16. Amick #2
Doren gives his Valtrue one more promising look, then closes his eyes. His body goes still. A minute and a half passes before green glows beneath his lashes and his power spreads across the realm.
It’s extraordinary. He explained to me that his power flows like veins, spreading and scattering if there’s no path, but if there is, his mind follows it to the destination. An image appears, and he locks onto the location.
So interesting.
Thayla tucks her hand into the crook of my elbow and pulls me back a few steps. Only then do I realize everyone else has moved away.
“So what’s the plan if ol’ Discovery realizes the Binding went to Valveilious with Daddy dearest?” Riven asks.
“There is no plan yet,” I say, frowning at his snicker. “Not because I haven’t thought of one. I need to see what this does to him and his power first.”
Surprisingly, Val makes a noise of acknowledgment.
“You plan to ask him to locate it repeatedly if it doesn’t drain him. Look for a pattern.”
“Precisely.”
“What if there isn’t a pattern?”
“Then we come up with a distraction.”
His gaze holds mine long enough to make Thayla shift.
“The waiting kills me. I hate it,” she says, earning chuckles.
“It’s been four minutes, gorgeous. Have some—”
“Don’t you dare say patience,” she warns Kyzen with a smirk. He returns it with a wink.
“You get it, honest, Thayla girl. Despite what many believe, patience isn’t my strong suit,” Val says.
She stares at her feet, then eventually she gives him a tight smile.
“Is that why you wanted to join us? You weren’t patient enough to wait until this afternoon?”
He shrugs. “Yes and no.”
She arches a brow. “Care to explain?”
“That depends on whether you care to hear the truth.”
Her forehead wrinkles. “I’d prefer the truth.”
He nods, hands clasped behind his back.
“I can’t return to your mother now that I’m here. So it was either twiddle my thumbs in Valveilious at one of Meridamus’s houses or stand in front of the Gods Binding. I figured if I asked to join you, I could observe the God of Discovery and spend time with you.”
None of us expected that. Thayla’s lips part as indecision wars within her. Curiosity flares in her eyes before she clears her throat and looks away.
“Of course Meridamus has more than one house.”
Val gives her a small smile, not pushing. Before silence settles, I ask one of my burning questions.
“Have you gone into the Athenaeum or restricted room since you’ve been back?”
“No,” he says. “Should I?”
“If you please. I’m curious about the book you left behind the barrier.”
His lips twitch as everyone’s gazes whip toward me like I said something wrong.
I understand. I said no one could know about that, but I meant people who don’t already know the truth. Or those who could be endangered by it, like Ellian. I return their stares with one of my own.
“He knew we went in there the moment we found him and the original Gods Binding. He purposely left clues in his book for us to find.”
“Did you really?” Thayla asks, then grunts when he nods honestly.
“Did you not enjoy the rest of the book?” he asks me.
“I appreciated the confirmation about a few events, but I was disappointed you didn’t mention anything about your power.”
“Oh no, really?” Yemi asks, eyes widening. “I mean—no offence. It’s your book. I was just excited to read about my Domain.”
“No offence taken,” he says. “I purposely left out details of my power. Except for Derivius and Meridamus, my counterparts still don’t know everything I can and can’t do. Unlike them, I wasn’t going to write it down for them. The book’s sole purpose was to lead you to the original Gods Binding.”
“And since you’re the only one not bound to that knowledge, that’s how you were able to write it,” Thayla says, earning a prideful smile.
“Correct.”
She hums. “It must be exhausting having plans and secrets in place for so many years.”
Val’s smile falters. His face softens under her unamused glare.
“It is, Thayla girl. It really is.”
My attention shifts from her exhale to a small flinch beside Val. Iric.
He isn’t watching Thayla like I expected. He’s staring intently at the God of Boundaries.
Interesting.
When he notices my focus, he tears his eyes away and looks at Doren.
Very interesting.
“Doren,” Yemi gasps, rushing forward when a deep grunt escapes him.
The replica Binding tumbles from his fingers as he grips his head and groans.
We reach him in seconds, but my Valtrue, Val, and I give him space while Yemi, Sevryn, Nero, and Iric crowd around him.
“Are you okay? Hurting? Do you need a healing vial?” Yemi asks rapidly.
“No, no, thank you,” he pants. “I’ll be fine in a moment.”
“Just take the damn thing. It’s not going to kill you,” Sevryn snaps.
“Sevryn, I’ll be fine.”
“What happened?” Yemi asks, waving Sevryn off. “You were confident this wouldn’t drain you.”
