Page 236 of The Gods Veiling
“Not the time, Riven,” I grunt.
“Yeah, yeah.” He waves me off.
“Could you two carry on? Whatever’s happening has my chest experiencing a very uncomfortable sensation again.”
Thayla’s head swings to Amick and her bottom lip trembles.
I lean forward in my seat. “Thayla…”
“You each hold a piece of my soul.”
Amick and I tilt our heads to the side as we look at her. Creed presses his lips together and crosses his arms over his chest.
Still not picking up the seriousness in the room, Riven laughs and sits up. “You have the strangest ways of professing your love for me.”
“Riven, please. This isn’t a what the fuck moment.”
The smile on his face instantly dies at the despair in her tone and he turns his glare to Creed. “What the hell is she talking about?”
Creed glances down at her and all our heads follow.
“In the Gods Veil, Derivius didn’t just pair us as a Valtrue. He split my soul and put a piece of it in each of you. We’re literally tied together by my soul.”
My chest constricts so tight I could swear to you I was kicked in it. My power leaks out of me and everything speeds up to match the tempo of my heartbeat.
Minutes fly by in seconds as we all stand and shout. What we say, I don’t know, but whatever it is, it isn’t good.
I watch with no way to stop it as Riven steps up to Thayla and throws his hands in the air. I don’t witness him physically do anything, but she caves in on herself and Creed lays a fist across his jaw.
Chaos breaks loose across the house.
Shit…
Time rewinds back to normal.
“Thayla, come sit down.”
“I need to tell you everything.”
“And you can do it from this seat between Amick and me. Come sit.”
She goes to shake her head, but Creed nudges her with his elbow. “Go. If he’s telling you to do that, then it’s for the best.”
I sneer at him. What would’ve been for the best is if his ass was fucking honest with us. With me. I distinctly remember asking him her very first night here, right when he got back from going to see Derivius, if something else happened.
We felt it.
We fucking felt her soul latching onto us at the Veiling Ceremony. The sensation will be seared into my brain for eternity.
“Start from the beginning, and no one, I mean no one,”—I eye Riven the hardest—“interrupt her.”
I lace my fingers with hers and squeeze. Her breath fans across our hands and she lets it all pour out.
Riven slowly stands from his seat and I hold on to her a little tighter. “This is why you asked what you did last night? You have a way to untie us.”
“This is why I asked, yes, but I don’t have a concrete way. I believe it’d be possible if Creed removes my soul. I just don’t know how us untying ourselves will affect everything else.”
“If Creed does what?” Riven and I ask together.
