Page 24 of The Gods Veiling
“Time’s up, Amick.”
My head drops as I exhale harshly. I give myself only a moment to recoup from the rapid use of power. Carefully, I close the cover of the tome and check it over countless times to make sure I leave it in its exact spot.
Perfectly lined with the stopper holding it and exactly centered. There isn’t a speck of dust in sight. No ruffled pages or a dented spine.
It must remain impeccable.
The questions brewing in Kyzen’s eyes are loud as I walk past him through the door he’s holding open. I don’t answer any of them but ask one of my own. “How long till he wakes?”
“Two minutes. We got to lock up and get the fuck out of here.”
My fingers relax at my side as I walk to the corner and allow my gaze to trail over the hall once again. The keys jingle loudly as he locks the revered room back and I stare at the double doors we need to get through.
Sooner rather than later.
It’s highly unlikely anyone would have a plan as well thought out as my own, especially during the Veiling celebrations, but you can never trust the unpredictable ones.
Including my brother.
My body moves on silent steps the moment I hear the metal keys hit marble. Kyzen falls in line beside me and neither of us speaks.
His shoulders relax as a smile crosses his lips when we slip through the door and a whistled melody reaches our ears. Riven’s song disrupts the peace, and I internally groan at the nonsense.
Perfectly timed, just as I planned, Kyzen, Creed, and I emerge in the center where Riven is dancing around. The smirk and mischievousness in his featuresare always telling. He’s either already done something he shouldn’t have or he’s plotting it out as I think.
“I take it our Chancellor in training didn’t find what he was looking for today.”
I ignore Riven’s taunt.
Beside me, Kyzen chuckles. The bright, easygoing smirk he always wears is plastered on his face as he feeds into Riven’s game. “He chose the largest tome he could find.”
“Oh no, you didn’t get to finish it, did you? Is that why you look like someone shoved a stick up your ass?”
“Have you ever finished a book a day in your life, Riven?”
Creed grunts and Kyzen laughs like I said a joke, but I’m asking quite seriously. The only time I’ve ever seen him even touch a book was to throw it at someone. Usually me. I don’t recall, even as children, him reading.
I’m not even sure he can.
“I’ve read loads. Far more than you have.”
I don’t play into the blatant lie. He gives up his pestering after that as he and Kyzen fall into their normal, meaningless conversations.
“Anyone approach you outside?”
Creed’s and my blank stares match. “Did you seriously expect someone to approach me?”
“They have no self-preservation today. The Veiling makes everyone careless.”
“That includes you. Of all the days, you choose this one to pull something like this,” he fires back.
“My self-preservation was at the forefront of my mind, hence why I chose today. This is the only day of the entire year there’s not a single god, Chancellor, or otherwise, in that room or the Athenaeum. Aside from the Attendant, but there’s always one there, regardless.”
He has no further argument. He knows I’m right.
Silence hangs in the air around me as I tune them out and return the book Riven dropped back to its spot.
Aside from my bedroom, the Athenaeum is my favorite place in all of Godsden. The countless, priceless knowledge at my fingertips makes my power thrum through my blood. I spend every free moment I have here.
