My lips press together. The adrenaline and anticipation swarming the temple had distracted me from the subtle throbbing in my stomach and arms.
Now that Creed’s demanded to look at the damage done, I feel it a hundred times more keenly.
My fingers tremble as I grip the hem of my shirt.
They make no noise whatsoever as I pull it up until it’s tucked under my bra. Their bodies fall unnaturally still as their eyes land on my stomach, and I tilt my chin down.
Impressions that I know circle all the way around me, line my torso down to my hips. Unlike any other bruise I’ve ever seen in my life, these look as though someone powdered crushed charcoal on my body.
I even run my thumb down my stomach to see if the coloring will wipe off.
It doesn’t.
My chest flutters as a finger strokes the tender skin on my back and a shuddering breath slips out of me.
I don’t even want to imagine what my back looks like.
“They’re like any other bruise. The appearance is different because of his power,” Creed says low as his touch lingers.
I nod as I pull my shirt back down. That seems to bring them all back to reality. “I—we need these answers, Derivius.”
Riven’s eyes swirl as they snap to mine. His lips curl into a vicious snarl as he shoves Derivius away. I attempt to soften my face for him, but I don’t really have any soft feelings at the moment.
“I can already see it on your face that you’re going to say youcan’ttell us everything. So skip that taurnshit and get to explaining what’s bubbling inside of me and what it is he wants us to do.”
Derivius sighs defeatedly as he runs his hand down his face.
“This will skirt the line of telling you more than you’re allowed to know, so you’ll need to piece it together,” he says, pointedly looking at Amick.
“As you all know, on the Veilings when you enter the Gods Veil, every becoming god will be paired to a domain that will fall directly under a Beginning God or an already established Domain God. That’s the case ninety-nine point nine percent of the time. The Gods Binding does that all on its own when it senses your essences and pairs you with the most appropriate matching god.
“Your essence didn’t match with any god, but with a being that the Valories created using the original Gods Binding themselves without any say-so from any of us. They’re known as the Messenger. They’re a highly kept secret and have never been recognized the same as we Beginning Gods are because they lack the powers we have. Yet, they’re more powerful than us all. In the past, due to our fear, egos, ignorance, and honestly, our animosity, the rare few who passed through the Veil with this pairing, we…”
“Any who had a tie to the mythological being were killed immediately upon exiting the Veil. It was claimed that they weren’t strong enough to hold godly power and that excused their deaths. They were labeled weak and unworthy. It’s been over a century since this has happened.”
Derivius at least has the nerve to look ashamed at Amick’s cold words.
“That’s correct, except for the fact this creation is anything but mythological. They’re very much alive, well, and highly protected. Other than the obvious reason why I came into the Veil with you, I also did it to mask your true pairing. My counterparts don’t involve themselves much with the Veilings anymore. They’ve established their useless systems of pairing Valtrues and releasing power, but they would’ve intervened had they sensed this.”
I close my eyes and huff as my hands clench at my sides. “So I’m most certainly a freak that’s paired to a being none of the Beginning Gods like and you hid that fact so they wouldn’t kill me. I also assume that was the main reason you split my soul. Am I piecing this shit together now?”
“You’re not a freak, and that’s not themainreason I split your soul. I already told you the main reason I did that. Also, not all of us dislike this individual.”
“You mean you don’t dislike this individual.” I rub my temples and blink my eyes to clear my thoughts. It’s pointless.
“Okay, so what does this mean? Do I not have a domain under chaos? Do we even know what my power is? How do I even have power if I don’t have any ties to a Beginning God or Domain God? Does this creation ever have anything to do with the ones paired to them? That’s a stupid question, never mind. You all killedthe poor beings before they even had a chance. This is a fucking shit show you’ve thrown me into, Derivius.”
“I know—”
“We each, as in all becoming gods, have a touch of all the Beginning Gods’ powers within us since it was their essence used to make the Gods Binding. A touch of each Domain God that was created beneath them was added along the way. One of their essences will always come through more dominant, declaring our domain, just as it does our Designations. Since you’re not tied to any of them, you’re receiving equal shares of their power. Just as you’re equalized in Designations. Therefore, your power is settling in an unpredictable way. There’s no way to know what kind of ability you may manifest. There’s a passage within the Book of the Gods Binding—”
“You’ve gotten your hands on that?”
Amick stares at Derivius, unblinking. “How else would I know about the becoming gods who were killed for being paired to that creation?”
“Wait, is that the book—”
“No. This book is locked in the High Chancellor’s office,” Amick cuts Kyzen off and my eyebrows shoot up in surprise. He’s obviously broken some rules to get his hands on some restricted material.
