1. Previously In #2
Annalise arrived minutes later with Esmerie, the current Goddess of Affection. Annalise said she occasionally had to remind Esmerie who really held the power. I appreciated her more than I could express.
The next goddess to arrive was Mayaline, the Goddess of Illusion.
Annalise’s estranged mother. I didn’t want anything from her—not just because of that, but because of the harm she’s helped cause.
Yes, she’s done good, but she takes responsibility for nothing.
She looks away from injustice. I stormed out, ready to hunt down one more signature, but Ellian found me.
Mayaline had signed after I left—for the same reason she does everything else.
Because it wouldn’t affect her.
From there, we headed to Valveilious to save my men.
Gladian, Mara, Yemi, her Valtrue, and I battled the Dark Gods guarding the Goddess of Creation’s home. When trouble closed in on Yemi, Nero, Iric, and Doren, I unleashed my Obliteration. It was the first time Gladian and Mara had ever seen it.
Mara panicked, understandably—but she got over it.
Yemi, her men, and I stormed the house and ran into several Attendants. Iric recognized one, and she told us where the others were. I told her to gather all of them. We weren’t leaving anyone behind.
After she escorted me to the room where the guys were still locked away, she returned to the others.
My Obliteration sank into the Creation surrounding the door, killing off its permission and essence.
The realm stopped moving when I saw my men. I dropped the emotional barrier I’d been holding—then slammed it back up again when just a fraction of the emotions threatened to tear me apart. I couldn’t face that yet.
We still had to reach the Neutral and face the Beginning Gods again.
Face them we did.
They froze when we arrived and immediately tried to null the hearing. I was ready for that. It was intense. Even more so when Rella starshot in front of me. She never reached me—Derivius stepped between us, protecting me.
She did void the guys’ agreement.
Obliteration lost his mind.
When we got home, we found Yemi pacing inside the house.
Iric, of all people, had stolen the Goddess of Creation’s Binding from her home.
Three down. Four to go.
As I walked Yemi out, she gave me a well-deserved lecture about the consequences of putting up an emotional barrier.
And now I had to face it.
It was gut-wrenching. Every feeling I’d had about the guys over the last two days—worry, fear, love—crashed down on me. I destroyed my entire room, then rebuilt it while my men held me together through all of it.
I’ll never put another barrier up again.
We barely had time to breathe before devastation struck.
Kirabaddon attacked Oddian.
My men and I rushed there. I was terrified we wouldn’t reach Laney in time. What I found instead was heartbreaking.
I didn’t make it in time to save Lambrit’s parents. I held Mrs. Armend in my arms as she died. I promised I’d take care of Laney and Lambrit.
We found them in the arena.
Jeremiah held a sword to Laney’s throat. They had betrayed us—betrayed their Valtrue, the Godsdawn. Mellcom stated he couldn’t wait to break the tie he had with Gladian and the others and told Gladian he was a fool for not realizing he didn’t have a domain under his brother.
The comment stunned all of us.
Gladian and the God of Pain were siblings.
Mellcom tried to tell me that if I wanted Laney safe, I had to go with him back to the Abandon. Laney would come with us, and I’d take care of her there.
That’s not how it went.
My men moved as one and killed Jeremiah where he stood.
A dagger—my dagger—straight to the heart.
It happened fast. Too fast.
Mellcom and I charged each other, fighting and arguing in the middle of the arena we’d spent our lives training in. As we battled, I pieced together that he had the power of Manipulation. It made far too much sense.
Out of nowhere, Meridamus appeared. He stepped between us. The few words exchanged were clipped and furious, and before I could stop him, Mellcom starshot away.
I refused to speak to Meridamus after that.
I had something far more important to do.
Laney broke in my arms when I told her that her parents had gone to be with the Valories. All I could do was hold her through her heartbreak.
Then…I had to tell Lambrit.
The three of us cried together in Lambrit’s front yard as I apologized over and over. He told me I had nothing to be sorry for just as many times.
The rest of the night and the next day were an absolute whirlwind.
Some of the guys went back to Oddian to collect Laney’s things and bring Mr. and Mrs. Armend’s bodies home. The rest of us stayed with Lambrit. He threw himself into trying to understand everything and figure out what came next.
Laney had a breakdown when they returned with her things. Once she fell asleep, I had to take a breather outside.
Well…at the hot spring.
An hour later, Lambrit came to me asking for a devastating favor. He wanted me to turn his parents to ash.
Then he asked for my guidance and blessing. He wanted Laney to live with the Akovas. It was the last thing I wanted. I didn’t want to abandon her.
But he was right. She needed stability, a childhood, and protection. Living with either of us was too dangerous right now.
I had to accept that.
After he left, I sat at the hot spring with V for a long moment before we went to the healing villas where Mr. and Mrs. Armend lay. V walked me through how to make trinkets for Laney and Lambrit—something they could keep for the rest of their lives.
Turning them to ash was devastating and beautiful.
Unbeknownst to me, my men were there the entire time, silently supporting me. Creed, Amick, and Kyzen took over at the very end while Riven held me.
A week passed, and it was time to take Laney to the Akovas. She was excited and ready. I was not. She didn’t want my help with organizing her room and instead ran off with her new girlfriends.
I didn’t know what to do with myself.
So…I ran off to the hot spring.
Iric was the last one I expected to follow me. He opened up about why he stole the Goddess of Creation’s Binding—not just because I needed it, but because he wanted revenge for what she’d put the Attendants through for years.
After his honesty, I was ready to be honest too. I opened up about everything—Mellcom, Jeremiah, the emotional and physical abuse they put me through, how I normalized it. My parents. I finally decided it was time to let go. He walked me through how to make that possible.
Once he left, telling me I only had a few more things to work through, I asked V to get the guys. I admitted that the only reason I’d kept my hair long was because my mom’s hair was long. That didn’t matter anymore.
Together, the four of them cut it to the perfect length.
Rose then told me Lambrit had been sneaking out every night and she was worried. V eased our fears a little by saying he’d been going to the Athenaeum to clear his thoughts.
Well…he was doing more than that. He showed up at our house late at night, frantic, and told us he needed us. He’d broken into the restricted room and needed help going through what he found. Amick, surprisingly, jumped right into assigning roles.
We spent hours searching through the information.
Havar found a passage explaining why the Veilatara were locked up and how freeing them was possible.
I can free them.
I’ve had the ability to free them, and Seismet and Verlet never told me.
Yemi found a barrier protecting a book.
It knocked both of us on our asses, but we got it free.
It was a book the God of Boundaries had written and hidden. Inside, a picture of a door caught my eye—and I realized the “nightmares” I’d been having weren’t nightmares at all. The Messenger had been trying to warn me about Mellcom’s betrayal and had shown me the very doors in the book.
Those doors were in the Sanctum. The ones always assumed to lead to the Beginning Gods’ bedrooms.
We didn’t think we could get inside because they were locked. Then I remembered the key Doren gave me at the Lost Sea.
Those doors put up hellish fights. Every time I unlocked one, it turned to vapor and traveled to the last door at the end of the hall.
I had to unlock each one, facing a new challenge every time.
The last door before the final one burned a ring into my palm. I thought for sure the final door would kill me. It took a lot of power, but I survived.
An empty white room greeted us at first, but one last door led to another room.
That room was not empty.
My pulse fluttered as power spilled through an opening forming in the barrier ahead of us. A figure crossed the threshold, and the moment their foot touched the stone on our side, my power of Boundaries snapped tight across my spine.
All I could breathe out was, “You.”
He had returned…