6. Riven #2
“If that’s the case, then…” she trails off, tilting her head. “Why did he and Vihaan attempt to bring the Veilatara in Hellveilious back?”
Creed lets out a long breath as he runs his hand down his face.
“Vihaan didn’t have power over souls to the extent I do, but he could control the ones in Hell.
I can’t say for sure if this is what they did, but my assumption is that Vihaan attempted to take and heal a corrupt soul and attach it to the Veilatara once Otiero commanded it back to life.
That wouldn’t work either, though. Once your soul has detached from your vessel, you can’t just…
get a new one. That’s not how that works.
Your soul was created specifically for you. ”
“I understand the motive behind the method, although it was a massive failure,” Amick says and we whip our attention toward him.
He shrugs. “Otiero had already experienced what he believed to be the extinction of a revered species. His power allows him to create new creatures but not recreate those who’ve already passed on.
So in his mind, he was looking for a workaround to save another species before they became extinct as well. ”
“Well, when you put it like that,” Thayla whispers, then her lips flap together with her harsh exhale.
That is true madness, but I get it.
If something happened to Verlet, I’d be down to try some crazy-ass shit to bring him back to me.
Conversations carry on to lighter topics as we tramp our way through the rest of the forest. I rotate my Chaos between screaming Mellcoms, Gladdys, and our father. I allow the creatures to pounce, and I imitate what it’d be like if they actually caught them.
Ahh, if only this were reality and the creatures could tear them to shreds for real.
“Well, fuck me sideways.” I gasp as we step out of the tree line and my gaze falls on the sparkling white stone temple.
“Shit. I didn’t realize I fixed the outside too.” Thayla lets out a small chuckle. “I starshot out from inside, so I didn’t come back out here.”
“Damn, little goddess. If the outside looks this good, I can’t wait to see the inside,” Kyzen says, smiling beautifully from ear to ear.
I’m excited as shit.
The moonlight beams directly on the temple, highlighting every change for us to see. The vines that used to slither all over the walls are gone. The bushes lining the structure are full and bright green. The cracked and rickety old stone blocking the entry is now a proper entrance.
This is going to be great.
I race forward with a laugh pouring through my lips. The others’ footsteps echo right behind me and within seconds, I don’t hesitate to shove the double doors open wide. My steps stumble as I cross the threshold.
Holy shit.
Derivius’s full-body statue is the first thing to catch my attention. Especially his gorgeous glowing blue eyes.
Two of them like he had once upon a time.
Forget the marble everywhere.
She literally perfected this statue. It looks just like him.
“Damn, I did good.”
“Hell yeah you did,” I agree, smiling over at her.
“This most certainly exceeds what I had in mind,” Amick says, and she places her hands on her hips as she twirls toward him.
“I’m offended. Did you think I was overexaggerating on what I told you I did?”
“No. I just couldn’t picture this place as pristine and orderly. You did a truly remarkable job.”
“That she did.”
The five of us spin on our heels.
Derivius sits on his small throne with his fingers laced together in his lap and a bright smile—the brightest I’ve seen in a while—on his face. He runs his gaze across the entire structure for a fleeting second, then peers back at us.
“I felt it the second you all passed the threshold. It’s strange sensing you in my house of worship without one of you calling for me. It’s been a while.”
He stands and takes the small steps toward us with his arms open for hugs. I jump straight into his embrace.
“Got to admit I’m jealous. She hasn’t made us a temple.”
He chuckles as he pats me on my back.
“I do believe it should be you four making her a temple.”
“Thank you, Derivius. My exact thoughts.”
His smile softens on her as she takes a…timid step forward. I’m not sure why she’s still off with him after taking that pesky emotional barrier down.
“Little troublling. How are you holding up?”
“Well, it’s been over thirty-six hours without sleep. We’ve uncovered countless secrets, and I haven’t punched anyone or turned anyone into ash, so I’d say pretty spectacular.”
He tilts his head. “What do you mean thirty-six hours without sleep?”
