“Wait,” Thayla says as she takes a small step forward. Riven and Creed reach out to grab her, but she slings them off. “Stop it. Let’s use our heads for a second. This is obviously the last Valtrue member.”
“What?” we all ask.
“Come on, guys, think about it. First, Yemi is a good person with a pure soul, right?”
Creed nods and she carries on.
“As is Doren and Nero?”
“Well, Doren, yes. Nero has a few shades of gray, but nothing to really be concerned about. No more than Sevryn.”
“Okay then. Do you seriously expect her match to be floating around in that…water?”
Creed’s silent as his gaze scans over the pool.
“Not impossible, but unlikely. It’s far darker than lighter currently.”
All I see is dark water…
“Well, only one way to find out.”
She doesn’t wait for us to say anything else as she marches up to the man claiming to be an Attendant with no hesitation. She lifts the sleeve of his robe, and her sharp hiss is all the answer we need.
“Fuck,” I murmur as I run my hand down my face. “How the hell did this happen?”
“Again, I don’t fucking know!”
The water ripples with Creed’s bellow. The muscles in his jaw tick as his furious glare flicks between Zareb and the Attendant. Thayla’s matching scowl only softens once she’s in front of Amick.
“You assign roles, but I know you’d never do this. So who else could before you became a Rising Chancellor or even now.”
“That answer is obvious.”
Fucking Harriseen.
“So what do we do now? How is he even marked if he’s been here? Or do we think he just got sent here? That would be terrible timing,” she rambles, but Amick nods along with her questions.
“Him being an Attendant means he’s gone through the Gods Veil in the Godsdawn. Therefore, his blood has been put in the Volreen, and power can reach him no matter where he is. He would’ve been marked the same moment all the others were despite his location.”
“Right. Sevryn’s and Yemi’s marks didn’t appear instantly because Sevryn had never been exposed to the power.”
“Correct.”
“So what now?”
“Release your power, Kyzen. I need to figure this out, do what I got to do, then get the fuck out of here.”
The strain in Creed’s voice has worry coloring all our faces. Even Riven’s looking at him like he’s ready to throw him over his shoulder and haul ass out of here.
My hold over the room disappears and Creed wraps Zareb from neck to toes in his power.
Fuck. Probably should’ve taken a second to speed it up and see what was about to happen.
“You have the audacity to question me when you are so blatantly disregarding the laws of Hell. No being pure of soul should ever have a role within this place. Not only is he pure of soul, but a fucking Attendant from the Godsdawn.”
“I didn’t request him. He was sent to me, and I graciously accepted. He broke the rules, and this was his punishment.”
“Whatever rule he may have broken wasn’t punishable by time in Hell. We both fucking know that.”
