Chapter 5 Thayla #2
“I’m not upset with you. I’m scared. One person I care fiercely about is already in danger. That’s all it is. Fear. I know you’re going to be fine. I won’t think about any other possibility.”
“That’s right. There’s no other possibility. If I can survive Hell, I’ve got this. We’re going to get him back and get home safely.”
I sure as fuck hope so.
The backs of my eyes burn as I reach down for his waist bags and backpack. His scent clings to them, which is both comforting and constricting.
I want to scream.
The fact that we won’t reach him by tonight is enough to send pure madness running through my mind.
By the time the two of us emerge from my room, all the guys are back around the kitchen table, handing Amick things to put in the illusion cube.
My eyes widen at the array of food, water bottles, healing supplies, and all kinds of other stuff.
“Wow, you two gathered that fast.”
Creed grunts, and my eyes roam over his swords strapped to his back.
I wonder if he’s going to give me one again when we get there.
“We always keep emergency kits ready. We just had to grab a few and some other things.”
“Why…never mind.”
Obviously, they have emergency kits ready. They’ve lived with the fear of being taken by their father for years.
They’ve always been ready to run.
Amick puts the last item in the cube—that I didn’t realize could expand as large as it is now. Once he shrinks it back down and slides it in his pocket, he nods.
I swallow.
“That’s everything. V is going to take us—”
“You all have visitors approaching the house.”
We spin toward the living room at V’s hoot, and my stomach sinks at the urgency in his tone.
Creed, Kyzen, and Amick are halfway to the door before I fully process what he said. Sevryn catches on just as fast, though, and snatches me along by my elbow, while placing Yemi behind him.
Yeah…she’ll be fine.
“Get your fucking hand off her. If we wanted her to come to the door with us, I would’ve dragged her along myself,” Creed grunts as he pulls me out of Sevryn’s grasp and into him.
“Um, too bad you don’t get to just leave me behind in the kitchen, asshole.”
He sneers at me, and I sneer right back.
“I don’t know who is out here. You were safer where you were standing.”
“Your concern is noted, my sweetling, but unnecessary. Now, open the door. We have somewhere more important to be.”
He, Amick, and Kyzen stare at me. Kyzen’s snort, followed by his barking laugh, shocks me.
“Sweetling. That’s such a good nickname.”
“Don’t call me that,” Creed growls at me.
That’s most certainly his new nickname.
It fazes him far more than asshole does.
“Thayla’s right. Come on.”
Amick turns the knob before Creed tears his glare from me.
We all make it about four steps out of the threshold before slamming to a stop. The utter confusion, anger, and irritation that bombard my soul have me gasping for breath.
“What the fuck are you playing at?” Kyzen asks darkly.
“I came to talk to Thayla.”
“With two complete Valtrues at your back and your own?”
Creed steps in front of me while Amick takes one side, Kyzen the other. Yemi’s suddenly pressed right up against my ass, and I’m positive Sevryn’s plastered to her.
“I didn’t come here with any malicious intentions. You all made it quite clear in the Court who would be the decider of my Valtrue member’s fate. So I came to speak with her.”
For the Valories.
I forgot about Mellcom.
Did I really forget or did I ignore it?
Regardless…
“What did you all say to him?” I ask in a hushed but annoyed whisper.
“That it’d be up to you if we saved Mellcom or not,” Amick answers.
“Thayla, may I have a word?”
Gladian’s voice echoes around us, and I grit my teeth. The last thing I want to do right now is talk to this overgrown man-child.
“I’d rather not. We’ve got somewhere we need to be.”
“Thay—”
“Don’t you address her.”
Huh. Well, color me curious.
Why would Gladian bark at Jeremiah?
Kyzen’s the only one who catches my confusion.
“Jeremiah and Mellcom hadn’t told their Valtrue the whole truth of your and their journey here. Creed made it known.”
I still don’t understand why that would piss Gladian off.
I lay my hand against Creed’s bicep and move him over a step. Okay, well, I definitely don’t move him. He moves reluctantly at my request.
My eyes narrow and my nose scrunches up at the God of Strength.
“What?”
“I’d like your permission for my Valtrue and the two I’ve assembled to join you on your rescue mission. We’ll follow your Valtrue’s lead, and Riven will be the priority. I just ask that Mellcom be one as well and that we not leave him behind.”
