“I’m confident they will.”
“Well, they aren’t here yet, so what if they don’t?”
“Then hopefully, you’ll be able to talk our way back out of Hell.”
“Shit,” Kyzen whispers. “I know him.”
“No, you don’t. I don’t know him.”
“Just because you don’t, Amick, doesn’t mean I don’t.”
“Why did you say shit first?” Sevryn asks.
“’Cause that’s Nero Valadi. A Valveilious Mediator. Comes from a prominent family. All Mediators before him.”
“What?” I ask, while the others let out a slew of curses. “Is that bad, good, what? And Mediator like you or is that different wherever you go?”
“Like me but more. If I decided to do more than what I do now, that’s whose role I’d be taking. Or one of the other few who hold that role. I don’t really know if it’s good or bad yet. It depends really on where his loyalty lies. He deals with the more powerful of the Domain Gods.”
Well, shit.
I wonder if he’s a stickler for the rules.
Yemi wouldn’t mind that.
Uh, we might not care too much for that, though.
“Shit, Creed, go. Don’t let them go in there by themselves.”
I shove at his side as Doren and Nero turn their backs in our direction and take a step forward. Riven lets out a piercing whistle that has me flinching, then glaring at him.
“What? You didn’t want them to go in, did you?”
“Oh, hello. Is someone out there?”
Riven, Kyzen, and I snort as Sevryn and Creed scowl toward Doren.
“Are you kidding me right now? Does he have no survival instincts?” Sevryn scoffs.
“He has to have some. He survived the Lost Sea for thirty-five years. Come on, let’s go introduce you to your Valtrue, lover boy.”
His face is dead serious as he steps in my way, blocking me from walking forward.
I swear if he tries to back out now.
“Make sure you call me that in front of them.”
“I don’t like her calling you that,” Riven mumbles, but we ignore him.
“Jealousy doesn’t look good on you, Sevryn.”
“Yeah, well, black eyes and bloody noses won’t look good on them.”
“Sevryn’s objective is obvious, Thayla. He wants you to give him preferential treatment so these men recognize his established standing in their Valtrue as well as ours. Namely, he wants it to appear Yemi is romantically off-limits to them. By you—her closest confidante—calling him a nickname, they will understand your loyalty lies in their relationship.”
“Fucking thank you for the explanation, Amick.”
“You’re quite welcome, although your hostility is confusing.”
