The Final Order of the Gods

1. Previously In

Previously In

The Gods Return

Thayla

V dropped me into the hot spring with a stranger named Willow Vito, who claimed she could pull Kirabaddon’s corrupt power out of me.

Turns out…she knew what she was doing.

That wasn’t the only reason she and her Nexus came to the Valorian Veil.

Willow told me the Messenger isn’t allowed to contact me because I haven’t proven unwavering loyalty and love to the Valories. I’ll never put them above my men. They’ll have to accept that like I’ve had to accept that they threw the five of us into this mess without giving any of us a real choice.

I made that clear when Willow asked what I wanted out of being in the middle of everything happening in the realm. I told her I wanted freedom. Then I went off on a tangent, but it all boiled down to the same thing.

Freedom for my men, my friends, myself, and the realm.

That question led her to the real reason she came, and she gave me a list of advice. She promised that if a line was ever crossed—one that should never be crossed—I had allies in Elementra.

Alliances will come from unlikely places. Don’t let grudges keep me from my goals. Redemption walks a different path. Mercy is optional, not required. Leave room for change. At the very least, tolerance.

My Valtrue and I can’t do this alone. We need people behind us.

My Valtrue isn’t complete, and neither am I.

The Angel Aura Amethyst is a powerful tool at my disposal.

Truths will be revealed, and each will feel like a betrayal. Be careful where I place my anger.

Last but not least, she had a Gods Binding in her possession and returned it to me.

Seven replicas came out. Seven have to go back in.

As she and her Nexus left, she said they were heading to the barrier in Oddian to bring her people home.

From there, we went straight to Yemi’s to check on Sevryn. Derivius and Ellian were there, so we told everyone what had happened. Ellian left, saying we’d all be having dinner the next day to discuss changes coming to the Godsdawn.

By the time we left, my power was severely depleted.

My men took care of me.

The next day, we went to the Akovas’ for dinner. Turns out Annalise is the Goddess of Affection, even though she doesn’t hold the title. After that revelation, Ellian explained the changes coming to the Godsdawn, starting with the Attendants. Our roles shifted so we could help with the transition.

Derivius then informed us that Amick’s trial would be held in a week, so preparations intensified.

At Ellian’s official address the next day, some of the becoming gods handled the Attendant changes well. Others…did not.

From there, the guys searched for the bodies of the Attendants Harriseen killed.

They were crucial evidence for Amick’s trial.

Turns out I accidentally placed a barrier around them while I was drugged unconscious, preserving their bodies this whole time.

Yemi and I had to replace my barrier with hers so we could use the fact that I have more than one Domain from the Beginning Gods during the trial.

After that, I had my first official training day as instructor for the female Attendants.

Mara surprised me by asking to stay with me and help instead of going with her Valtrue to the barrier every day.

Yemi talked some sense into me, and I agreed.

I understood why Mara wanted distance from Mellcom and Jeremiah.

The days leading up to Amick’s trial passed faster than I wanted. Anxiety ate me alive. It didn’t ease when Derivius starshot us to the Neutral.

Creation’s and Rella’s reactions to learning the guys were in a completed Valtrue with me caught me off guard. For two mothers who’ve barely been involved in their sons’ lives, they acted like they should’ve known all along.

Amick told them it wasn’t their business and to continue with the trial. It took everything in me to stay calm while Kira and Sabe tried to undermine and disprove everything.

I’d promised myself I’d keep my mouth shut—and I did.

Rellannaver cast the deciding vote in favor of Amick acting in good faith. I was thrilled it was over. For about five seconds.

Amick invoked his and the others’ right to terminate the agreement made on their behalf and called for a hearing under the Law of Doppia Disaccord. The Beginning Gods argued, but ultimately Calista’s condition—that if the guys spent the day with her, she’d vote in favor of the hearing—won out.

Crazy bitch tricked us.

We went to her home, took her little tour, and mostly behaved.

Then she showed us “our rooms” she’d created.

She made me a room specifically to separate me from the guys so she could question me about them.

When I told her I wouldn’t, she put two and two together—that we were more than a completed Valtrue.

She decided I was too much of a distraction and needed me out of the way so the guys would focus on her.

She shoved me through a starshoot, and I landed in the middle of the Court.

She held my men hostage.

I lost my ever-loving mind.

