21. Creed #3
“What the fuck was that?” Sevryn asks, peering over his shoulder at us after we take a few strides forward.
“What’s going on, Godrun?” Gladian asks, cutting in before anyone can actually form an answer for Sevryn. “He passed right by the front of our group and didn’t pause till he reached us.”
“I was fucking present for that, you asshole. I didn’t do shit. I have us all covered,” she says, sneering at him.
“It’s probably the sons,” Barir grunts. “You all have an unmistakable air of Obliteration that surrounds you.”
The fuck we do.
There’s no doubt the glares my brothers give him match my own. He holds his hands up and faces back forward like he’s supposed to be fucking doing. Words escape us from that moment on as the activity in this part of the wing increases significantly.
Two separate times we have to flatten ourselves to walls or sprint down a hall because Attendants busy themselves cleaning already clean surfaces. I know more than anything my Binder wants to snatch them up and save them, but that isn’t an option right now.
Doren has to change directions another two times when we come across patrols pacing the ends of halls. Their positions raise my suspicions. It’s strange that they’d walk back and forth from wall to wall rather than the entire length.
We turn down another hall and the transformation in appearance is subtle at first, then becomes obvious.
The polished stone beneath our boots loses its shine and the vibrant veins of gold fade into muted shades of charcoal and ash. Marble statues give way to bare walls. Their surfaces are marked by hairline fractures that no one has bothered to repair, which is both shocking and concerning.
This hall seems far below our father’s standard.
Even the air changes.
The crisp scent of cedar gives way to cool stone and undisturbed dust. It smells like a place people pass through only when necessity demands it.
Doren’s fist rises without warning as we approach the end of the hall.
You can only go left from here, but regardless, we all stop as one behind him.
He edges to the corner, leaning just enough to steal a glance beyond it.
“Four guards,” he mumbles. His eyes sweep over each of us before settling on Thayla. “The Binding is through the double doors they’re standing in front of.”
Silence settles over the group. Then she steps forward.
“We’ll go first. You all stay behind us.”
Sevryn looks half a second away from arguing, but Yemi’s quick to drag him to her by his hand.
Kyzen falls into place on one side of Thayla, with Amick on his left. I press myself beside her and Riven takes my right.
We move as one.
The farther we creep down the hall, the more the corridor seems to narrow around us. It doesn’t actually grow smaller, but the air is thinner and the power pulsing wraps around me with suffocating pressure.
We’ve definitely found what we’re looking for and it’s far different than the other five we’ve acquired.
I grunt low the closer to the guards we get.
“Fully powered Oblirians,” I warn. “Stab straight through the hearts. Kyzen, use your power if need be.”
Thayla gives him a timid nod as she, Amick, and Riven unsheathe their swords. The distance between us and the Oblirians shrinks in seconds and my breaths fall measured from my chest. I wrap both hands around the hilt of my sword and raise it.
“Three, two—”
Before I can get to one, before I can fucking blink, four piles of ash form on the stone floor.
My head slowly turns and I trace Thayla’s outstretched arm.
“That was not the plan,” Amick says low.
“No, it wasn’t,” she says like that makes it okay.
“Then why the hell did you do it?” I ask.
Her lips pinch tighter as her gaze meets mine. Beside me, Riven lets out a small laugh.
“Our sweet little Binder couldn’t stand the idea of her men adding any trauma to their hearts because of this place.”
Her eyes narrow on him.
“Everything is fine. My power is still locked in place. Let’s go.”
She attempts to step forward, but I snatch her ass back to my side and step into her space.
“Don’t risk protecting our hearts when it costs yours something.”
“You are my heart. I’ll risk everything a thousand times over. And there’s not a damn thing you can do about that.”
I scoff and smirk at her fucking sass.
My Goddess of Death.
“We ready now?” she asks, arching her brow at me.
I roll my eyes and nod for Amick to move forward. He’s practically bouncing on his toes, ready to push those doors open.
Everyone piles in close behind us as he lays his palms flat against the wood. As soon as he shoves, we race forward.
Cold air spills through the widening gap, slapping me in the face like a freezing reality shock.
It’s wrong. Very wrong.
The sensation hits my skin and sweeps through me like invisible chains snapping into place around my soul. Every instinct I possess recoils as the powerful protections that I’m all too aware of snap into place.
Beside me, Thayla stiffens.
Kyzen swears under his breath.
Riven’s curse follows a heartbeat later.
Everyone behind us recognizes what surrounds this room.
None of us need to test it.
No one is starshooting out of here.Bottom of Form