The Gods Binding (The Valorian Veil #2)

Previously In

The Gods Veiling

Thayla

Is this really my life?

Before my parents abandoned me, I made them three promises.Stay away from the gods. Don’t go to the gods or look for them in Godsden. Never enter the Veiling.

For twenty long, self-secluded years, I kept those promises. Lived by them. Breathed by them.

Until, of course, everything went to hell.

A month ago, I was still in Oddian—the “lowest” region of the Valorian Veil—surrounded by powerless beings like me. I had my pseudo-brother, Mellcom, my ex-boyfriend Jeremiah—gag—and my best friend Lambrit, with his little sister Laney.

They tolerated me, even after I loudly announced to my training group that the gods could shove it.

I’ve been through a lot here lately, so my memory may or may not be failing me, but I’m pretty sure I said, “Fuck the gods.”

My mouth isn’t what landed me here, though.

Nope.

Mellcom and Jeremiah managed that honor. They took my blood and offered it to the Volreen, which shoved me straight into the Veiling—the one thing I swore I’d never do.

Betrayal? Check.

Now I live in Godsden, bound to four gods who didn’t ask for me any more than I asked for them.

Those four…Let’s not skip ahead.

On the Veiling Day, it wasn’t just me who got chosen. Lambrit, Mellcom, and Jeremiah were coming along, too. A guy named Garish was also selected, but he’s irrelevant to my life.

Our Escort was Havar, a god with a curious and observant personality, who picked us up in a carriage pulled by Seismet, a sacred Veilatara. He met my bow and spoke to me. Lambrit informed me that’s a big deal.

Naturally, I knew it meant one thing. Trouble.

Crossing into Godsden came with a fun surprise. Once you’re in, you don’t leave without the gods’ permission.

So much for my escape plans.

The High Chancellor—absolute dickhead, by the way—welcomed us by throwing us into three tests. The Designation Revelation, the Attendant Worthiness, and the Pairing.

The first two went fine. Aside from me opening my mouth and the High Chancellor jumping down my throat.

I’m Equalized in Designations and worthy of an Attendant. Her name is Yemi, and she happens to be Havar’s cousin.

She wasn’t thrilled. Neither was I once I found out what having an Attendant really meant.

The Pairing? Yeah, fucking awful.

Inside the Gods Veil, I finally met Derivius, Beginning God of Chaos, face-to-face. He told me the gods were attempting to mimic what’s known as a Nexus in Elementra but were failing.

His solution to that?

Rip my soul apart and attach it to four brothers.

Riven, Creed, Amick, and Kyzen.

My domain? Declared Untold. Which basically means no one knows what the hell I am, including me.

And the guys? They weren’t exactly thrilled.

Riven called me a burden, kissed me just to mess with me, and then dropped a statue head in my food.

Creed, the quiet one, says little, and when he does, he’s an ass, but he notices everything.

Amick is a genius with nonexistent social skills. His obliviousness is adorable, though.

Kyzen’s a flirt who covers everyone’s issues with charm.

And me? I eavesdropped and learned the truth—they didn’t want me as their Binder. Any Binder, really.

So I kept the fact they’re holding my soul a secret from them.

There are secrets on both sides, though.

Turns out, they were born in the Abandon—the godforsaken corner of Godsden run by the Beginning God of Obliteration. He wants to rule the realm.

A battle across that barrier forced us together in ways none of us were ready for.

I held a killing sword to Mellcom’s chest, Seismet revealed I’m his Godly Companion while he flew me through the stars, and my Valtrue admitted a glimmer of their past. Their small admission was actually massive and eye-opening.

I admitted how I truly got here and my hatred for the gods.

Shockingly and thankfully, none of us like the gods much.

That honesty cracked the door to something new. Trust.

Fragile, awkward, but real.

Yemi, who’d been warming up to me, got attacked in Gods Court by Mara—Mellcom’s Binder, whose life I’d literally just saved.

My power exploded out of me in a fit of rage. I beat Mara down, cussed out Gladian, the God of Strength, and got punished with five lashes. The last lash never landed, though.

I pulled my Valtrue to me with threads of my soul, and they stopped it. The Healers patched me up, but Creed carried me into the woods, where Seismet and his brother Verlet led me to a hidden hot spring.

That hot spring? Blessed by the Valories. Power thrummed through it.

There, I met V, the last Vedarya.

He told me I am his Vedae, and we had our Calling. His advice? Sit with everything I’ve learned. Accept the relationships forming with my Valtrue. And maybe—just maybe—start opening up.

Back at the house, I waited for the guys to wake so we could finally talk, but Kyzen and Amick beat me to the punch by asking to be my boyfriends.

Yes, both of them.

I told them to think about it after our Valtrue meeting.

In that meeting, I confessed the truth about my soul. Creed admitted he’d known all along. His brothers? They were furious with him, hopefully not with me.

Before we could figure any of it out, the High Chancellor came knocking.

Their father wanted to see them.

Who’s their father, you ask?

Oh, just the Beginning God of Obliteration.

So yeah. That’s where I’m at.

Betrayed, bonded, bleeding secrets, maybe boyfriends, unruly powers, a fate I don’t fully understand yet, and now a meet-and-greet with the god who wants to take over the realm.

What could possibly go wrong?