Chapter 29 Kyzen #4
“Do you have the power to make the Binding react, Doren?” Amick asks.
“No, absolutely not.”
“Then someone else had possession of it aside from you. The search for this all came about because the Goddess of Seduction sensed it. Then a short time after you gave it to Thayla, the God of Chaos showed up claiming she felt it again. Thayla didn’t do anything to it by that point, so someone else had to. ”
“That would be the Beginning God of Consequence. The first time after Thayla’s powers settled, then again when Starza was bringing her to my underwater cavern,” he says with a sure nod, then his eyes widen. “Oh. I wasn’t supposed to tell you that.”
We all stare at him, stunned.
“What the fuck?” Thayla mumbles.
“That’s the question, isn’t it. There’s far too much going on with all of you.” We all sneer at Nero and his stupid, surprised face.
“Pray tell, Nero. You don’t like what we have going on?” Riven asks with a daring smirk.
“Not particularly. My family is very middle aligned, and you all seem very content with talking shit about all the beings stronger than us.”
“Are you going to run and tell all these beings about the things we discuss? Namely, things about my Binder?” Amick asks.
“Uh, probably my parents. I tell them everything.”
Yemi’s eyes narrow on Nero. “You’re not going to say shit to them. We literally discussed this when Doren first disclosed everything.”
“You’re right. How mad will you be at me if I tell them anyway?”
“Mad enough to let Sevryn fuck you up.”
“Hell yeah,” Riven and Sevryn say at the same time.
My eyes catch Creed’s as he glares at everyone.
“You know, you always pick his side. It’s infuriating.”
“Don’t fucking talk to her like that. You’re the infuriating one. And of course she picks my side. I’m her damn boyfriend.” Sevryn growls, staring Nero down.
“What the fuck?” I mouth to Thayla, whose wide eyes keep bouncing from Yemi to person after person.
“Now, Sevryn, we’ve talked about this. We’re her boyfriends as well. She’s going to spend the rest of her life with all of us.”
“Oh my gods, we have not discussed this,” Yemi shrieks.
“Well, we, as in us four, discussed it. It’s the way of the starwoven.”
“Wait. What did you say, Doren?”
Thayla’s question, that I could barely understand, goes ignored as their voices continue to rise higher and higher. Add in Havar’s and Riven’s laughter, I can’t hear myself think.
“Thay, we’re going to step out. Tensions are getting a little too high for Rose,” Lambrit says as he leans across the table.
We both turn to her, and sure enough, her face is bloodshot red and she’s struggling to regulate her breathing.
Damn, I bet her powers are going ballistic and there isn’t shit she can do about it.
“Iric, you don’t want to put your two cents in on this? How do you feel about Yemi?” Riven asks.
“The sight of her takes my breath away.” Those are the first words he’s spoken all night and with them, he rises from his chair. “If you all will excuse me.”
“Where are you going? Why do you always hide away when conversations get tough?” Nero asks.
“Because I’m struggling to keep my power from feeding off all of you.”
“I’ve never heard of a Healer that feeds from people,” Creed says as he scowls at Iric.
“I don’t heal physical injuries but help reveal emotional ones. And you all are loaded with emotional trauma. I’d love to have one-on-one sessions with each of you. You desperately need it. I’m going to excuse myself now.”
The voices settle as we watch him haul ass into one of the bedrooms. The peaceful break from the shouting lasts about a millisecond.
“My poor cousin. You lot are going to stress her all the way out,” Havar says, then shovels more food in his mouth.
“Right you are, Hay-Hay. They need to be honest with each other. Who wants to share their troubles first?”
My head slowly—fucking impossibly slow—pivots to Riven’s giggle. His eyes aren’t swirling, nor do I feel his power on my skin. Yemi and the rest of her Valtrue’s shouting gets louder, though.
Oh no.
I lean down until my mouth is at Thayla’s ear.
“We need to go. Riven did something.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Her neck snaps toward him. “Ah, fuck.”
She jumps from her chair, stomps behind Amick, and snatches Riven up by the collar of his shirt.
“Ow! Ow! You’re pinching me, little burden.”
“I’m about to do more than that.”
All I can do is sigh as Creed reaches across the table and takes his pie back. Amick’s lost as fuck, but he stands from the table as Thayla marches Riven out the back door.
Yemi and her Valtrue are none the wiser that I’ve said bye and thank you for inviting us. To our very short-lived dinner.
Amick and I catch up with Creed and the three of us enter Thayla’s bedroom just in time to hear the shouting.
“I’ll give you one more fucking chance to be honest with me. What did you do?”
His innocent smile doesn’t work on us or her.
Eventually, he sighs and places his hands on his hips.
“I want to preface this by saying, I didn’t see them all reacting like that.”
“Oh my gods.” Thayla steps away from him and rubs her temples. “Are they going to be okay? Do they need to go to the healing villas? What, Riven? Fess up. Now.”
“No, it’s not that serious. They’ll be fine.
I just slipped some of Vullie’s truth tonic he whipped up in their drinks.
No biggie. I was trying to get them to loosen up with us.
Bridge the gap. Make sure we can trust the two newcomers, you know?
I already approve of and like Discovery better than Sevryn for bestie. ”
He shrills and jumps back when Thayla swings at him.
“Are you kidding me? You drugged our fucking friends!”
“Drugged is a stretch. They’d never grow addicted to this. I’m positive they’re going to thank me for this after it’s all said and done. This way, they get all their baggage out in the open.”
She throws her hands in the air and spins around to face us.
“I can’t. I literally can’t. One of you fix this. Right fucking now.”
We all nod. She marches up to Creed and snatches the pie out of his hand. Fuming. Her door leaving her room slams with the force of the stars and we turn to glare at Riven.
“That went way smoother than I thought it was going to when we first came in here. Look at this shit. She drew blood on my collarbone.”
He tugs down his shirt, and Amick’s sigh flutters around us.
“I’m going to check on her. I have no guidance for this.”
Unlike Thayla, he doesn’t slam the door behind him. Creed shifts his feet and crosses his arms while I pinch the bridge of my nose.
“Is there a way to fix this, Riven, or does it have to run its course?” I ask.
“Personally, I think—”
“I don’t give a shit what you think. Is there a fix or not?”
He grumbles under his breath as he rummages around in his pocket. He pulls out and shakes a vial before handing it over to me.
“Two drops in a drink.”
“Is this going to have any effects on them? Anything I should worry about?”
“No. Sadly, it’s very boring and straightforward.”
I sigh and turn to Creed.
“You got everything here?”
“Yeah. You may be one brother short when you get back.”
“How rude.”
“Just make sure Thayla’s okay.”
He scoffs. “I got her.”
Riven’s stupid fucking ass gives me a small smile and a wave as I head back out Thayla’s door and over to Yemi’s.
No one answers my knock and the second I step in, my power bursts free. The damn flying food halts inches from my face.
This is going to be lovely to mediate.