11. Creed #3
“You did as you were told. I died by your father’s hand, not yours,” he says as he steps closer. “Is that really what brought you here? You’ve blamed yourself for my death for twenty-eight years?”
“Yes. Ever since Gladian opened his big-ass mouth and told us the truth, I’ve been overwhelmed with guilt and my damn soul hasn’t left me alone.”
“Your soul hasn’t left you alone because your power has obviously evolved and it sensed me here. Gladian sharing whatever he did only made your abilities focus harder on me. Guilt didn’t drag you here. Your power did.”
I fall still and blink at him.
“Care to catch me up now?” Sevryn asks, impatience coloring his tone.
I do as he asks, though my mind needs a minute to wrap around what Vihaan said.
“Makes sense,” Sevryn hums.
“Complete sense,” Vihaan agrees. “Now tell me about Gladian. He and Barir still argue?”
I swear I get whiplash from the sudden shift.
One second, we’re discussing me killing him, and the next, he’s asking about his brother like he saw him yesterday instead of nearly three decades ago.
Maybe souls really don’t process time the same way the living do.
Or maybe twenty-eight years trapped beside your own corpse strips away everything unnecessary until all that remains are the people you loved most. He seems fully aware.
Intelligent. Sharp enough to follow every word from me or Sevryn.
There’s something deeply unnatural in the way his conversations flow, though.
“Gladian is…fine. He’s in a completed Valtrue and he leads the Defenders. God of Strength through and through.”
“Sounds like him. How’s his and Sevryn’s relationship? Strong, I assume. Gladian would want to ensure he doesn’t end up like Seveous. I can see where they’d butt heads, but that’s normal.”
My lips press together and I stare at Sevryn.
“What?” he asks.
“He’s asking about yours and Gladian’s relationship.”
“Not fucking going there.”
I glare at his dumb ass. Obviously, he didn’t realize my eyes were trying to tell him to lie.
“You all don’t get along with him. What happened? How could that happen?” Vihaan asks.
“A lot happened, but it’s fine. We’re figuring it out.”
“There shouldn’t be anything to figure out. You’re on the same side.”
“How could you possibly know that? The last time you saw me, I literally killed you.”
He scoffs like that’s old news and I’m the one who needs to get over it.
“I knew before you even did it that one day you’d break free from your father. The resistance was already clear across your soul. Gladian should’ve been there, ready and waiting for all of you. Your brothers. Sevryn. What happened?”
“I killed you, Vihaan. What don’t you understand?” I ask, losing myself for a moment.
My bellow finally makes things click for him.
“I see,” he says as he paces…well, floats. “My brother took my death out on you.”
Understandably. Now. Sort of.
Him being an ass and in constant competition with us, it’s whatever. We can get over it.
What he did to Thayla…
“Regardless of that, though, much else has happened. Only time will tell if any of us can move past it.”
“You all should move past it. A division among gods on the same side cannot defeat a side united. How’s Hell holding up?” he asks and I blow out a deep breath.
“What? What’s he asking about now?” Sevryn asks.
“Hell.”
His forehead wrinkles and I shake my head. Hopefully, he understands that as shut the fuck up and doesn’t add to the conversation. I need to free his soul and get him out of here. The longer we linger, the clearer it becomes that this needs to end.
“It’s in one piece.”
“Well, one would hope so. It’d be realm-ending if it spilled out across the Veil.”
Yeah. I’m well aware.
Silence settles through the Crypt as I study him. The exhaustion beneath his composure. The strange calmness he carries.
He shouldn’t be here. Souls pass on. That’s the entire point. Damaged souls, tortured ones, corrupt ones, pure ones. If their vessel dies, the soul passes on.
My stomach twists. I know how hypocritical that thought makes me. I literally oversee a Soul Chamber. I imprison gods’ souls there for years. But this—he—is different.
The souls in the chamber are still tethered to living bodies. Their godly forms continue breathing while their souls face punishment or redemption. Eventually, they return to themselves or death frees them completely. That’s the purpose of the chamber. An ending still exists.
Vihaan has no ending. No body waiting for him. No judgment. No release. My father’s unjust punishment has gone too far.
“Vihaan,” I mumble. “I’m going to set you free now.”
For the first time since appearing, genuine confusion crosses his face.
“Really?”
Sevryn looks between me and empty air. “Okay, what the fuck is happening now?”
I barely hear him.
