Creed
My damn fingers are still pruney from the hot spring, although we left there hours ago.
I suppose it was inevitable since we stayed in there for hours, hanging out and letting everyone’s powers truly settle into place.
Thayla and I escorted Mara back to the Court once we finally got out. Thayla didn’t want Gladian grilling Mara, which he attempted to do the moment we showed up.
Of course, my Binder shut that shit down.
She told him we had secret favorite god business to attend, and he was welcome for the benefit his Binder got from it. It took everything in me not to die laughing in his face when Mara’s power hit him.
I’m sure she’ll still get questioned, but as long as she tells him what Thayla told her to say, it’ll be fine.
Now, hopefully, she can use this power to fucking bash those pieces of shit Valtrue members’ heads in.
I huff in annoyance at the way the wrinkles on my fingers feel as I run them over Thayla’s soft skin. It pisses me off. It’s rare I get to hold her in my lap alone and now my fucking old man hands are getting in the way.
Her laughter washes away my attitude as she tilts her head back against my shoulder and falls into a fit over Riven’s and Kyzen’s nonsense.
Since we got home, the two of them, plus Amick, have been doing everything they can to test out their power boost.
Riven’s getting annoyed because Kyzen can now move fast enough through time to catch him before his Chaos warps his surroundings. I’m not sure why he’s bitching about it. We’ve always been able to sense him, to an extent.
Now Kyzen can see him.
“Holy shit,” Thayla squeals, jumping in my lap when four Amicks pop up and stare at the bookshelves beside the real Amick. “That’s new. And…unsettling.”
“That isn’t new. He’s always been able to do that, but he can’t hold it very long,” I say.
The extra Amicks turn their heads around, full fucking one-eighty, and stare at me.
“He can hold it as long as he wants.”
They echo and I flinch.
“That’s new,” I grunt. “They used to not be able to speak or turn their heads like that. They’d just squeal really fucking loud.”
Amick, without hesitation, stabs one of them with his pen. Thayla shrieks and covers her eyes. So she misses how his weapon goes right through him.
“Still can’t hold their form,” Amick says, then goes right back to touching every damn thing like this doesn’t faze him at all.
He’s hoping some truths that have never come forward will suddenly now that he’s got more power.
He already went through his whole room.
“I know. That’s un-fucking-fortunate. This is as good as they’re going to get, but at least I can make them say weird-ass shit now.”
“You don’t know that for certain. You still don’t have all your power,” Kyzen says, also staring at the extra Amicks, a little wary.
“I do know. My Harmony can sense it.”
We all whip our attention to him.
“So…your Chaos is tapped out?” Thayla asks.
“No, just this ability from it. I’m so excited to see what all changes when I’m fully powered. It’s going to be magnificent. I already know.”
I snort at his stupid ass, but Thayla lets out a breathy huh and tilts her head.
“What?” I ask. She stays focused on Riven.
“Do you think your Harmony can sense if any of our abilities have reached their max?”
“Good question, little burden.” He claps his hands and rubs his palms together. “Who wants to be my test subject?”
“I do. Move Kyzen,” Amick says, tossing his parchment and pen down.
Thayla shakes in silent laughter, and I grip her hips to quit that shit. She’s lucky she doesn’t already have something poking her in the ass.
“All righty, smart-ass, let’s see what you got going on.”
Amick doesn’t take any offense at the rude-ass nickname. He stands statue still.
Riven hums, tapping his shoulders and stalking around him in a circle. I roll my eyes as he makes noises of disgust and comments like “Oh, that’s not good.”
Literally none of it bothers Amick.
He keeps his shoulders pulled back like Riven’s actually doing something spectacular.
I suppose it is.
“Well, dear God of Knowledge, it’d seem your reading and writing speed are tapped out. As fast as you are now is as fast as you’ll ever be.”
Amick nods. “Thank you, Riven. I’m going to test that now.”
Thayla chuckles lightly as he heads straight back to the bookshelf and plucks a random text off the shelf.
“Me next,” Kyzen says, grabbing Riven’s hand and placing it on his shoulder.
Riven scoffs but does as he’s told. Instead of marching around Kyzen like he just did Amick, he stands there and stares into his eyes like a weirdo.
After a couple of awkward minutes, he tsks.
“Sorry, Keeper of Time. You’re still growing.”
“Figures.”
“Well, that really isn’t surprising, is it?” she asks.
“A little, yeah, gorgeous.”
“It shouldn’t be, though. Your power is literally time. You’ve said it yourself, time is always moving, changing. Your power will mimic that. Who really knows what your cap is.”
Kyzen’s eyes widen before he graces her with a massive smile.
