Chaos, his not hers, floats through the air faster than I can say anything to her. A blast strong enough to freeze my next breath follows that first wave.
“So…yeah. This isn’t really a torch lamp.”
Thayla’s, Creed’s, and Kyzen’s chairs go tumbling back as they stand from the table, all shouting at once.
I stare at the Goddess of Seduction’s Binding in his hands.
This is why I couldn’t stay in my room longer than a few minutes.
I felt unsettled, like power that wasn’t my own was surrounding me.
“What did you do?”
“Like I said, I don’t know how to explain it. I had the intention of holding it while soaking up the power surrounding it. Maybe pee on it before handing it over. When I got here and tried to put it on the table, I couldn’t.
“I thought maybe my little—okay, pretty sweet—power boost was fucking with me, but then I became overwhelmed with the need to keep it. In the few seconds I spent thinking about that, I kind of just became obsessed with the notion. Like, fuck them, you know? They don’t deserve this.
“Next thing I knew, I was standing in your room, in front of your torch lamps. My Chaos shifted what the Binding looked like while your torch lamp took its shape. I came out of your room, put it on the table, and told myself if it was still in that shape when I got done with my shower, then this was the plan.”
The blood in my veins runs cold, freezing me in the moment.
There’s a heartbeat of silence before the rest of our Valtrue flip out. Creed’s shouting what an idiot he is. Kyzen’s bellowing about how he could’ve got himself killed. Thayla’s doing a little of both.
My voice doesn’t rise above a whisper, but it silences them all.
“What did you do?”
“Uh, I just told you. Like I said, I know it was impulsive, a little unpredictable, but it’s pretty impressive if you ask me. Have any of you noticed cool shit you can do now?”
“Cool shit,” I mimic low. The words taste foul on my tongue. “You believe being impulsive makes you clever, but it makes you dangerous. So incredibly dangerous. Every time you act blindly, someone bleeds for it.”
“Oh, come on, Amick. They would’ve had to kill me to get to you.”
My chair goes flying behind me as I stand.
“It isn’t just about me. You don’t get to risk yourself, Riven! Not when—”
I silence my shouting.
My chest rises and falls two breaths while I rein it in. Without another word, I march to my door. I ignore the calls of my name falling from their lips. I have nothing to say.
I need to think.
There’s so much to think about now.
As soon as I pass through my threshold, I place my palm on my door and strip their permission to enter.
“Amick.”
“No.”
I can’t truly block Verlet out, but I can present my boundary and believe he won’t cross it.
The books and scrolls on my desk have been in those spots for two days now. I roll or close each one, then place them in a more organized fashion.
Then I sink into my chair.
What does this mean now?