“Yes,” I tell Vihaan firmly. “It’s time for you to move on.”
Something unreadable flickers across his expression.
Hope. Gods damned hope.
Small enough to crack my chest open.
“I…” He glances toward Sevryn, his features softening faintly. “I want what I always wanted. The best for my brothers. My family.”
My throat tightens.
“I’ll pass it along.”
He huffs a quiet laugh. “Please don’t phrase it like a dying man’s final message. I’ve had enough of those.”
Despite everything, the corner of my mouth twitches.
My power surges awake beneath my skin as I call it forward and it floods through my veins with familiar ease. The Crypt drops ten degrees colder as Death coils around us in recognition.
Sevryn jumps beside me, whipping his head from me to where I’m focusing.
“What are you doing?” he asks.
“Helping him pass on. Got anything you want to say?”
His gaze widens and his mouth gapes.
“I…fuck, I don’t know.” He turns toward where I point. “We’ll figure it out.”
Vihaan gives him a small grin.
“I don’t doubt that.”
His words feel absolute, but I can’t place the expression on his face when he focuses back on me and nods. I return the gesture and reach for his soul. I choke on a breath as pure white-hot agony rips across my chest.
What the—
My power recoils violently before surging forward again on instinct, slamming into something wrapped around Vihaan’s soul. The moment the two forces touch again, a scream rips free from me. I stagger hard enough that Sevryn catches my arm.
“Creed?”
My power fractures in lashes of black that race wildly across the Crypt. I grit my teeth and swallow down a bellow as I wrangle it back with everything I have. It circles Vihaan until the binding around him ignites.
Not literally, but fuck, I see it. I feel it. It’s tearing through my body.
Thin black threads that don’t belong to me are wrapped through Vihaan’s soul so deeply they’ve become part of him.
Buried into every inch. Every layer. Every fucking piece.
Obliteration.
My power snarls against the binding and tries to slash it apart.
And fails.
I shove harder and fire explodes across my heart. My knees slam into the stone floor.
“What the fuck is happening?” Sevryn shouts as he drops beside me.
I can’t answer through the rattle of my teeth or the pressure from my power. It doesn’t want to give up. It keeps fighting back. Again and again and again. It’s not listening to me.
“Enough.”
A hand touches my shoulder and my power snaps back beneath my skin. I crash forward, catching myself on all fours before I eat stone.
Heavy breaths fall from my chest as I jerk my head up and meet Vihaan’s gaze. He gradually lets his hand fall from me.
“You knew this would happen,” I rasp.
A sad smile crosses his face.
“I suspected.”
Rage crashes through me so fast it nearly chokes me.
“No. I can fucking do this.”
“One day, God of Death. Today isn’t that day.” He floats back into a standing position and steps away as Sevryn helps me stand. “I believe it’s time for you two to go. Hopefully, we will see each other again.”
“No. Wait!”
My shout goes ignored as he just…disappears.
No. This can’t be happening. I control souls. I allow them to pass on.
What the actual fuck?
My body slumps as I try to step away from Sevryn and I grunt, tangling my fingers into his armor instead.
Shit.
“We need to get out of here. You don’t look so good.”
Fuck. I suddenly don’t feel it.
With every step toward the door, I try to get my breathing under control. It doesn’t work. If anything, it labors more.
“Give me a second. I got to get myself together,” I pant and Sevryn scowls.
“You can get yourself together when we get the fuck out of here.”
“Sevryn,” I bark as he tugs me forward. “I can’t step out there and look this weak in front of them.”
His eyes narrow, but I can’t deal with him right now.
I take three massive breaths and pull my shoulders back. My balance isn’t what I’d like it to be, but it’ll have to be enough.
My palm lands against the door and my jaw locks as the permission pulls even more power from me. I breathe a sigh of relief when the sensation finally stops.
Two steps past the threshold, Faron appears.
“We’ll see ourselves out.”
“Yes, sir.” He bows, but I catch the curiosity in his eyes.
Every step hurts. Keeping my shoulders straight is damn near unbearable. I want to punch Sevryn for the way he keeps staring at me. Every time his finger brushes mine like he’s about to steady me, my teeth clench tighter.
The sight that greets me as soon as we step out of the Division has my soul swelling in my chest.
“I’m going to fuck you up.”
A small smirk twitches on my lip and I sway.
“Not here. Get me home first, my endling,” I mumble.
Then…my legs crumble beneath me.