Thayla #3
“Let me tell him,” he shouts after me before quietly adding, “Please.”
I slow my steps, sighing heavily as I peer over my shoulder and study the sincerity on his face.
“Fine. You better make it a point to share with him, though. I’m done keeping secrets from my friends.”
I march forward, not waiting for him to respond. Before I can make it into the Court fully, his words drift to me.
“I’m done too, if you’d just give me a chance.”
I don’t dare look back, nor do I let his words settle inside of me. I’ll give him a chance when—better yet, if—I ever decide to.
Mara greets me with a small smile, and I return it before glancing over at all the Attendants waiting for me. She’s already got them stretching and practicing swinging their swords.
“Thought for a second you weren’t coming, but then Yemi said you stopped to talk to Gladian.”
“Wouldn’t call it much of a talk,” I mutter.
“Yeah, he hasn’t spoken very much since—” She abruptly stops, and I arch a brow at her.
“You’re not going to upset me talking about them.”
She holds her hands up. “Just wanted to make sure. People handle betrayal very differently. Didn’t want to test my luck and end up in a pile of ash.”
I snort. “Fucking hilarious. I’m seriously starting to think you’re actually scared of me doing that. I told you I would never.”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re like poking a pissed off taurn, though. I don’t know if you’re just going to swat me off or end my ass.”
“If I wanted you dead, you wouldn’t have been invited to the hot spring.”
She sighs, like the memory brings her so much happiness.
“In that case, how are you handling those fuckers betraying you once again?”
“Didn’t handle it or even think about it until yesterday. I’m furious, but I got it out of my system. What about you? Is Gladian and Chasin taking it hard?”
“Yeah, but not for the reasons you’d think. I mean, don’t get me wrong, his ego is hurting right now because he knows how shitty it looks that a member of our Valtrue fucked the Godsdawn over and another is dead. What he’s mostly struggling with, though, is how nothing else has changed.”
“What do you mean? I’d think losing two Valtrue members, one permanently, one…well, whatever the fuck Mellcom’s going to do about his tie, would change everything.”
“It should, but it hasn’t. We all should’ve lost the extra piece of power we got from Jeremiah’s tie the moment he died. I thought maybe I couldn’t tell because of the extra you gave me, but Chasin and Gladian aren’t feeling any different either. It’s got Gladian all fucked up.”
I cock my head to the side. I wouldn’t know why in the realm that didn’t happen.
It’s ridiculous that it’s supposed to happen.
I understand you get that initial boost of power through your new tie when your Valtrue is formed, but you can’t always prevent death.
So you shouldn’t be punished by losing power when someone in your Valtrue does die.
I peer over my shoulder, catching Kyzen’s eye. Well, he was already staring at me, but same difference. He makes his way over to me as soon as I nod at him.
“Everything okay with Rose?” I smirk at his nosiness.
“Yeah. She was a little concerned about Lambrit and wanted to vent.”
His face softens. “Makes sense.”
“Yeah, what doesn’t make sense, though, is Mara just told me that neither she, Gladian, nor Chasin is experiencing any loss of power since Jeremiah died. We have no clue if the Goddess of Seduction or the God of Obliteration have severed Mellcom’s tie, but don’t you think they’d be able to tell?”
“Really? No difference?” he asks, facing her, and she shakes her head. “Yeah, that is strange. Unless it has something to do with Gladian being a Domain God, you all should’ve lost a little. Sounds like a mystery for Amick.”
“Goodness, he has enough mysteries going on and plans to make,” I say.
“You guys are already planning some other crazy shit?” Mara asks and I give her a mischievous smile.
“Hunting down all the other Gods Bindings. Want to help?”
Her face pales comically.
“I should’ve stayed a bitch in my bubble all by myself. You lot are going to get me killed. I’m going to ask Yemi if she knows about this shit.” She shakes her head, stomping away while yelling at everyone to line up.
Yemi tilts her head as Mara grabs her elbow and pulls her a few feet over. I can tell the moment Mara asks her if she knows what’s going on. Yemi winks at me, then pats Mara’s arm.
Kyzen and I chuckle as she grips her hair and groans loudly.
“She isn’t too bad when you spend some time around her,” he says as he lays a kiss on my temple.
“No, she isn’t. She just needed permission to be who she wants to be.”
He hums. “Sounds familiar.”
I roll my eyes and blow him a kiss as I walk away.
“Welcome back, everyone,” I yell, gaining everyone’s attention.
“We’ve got a lot of catching up to do and today, I’m throwing you right into the deep end.
Before someone has the chance to put a sword to your throat, you’re going to know where to hit them first. Kill strikes. A goddess’s best friend.”