My eyes widen and my mouth gapes open. A bristle passes through my men, and even Yemi gasps.
Is he serious right now?
“My permission? Why would you ask for that?”
“Your Valtrue and…the son of Pain know the Abandon better than anyone. If anyone can successfully get me to my Valtrue member and get us all back, it’s them. They put you on a pedestal of authority in this case, though. So it’s your permission I’m seeking.”
“You don’t strike me as the type of god to ask anyone for permission, Gladian. What’s this really about?”
His stunned gaze bounces between Creed and me. I guess he assumed since he basically admitted he needs my Valtrue’s help that it would be enough for me to just agree.
“Don’t look at him. He doesn’t speak for me. Look at me.”
His eyes collide with mine, and I enjoy the confusion and irritation clouding his mind.
My, how it must make him feel small to do this in front of Defenders beneath him.
“V, will you ask the guys how they feel about this for me?”
I hold Gladian’s glare as I wait for an answer. Only a few beats pass when Yemi inhales sharply and her power flows over my skin.
The front lawn falls eerily quiet, and I peer over my shoulder.
“What did you do?”
“V told me to put a sound barrier around us.”
“That’s highly impressive but dangerous at the moment, Yemi,” Amick says.
“I’m not too worried about the God of Strength right now.”
“I can’t believe you three put me in this position. Why would you make it seem like this is my decision?”
“Because it is. I don’t give a single fuck about him. He can stay right where he is for all I care. If you want us to save him, we can try. I won’t risk Riven’s safety for him, though.”
Amick and Kyzen nod, agreeing with Creed.
“We absolutely won’t risk that. Riven is the top priority no matter what.” I huff, then run my hands down my face. “What do you all think? Seriously. Is it better to have extra hands, or the smaller the group the better?”
“This isn’t about to be some quick in and out thing. Your Valtrue knows that, but I think they forget that you and Yemi have zero idea what you’re stepping into.” Sevryn eyes the guys like, why the fuck aren’t you all saying anything.
The three of them share a glance that screams, yeah, we haven’t gone into great detail yet.
The particulars nor the true level of danger was exactly at the forefront of my mind either.
Getting Riven and getting out was. Is.
“It’s always better to have extra hands when facing the Abandon.
I don’t know if those are the hands I’d trust, though.
Especially not Jeremiah. The same rules apply to him as they do to me.
If my father senses the power of pain being used somewhere that he’s never sensed before, he’ll investigate it in a heartbeat. ”
My forehead wrinkles as I stare at Sevryn.
“How is that even possible? He’s just a Domain God. I don’t get how he can sense power that greatly.”
“He isn’t just anything. He’s the third highest-powered god in the Abandon behind Obliteration and Seduction.
Their father has built him up to be damn near unstoppable.
Any Domain God could tap into their underling’s power and sense it.
Many don’t waste their time doing that. My father has to know everything about the beings who possess a touch of himself.
They fall in line with him, or he forces them to. ”
“Great, so if I decide to let Gladian and his Valtrue join, we have to make sure none of them use their powers. How the hell do we do that? We can’t actually control them.”
“No, but we know someone who can,” Kyzen says, giving me a pointed look.
Yeah, I guess we do.
“Derivius, we’re getting ready to go, but there are some…individuals in my way. Will you come to our front lawn, please?”
Not a second later, a flash of white beams behind Yemi and Sevryn.
“Who’s…” Derivius trails off, groaning loudly. “He and Harriseen are quite tiresome. Very nice barrier, by the way, Yemi.”
She squeaks a thanks, but before he can say you’re welcome, Amick jumps into explaining everything that’s going on. His patience is wearing thin. We haven’t even put his full plan into action yet, but in his mind—soul—he thinks it’s already ruined.
“So I’ll need to bind your plan to their minds and their inability to use their powers until you reach Seductions. Oh, that sounds like a delightful plan. Are you going to allow their company, little troublling?”
I blow out a breath and stare up at the clouds.
I wish I were lying in Riven’s bed looking at them.
With him beside me.
“Can we do this alone? Without any extras?”
“Can we? Absolutely. Will it be harder, more dangerous? Yes. If we didn’t think we could, though, we would’ve organized our own Defenders to join,” Amick says.
“So is there even a benefit in letting them come with us?”
“Are you ready to accept the fact that Mellcom is dead?”
I flinch at his question. “What?”
