“I deserved it. I teased about something I had no business teasing about.”
“You didn’t know, Riven,” Amick says.
My mouth opens and closes repeatedly. I don’t know what to say about either of those statements.
“We got some things out in the open that we should’ve talked about a long time ago. Secrets, feelings, and assumptions wenever should’ve kept from one another,” Kyzen says, no doubt sensing the fact I want to say something, but I don’t know what.
“So…you’re all okay now?”
His eyes roam over his brothers, and they each shift, glancing at one another as well.
“Yeah, we’re okay.”
Well, then.
I can’t help but squirm. They’ve always had a tendency to finish each other’s sentences or give the same answer at the same time. That was something else, though.
Like a vow they just decided to give one another.
My heart and soul hum as each of theirs seems to grow lighter. I don’t need the explicit details of what caused this to happen between them to know that it changed something.
For the better.
They seem…closer.
“Can I ask you something?” Riven asks, and I let my head fall to the side so I can see him better.
“Anything.”
“You said that Derivius told you. Did you mean his story? How he was disowned?”
My eyes soften.
“In a very drunk, emotional way…yeah, he told me what happened.”
“He was drunk?” His gaze grows wide with worry and my forehead wrinkles.
“Very. The next morning, he didn’t even remember everything we had discussed.”
“Fuck,” he mutters.
“Is that a bad thing? I mean, really no one should get that wasted, but under the circumstances, I understood.”
“Derivius hasn’t had a drink in, fuck, I’m not even sure how many years,” Creed says.
Oh.
“Well, that explains the open honesty and lack of memory,” I say, but concern has crept deep through them. “I fixed his temple.”
“You what?” they all ask, and again, I fidget in Amick’s lap.
In the shortened version of the event, I tell them what happened when my Chaos and Creation came together and instead of destroying what was left of his dilapidated structure, I made it right once again.
“Shit, little burden. That’s so fucking badass.”
I huff a quiet laugh.
“I just let my power do its thing.”