“It didn’t drain me. There was just…a lot of resistance getting through the barriers.”
“Barriers? Plural?” Thayla asks.
“Yeah,” he grunts, trying to stand.
Yemi shuts that down with a glare. I bite my tongue as she fusses over him. My impatience doesn’t go unnoticed. Thayla links her fingers through mine and gives me a pointed look.
I know what that means.
“I don’t mean to sound insensitive or tell you what you sensed, Doren,” Val says, “but there’s only one barrier separating us from the Abandon.”
Thank goodness he spoke.
The restraint was starting to grate on me.
“I’m aware. Once my power locked onto the Bindings, it followed the directions it was given. There’s one in the Abandon, in the house V showed me. The other is in Valveilious.”
“Rella’s. We knew hers was there,” I say.
“Yes, but…” Doren casts his gaze up at me. “It’s in the Neutral. I’ve been there many times. There’s no denying it was there.”
A slow, annoyed breath spills from me.
“That bitch keeps her Binding on her. Of course she does,” Riven says, throwing his hands up. “Derivius is going to have to get his hands dirty. If not, we’ll have to break in while she’s sleeping. There’s no other way to get it.”
Unfortunately, he’s right.
I hate to admit it, but this surprises me. Rella is logical, analytical. Keeping her Binding on her is a level of paranoia I expected from my father. Not her.
“Val, do the others know Derivius doesn’t have his Binding?” I ask.
“As far as I know, they think he hid it when he stole Sabe’s years ago.”
I nod. “So they should only know hers and Creation’s are gone. Unless she hasn’t noticed or cared to check.”
“Correct. We can ask Derivius if Creation has said anything.”
“That’s fine, but where are you going with this, Amick?” Thayla asks.
“I’m trying to understand Rella’s behavior. It doesn’t make sense she’d risk carrying it unless she feared losing it.”
Thayla closes her eyes and rubs her temples. “Well, that’s the next problem. First things first—Kira’s. Now that we know we’re going to the Abandon, time to plan. Where do we start?”
My lips pinch tight. I try to hide the answer, but she looks at me first. Her determination fractures, and she plants her hands on her hips.
“Yemi’s and my training. Right.” She exhales sharply and turns to Val. “How long do you realistically think it’ll take for us to get this down?”
His quiet sigh doesn’t help.
“You can’t put a timeline on these things, Thayla. You’ll get it when you get it.”
“Okay, but I need a timeline. A goal. Motivation. The quicker I get this, the quicker we get his Binding, and the closer we are to fixing this shit show. So can you give me direction?”
He glances at Yemi, then studies Thayla.
“This is your number one priority?” he asks.
She scoffs. “Yes, obviously.”
He nods. “Very well. One week. Starting today.”
She jerks back. “You’re serious? You think you can teach us this in one week?”
Her brows furrow when he shakes his head.
“I can’t teach you to master it in a week. But I can teach you what you need to get in and out of the Abandon unsensed and unseen. This has to be your focus.”
“What does that mean?”
“This will take more than a few hours a day. You’ll have to give up your Court rotation and hanging around the Athenaeum. You and Yemi. Mara will need to take over your training. This will be your all-day rotation for the next week. Morning to evening. That’s the dedication required.”
“They can’t stop physical training for a week, then go into the Abandon. They still need to keep those skills sharp,” Creed says.
Val considers that, then nods. “That’ll have to be before sunrise or after sunset.”
“Fuck,” Thayla mutters, then looks over her shoulder. “Yemi? This isn’t just my schedule.”
“Evenings preferably. I’ve gotten spoiled sleeping later, and waking up to sling swords sounds dreadful.”
Thayla chuckles, nodding with a smirk. It fades as she looks at Kyzen, Creed, Riven, and me.
“Okay then,” she mutters.
Her hesitation is understandable. In a short time, she’s gone from avoiding Val to agreeing to train with him and Meridamus a few hours a day, to now spending all day with them for a week.
It’s pushing her into territory she isn’t ready for.
“I think physical training should wait until tomorrow since you and Gladian are heading to Hell,” I say.
“We need to know what’s going on with their Valtrue, then form rotations.
We’ll introduce their newest members to everyone—including Val and Meridamus—then all three groups will meet in the Court in the afternoons. ”
“At least I get a day before everything switches,” Thayla murmurs.
Her arms fall as she catches the look on Valthaneus’s face.
“We start now,” he says with a small, understanding smile.
She doesn’t let disappointment linger. She nods, shakes off her apprehension, and steps toward him.
That’s not the only thing starting now.
The plans are already running through my mind.