Thayla
I’m completely obsessed with my haircut.
It may not be a drastic life change for some, but it definitely is for me. I feel like a whole new person is staring at me through the mirror.
My rose gold coloring is really popping off the black of my armor. I can’t tell if it’s the contrast between the colors that’s doing that or if somehow the dimensions in my strands are more prominent now that over two feet of hair is gone.
I did find out the hard way last night that it does not require the same amount of shampoo as it did before. It took me a good bit of time washing out the unnecessary extra, but if I didn’t have to do that, my shower would’ve been cut in half. I’m incredibly excited about that.
“Come on, Thayla. I don’t have a fucking clue what you could be doing in there, but you’re taking too long.”
I snort as Riven’s voice echoes through my bathroom, and I roll my eyes, pinching the ends of my hair one more time before walking out.
His gaze traces me up and down like he’s trying to figure out what was taking so long.
Literally, I was just admiring myself.
“Well, aren’t you just a glowing ray of sunshine.”
“Are you being sarcastic?” I ask as I wrap my arms around his waist and press up on my toes until his lips meet mine.
“Nope. You really are radiant this morning. It’s like you had a good night of sex and sleep or something.”
“You’re so full of shit.” I laugh and he steals the sound away with his mouth. I lean into the embrace, sucking up every bit of giddiness pouring off of him.
“Seriously, you two? We do not have time for fornication. We’re going to be late.”
Our chuckles break us apart and they get louder as we face a scowling Amick.
“No one is fornicating,” Riven says. “I was captivated by Thayla’s beauty this morning.”
“I’m impressed you used both those words properly.
Bravo, Riven.” I choke back my snort as Riven scoffs, while Amick’s smirk fades into a soft smile as he focuses on me.
“You do look stunning today, Mysenta. Your haircut gracefully frames your face while highlighting your most striking features. The additional brightness surrounding you this morning, I believe is due to happiness, but I suppose a haircut could change your skin’s appearance as well. ”
Gods, he’s so romantic and sexy with his very literal observation.
“Thank you, Candyman,” I say as I make my way to him.
He gives my forehead a quick kiss, while lacing our fingers. He tugs me toward the kitchen without another word and Riven snickers behind us.
“She’s ready now. Let’s go.”
Creed and Kyzen whip around, and smiles take over their faces. Amick sighs heavily as they surround me.
“You look ready to conquer the realm,” Kyzen says as he lays a kiss to my cheek.
“Let’s start with the Court and go from there.”
“I can put off going to Hell if you want me to stay with you,” Creed says.
“No, you can’t,” Amick cuts in before I can say anything, and I squeeze his fingers.
“I’ll be fine. I want you three to be safe, though. No Soul Chamber today. We’ll plan for that.”
“I know. I’m just going to have a conversation.”
I nod, although it makes me a little nervous. There’s no doubt in my mind that I really pissed Delun off. Creed needs to make sure he hasn’t done some stupid shit like hand all the beings in the lower level over to the God of Obliteration.
That’s the last damn thing we need.
V hoots and flies over to my shoulder, ruffling his face in my hair as we make our way out the front door, and my smile widens on my front lawn full of our friends.
So…normal.
“Shit,” Lambrit mutters as his mouth falls open. Then he laughs. “You finally did it. No more worries over those gods-forsaken knots.”
My eyes narrow at him playfully.
He used to have to help me brush my hair when I neglected doing it for a couple of days.
Like most teenagers, I didn’t always take the best care of myself, and every time he’d jerk my head too hard, I’d threaten to throw his books away.
He’d threaten to cut all my hair off if I didn’t start brushing it.
“It was time to let it go,” I say as my gaze drifts to Iric.
A breath of relief escapes me as he stares at my hair for a long moment, then gives me a small smile and dips his head.
I was right.
I got rid of the extra weight on my own.
“Uh, it’s beautiful. Someone tell me mine wouldn’t look good like that because I really want to chop all of it off now.”
I laugh at Yemi and try to picture her with shorter hair. Honestly, I think she’d look great.
“I’d never tell such a lie,” Doren says as he leans down and gives her forehead a kiss. “We must be off, though. Don’t want Nero and I to be late for our first day in the Sanctum and Iric needs to get to the healing villas.”
My eyes widen. I completely forgot Ellian spoke to those two about that. Well, I don’t know if I really forgot or was just too focused on Laney to really think about it much.
“Have a good first day,” Yemi mumbles.
