“Oh…right. That night.” She stares down at her feet, then gives us a tight smile. “Well then, I suppose introductions aren’t in order.”
The two of them knowing each other was the least of my concerns that fucking night. Honestly, it’s not surprising now. In my mind, anyone who has any knowledge of the damn prophecy about us knows one another.
The Valories, the Messenger, V, Verlet, Seismet, Derivius, Doren…
My glare reaches the God of Discovery, and he gives me a sad smile.
“I’m going to start some tea. I believe everyone needs something warm to drink.”
Okay, well, he didn’t know V, so he probably doesn’t know a lot of shit.
He was just a pawn like we are.
“A lot happened in a short amount of time, and we haven’t been able to piece anything concrete together.” Derivius peersover his shoulder as Yemi makes her way back to the couch beside Sevryn.
Her hand rubs circles on his back, but that doesn’t break the distant glare that’s washed over his face.
I take Derivius’s comment as Sevryn hasn’t spoken.
“What’s happened?” Amick asks.
“Well, you’ll have to fill us in on that. I felt Thayla’s power call to my own, and I tried to reach out but got no response. Yemi relayed the message of the stronghold to Ellian, then he called for me. We went to your home once Sevryn appeared, but you weren’t there, and something was restricting us from getting to the meadows.”
None of us respond to Derivius.
“Thayla has asked me to tell all of you that she wishes to tell them the truth. All of it.”
“Why the hell should we do that?”I ask.
“Because she plans to tell Derivius to hand his Binding over. Her words, of course.”
I peer down at her, and my heart flutters the first beat of life as her lips twitch.
“We should all have a discussion,” Amick says, motioning his hand toward Yemi’s table.
My jaw locks as Sevryn rises from the couch, wincing as he stomps over there. Iric takes a step away from him but falls still as his gaze gets trapped in mine.
He rolls his shoulders, attempting to get his power under control, but I can’t be of help to him. This is a fresh wound that doesn’t need his assistance being brought to the surface.
It’s there for his power to feast on.
I know that isn’t what he wants to do, but between Sevryn and the five of us, he may have no choice.
He should embrace the free meal and not make it fucking awkward.
“Boys, Thayla, are you all okay?” Ellian asks.
He looks tired. I swear to the gods, only a few days of being High Chancellor and it seems like years have already been sucked out of him.
I don’t wish that for Amick. Matter of fact, I fucking refuse to let that happen.
“Fine,” I grunt, then clear the rasp from my throat. “What did you do about the stronghold?”
He shakes his head, closing his gaping mouth as he tears his attention from V.
Glad to know he hasn’t been hiding things from us.
“Gladian retrieved the fallen Obliraguards, scouted the area, and assigned four new Valtrues to take post. Everything was clear by the time he got there. He claimed it didn’t look as though a battle even took place.”
