Page 86 of The Gods Order

I sigh, then recap the brief interaction.

“Yeah, don’t get your soul in a twist. I’m nothing like him.” Sevryn snarls.

“How long has it been?” Vihaan asks suddenly, pulling my attention.

“How long has what been?”

“How long have I been dead?”

A whistle blows in my ears, sharp and painful.

“Twenty-eight years,” I say.

He nods again with an understanding I don’t comprehend.

“I quit trying to keep track after a few days and once I finally gave up, time truly wasn’t important anymore.”

I can’t fathom how that’s true. I live with the God of Time and he’s constantly harping on how precious time is. Maybe it’s different for souls.

Gods. I can’t imagine.

Twenty-eight years trapped inside this Crypt. Alone.

Unable to leave. Unable to die fully.

“After twenty-eight years, what brought you here today, Creed?”

My jaw flexes hard enough to ache. Coming here to alleviate my guilt or whatever has been pestering me seems so fucking ridiculous now.

“Gladian shared the truth of yours, his, and Seveous’s past. I just wanted to pay my respects. Apologize.”

“Apologize? For what? Killing me?” he asks and I squeeze my eyes shut.

“I’m definitely missing some dark emotional shit right now,” Sevryn says and I peel open a single lid to glare at him.

“You were very young and I knew my fate the moment you came into this realm. I had accepted that and was honestly surprised it took as long as it did.”

“That doesn’t change or justify anything. I still killed you. Now you’re trapped.”

“You did as you were told. I died by your father’s hand, not yours,” he says as he steps closer. “Is that really what brought you here? You’ve blamed yourself for my death for twenty-eight years?”

“Yes. Ever since Gladian opened his big-ass mouth and told us the truth, I’ve been overwhelmed with guilt and my damn soul hasn’t left me alone.”

“Your soul hasn’t left you alone because your power has obviously evolved and it sensed me here. Gladian sharing whatever he did only made your abilities focus harder on me. Guilt didn’t drag you here. Your power did.”

I fall still and blink at him.

“Care to catch me up now?” Sevryn asks, impatience coloring his tone.

I do as he asks, though my mind needs a minute to wrap around what Vihaan said.

“Makes sense,” Sevryn hums.

“Complete sense,” Vihaan agrees. “Now tell me about Gladian. He and Barir still argue?”

I swear I get whiplash from the sudden shift.

One second, we’re discussing me killing him, and the next, he’s asking about his brother like he saw him yesterday instead of nearly three decades ago.