My lungs scream at me as I suck down the surprised gasp that tries to rip out of me. Nero, Doren, and Iric all lay a kiss on her lips, and her red face tells me to shut the hell up when she faces me.
Oh ma’am. We have some things to catch up on.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to starshoot, so you weren’t late?” Rose asks Lambrit.
“I did. I just wanted to make sure everyone was okay and if that was okay with Amick.”
“That sounds spectacular. Everyone is in slow motion this morning. You’d think the God of Time would rush this along for us.”
He lays a quick kiss to my lips, not bothering to tell anyone else bye before he’s gone. No one takes offence at all as we all chuckle to ourselves.
“I’ll see you later,” Lambrit says as he gives Rose a kiss, then he’s gone as well.
“Well, come on. We’ll walk with you all, then leave as well,” Creed grunts.
“Actually…” Rose says, twisting her fingers as her gaze bounces between Yemi and me. “Will you guys go on ahead? If that’s okay. I just need to speak with Thayla and Yemi.”
Concern twists in my chest, but my men and Sevryn are immediate in telling her that’s fine. Poor Creed and Riven get the realm’s quickest peck from me as I keep my attention on her and her fidgeting.
“I’ll meet you at the Court,” Kyzen says, laying a kiss on my cheek.
The second the four of them are gone, I face her fully.
“What’s wrong?”
“I…gods, I’m going to sound so crazy,” she says, pinching her nose.
“You’re not. Did something happen?” I ask.
After a moment, she tosses her hands up, then places them on her hips.
“Lambrit’s been sneaking out every night and we fussed with each other about it this morning.”
My head jerks and I frown. That’s literally the last thing I expected her to say.
“Sneaking out? What do you mean? Where the hell has he been going?’
She shrugs. “I have no clue. That’s exactly what we fought about.
He did it the second night after what happened and told me he just needed to clear his head.
I told him I completely understand and I’d keep an eye on Laney if she woke up.
He did it every single night she was there, but he was only gone like an hour or two.
Last night, he was gone almost the entire night.
Literally six hours. I was too afraid to wander around in the dark, so I just paced the freaking house and waited for him to return. ”
“Oh, what the hell? I’m going to kick his ass,” I say, crossing my arms.
“No, please don’t say anything. I just wanted to tell you and ask the two of you if you would…” she trails off, tearing her gaze from us.
“Stalk him? Sit outside your house and wait until he leaves, then follow him. Absolutely we will,” I say, and Yemi nods right along with me.
She laughs, but the sound fades fast. She squeezes her eyes shut and sighs.
“I know he’s not doing anything wrong. I just don’t understand why he won’t tell me where he’s going or what he’s doing.
I’m worried. I know he has a lot on his mind, but my literal power is to incite rest and relaxation.
With my nice little power boost, I could ease his mind for a whole night if he let me. ”
The concern in her tone hurts my heart, and I tug her into a hug.
“We’ll find out what’s going on. I promise.”
V sighs as he crawls down my shoulder and spreads his wings out.
“You all don’t have to worry. I didn’t want to say anything because it isn’t my place, but I know where he’s going.”
“Ugh. Not your place? Of course it is. You’re my Vedarya, not his.” He stares at me all wide-eyed. “Well, where is he going?”
“He’s been sneaking into the Athenaeum. His power boost also has his mind whirling. Throwing himself into books is helping.”
Rose releases a breath and lays her hand to her chest.
“Oh, thank goodness. That makes me feel so much better. Part of me was really worried he was just wandering around in the dark all on his own. The other…well, I was still worried he was walking around at night alone, but I thought he was doing it to get away from me.”
Yemi and I arch our brows at her. Granted, I get it. We all have insecurities about some things, but Lambrit is obsessed with her. He found his one and he’ll never grow tired of her.
I am very concerned he’s sneaking off like this, though.
“I suppose, to an extent, I understand him not telling anyone. No one is technically allowed to be in the Athenaeum at night, but surely Ellian would make an exception for him,” Yemi says.
“I think he would too, but I think Lambrit’s afraid of abusing their relationship. Especially, now.” I hum and nod along with Rose. That’s probably exactly what it is.
“I feel a lot better now. Thank you both for being so willing to follow him for me. You’re great friends,” she continues, pulling us into a group hug. “We can walk now.”
Yemi and I laugh at her as she lets us go, smiling all bright and innocent.
We slowly make our way down the path toward the Court, and I take a minute to appreciate the emptiness. Everyone’s already got to where they’re going, so it’s nice to just be out here alone.