“Like Creed said, he isn’t our priority. Unless you specifically say, I want you all to save Mellcom as well, then I have no intentions of rescuing him. His fate will be in the hands of our father, which is a death sentence.”
I blink repeatedly.
My memories assault my mind. Both good and bad. It’s so confusing, overwhelming, and the last damn thing I want to focus on right now.
Valories…How does someone go from being the person who bandaged my scraped knees to a person who became the reason for the bandages?
One day, I may or may not have to look Meridamus in the face again. How do I tell him, “So yeah, sorry. I abandoned your son in the Abandon, like you and my parents abandoned me in Oddian.”
Fuck.
“I don’t want to take our focus off Riven. I also don’t want Mellcom to rot. Not there anyway. Gladian and them can come under our conditions.”
Amick tightens his lips into a line. I don’t dare pay attention to his soul in case his feelings reflect that look of…disappointment, I believe.
“Very well. Let’s get this over with so we can leave.”
He nods at Yemi, but she holds my gaze.
“It’s fine. Drop the barrier.”
She too tightens her lips.
Why the fuck is everyone looking at me like that?
If they felt so strongly about leaving his ass, they should’ve made the damn decision. Not put it on my shoulders or conscience.
“What was that?”
I roll my eyes and scoff at the God of Strength.
“None of your business. As for permission to come with us to the Abandon, sure. I really don’t give a shit, but you’ll follow our rules. The God of Chaos is binding all your knowledge of our plan and your powers so you can’t use them until we reach Riven—”
“That’s far too dangerous. We’re done for if we run into more Oblirians than we can handle.”
“Then don’t fucking come, Gladian. I seriously don’t care, and you’re beyond pissing me off at this point. If it isn’t obvious, the last thing any of us care to do right now is sit here and negotiate with you. It’s our rules or you stay here. Or hell, be my guest and figure it out on your own.”
He clenches his fists at his sides and zips his mouth shut. The last shred of patience I have slips away.
I give him both my middle fingers before turning back toward the house so V can starshoot us like we originally freaking planned.
Ugh, I’m going to kill someone.
“Wait.”
“No, fuck off already.”
Derivius’s small chuckle pierces my heart. My eyes fall shut, and my feet stop stomping toward the house.
Riven would’ve been giggling this whole time.
“We’ll follow your conditions. We’ll do as you say.”
My sigh is heavy. It doesn’t relieve any stress in my shoulders as I peer over one of them. If anything, it adds more.
His face is stoic, but panic sits in the depths of his gaze. Sympathy isn’t the word I’m looking to use, but I guess I have a small shred of understanding. His Valtrue member is gone as well.
“Whatever. Let it be known, we won’t be saving any of you. Riven is our one and only concern. You can’t find Mellcom or you get yourself captured during this, that’s on you. If any of you do anything that stands in our way to Riven, I will kill you where you stand.”
“Are you threat—”
“Yes, Big Bad Domain God of Strength, I’m threatening you. Before a Beginning God. I have no respect for you, nor do I give a shit about you. You’ve done nothing to earn anything other than disrespect from me, so get used to it. It’s not going to change.”
His beard shifts as he clenches his jaw.
Dickhead.
“I’m done with this. Amick, Creed, Kyzen, one of you take over.”
My face heats, and my soul shivers in my chest from the looks they give me. I can’t tell if they’re turned on, proud of me, or pissed. It might be a mixture of it all.
“Amick’s already worked out the change of how you all will be getting to the Abandon’s barrier,” V says.
I cut my eyes over to my anxious genius, who immediately took over the conversation with Gladian. I don’t hide my smirk as he lays down the law of what’s going to happen. Derivius is beaming as he steps up beside him, ready to do what he needs to do.
“He doesn’t waste a second, does he? That poor mind of his.”
“He’ll be better once he has his brother back.”
Same.
“I’m so torn about you staying behind.”
“I’ll come. All you have to do is say so.”
“No, absolutely not. I…can’t lose you, V. The realm can’t lose you. Riven would kill me if I asked you to come with us.”
His small laugh makes my chest pinch tight.
“He’s quite possessive of the beings and things he cares about.”
The saliva pooling in my mouth burns like acid as I force it back down my throat.
“Yeah. Yeah, he is.”
“You all are going to bring him home, Thayla.”
I blink away the burning in my nose and behind my eyes.
Yes. Yes, we are.