“I killed Jeremiah and she hasn’t said the first thing about it.”
“What did you want her to say? ‘Thank you so much for throwing the dagger for me, Amick. You’re the best.’” Riven laughs as he flops onto the couch and laces his fingers behind his head.
Amick rolls his eyes. “Of course not, but I did think she’d say something by now. I’m afraid she’s pretending it didn’t happen.”
“She’s not pretending,” I say. “She’s been holding every fucking thing together. For Lambrit, Laney. Hell, she just saved our asses not too long ago, now this shit.”
“Exactly.” Kyzen sighs, running his hand down the back of his neck. “She had a breather, and the moment it felt like she could relax, this happened. We need to make sure we’re there for her when she finally crashes.”
“Which will more than likely be tomorrow since you fuckers are forcing us back into our roles,” Riven scoffs.
“We can’t put our lives on hold any longer. We do have a mess of a realm to figure out,” Amick says.
“All I’m saying is, this week wasn’t some fantastic fucking break. It would’ve been nice to do fuck all nothing but lie in our house with our Binder and forget the realm for a while.”
“Life doesn’t stop for death, Riven,” I say and everyone snaps their attention toward me. “It sucks, but that’s the truth. We paused it for as long as we could. We were there for her, for Lambrit and Laney, but now we have to get back to the biggerfight. If we don’t, we’re just letting our father find more chances to continue doing shit like this.”
Heavy silence settles over the room as our gazes scan each other. That’s been a harsh reality that no one has wanted to call attention to. Our father did this. Along with the Goddess of Seduction.
They, together, with fucking Mellcom’s help, killed and kidnapped handfuls of innocent people.
This can never happen again.
“We’ve got three Bindings, and the last four are going to be incredibly—”
“Impossible.”
Amick scowls at Riven, then carries on. “Difficult. We can’t go back to Valveilious right now or anytime soon, so we’re eventually going to have to ask Derivius to take a risk.”
“You want him to steal them for us?” I ask, and he shrugs.
“I’m not saying that’s what I want or don’t want. It’s an option we may have to explore.”
“That’s a big fucking ask.” Riven laughs.
“Well, it isn’t like he still doesn’t go to the Goddess of Accord’s dwelling, so if the opportunity arises, I expect him to follow through. He’s played a massive role from behind the scenes in all of this. He may have to get more involved than he wants to be. Choosing a side means that.”
There’s a finality in Amick’s tone that’s undeniable. He isn’t going to hear an argument about this. He sure as fuck can be the one to have that conversation with Derivius.
It’s time he gets the fuck over Accord anyway.
I grunt at myself.
I’d never get over Thayla.
“So when Thayla returns, we’re going to lavish her in our love, do whatever she needs us to do tonight. Creed, you will cook dinner, and tomorrow, we get back to focusing on the realm. Wewill find the four Bindings, the original Gods Binding, and we will return them to their proper state. We will free the Veilatara, continue to help the Attendants, and fix Hellveilious. Then…we’re going to end our father.”
He turns toward his door, not hearing a word from the three of us. We all share a look.
It sounds like our brother has just decided that the God of Obliteration is going to die.
If anyone can find a way for that to work and not destroy the realm, it’s him.
Thayla
36
The whispers of the meadow grass blowing in the breeze block out the loud, unwanted thoughts blaring through my mind.
