Chapter 7 Thayla #2
“I think I picked pretty well last time, thank you.”
I glance thirty or so feet over at where the guys are standing around the small fire they made. What do I find?
Sevryn’s ass staring at Yemi.
Gods, he’s so obsessed with her.
It’s sweet.
He subtly flips me his middle finger when he catches me staring.
Asshole.
“I wanted to have a normal conversation before I died, is all.”
“That’s so dramatic. You’re not going to die, Mara.”
“Oh yeah? You going to save me again, Thayla?”
“That’s a big fuck no. I learned my lesson the last time I did that.”
Her eyes cast to Yemi. I grit my teeth and restrain myself from lunging the few feet distance between us.
“I’m not trying to make excuses, but Gladian had just torn my ass a new one for what happened in the Abandon. I saw your Attend—”
The warning noise that leaves my throat has her clearing hers instantly.
“Yemi. I saw Yemi leaving the Attendants’ chamber, and since I just got blessed out because of what you did for me, my anger—embarrassment maybe—took over.”
“That’s an explanation. Not an apology.”
She nods a few times as if she’s having to work up the courage to do that.
“I never should’ve put my hands on you, Yemi. I’m sorry.”
I don’t say anything. Her words are meaningless to me, but they aren’t directed at me. So my opinion doesn’t really make a fuck.
“You must really think you’re about to die,” Yemi says.
I snort, and my not very nice smirk lingers on my lips when she cuts her eyes at me.
“It’s definitely on my mind. Thayla made it clear to Gladian that she has no intention of helping any of us if something happens, which means her Valtrue won’t either.
He made it clear to us that if something goes wrong, we’re on our own.
So yeah, not all that dramatic, seeing as we’re infiltrating one of the most populated areas of the Abandon. ”
“Him not helping you makes no sense, seeing as you all are literally coming with us to save one of your own. He won’t leave you behind,” I argue, but she shakes her head.
“He expects us to make it back or die trying. You go down honorably, or you don’t come back.”
I study her and let her words sink in. “Well, I’ll be damned. That’s why you were so mad I saved you.”
She hums. “Yeah. You knocked me off my standing in Gladian’s eye, and he was pissed about that.
I knew as soon as you killed all those Oblirians and offered me your hand what that meant for me.
I thought you were doing it on purpose. Trying to declare that your Valtrue is the strongest. Rub it in my face.
“It really didn’t occur to me you truly don’t give a fuck about any of us until what you did in the Court.
Our standing in society, our power, the rules, none of it.
I thought it was all a show. The way you acted and the things you said made no sense to me at all until Creed told us what Jeremiah and Mellcom did. You wanted none of this.”
“I tried telling you that the first time I spoke to you.”
“Yeah, I know.” She sighs, rising to her feet and dusting off her hands. “That type of freedom must be nice.”
We watch her walk over to her Valtrue and the two other groups cleaning their shit up. Not even one of them acknowledges her. The misery that surrounds all of them is visible, I swear.
“Well, that was weird and unexpected,” Yemi says.
I murmur my agreement as I stand and offer her my hand.
“I’m telling you, it’s this place. It brings out the worst in everyone.”
“That wasn’t her worst.”
“It wasn’t the worst she’s ever treated us, sure, but it was her own personal worst. That last little statement she made was loaded.
She doesn’t truly want to fight for the things she fights for but isn’t strong enough to push back against the standards expected of her,” I say, and she grunts, her gaze growing distant.
Yep, it looks like she’s experiencing it too.
Fuck, I hope she isn’t feeling nearly as shitty as I do.
“It seems your Guider Valtrue member is rubbing off on you.”
She forces a chuckle through her lips as we approach the guys, and I give them a tight smile as we join their circle.
I wish I could give all the credit to Amick that I now have a profound ability to profile someone that quickly, but no.
This silence forces you to think.
The thoughts it brings to the surface are suffocating.
