5. Thayla #2
I can see the Gods Binding responding when my—Val split his barrier open, but all of those things happening at the exact moment seems a little too perfectly aligned.
I curl my lips between my teeth and blink at the shock holding Gladian and Mara frozen in their spots.
“So that’s how…” Gladian points his finger between Sevryn and Yemi, nodding.
“That’s correct,” Amick says.
“But Chasin. I mean, what does this mean for him? We’ve lived months as a completed Valtrue. What—”
Mara silences her frantic stammering and looks at Gladian for something. Guidance, answers maybe, I don’t know.
I honestly do feel bad for Chasin. I’ve always thought he didn’t really fit in with their Valtrue at all, but this is going to be a reality shock for him.
I mean, seriously, how do you go months living and spending nearly every second with the same people, then find out you don’t truly have a tie to them at all?
It’s sad.
Oh…gods.
It’s just like the forced connections the Goddess of Creation made.
Fucking Beginning Gods. Assholes. Every single one of them.
I swallow down my grunt and focus back on the two of them.
“Did anything in your house change? Any new noticeable differences?” I ask.
Mara shakes her head. “I didn’t really pay attention this morning. I was too focused on Chasin flipping his shit over his mark.”
“Are there still five bedrooms?” Yemi asks.
“Yeah. Mellcom’s nor Jeremiah’s rooms ever disappeared.”
“Did they change on the inside?” I follow up.
She shrugs. “I wouldn’t know. The only time I saw them was after the Dark Gods and Harriseen tore everything apart. I haven’t been in either of them since.”
Ugh. That’s a horrible reminder.
“You seem flabbergasted, Gladdy. Are you really this surprised to find out how much the gods fuck with us?” Riven asks with a small chuckle.
“This isn’t just them fucking with us,” he shouts, and my eyes widen as he paces. I’ve never seen him so…emotional. “This is them manipulating an entire system.”
“Yeah, duh.” Riven snickers. “Get with the program.”
“How the hell do you expect me to get with a program no one tells me about?”
He tosses his hands up and Riven’s smirk grows. I reach over and grip his wrist, glaring at him to stop pushing right now.
Not the time.
“Why would you assume we’d keep you informed when you’ve been nothing but problematic with us for twenty years? We were mere teenagers upon our arrival here and had done nothing to you to deserve the treatment you gave us. Not to mention the unforgivable cruelty you showed our Binder,” Amick says.
Gladian stops in his tracks.
“No,” he says low. “You didn’t deserve the treatment I gave you. None of you did. I blamed you all for the sins of your father, then grouped Thayla in with you.”
Creed folds his arms, and his glare at Gladian deepens.
“Exactly which sins did he commit against you personally? Or you’ve just been taking everything he’s done to the realm out on us?”
For the first time since I’ve known him, the God of Strength hesitates to meet Creed’s stare. When he finally does, there’s no defensiveness or anger. He seems…I don’t know.
“My eldest brother was Vihaan, the God of Death.”
His words slam into us, and Creed goes rigid.
“What?”
“The god you killed that day in Hellveilious was my brother.”
The Court falls deathly silent. Not even Riven makes a peep.
My thoughts trip over themselves as I think back to the cryptic things he said when we went to Hellveilious. He hadn’t been there since Vihaan’s funeral.
“There were three of us once. Vihaan, me, and…our younger brother. We grew up together. Fought together. Covered each other’s asses more times than I can count. Especially our youngest brother’s.”
The way he said that makes my stomach tighten. A faint, bitter smile touches his mouth before disappearing with the hand he drags over his face.
Amick tilts his head to the side. “Why especially him?”
Fuck us. We know who that him is…
“Because he enjoyed doing things he shouldn’t have enjoyed doing.
” His stare drifts somewhere distant and none of us utter a sound while he seems to pull himself out of his memories.
“At first, it was small things. Punishments that went too far. Cruelty disguised as discipline. Vihaan and I cleaned up the messes. Buried complaints. Made excuses.”
“Why?” Riven asks.
“Because he was our brother.”
His answer is immediate, and my men look at each other. They know and understand how that is. They also know, though, there’s a fine line between unyielding loyalty and enabling abuse.
“We kept believing he’d stop eventually. That one day he’d grow into his domain instead of letting it consume him.”
