Chapter 34 Thayla #2
I arch my brow.
“Trying to keep track of the trail of bodies I might leave behind?”
He shrugs, but his face falls the smallest bit.
“Just in case you were to only cut and not stab, I’ll know the soul that was touched by them. Then I’d go finish them for you.”
Valories.
I realize that talk of murder shouldn’t be so endearing, but it is.
He holds his hand out for one of them, and I reluctantly hand it over. The asshole scoffs at my resistance and winks at me.
“They won’t hurt you or any of us. Neither will my swords now.
I’ve put permissions on all of them. I’d never expect you to battle with these unless you somehow lost your weapon, but I want them on you anytime we leave the house.
I’ve also embedded these holsters so the second you slide the dagger all the way out, it’s going to tug my soul.
I’ll come right to you. We’ll come, Thayla. ”
My ears ring as I stare into the white trying its damnedest to break through his dark gray irises.
He’s given me an extra layer of protection I didn’t even know I wanted or needed until this very moment. The more I practice with my power, the more readily it’ll come to me, but if I find myself in a situation where that doesn’t happen, I have these.
I have him.
Them.
“Thank you, Creed.”
His lips tighten and he bows his head. I pass him the second dagger and he slides it into the holster as well, then closes the lid on the box.
His eyes cut beside him to Amick, and I swallow as I take a step over.
“Hey, Candyman.”
The look on his face softens before he glances at the book in his hand. His fingers trace the spine up and down. I watch intently.
“You’re as much of an anomaly to me today as you were the first day you arrived here to us.”
I pull my bottom lip between my teeth.
“I can’t still be that bad.”
“Never bad.”
“One day, you’ll figure me out.”
“I sure hope not. I hope every day, for the rest of our lives, that I get to observe and learn something new about you. I pray to witness every change.”
My mouth parts and I can’t decide whether to focus on the book he’s passing me or the reverence in his eyes.
When he peers down at the bound leather in my hands, so do I.
There’s nothing on the front cover and the crack of the spine breaks the silence. The book nearly slips from my grip when I read the scribe page.
Mysenta
-Amick
With ease and care, I turn the page.
My trembling fingers press against my quivering lips.
The healing villas smelled strongly of cleaning solution. It contradicted the fresh crisp air we’d just been breathing as we stood in the Assembly.
Though that oxygen was sucked from our bodies the moment the irrevocable change to our lives pierced us through our hearts.
Our names were never called, but we were. Our souls were.
The marks came as fast as the tug to her.
As I watched my brother, who avoids touching anyone, swoop up the goddess whose name we didn’t even know, I knew the lives we’d been living were over.
I had so many questions. I demanded so many answers.
I thought to myself, as soon as she gains consciousness, I’ll see her truth.
I, in fact, did not.
Her attention moved in measured passes—one brother, then the next—assessing, comparing. When her gaze reached me, it didn’t linger longer than the others.
Yet mine stayed fixed on her, cataloging every detail.
You can tell a lot about a god by their eyes.
Even the color has a story to share.
Hers shared so much and so little.
They were composed of concentric rings. Gold nearest the pupil, followed by green, then blue, and brown at the edge. The order didn’t fluctuate. The colors didn’t bleed together. They coexisted.
It was the most stunning contradiction I had ever seen.
Disappointment flooded me when the High Chancellor caused her to narrow them.
My fingers shake uncontrollably as I flip the pages.
Entry after entry greets me.
Ink spills across the paper in the observations he’s made of me. Our moments.
“Amick…”
“I’m not the best at explaining what I feel, but I can, in great detail, explain what I see.”
Don’t cry. Don’t cry.
Don’t you do it.
I bite the inside of my cheek to keep the pressure building in the back of my eyes at bay.
It takes a great deal of restraint not to jerk my book to my chest when he gently pulls it out of my grasp.
I know that’s my sign to move on to Kyzen, but my body doesn’t want to listen to me.
My very being is trapped in this overwhelming moment of emotions.
I force my lungs to draw in as much air as I can when Kyzen’s soul caresses mine, encouraging me to keep going.
So I do.
Very wobbly.
“Close your eyes and hold your hand out for me, gorgeous. I’m going to make you work a little bit for my gift.”
His teasing tone breaks up my petrified state enough that a small, watery laugh slips through, and I do what he instructs.
Cold metal lands against my palm and I desperately want to open my eyes but don’t. It isn’t heavy at all, and it’s circular. That’s all I can make out.