V told me to contact Derivius, so I did immediately. He promised to find out what was happening and let me know. Hours passed with nothing—until he finally reached out and told me to come to his temple.

I found him drunk.

His rambling started with the revelation that Kira, Sabe, and Rella already knew Creation kept the guys. She had twenty days built up, and she had every right to enforce them since the agreement hadn’t been overturned.

I thought I was going to die hearing that. Then he kept talking.

He told me he’d been disowned because he nearly killed the Goddess of Seduction after she tricked—raped—him. She used an illusion to disguise herself as Rellannaver.

After their fallout, he went to the nonmagical realm, where he ended up losing his and Sabe’s Bindings to a magical man. Not long after, the God of Boundaries retrieved him and brought him back to the Valorian Veil because a prophecy had been told. Our prophecy.

Five gods would come. They’d bring ultimate salvation or obliteration.

Very shortly after that, he passed out.

My heart shattered as I kneeled in his dilapidated temple, weighing everything he’d just confessed. My Chaos and Creation rose together in a blaze of power and restored his temple.

I told V to starshoot Derivius to the house and wait for me there.

The desperation to bring my men home shoved me straight into planning, even though my mind and soul refused to calm enough for clear thought. I put up an emotional barrier between myself, the guys, and Derivius.

Standing under his new moon window, I poured my heart out to the Messenger, begging for guidance—asking them to show me whether the plan forming in my mind was the right one.

They answered.

In Amick’s bedroom, I found everything I needed to make my plan work.

The agreement made on their behalf. The Law of Doppia Disaccord. Notes on my powers. Texts on Domain Gods who might be considered “worthy” in the eyes of the Beginning Gods.

I spent the entire night planning and preparing.

The next morning, with the help of Yemi and her Valtrue, Ellian, Lambrit, and Rose, I put my plan into action: gather the signatures, then break the guys out at exactly the forty-eight-hour mark.

Doren and Ellian signed immediately.

Sevryn and I went first to the barrier at the Abandon to get Gladian’s signature. The giant bastard agreed—but only after helping us get the rest. I was pissed, but I tolerated him as an ally. For now.

He and Mara joined Sevryn and me on our trip to Hell.

Imagine my shock when I was greeted as the Goddess of Death.

Still, the title got me through the door unharmed.

We met Delun, the God of Judgment; Phoelius, the God of Redemption; and Barir, the God of Treachery.

They weren’t eager to sign. They complained about how Creed ruled Hell—until we learned Delun was the one telling Creed not to free the souls.

And he was double-dipping, aiding the God of Obliteration behind Creed’s back.

Phoelius and Barir were furious. Then Zareb appeared. The day I saved Creed’s soul from becoming further bound to Hell, Zareb had apparently watched from the archway. He knew I could protect Creed’s soul now, which meant Creed could fulfill his duties without fear of being trapped.

Zareb signed first. God of Confinement.

Phoelius and Barir signed next.

Delun didn’t. My power of Accord wrapped around us, sealing our mutual acknowledgment of the side he stands on.

Leaving Hell, Gladian and I got into an argument over me not telling him everything happening in the realm. It escalated until I reminded him he’d whipped me. Not long after that incident, he’d apparently lost his power for a time, which forced him to see how wrong he’d been.

He apologized and swore he was changing.

I told him he could change without pressuring me to forgive him.

After lunch, we met Otiero, the God of Creatures, and Lyrica, the Goddess of Sound, in the meadows. Lyrica was an unexpected but pleasant surprise.

Seismet, Verlet, and their entire herd put on a breathtaking display of power—honoring me and showing Otiero how much my men and I meant to them. After some back-and-forth, Otiero signed. Lyrica signed too, after V gave her a little hoot.

From there, Yemi, her Valtrue, and I traveled to the shore of the Lost Sea, where Alamar, the God of the Sea, and Evani, the Goddess of Nature, signed before even speaking to me. I was too lost in my thoughts, staring at the water that nearly killed me.

That night, Yemi forced me to sleep with the help of some approved sleeping drugs.

I woke the next morning with only hours left before we had to make our move on Valveilious and break the guys out of their mother’s home. Walking out my front door, we found Gladian waiting. Sevryn had sent for him, saying we needed all the help we could get. I agreed, and Gladian signed.

Quillin, the God of Scripture, was the first god Ellian arranged for me to meet. I told him the guys’ story. He signed, saying that if he could help rewrite their fate, he would.