42. Amick
Amick
I truly despise the three new chairs in my office in the Athenaeum.
They are ghastly to look at every day.
Thayla’s single one is fine. An additional one for each of my brothers is ridiculous. They’re more than capable of standing. I shake my head at the monstrosities and focus back on the parchment spread across my desk.
Four parchments to four different regions. All saying the same thing.
We’re canceling the upcoming Veiling Day.
We aren’t ready to start distributing power out to the realm. Not as in mentally or emotionally ready. We’re logically not there. So many details still have to be worked out, and it’s a process that, despite my fixation, can’t be rushed.
Over the last three months since the battle, our focus has been almost entirely on the Abandon.
The new Seductions has been destroyed. It went up in an even bigger blaze of glory this second time since Riven had Vulius make him a perfect concoction of whatever. I will admit it was impressive.
All the training locations our father and Seveous had assembled were also annihilated.
We saved our father’s house for last.
Together, my brothers and I walked the halls one last time, letting the nightmares surface, then fade with the ash our Binder turned it into.
Decimating his Veil took a good bit of effort because all the corrupt power had retreated to the safety of its existence. The second it was gone, though, a pulse flowed through the Abandon, snatching any lingering corruption out of the inhabitants living there.
That’s when the real work started.
The beings who lived there who still, even after his death, were in die-hard support of our father had their souls weighed by Creed. He determined if they needed to go to Hell or…if there was no saving their souls.
Then there were those who weren’t in support of Kirabaddon, but the Abandon had become their home. They didn’t want to leave.
Those who wanted out were welcomed with open arms.
It’s been a much lengthier process than we—I—thought it’d be.
We have been able to make small adjustments to Godsden. I say small, but with the way the beings of Valveilious acted when we called a meeting at the Neutral, you would’ve thought we were waging another war.
The older, more powerful families didn’t receive our request that every Attendant be set free and return to the Godsdawn very well.
That request swiftly shifted into a demand.
My Valtrue and I had originally agreed that we wouldn’t be flashy or throw our power around. That went out the window the moment Nero’s father stood and told us we had no say-so in what they did with Attendants.
He learned very quickly that day that we do, in fact, have a say-so.
Nero took great pleasure in letting his father know he was now the Lead Mediator, and all his concerns could be brought to his attention.
I got quite a bit of satisfaction witnessing the argument.
When his brother punched their father in the face after Nero spilled the truth about the disappearance of the woman he loved, I laughed. Out loud.
It was a highly productive day.
Currently, all the Chancellors in the Godsdawn still hold their positions. Aside from Gulliver. Once he realized that Vulius was in a true completed Valtrue and had returned to society, he demanded that Ellian banish him for good.
Ellian told him good riddance and to enjoy retirement.
The other Chancellors are aware their time in power is coming to an end.
I already have their replacements in mind, but we aren’t at that point just yet. It’s on my seemingly never-ending list, though.
For now, the most important matter before us is giving the realm a couple of months’ heads-up that the Veiling Day they once cherished so deeply is no longer a thing.
None of us can bring ourselves to carry on the tradition.
It sits in my stomach like a stone when I think about upholding the sacred event to simply please people’s fear of change.
Another year of making twenty individuals believe they’re something special because they’ll receive what’s already rightfully theirs just doesn’t sit right with us.
Any of us.
So it’s time.
Time to share the truth with the realm.
The entire history of what truly transpired over the last twelve hundred years won’t fit on this slip of parchment, but the truth of the last several months will.
The realm deserves to know that the Beginning Gods they’ve prayed to their entire lives do not hold their positions anymore. They also should know that one day, in the near future, their power will be returned not to a select few but everyone.
My pen flows across the parchment as I finish up the last line, but I refrain from signing the decree. In time, the realm will learn who we’ve become, but for now, the last thing I want is to sign Amick, God of Knowledge, and suddenly have outside voices flooding my mind with prayers.
No, thank you.
Thayla, my brothers, Verlet, Seismet, V, and Lestari are plenty as it is.
The five of us are still getting the hang of speaking in each other’s minds.
That was an ability of the Beginning Gods that I overlooked, but am now throwing my all into mastering.
I sign the decree, Ellian, High Chancellor of the Godsdawn, then roll the four parchments up and stamp them with a gold wax seal in the shape of wings.
Ready for Havar and Roslind—his companion Veilatara—to deliver.
Havar cried for four hours when Roslind charged at him and bowed. It was a touch too much if you ask me, but Thayla’s glare told me to keep my mouth shut about it.
I was blown away by the number of Veilatara who found companions after she freed the rest of the herd.
Verlet explained to me that the Veilatara who are instinctively more of providers than protectors thrive better with bonds. Because of those companionships, the species as a whole does better.
I can finally understand that.
We felt our connection solidify to him in the Binding when it fixed our souls. I didn’t truly experience the full gravity of it, though, until I laid my hands against him. His strength, love, devotion, and utter companionship pounded away at my heart.
All the fear I had about riding on his back fled me.
We’ve flown through the skies numerous times together now.
Anywhos, next task.
I stare at the paper that has Iric’s and Prath’s notes on Calista’s and Rellannaver’s progress with their counseling with them. They, of course, don’t tell me what’s discussed, just how the two of them are adapting.