I bounce around the fire to each of my guys, impatiently waiting for the hour mark to be up. Their tension bleeds out as long as they’re touching me, but once I move on to the next, the stress returns to their shoulders.
All their anxiety, unrest, turmoil, eagerness, you name it, assaults my chest when Amick finally calls for everyone’s attention.
I’ve got to learn how to block out their emotions.
My gaze lingers for a few extra seconds on Mara before it moves on to the rest of them.
I haven’t bothered to learn the names of anyone in the two extra Valtrues. Not even the two Binders. Their eagerness is annoying. It’s solely because they were chosen for this, and if they’re a part of this successful mission, they’ll get some recognition.
I couldn’t give a fuck about that.
Jeremiah is past the point of freaking out.
I don’t focus on him long, though. Too much shit runs through my head when I look at him.
Chasin, I can’t get a read on the guy. He honestly doesn’t fit in with their bunch at all.
And Gladian…part of me believes he’s concerned for Mellcom’s well-being, and he wants his Valtrue back whole. The other part is convinced he’s only taking this so seriously because it’ll be frowned upon if he leaves a member of his Valtrue to die.
“Are we all still in agreement about breaking away from the outskirts for the rest of the trek?” Amick asks.
That was a decision I wasn’t torn about, although it carries a greater risk.
If we stuck to the original plan, we’d follow the forest all the way around until we had a one-mile straight shot to the back of Seductions.
That’s a less populated area, and it decreased our chances of running into anyone sooner.
The biggest factor influencing the change in plan was that route would take over three hours.
None of us has three hours left on our fuses.
Everyone either nods or mumbles their agreement.
“From this spot, we’re five miles from Seductions.
At mile two and a half, we hit our first structures and lose the coverage of the trees.
From what we last remember and Sevryn’s last accounts, the area is majority housing.
Be prepared for there to be more homes now developed.
If we can evade, we evade. If we can’t, we kill quickly and quietly.
“At mile one and a half, the houses give way to the heart of the Abandon. The streets will still have people mulling around, so we’ll stick to the shadows and behind the buildings. There’s no stopping to regroup, talk, or anything from that point on. It’s a straight shot down the same street.
“Our Valtrue will take the lead and handle anyone we come across. If we get overwhelmed or encounter a group too large for us to handle, only then do the rest of you step in. We can’t make any scenes or cause a commotion that draws attention to us.
“There have never been precautions or guards at the back door. Them having Riven would lead me to believe they changed that. If that’s the case, we take the guards down, then move in. If they’ve put something stronger in place, we’ll observe it and make our decision on how to proceed from there.”
Amick cuts his eyes to Yemi, and I swallow nervously. That’s a conversation he had with her—us—out of earshot of our extras.
He believes, which means he’s more than likely right, that the Goddess of Seduction wrapped her essence around the structure in a sort of makeshift alert barrier.
Like how we can tell when someone with permission to enter our room or house has entered, she may have placed something that tells her when one of the guys, maybe even me, has arrived.
Yemi will determine if there’s something like that in place.
If it’s only the door, she can interfere with it enough for us to go through undetected. If it’s the entire structure, the Goddess of Seduction will know no matter how we enter, so at that point, we storm in.
“We don’t want to go in swords and power blazing.
The goal is to go undetected for as long as possible.
The front of the structure isn’t any concern of ours.
That’s where the alcohol is served, dancing takes place, and emotions build.
There may be a few beings lingering, but they’ve most likely moved on.
“The back is our focus. There’re multiple levels and rooms. The Dark Gods and full-blown Oblirians’ partaking in the activities here will be fornicating or fighting, while under the influence of either alcohol or an ability under the domain of Seduction.
Possibly both. Inhibitions will be lower. Power will be primed.
“You need to be prepared to keep your wits about you. The power of Seduction is strong here and can influence you in multiple different ways. The Goddess of Seduction rarely releases her own power because her underlings take care of that. She only adds influence if they aren’t feeding her as much as she’d like. ” Amick finishes.