He closes my fingers around the object, then leads my hand until it’s pressed against my heart.
The poor organ is pounding at a concerning speed.
“I want you to focus on your heartbeat. Keep it at the forefront of your mind.”
That’s easy. The thunder of its thumps is muffling my hearing. I take a few measured breaths, attempting to slow the erratic beat.
“Now, if you will for me, embed your essence into the object in your hand. It’s the same thing as wrapping your essence, but instead of surrounding it, you push it in. Remember, keep your heartbeat at the forefront.”
I can do that.
You can do it.
For him.
I exhale slowly.
The object in my hand vibrates as my essence flows from me and into it. Once that long pulse stops, I give Kyzen a nod.
“Thank you,” he says as he removes the item from my hand.
My lids flutter open, and he smiles tenderly at whatever it is.
“What is it?”
“A mortal timepiece.”
“Where in the realm did you get that?”
“I asked for some help from our friend Doren. Surprisingly, there was one tucked away in the Sanctum and another in a shop in Godsden. They had to have some work done on them to get them going, but nothing’s impossible with a little time and power.”
From his back pocket, he pulls out another one. The two pieces are slightly different colors, but the shape and size are the same.
“This one’s mine,” he says as he wiggles the one I was just holding. “This one is yours.”
My fingers rub the glass plate that protects the inner workings of the timepiece. There are two large pegs and a single, thinner one that constantly moves.
I don’t take my eyes off the piece even as Kyzen grips my wrist and lifts my hand to his chest. His finger taps my knuckles repeatedly.
My brows pinch together the longer he does that and the longer I watch that thin peg move.
Oh my gods.
I whip my head up, eyes wide as I stare at where he placed my hand.
“The timepiece moves with the beat of your heart.”
He nods. “And the one you embedded moves in sync with yours. For me.”
My mouth opens and closes repeatedly as I search for something to say.
“Didn’t know we could get ourselves presents for the occasion,” Riven grumbles and I pivot my head toward him, then back to Kyzen.
“I’m so grateful for everything you all gave me, but…why…what is the occasion?”
He too takes my gift away from me and slips it back into his pocket.
I don’t know how to even express that I truly am so appreciative for everything they just presented me, but I’m also so lost.
What are they doing this for?
Amick clears his throat and my gaze meets his.
“Why do beings bring offerings to temples?”
“As an act of gratitude.”
My attention jumps to Riven.
“As an act of devotion.”
Then Creed.
“As an act of worship.”
Kyzen.
My whole body trembles and I don’t know who to look at. My soul thrashes around in the most enthralled kind of way. It wants to be released from my restraint so it can go to theirs.
“This is your temple and you are the only goddess we will ever worship, Thayla Godrun.”
My heart nearly explodes with Amick’s declaration and I blink rapidly, willing the tears building back up to go away.
Don’t fall.
Don’t ruin the moment.
The tremors wreaking hell on my body intensify to new heights as they each take a step closer to me. They don’t surround me in their normal formation, but they close in.
“You’ve been sending us all a sensation down our souls every night since the meadow, little goddess.”
My eyes widen in denial, and Kyzen smiles.
He takes one of my hands while Riven grips the other.
Amick cups my cheek and I lean into it.
Creed lays his hand against my heart.
My soul fights my control ten times harder.
“Close your eyes, my endling.”
I do immediately and a lone tear slips free from the weight of my lids. Amick wastes no time wiping it away for me.
“We’ll never put the weight of you choosing between us on your shoulders, little burden.”
“We’ll carry it, Mysenta.”
“No one has to go first or last,” Kyzen whispers.
A sob desperately tries to escape my chest, and my knees threaten to buckle when they step even closer.
Their souls flood mine completely.
It hits all at once. Not like a wave crashing against a cliff but like the sudden absence of ground.
My realm doesn’t tilt.
It drops.
Valories. I can’t breathe.
“I love you.”
Those three words echo from all four of them and ring in my ears. My mind blocks out all other sounds and repeats their words until that’s all I hear.
Over and over.
For a heartbeat, I forget how to exist. How to breathe.
This emotion doesn’t steal my breath the way my fear does.
No.
It’s as if I’ve been stunned frozen by the sheer impossibility of the moment. Like something rare and beautiful has just happened to me, and I’m too terrified to move or it may vanish.
Their love presses into my chest until it aches. The warmth spreads so fast, it makes me dizzy.
This is real.
Very, very, real.
The thought hits me harder than any fear ever has.