against having so much faith in the intangible and unquantifiable, but he implicitly trusted his mate"s visions.

Syssi"s gift had proven invaluable and infallible time and again. If she believed that Jasmine was the linchpin to unlocking the secrets of the royal twins" whereabouts, then Kian would follow that path without hesitation.