Page 27 of The Gods Veiling
Another part of thisfestivalis the Pairing, which I don’t put much hope into. The gods would never pair us with a fifth, better known as a Binder, because then they’d have to give us more power.
It makes no logical sense for them to do that.
My continued silence finally irks Kyzen’s nerves, and he groans. That causes Riven to laugh, Creed to grunt, but I don’t bother voicing anything as a shiver races down my spine.
The three of them fall still as the sensation sweeps through them as well. We’re motionless for a breath of a second before turning back around to face the Gods Sanctum.
My stomach twists in knots and I prepare for the unexpected.
Time around us shifts as Kyzen commands it to. We wait for him to see what’s about to happen while we scan every direction. None of the gods rushing around the Assembly seem to be aware of the shift in the air.
“Nothing is about to happen,” Kyzen whispers.
That’s all it takes for Riven to crack.
He slings his head back and an uncontrollable laugh belts out of him. One hand slams against my shoulder while the other holds his stomach. We all look at him like he’s truly gone and lost it now until he wipes away his humorful tears.
“Well, boys, it looks like there’s a littlechaosin the air today. Maybe we weren’t so sneaky with our snooping.”
Gods.
One, in particular, that’s been disowned by the many.
Today just got a lot more unpredictable.
Thayla
4
I want to destroy everything I see.
“You’re handling this better than I thought you would. I assumed we’d be dragging you down here,” Mellcom murmurs close to my ear as if I’d take his soft tone with less offense.
He decided the best place for him to be standing is right up my ass while we wait for the carriage. My avoidance of him from the moment I packed, stormed out of the house, and went next door has him hovering over me like an unwanted black cloud. Or he also has a fear I might run.
My glare did nothing to deter him. So now I sit and fume while he breathes down my neck.
“Lay a hand on me again and I’ll dismember you.”
“Come on, Thayla. We can’t go into Godsden at each other’s throats. We need one another.”
My muscles lock to stone and I grip the handles of my bag even tighter. Men and the way their minds work are a mystery I don’t believe will ever be solved. Am I just supposed to forgive his betrayal because I walked my happy ass out here willingly rather than put up a pointless fight?
“I needed you not to somehow steal my blood then use it to betray me by entering me into a one-way trip to the one place my parents told me to never go.”
He grunts as if the accusation pains him. It’s the gods’ honest truth, and he needs to acknowledge that.
“When you were cutting vegetables for dinner…”
“Excuse me?”
“The other night when Jeremiah bumped into you, and you almost sliced your finger off.”
My thumb instinctively runs across the almost healed groove. It’ll be another lovely little scar, but the salve I made stitched it back up quickly and it’ll be good as new soon enough.
Wait a damn minute…
My bag drops out of my hand as I whip around. As though Mellcom spoke him into existence, Jeremiah steps beside him, drapes his arm over his shoulder, and winks at me.