Needless to say, not good.
Pity.
Next order of business.
A huff escapes me at the knock at my door, but I silence it just as fast as it slipped when I feel the tug against my soul. Before I can rise from my seat, Thayla storms in and slams the door behind her.
“I’m going to kill him.”
I tilt my head.
“There’s a lot of hims that could be in question, but I’m going to go out on a limb and guess Riven.”
“Yes. Riven,” she says, tossing her hands up before she rubs at her forehead.
“What has he done now? Also, why was he even around you? You were supposed to be at the Court, and he was supposed to be with the Plentifuls checking carriages.”
“I was in the damn Court. He came fucking giggling his way in, threw a freaky-deaky vial in the air, then walked out.”
My brows furrow.
“A freaky-deaky vial? I’m afraid I don’t understand.”
“Oh my gods. It’s one of Vullie’s concoctions that makes everyone horny.”
Oh.
I see where that could be an issue then.
My mouth parts, but I close it just as quickly as I observe her. Her cheeks are flushed, and her breathing is labored, causing her chest to expand more than normal.
“Are you sexually frustrated, Thayla?”
Her gaze whips to me and her pupils dilate.
“What?”
“Did your proximity to Riven’s prank cause a sudden spike in your libido?”
I stride toward her until her back presses up against my door and slowly raise my fingers. The moment they trail down her face, a slip of a moan leaves her.
I smile down at her.
“I believe that’s exactly what’s happening. Is that why you ran to me? You need my help?”
“You’re serious?” she says through a small smile.
“About your pleasure? Always, Mysenta.”
The second the words leave my mouth, her body tangles around mine. I press her harder against the door and deepen our kiss as she runs her fingers through my hair.
The longer I kiss her, the more she grinds herself against me, breaking our lips apart every few seconds to pant out a please.
Gripping her by her thighs, I tear us from the wall and march us over to my desk. My freshly sealed parchments go tumbling to the ground as I lay her back. By the time I strip her pants down her legs, she slings her top across my office.
Her fingers wrap around my wrist, digging into my skin as I try to lower myself to my knees.
“I need you to fuck me. Please.”
A shiver races down my spine.
Who am I not to answer that prayer?
My fingers sink inside of her, then come right back out covered in her arousal. She’s more than ready for me.
I drive myself inside of her, letting my eyes drift shut as she welcomes me home.
“Yes, Amick. Yes.”
Her fingers claw at my shirt as I pump my hips deeper, faster.
Every pattern I know she loves, craves, I circle around her clit. The sight of her trembling, begging for more, for everything, beneath me is overwhelmingly addicting.
I can’t express how much I love seeing her fall apart like this. So carefree. So completely and utterly blissed. Like the rest of the realm doesn’t matter for the moment because she’s right where she wants to be.
“Oh gods. Amick,” she warns.
“That’s right. Come for your god.”
She throws her head back, screaming my name, and my back bows as she snatches my soul. I empty myself inside of her so fast, spots dot my eyes.
I lay my forehead against her chest, panting as I try to catch my breath.
She is and always will be my greatest distraction.
The way this little anomaly can stomp into my life and make everything else lose its importance is baffling in the most freeing way.
A slow clap has us both turning our gaze to the side.
My brothers stand there, shoulder to shoulder. The heat in Kyzen’s and Creed’s eyes could start a fire.
Riven looks smugly pleased.
“My little vial got to you, didn’t it, little burden.”
“I’m going to fuck—”
“Me? Yes, absolutely, I’d love that.”
A small chuckle escapes me despite trying to hold it in. Thayla doesn’t seem that mad at him as she tightens around me.
“That was dangerous and stupid,” I say, attempting to be serious.
He scoffs at me. “There was nothing dangerous about it. The vial doesn’t make you blindly horny. I’d never do something like that. Vullie has specialized this one to make you desperate for who you desire. I bet there are some truths being shared among some of those Defenders right about now.”
I shake my head, then groan as Thayla clenches beneath me again.
“Come here,” she demands, voice still drenched in desire.
I suppose there’s truth in his explanation.
I slowly pull out of her and crash back into my chair as my brothers swarm her like ravenous beasts.
“Riven on the desk,” I say, waving my hand. “You two figure out the rest.”
After a couple of shoves, Kyzen and Creed decide among themselves who’s going where.
I pull a bottle of lube out of my top drawer and toss it to Kyzen. He arches a brow at me.
“Seriously?”
“I have one stashed anywhere we may need it.”
Riven does as I said and switches places with Thayla. For a moment, given the way she’s already wrapped herself around Creed, I’m not sure if he’s actually going to get what he wants.
Finally, though, Creed peels her off him and sets her hovering above Riven. She doesn’t waste a second slamming herself down.
Her back arches and a desperate moan crawls out of her throat as Kyzen positions himself behind her.
“Ready, little goddess?”
“Yes.”
My office fills with the sounds of her guttural moans as my brothers fill her up. The sweet, sweet noises leaving her lips, unfortunately, disappear as she takes Creed down her throat.
I watch, utterly fascinated, as they bring her to oblivion over and over again. I’ll never get tired of watching her come apart between us, any of us like this.
It’s captivating.
Addicting.
And I get to spend my entire life not only enjoying it but finding ways to make it better each and every time.