“Right, you don’t know. Well, we didn’t just wake up and head to the Sanctum. We were already up for hours going through the restricted room, trying to dig up all the secrets you Beginning Gods have been keeping. That’s what led us to finding the original Gods Binding and my father.”
His mouth gapes open and I snicker under my breath.
I don’t think Amick wanted him to know that.
“Oh.” He clears his throat and nods. “Okay then. That makes a lot more sense.”
“How so?” Amick asks. Suspiciously.
“To be honest, I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out how you all figured it out this fast. None of you have even whispered about a plan of going into the restricted room or anything of the sort.”
“That’s because we didn’t plan it. Lam-the-man did that all on his own,” I say with a huge smirk.
I’m still very impressed by my good friend’s disregard for the rules.
“Huh,” he hums. “That makes a lot more sense as well. Very good, Lambrit.”
My exact thoughts.
Thayla tsks at the two of us. “Don’t start praising him for doing something so dangerous. He’s going to think it’s okay to do shit like that all the time without us.”
Err. Yeah. I don’t like the thought of that.
The restricted room is one thing. It’s easy enough to reach him there.
But somewhere farther, deadlier…
I’ll have a chitchat with him.
“Very well, understood,” Derivius says as he dips his head. “So what’s brought my five favorite gods here to see me? I can assume, but we know what they say about assumptions.”
“We need you to set up a meeting between us, Val, and Meridamus,” Thayla says, not wasting a second easing into this request.
His eyes—well, his blue one—flare.
“Just kidding, that wasn’t what I assumed.”
I chuckle at his shock. “What did you assume?”
“I figured you all were about to pepper me with questions. I had a whole I’m sorry I can’t tell you everything speech prepared in my head.”
Thayla smiles faintly at him. “We understand there’s a lot you can’t and shouldn’t tell us. We also need to hear most of it, I’m sure, from Val and Meridamus.”
“Val?” He arches his brow. Her face stays calm, cool, and collected. Pointedly ignoring answering that question. “Very well then. Color me surprised and delighted. I’m thrilled not to be the bad guy tonight.”
Not going to lie, that kind of hurts my heart. I hate that everyone, including us, has made him feel like a bad guy just because he’s always the bearer of bad news.
I do solemnly vow, from this moment forward, not to do that.
Maybe.
Depending on what information he may surprise us with later on.
“So a meeting? What for exactly?” he asks, breaking our weird silence. “You ready to hash it all out?”
“No,” Thayla huffs. “I’m not meeting with them to reconcile our relationships. If that ever becomes what I want, I’ll say so. Right now, my focus is on finishing what we’ve started. Fixing the realm.”
He stares at her with a mixture of pride and heartbreak. I’ve seen that look plenty of times in my life. It’s the same one he gives me when I talk shit about my birth giver. It’s like he mixes his understanding with sadness.
He knows I’m right, maybe even agrees with me to an extent, but wishes things were different.
“Okay, little troublling. Are you sure you don’t want to be the one to initiate contact?”
“I’m sure. I don’t want to contact either of them and give them the impression I’m opening a line of communication between us.”
“So,” he says, tapping his chin. “I am your middleman.”
“Yes,” she answers simply.
He nods, attempting to hide the smirk on his lips behind his fingers. We all see it clearly.
“And I assume you want me to also be the one to express your interest, well, lack thereof, in a relationship?”
“You don’t have to go into any detail. I can do that when I see them, but yes, I need you to express that they can’t just contact me however they damn well please. No popping into my head and talking to me. Or showing up at my house.”
They better keep their voices out of her mind and their asses away from my home.
I won’t take kindly to that sort of surprise.
“We want a controlled conversation. No surprise variables. No emotional ambush setup. We will all meet knowing and understanding that,” Amick says.
“What exactly do you all hope to come out of this conversation?” he asks.
“Agreement and understanding on our roles and where the realm is heading.”
Derivius shifts his attention from Amick and studies each of us for a long moment, then lets out a small, amused breath.
“You all have put far more thought into this than I figured you would have at this stage.”