Page 209 of The Gods Order

The next steps…

Moving forward…

It sounds too much like moving on.

“Is that all you have to say?”

The house falls eerily quiet, and my ears ring as I rise from the couch on unsteady legs. My skin heats as every eye turns toward me.

Meridamus frowns.

“What do you mean?”

“After everything…” I mumble, glancing at V’s nook, then Creed’s room. “Everything that happened today. How do you just come in here, ready to discuss the next strategy? The next plan?”

“Because we have to consider the consequences of what comes next, Thayla. Kira is hurt, yes, but he’s now more than aware you possess multiple Bindings. He’s going to do whatever he can to get his back. After the arguments in the Neutral, followed by him returning home to find you all there, he’ll easily put together that Val has chosen to stand with you. We have to prepare for the consequences of our actions.”

Consequences. Consequences. Consequences.

“What about the consequences of your actions?” I ask quietly.

The only reason I know I said it aloud is because his brows furrow.

“I know the truth, Meridamus. At least some of it.”

His face falls blank, like he’s been caught doing something he shouldn’t have.

His unblinking gaze holds mine.

“You. You’re the god who told him to enter me into the Veiling.”

My words come out sharp and sure.

Riven, Kyzen, and Amick all turn toward him at once. Neither Val nor Derivius moves. Meridamus takes a single step forward, holding his hands up like he comes in fucking peace.

“Thayla, I need to explain.”

“You’re going to explain,” I snap.

My voice cracks through the room harder than I expected, and something inside me flares hotter.

“You’re going to explain why you woke up one day and flipped my entire fucking life around.”

My pulse is no longer sluggish, and my power reacts beneath my skin like it’s trying to decide whether to rise or collapse inward.

“You’re going to explain how and why the hell you had custody of the God of Obliteration and the Goddess of Seduction’s son. You’re going to—”

“What?”

The air leaves my lungs as I jerk back a step. Their combined shout echoes through the house, drowning out the multiple gasps behind me. I run my gaze over the shock written across Amick’s, Riven’s, and Kyzen’s faces.

I swallow.

“Mellcom is not Meridamus’s son. He’s the fifth son of Obliteration. He’s…”

I can’t finish the sentence. I don’t have to.

They know exactly what it means.