“If you knock on my fucking door one more time, I’m going to cut your hand off, slap the shit out of you with it, then give it to your master as a present.”
He slams it shut in the awaiting god’s face and spins back to us. The deranged smile splitting his lips says he’s giving the man a moment to make his decision. While hoping he makes the wrong one.
Or maybe that’s considered the right one in Riven’s mind…
“We need to go. If they’re growing impatient, that means he is,” Creed declares as he turns from us.
He waits as Kyzen and Riven take my sides, and Amick moves behind me.
Focus. Put everything else to the side for now.
My heart hammers as his hand wraps around the knob. My shoulders rise and fall in sync with his, but they settle when a gentle stroke of a finger runs across my knuckles.
Whether that’s Riven’s way of soaking up some of the chaos he senses coming from me or whatever the case may be, I don’t draw attention to it. I let it be.
The hostility that wafts through our front door makes my nostrils twitch. Not a single being waiting outside is happy to see us. Their power is primed to thepoint that even my skin feels it crawling all over Creed. It’s infecting the very air with their eagerness to respond to us if need be.
His first step across our threshold is louder than any noise being made outside. The gods that stand a few feet from our front door and no doubt around the house in various spots I can’t see are completely silent.
The few I lay my eyes on aren’t only silent but stiller than statues. I’m not sure they’re even breathing.
Like properly trained Defenders, they don’t budge from their positions until Amick is out of the house and he shuts the door behind him.
My glare scans them as they close in. The more steps we take away from our home, the tighter the circle surrounding us gets.
They look like any other gods here, physically anyway. It’s not their large stature that intimidates me. I’ve grown used to being around big, godly men.
It’s their empty eyes that cause my unease.
Your gaze only reaches that level of coldness when you no longer care.
About anything or anyone.
I sneak a peek over at Yemi’s house, but I don’t dare let my attention linger or appear concerned. When I don’t see any signs of her, I keep looking at the gods as if I’m judging them.
They don’t speak or stare, but they’re monitoring us.
Now that we’ve hit the path toward the heart of the Godsdawn, they march in a perfectly coordinated formation.
Each of their steps matches ours.
My Valtrues’ attention stays forward. Their unwavering concentration has me afraid that one wrong twitch from us will have every enemy god pouncing.
“Seismet…can you hear me this far away?”
I grind my teeth as nothingness responds.
“Uh, V…I don’t know if we work like Seismet and I do, but he can’t hear me this far away. Can you?”
“There are very few barriers within this realm that could keep me from hearing you, Thayla.”
I hold in the sigh that tries to burst through my lips, and I flex my fingers to contain my relief.
“Thank the Valories. I thought it’d be best to let someone know that the God of Obliteration has summoned us to a meeting and we’re on the way to his temple. You know, in case we don’t come back or something. Derivius is being a dick and not responding. Sorry for my language.”
A silent second passes, then a hoot echoes in my mind.“Well, I did not see that coming, unfortunately.”
A snort bubbles in my throat, and I swallow it down.“Yeah, same. A warning of who their father is would’ve been nice.”
