Page 227 of The Gods Order

“You’re the Messenger.”

Thayla

28

I can’t stop looking at her.

Every feature I’ve spent years trying to remember is somehow both exactly the same and completely different. The curve of her smile. The softness in her eyes. The warmth that’s always existed in her voice.

She looks more tired now than she did in the memories I clung to.

I can only imagine how different I look to her.

For a long moment, neither of us speaks.

We simply…observe. Like we’re trying to memorize each other all over again.

Oh gods.

All the shit I’ve talked to the Messenger. All the things whispered in my mind or shouted at the sky. She’s heard it all. She knows how I’ve always felt about the being I had a tie to.

Red is beginning to rim her eyes, and a memory surfaces so suddenly my breath catches. The very last conversation I ever had with her.

My lips part before I can stop them.

“There isn’t a force in this realm that could keep us from you forever,” I whisper.

Fresh tears spill down my cheeks and her lips curl between her teeth.

“No creators or creations…no Boundaries or barriers…and especially no gods.”

Her hand rises to cover her mouth.

“Our love for you transcends any power.”

My voice cracks.

“We’re always with you and will always see you.”

Silence hangs between us and I swallow around the lump lodged in my throat.

“You asked me if I understood.” A watery laugh escapes me. “I told you I did, but Valories know that was a lie.”

Another tear slips free, sliding down my face and disappearing into my small smile. My mother laughs lightly behind her fingers.

It’s quiet. Beautiful. Heartbreaking.

“I understand now.”

She reaches forward and cups my face exactly like she used to.

“I know you do,” she whispers.

Neither of us says anything else. She keeps her hands around my face, and I simply let her. I memorize the warmth of her palms, the lines around her eyes that hadn’t been there before, the tiny scar near her thumb I’d completely forgotten existed.

I thought I’d forgotten everything. I didn’t.

Eventually, my gaze drifts past her shoulder. Past the dais and endless stars suspended beyond the glass.