Page 189 of The Gods Order

“Correct.” His voice is infuriatingly calm, but the smirk he’s still wearing is not. “You are not one of those five. The prophecy was never about you.”

My mind turns his words over and over.

Five gods.

Salvation.

Obliteration.

Five…

“That night, the God of Consequence said that if I wasn’t the one to tell you the truth, then the consequences of that would be that the realm wouldn’t shape into what it needs to. Now, it can.”

The truth and so, so many other details race through my mind.

“Not to restore, but to reshape. She was who they were missing.”

“It could’ve been worse. Instead of me, Seduction could’ve had the fifth like they planned.”

“Oh, my sweet, sweet Thay—”

Derivius…

I stumble back a step and Mellcom follows. My head thrashes back and forth as I eye him up and down.

“No,” I breathe.

“Yes,” he says, strolling forward until he’s far too close to me. “Finish putting the pieces together. Speak the truth out loud.”

I can’t. I don’t want to.

No, no, no.

“Speak it, Thayla!”

His bellow rattles my bones. Faster than I can blink, his hand shoots out and his fingers wrap around my throat once again. My jaw locks as he snatches me until I’m against his chest.

Gods. I see it so fucking clear now.

His green eyes, blond hair, and gorgeous skin. The way girls used to fall at his feet. He gets it from her.

His need for control. His conning tendencies. His…manipulation.

He gets that from him.

“You’re the fifth,” I choke out. He relaxes his grip a fraction. “You’re the son of the God of Obliteration and the Goddess of Seduction.”

He smiles down at me, running his thumb gently across my thundering pulse.

“That’s right. I am.”

Air desperately wants to rush from my lungs. It can’t.

It lodges itself right in my throat where his fingers hold me still.

“And together, myself and my—brothers—are going to fulfill the prophecy. The realm will fall to Obliteration and be shaped into what it’s supposed to be. Then…”

He runs his nose across mine and I jerk my face from him. He snatches me right back. The darkness clouding his eyes has mine narrowing.