“Anywhos, it wasn’t like the others weren’t already fornicating with each other. They had just never admitted their love for one another. Obliteration has always been obsessed with Creation. Consequence with Seduction. Val…Val was the only one of us who wouldn’t step past that boundary. He was always the smartest of us all.”
I shake my head and stare at him, dumbfounded.
“So that was the event that originally caused the Valories to turn their backs on all of you and then create the Messenger to relay messages rather than speak to you.”
“Yep. They quickly learned, though, that rejecting our wants would result in us stripping power from them. Pesky little downside of our creation and way of life. Just as the prayers of the people give us power, our prayers to our creator give them power.”
I sit back, stunned, and cast my gaze to V. He lets out a small hoot as he ruffles his feathers.
“So after the truth of the Valories not truly giving their blessing came out, they disowned you?”
“Oh no. My disownment came many, many years later. The moment the Valories turned their backs on us, they all knew the truth of my little fib. It was too late by then. They were all madly in love. My disownment came after I tried to kill Seduction.”
My eyes widen and I throw my hands up.
“Whoa, hold on, back up. Where the hell did that come from?”
He chuckles, but it’s far from humorous. It’s laced with a sorrow that buries itself into my heart.
“She was never satisfied with just Suma. Poor, poor Consequence.” He sighs, shaking his head as a sad smile crosseshis lips. “I’ve always sworn my dear friend had to have seen the consequences he’d faced from falling in love with her. Maybe he didn’t. Maybe he did, but believed with enough time, he’d change them. Change her. There’s no changing that rotten, desperate bitch.”
He tosses his head back with the bottle to his lips. I wait, silently, as he chugs down gulp after gulp.
“As much as I fucking hate Kira, I can and will admit he fell victim to Sabe’s whispers. She wanted to be the goddess of the goddesses. Above all. In her mind, the way to accomplish that was to have the gods, as in Kira, Suma, Val, and me, for herself.
“Suma was already wrapped around her finger, and when she started talking to Kira about ruling it all, together, he fell to his knees for her. Not emotionally, mind you. He will alwaysloveCreation more. Sabe tried to work her way to Val next, but that was a lost cause from the start. His choice words with her sent her running to Kira in tears. That’s where Kira and Val’s issues really took off.
“Kira tried to reason with Val, and Val put his ass in his place. Embarrassingly so. Kira tucked tail and ran, but in his rage, he fucking obliterated every last one of Val’s temples. Dear Boundaries wiped his hands of us and said good fucking luck without me.”
He slumps back in his seat, staring at the wall like he’s watching the events play out around us.
“Then…” I clear my throat and he finally looks at me. “Then she moved on to you.”
“Not right away, no. First, the portal to Elementra closed and caused us all to go into an uproar. We blamed Val. Figured he ran off to that realm and made that happen. As we know—well, as I know—he didn’t. The six of us remaining took all the power from the people, bound our knowledge of where the original Gods Binding is, argued over many, many more decisions, thenspent the next few hundred years getting along as best as we could. Then Sabe made her move.”
Made her move…
Unease rumbles in my belly. Both my Chaos and Seduction tingle as if they don’t like the sound of that either.
“What did she do, Derivius?”
My whispered question silences everything. His heavy breathing, the wind whistling outside, the creatures scampering around. It all falls into a quiet, unnerving stillness.
“She planned it so perfectly. Played the role so unquestionably. I was a fool. I should’ve seen through the illusion. I’ve always been blind to Rella, though.”
“Played what role?” I ask low.
He lets out a haunting laugh as his irises start to swirl.
“The role of the love of my life. She used an illusion to disguise herself as Rella, and I made love to her. In the bed we shared every night. It was so perfectly planned. So gods-forsaken fucking perfect!”
The pebbles scattered across the ground vibrate with his bellow. My heart thunders in my ears as my head shakes.
“How…how is that even possible?”
“Oh please, little troublling. You must have figured out the structure of us Beginning Gods by now. Our Domains, the Designations, the abilities.”
“I…”