He laughs quietly, but there’s nothing humorous about the sound.
“But he didn’t,” I whisper.
“No. He got worse.”
“He got more powerful,” Kyzen says, and Gladian nods.
“Every year when his Coming-of-Age Day passed and he received more power, it got harder and harder to handle him or even get through to him about how he took things too far. Vihaan and I, we…fuck,” he mutters under his breath as he tilts his face to the sky.
“We went to Harriseen and asked that he arrange a meeting for us with the Beginning Gods. We petitioned that no more power be released to him.”
My eyes widen.
“Shit,” I mumble.
It was meant to stay in my mind, but it didn’t, and Gladian glances at me.
“Pretty much. Everything went to shit after that once he found out. He thought we betrayed him. Thought we chose the people of Godsden and the Godsdawn over our own blood.”
“Did you?” Amick asks.
Gladian’s attention flicks to him. “Yes.”
He doesn’t offer an excuse, defense, or anything other than that straightforward truth.
“What happened after that?” Creed asks.
“Your father happened.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Amick asks.
“He came to see Vihaan shortly after that and basically asked for repayment for siding with us. He wanted free rein to pull gods out of Hellveilious as he pleased. Vihaan rejected. Obliteration didn’t take that well. He bound his soul to Hellveilious. Vihaan couldn’t leave.”
Creed startles and opens his mouth, but before he can say anything, Gladian continues.
“I didn’t realize he’d done the same thing to you until I went with Thayla to get the signatures you all needed. He’s trapping you there as well to force you to comply.”
Creed’s jaw clenches so tight, I’m surprised he doesn’t crack a tooth. A fierce grip spreads across my soul and all I can do is breathe through the stranglehold.
“Vihaan never gave in to our father’s demands,” Creed finally grunts.
Another faint smile spreads across Gladian’s lips before it morphs into a frown.
“No, he didn’t. Obliteration couldn’t break Death, so instead, he found someone who could.”
Understanding slashes across my heart.
“He offered your…younger brother more power in exchange for the gods in Hell,” I say.
He nods.
“For years, we didn’t know. He stood beside us while sneaking gods to Obliteration behind our backs.
When we discovered the truth, Hell turned into a battlefield.
We fought our own brother to drive him out.
And when all was said and done, we disowned him, told him if he ever returned, we’d kill him ourselves. ”
No one speaks for a long moment, and the frown on Amick’s face continues to deepen.
“There are no records of any of this. I’d have known who your brothers were if there were.”
Gladian sighs. “I went to Harriseen and asked for another favor. That one came at a cost. Erase all the records and history of our line, bind our brother so he can’t speak about our true lineage, mark him as a traitor to never be allowed to step foot back in Godsden, or face death.
In return, he wanted my unyielding loyalty. I gave him that.”
“Wait,” Sevryn says, and I squeeze my eyes shut for a fleeting second. “This sounds like…”
Gladian’s chest expands with his inhale as he fully faces him. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Yemi raising her hand to cover her mouth, understanding clear across her features.
“Sounds like a version of the events that your father always told you. I have no doubt I’ve always been the villain in his story.”
“That can’t be right. He used to call you his best friend and said you betrayed him, left him in the Abandon. You’re—no,” Sevryn says, shaking his head. His denial is weak, though. He already recognizes it’s the truth.
So do I.
There hasn’t been a moment that Gladian spoke that I’ve sensed a hint of deception.
“If I could’ve denied the relationship between your father and me for the rest of my life, I would have. I can’t anymore, though. Secrets are going to continue to get people killed.”
Sevryn stares at him. “So what now? You expect this to suddenly change something?”
“No.” Gladian’s gaze roams over each of us. “I don’t expect forgiveness. I don’t expect the way any of you view me to change. I still have plenty to answer for regarding my own actions. But regardless of what I’ve done, you all deserved the truth. Especially you.”
Sevryn looks away first, and that upsets me more than if he were shouting. At least then, we’d all know he’s pissed. A silent Sevryn…none of us are used to that.
Silence usually never follows us when Gladian’s around us. Someone—well, Riven or me—is usually running their mouth. No one seems to know what to say right now.
Fuck.
Every secret we’ve uncovered feels less like separate pieces and more like strands in the same tangled knot tightening around all our throats.