Page 186 of The Gods Veiling
“The initial settling is brutal, then it almost becomes dormant, growing through the years with you. Newborns can’t control that initial burst. They harmed others and themselves every single birth. It became too much of a risk to allow them to hit that hour mark.
“Long before there was such a thing as a Veiling day, around your teenage years, if you showed enough level of maturity, your power would begin being released to you. Your twenties would be when it was fully returned.
“We, Creed, Amick, and I are triplets. Riven has the same father but a different mother. With powerful, godly intervention, we were all born at the exact same time and placed in the Gods Veil in the Abandon.”
The throw pillows on the other couch go tumbling to the ground as Riven gets to his feet and stomps out of the room. Thayla goes to call for him, but I place my hand on her knee and shake my head. He can’t handle that reminder.
I knew that, but this has to be said. He knew it was coming.
She lays her hand on mine but never takes her eyes off his door. “So your powers were stripped by the Veil in the Abandon?”
“No. We were placed in the Veil together to receive more power. The God of Obliteration decided we were going to be his test gods. He didn’t care about the damage we’d cause with our births or growing years because we wouldn’t be powerful enough to kill him. He wanted to mend and mold us into unstoppable gods.
“At fifteen, we rebelled. We attacked his forces, trying to get to him, but failed. Derivius swooped in, brought us here, and we were forced to choose. Lose our lives or allow this side’s Gods Veil to strip our power and we live by the rules of the Godsdawn. It’s obvious what we chose.”
Her fingers flinch against my hand, but she doesn’t remove it. I can’t bring myself to look at her, so I can’t read the emotions on her face.
“So you all had all your power at one point in your lives. That’s what Riven meant by you all want your powers back and the predicament you’re in. Is that why your power was…different, stronger over there than what I’ve seen?”
“Only Riven knows what he means when words come out of his mouth, but I’m sure it mostly had to do with our situation. And it’s complicated, but yes, twenty years ago, we were at full strength for our age, plus a touch of the Abandon’s Binding. We weren’t done growing. It was purer than what we experience now, and we had more abilities. There’s no telling the level of power we’d wieldnow if we hadn’t been stripped. We’ll always have a touch of the Abandon’s power in us no matter the fact we were stripped here. It shows itself when we cross that barrier.”
“I still don’t understand. I mean, I understand what you said, but are you all waiting to turn into creatures? Are you afraid he’s going to come after you? I’m sure there’s a lot more to the story, and it’s okay you don’t go into detail, but I feel like I’m missing something here.”
“Are you afraid of us?”
I force myself to glance at her. I need to hear and see how she responds to Creed’s dark question. I haven’t even told her the worst of it, and I don’t know if I can right now.
“No more than I always have been. Should I be? None of you answered me about turning into creatures.”
“We won’t be turning into creatures. Our powers are just more layered and stronger than everyone else’s. We’ve passed the age of full maturity, so there’s no telling what our power will look like once we’re given all of it back. That taint will always run in our blood whether we like it or not,” Amick states, but I turn to face her fully.
“You’ve always been afraid of us?”
She worries her bottom lip. “Well, yeah, of course. I was and still am very powerless against all of you. It didn’t help hearing that none of you wanted anything to do with me, but I was stuck here, regardless.”
“You’re our Binder. We’d never hurt you,” I agree with Amick and even Creed grunts.
“How was I supposed to know that? That’s not something I’d ever just assume on my own.”
Because someone has hurt her. That’s why and what she’s not saying.
“Yes, there’s always the chance that god comes after us. Which now includes you. It’s always a fear we’re waiting and prepared for.”
She sighs and slouches back against the couch and brings her mug to her lips. “Great. Another god fucking with us. Damn it. I hate when Riven’s right.”
“As do I.”
We all snort at Amick, and Thayla finally removes her hand from my leg, unfortunately, and she reaches over to pat Amick.
“I won’t call you all out necessarily because you didn’t do that to me, but I sensed the really high tension when I came out here. I know there’s a lot more to your stories than you’re willing to tell right now and that’s okay. I just want youall to know, though, I’m not going to judge you when and if you do tell me. I don’t care what runs through your blood as long as you don’t hurt me or anyone undeserving of that. You were teenagers, so I’ve already chalked it up to you not having a true choice in the matter. I’m not going to treat you all any differently. Especially if you all aren’t mad that I’ve brought another meddling god into your lives.”
With that, Creed stands wordlessly and leaves the room. I pinch my lips together and shake my head in both understanding and disappointment. I was hoping her words might ease something in him.
“Did I say something wrong?”
“No. Creed will never be able to escape the hell he believes he’s been damned to.”
“Amick,” I scold.
