Page 330 of The Gods Order

“No. Everything you did was to control her. Now, you control nothing,” Kyzen says as he stands. “The answer was forty-six lashes, by the way. Nine separate times you tied her to a post. Then you stood by for the tenth and watched her receive her fiftieth.”

Gladian flinches beside me, and I meet his remorseful gaze. I can’t think too much about it without growing furious.

“I’ll kneel beside him,” he says, gaining everyone’s attention. “I deserve to receive what I gave her.”

“That’s not our choice to make.” I suck my teeth as I stare at the dirt. “She gave us permission to punish him how we please as long as we didn’t kill him. As for you…she told us to let it go. Mercy was an option.”

“She doesn’t have to show me mercy just because I stood by all of you.”

“No, she doesn’t. But she’s chosen to.”

He holds my stare a moment longer before nodding and facing Mellcom once again.

“I’m thinking fifty each, boys,” Riven says, grinning from ear to ear.

Screams and pleas echo around the fighting rings as Mellcom tries with all his might to jerk free from his chains. All of us shake our heads. Sevryn offers the four of us a sinister smirk as he passes us our whips.

“I agree. Although,” Amick says, tilting his head. “He’s not going to survive that.”

“We can space them out. We have plenty of time,” Kyzen says, letting his whip unravel to the ground.

“Ugh, fine. Ten each today,” Riven groans.

I shrug.

“Works for me.”

A crack rings through the air as I take a practice swing, and a smirk mixed with a sneer crosses my face as piss runs down Mellcom’s thighs.

“Pathetic,” my brothers and I say together.

Not a second later, all four of our whips sail across the space, shredding Mellcom’s back and shirt. Blood instantly flows like a river down his spine, and his cries are music to my ears.

My endling may have made us promise not to kill him, but I will spend my lifetime making his a living Hell.

Kyzen

40

Excitement hums through the seven of us gathered at the barrier.

It settles beneath my skin with every smile, every quiet murmur, every impatient glance toward the wall of shimmering power that’s protected those who are stranded in the Valorian Veil.

The rest of our family waits on the other side.

Val stands beside Thayla, quietly explaining how to reinforce the barrier back to what it was. Losing his Beginning God status weakened the power woven into it, but it hadn’t disappeared completely.

At first, Thayla wanted to bring the barrier down altogether. In the last five minutes, she’s decided against it.

Not until we’ve spoken with the people living behind it.

After all these years, they can’t return to their original realms. They might not even want to. Regardless, we won’t force them to integrate into the regions. This has become their safe haven.

We’ll keep it that way.

“Gods, this has been such a glorious day. First, we got to have some fun in Hell, now this. I’m so giddy,” Riven says, tapping his fingers together rapidly.

“Fun in Hell?” Thayla asks, arching her brow with a saucy smirk. “Is that what you’re calling it?”