“You’re right. Look at me, the most powerful out of all of you.”
Riven shoves him in the shoulder before leaping over the couch, leaning over Thayla, and gripping my damn arm.
“Your turn, little burden.”
“Oh, that’s oka—”
He seals his mouth to hers, not giving her much of a choice.
I breathe through my nose repeatedly as she starts shifting her hips and deepening their kiss. The little moans in the back of her throat have my fingers unconsciously slipping lower on her stomach.
I could just slide my hands into the tiny ass little shorts she has on.
I bet if I plunged my fingers into her pussy, she’d be soaking wet right now.
“Still a conundrum, angel. Like ol’ Kyzen over there, you still got some growing to do too.”
She flaps her lips, to which he boops her nose.
“Our resident Dealer of Death, though, got a little upgrade.”
That dries up my desire.
I scowl at him.
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“Not sure, but you got a new tiny branch sprouting off your ability to manipulate souls and their calling.”
“You seriously can sense that?” I ask.
“Oh yeah. I know your power about as well as I know my own.”
He winks at me and laughs when I try to wrap my hand around his damn throat.
Annoying fucker.
“It would seem Riven is right about my ability. Unfortunately. At least with this text. It’s only three hundred pages, but I read it twice. So I’ll pick another, a larger one, and test his theory again.”
“Wait a second, you just read that whole book?” Thayla asks.
“Yes. Twice as I said. Took me two and a half minutes each time. My reading speed was already at half a second per page, but that would tire me out to push it to that. I don’t feel tired or drained in the least, so I suspect that was my ability reaching its max.”
“Why do you look so shocked?” I ask her, then drag my teeth against her neck.
I smirk as a shiver and goose bumps tear across her skin.
“I don’t know. I knew he could read fast as fuck, but damn, not that fast. That’s impressive.”
“Thank you,” Amick says, picking his nose out of the next book he already got into.
That’s as long as his distraction lasts.
The other two go back to fucking off, while Thayla gets situated on my chest once again. My hands continue their mindless roam over her stomach, and I wish my mind would go back to only thinking about the way she feels.
Regrettably, Riven’s words have burrowed deep into my thoughts, and I can’t get rid of them.
I wasn’t nearly as nervous this time about getting more power like the last, but now I’ve got some doubts.
Gaining back what I lost is one thing. New abilities sprouting up is another. I know what to do and can get a sense of the differences in what we had in the Abandon compared to what we have now.
I’m…less angry. Irritable might be a better word.
The taint that lingers over the Abandon influences you regardless of whether you want to acknowledge it or not. I sure as fuck sense its absence. Control over what I’ve been given doesn’t feel impossible.
The uncertainty of what I have now does.
My chest grows tighter the longer I think about it, and if Thayla’s head wasn’t in my way, I’d rub the sensation away.
A grunt to my right draws my attention to Kyzen and his furrowed brows. He holds his hand up for Riven to stop as he massages his chest. His eyes meet mine, and we both narrow our gazes.
“Did you feel that?” I ask him.
“Yeah. Was that you?”
Fuck if I know.
“What’s going on with you two?”
Before we can answer Thayla, a vibration passes over us and I hop off the couch, dragging her with me. Kyzen, Riven, and Amick whirl around just as Ellian hauls ass into our living room.
“Oddian is under attack!”
Thayla goes unnaturally still beside me for a split second. Then in the blink of an eye, she’s a foot in front of him.
“What?” she asks low.
“I got word about ten minutes ago. I went straight to Gladian. He and a handful of Valtrues have already departed.”
She spins on her heel, running toward her room.
“Do not tell Lambrit.”
She yells over her shoulder just before disappearing down her hallway.
“Why can’t Lam-the-man know?” Riven asks.
“Oh gods,” Amick mutters, and we whip our heads toward him. “His little sister, Laney. He’s always sworn that she loves Thayla more than him.”
My feet are already carrying me to my room before my mind catches up. Kyzen’s power rips across my body and in less than thirty seconds, the five of us are back in the living room.
Armor on, ready to go.
I strap one of my swords to my back and slide one in Thayla’s holsters. She gives me a single nod, but she can barely contain the shakes wreaking havoc across her body.
“Ellian, I’m serious, please don’t tell him. He’ll try to follow and I can’t have that.”
“I won’t say anything, I swear.”
She faces all of us.
“Ready? Straight to Lambrit’s house.”
“Stop,” Amick says, latching onto her wrist. “We’re going to find her, Thayla, but you can’t leave us behind. We’ve only seen the central area of Oddian when we passed through. We have no clue where the house is.”
She grips her roots for a moment, then releases a deep breath.