Bile races up my throat and my lower belly cramps. I subtly lay my hand there and will my seduction to stay where it is.
The way I’ll use my power will be far different from that sick bitch.
“Bardot and Elsher Valtrues, do you remember who you’re following?” Creed asks, and I bite my cheek to shut myself up.
That’s the single piece of Amick’s plan that I wholeheartedly disagree with. I didn’t voice my concerns, although I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs that I refuse for us to be separated.
They all felt my displeasure, though. It still didn’t change their minds.
The Bardot Valtrue will be with Creed, Sevryn, Yemi, and me, while the Elsher Valtrue will be with Amick, Kyzen, and Gladian’s group.
The point, according to the guys, about us splitting up is we need to hit both areas of Seductions at once. The ‘fornicating floor,’ as Amick called it, and the fighting floor.
We can’t risk searching the wrong floor and the Goddess of Seduction move Riven.
He could be on either.
They also wanted to eliminate the possibility of Gladian and the others finding Mellcom, then leaving us high and dry.
We have the advantage of relaying messages through V, so if one group of us finds Riven before the other, we can tell him, and he’ll communicate with all of us.
“Questions?” Amick asks, and everyone mumbles no.
Except for Gladian.
“You explained minimally to me, Creed, about us being in separate groups because we need to break Riven’s restraints when he’s found. I want an answer. How could he be restrained to the point he or even Mellcom can’t starshoot out? I need to know what I could come across, for both their sakes.”
Creed and Gladian stare each other down so hard the building tension sits on my chest like a boulder. My breathing labors the longer this standoff goes on.
It becomes glaringly obvious that Creed was avoiding talking about this for my benefit. The apologetic look he gives me has chill bumps breaking out across my arms.
“Riven will be restrained with chains that our father, the Goddess of Seduction, and the Goddess of Creation have embedded. Their purpose is to block the reach of his powers. He can push his powers out, but they can’t spread around his whole body. One of us will need to destroy the chains.”
My eyes slam shut, and I stagger back, struggling to drag air into my lungs.
Thank fuck my power listens to reason and stays put rather than burst out.
My soul, on the other hand, goes ballistic in the confines I’ve kept it in. I finally give in to its demands.
Three-fourths at least.
The guys step closer, unable to ignore my tug. I try my hardest to keep my emotions from leaking through, but I know I fail completely at that when Creed hisses.
Gladian clears his throat, and I glare over at him.
“If Mellcom’s found first, then what?”
“If their group finds him first, the Bardot Valtrue can starshoot back to the Godsdawn with him. If it’s our group, your Valtrue, the Elshers, and possibly Mellcom, will stay until Riven is safe.”
Amick’s tone leaves no room for argument. Granted, I’ll give it to Gladian. He doesn’t look like he’s ready to put one up. I refuse to give him any benefit of the doubt, but he genuinely looks a little shaken from hearing about those fucking chains.
“Understood.”
“Your power will unbind as soon as we step into Seductions. Keep your eyes peeled and stay behind Gladian’s Valtrue,” Creed says, addressing the Bardots and Elshers. “Ready?”
An echoing of yes responds to him, and I force my back straight and head high.
Wordlessly, Amick, Creed, Kyzen, and Sevryn kick dirt over the fire, and the waning sizzle rings in my ears.
The…finality in them doing that, unspoken, together, makes my heart clench painfully. I stare at the last remaining ember until its light is smothered.
Our first step into the darkness has me pulling on the straps of Riven’s backpack. I tighten it and the waist bags to the point that no matter how I maneuver, they aren’t going anywhere.
Their weight grounds me, but fear like no other pumps through my chest.
Listen, powers, when we reach him, I don’t care which one of you comes out except…
Except you, Chaos. Stay in place.
You can’t come out around him.