Page 86 of The Gods Veiling
“Yes, by all means, be my guests. For the second time today.”
My eyes roam over the room that never really changes. It’s basically a smaller replica of the Athenaeum, except it has a bed, closet, and bathroom.
The wooden desk is covered in the books that he was obviously poring through before we interrupted. Kyzen looks exhausted by the whole situation, which means Amick was making him use his powers again to scan the, I’m sure, worthless material.
I wait until the door clicks behind us and for Riven’s muttered curses to quiet down enough for me to be heard.
“Derivius has a plan, apparently.”
I summarize for them what was said and what happened at the temple.
Apart from a couple details.
Their glares at me going there without telling them first quickly enough morph into calculating stares. He may be a god we love, but that doesn’t mean we trust him fully on any given day.
All gods are self-serving. Whatever it is he’s come up with will benefit him just as much, if not more, than us.
“You didn’t say shit about any of this just now.” Riven huffs as he tosses a small glass globe up in the air repeatedly.
Amick’s neck is starting to turn a furious shade of red, but he focuses on me. “This is a part of his revenge plan.”
“I know. We’ve always known we played a role in his plans, but now that includes her for whatever reason.”
Derivius would give us all our power back if it didn’t mean the wrath of all the Beginning Gods would come down on him. They can’t kill him. It isn’t allowed by the orders of the Valories, but they can make his life even more of a hell than they already have.
That’s not a risk he’s willing to take. His revenge against them is too precious. Too many years in the making.
Whatever his new plan is, those rules of Beginning Gods not killing one another came off as null to me by his comment. It sounded like he’s planning their demise, not just their downfall.
Which I’m all on board for. But what’s it going to cost us?
“So what the fuck do we do then? Follow her around like lost little Snugglybugs and protect her so we keep our new power for when shit goes down to Hell? Literally.”
I shake my head as Amick looks at Riven like he’s grown an extra one.
Kyzen cuts in as he stands from his chair. “We don’t have to follow her around. She’s on rotation with us and lives with us. Plus, don’t act like that. We would’ve protected her regardless of whether it meant keeping our power. She’s done nothing wrong to deserve otherwise. We try to figure out what he wants exactly out of this arrangement he took upon himself to make.
“It’s obvious she isn’t the type who takes well to being told to give up what she knows. If she had no issue telling the High Chancellor what happened in the Veil was none of his business, us ambushing her for whatever information she has isn’t going to work. There’s this thing called getting to know someone we’re all going to try.”
“Think fast.”
No one thinks or even moves. The globe Riven had been tossing around crashes through the stack of books and Amick falls statue-still as they tumble across his desk.
Fuck me.
“I’m not sure how any of you have survived this long. No worries, though, leave getting the information from her to me.”
“Absolutely not,” Kyzen says while keeping a close eye on Amick. “A good place to start will be tomorrow at lunch. She heard us all yelling tonight, and that’s why she didn’t come back out. She went to Yemi’s house instead.”
“If she can’t handle yelling, she’ll never survive here. What did she hear?” I ask.
“She didn’t make it seem like she heard anything but the yelling and decided to give us space. I told her we’d meet for lunch and talk things out. So how about tomorrow, everyone just be on their best behavior.”
Our eyes turn to Riven.
“What the hell would I do? I haven’t even talked to her yet.”
I scoff. “You’re both beings of chaos. That’s a recipe for disaster.”
