22
The Goddess of Creation is the embodiment of life and love. Her power pulses in every beating heart in the Valorian Veil.
I’ve reread those sentences one hundred times, and I still don’t give a single shit. We’re leaving tomorrow morning and I don’t care about reading this book or any other.
Since Amick copied the Book of the Gods Binding five days ago, he’s had his nose stuck in it. Well, those hours following his and Kyzen’s impressive, highly exhausting fifteen minutes, they spent the rest of the day sleeping and eating.
For the past four full days, though, Amick’s undivided attention has been between those pages, but he won’t talk about it yet. Each time he closes the back cover, his frown deepens, he flips the massive thing over, and starts again.
All he’s said is, “It doesn’t make sense.”
His desk is swarmed in random books he’ll suddenly flip open, read a passage, then get back to the one on the Binding.
I’ve asked him several times now to talk to me about my power, and what does he do?
Blows me off. Hands me a book on a Beginning God and tells me I need to understand how power originated before I’ll be able to do anything with mine.
V told me to give Amick his time and let his mind work out what it’s fixating on.
It’s infuriating me, making me feel useless, and has the nerves I’m trying to hide boiling to the surface like raging lava.
Everyone has a role, something to do to make this quest run smoothly, except for me, and that’s pissing me off beyond belief.
The mostusefulthing I do is train with Creed.
That’s been…something.
We haven’t talked about the kiss, our relationship, or anything remotely close to it, but he’s changed in a way that’s hard to describe.
It’s hard on him. He’s trying to hide that fact from me, but it’s obvious.
He’s very touchy, but in a way that seems to be uncontrollable. If for some reason we don’t see each other for hours or it’s first thing in the morning, his muscles are bunched tighter than a bale of hay.
Then he’ll grip my elbow or allow our arms to brush, and his tension drains out.
I’m dying to know what’s happening to him, but at the same time, the last thing I want is for him to tell me my soul is doing some weird shit to his that he can’t fix or control.
That’ll make me feel awful.
Also, he now stands watch over me like a shadow ready to strike the first person who comes too close to me.
It’s infuriatingly sexy.
He and Kyzen escort me every day to Amick’s office. Kyzen usually has to leave to go help the god who will be filling in his role for him while he’s gone.
Creed stands in the corner of Amick’s office and watches me struggle with every book passed my way.
I couldn’t tell you what Riven’s been doing since the carriage was approved by the High Chancellor. He said he didn’t want us to see it yet because it’s a surprise.
I shut the book on the Goddess of Creation and sigh as I stand from my chair.
I can’t sit here anymore.
My half-asleep foot gives out on me and my knee slams into Amick’s desk, rattling everything on top of it.
Pain jolts through my leg and I see red.
A slew of curses falls from my mouth as I hop around, rubbing my knee. The book I’m clutching nearly goes tumbling out of my hands and I fumble it around until I get a damn death grip on it.
