Thayla
“Ultima unum.”
My head whips toward V as he flies to my shoulder. I have no clue what in the realm that means, yet unease coils low in my stomach all the same. The warning behind his tone is unignorable.
Willow’s gaze snaps to him, sharp and assessing, before returning to me just as quickly. Her piercing silver eyes hold me in place, freezing everything around us.
“Willow, you must watch your words. You know the universal rules. You can’t—”
“The rules can kiss my ass.”
Her words drift through the meadow, calm and devastating all at once. Power rolls off her in a tangible wave, brushing over my skin and lifting the hairs at the nape of my neck.
“I can and will do what I believe is right. That’s my role. The universal responsibility placed on me. I will not stand by and let her and her men continue to go through hell blindly.”
“Willow,” V pleads.
My shoulders tense as she focuses on him, and apprehension flares hot in my chest. I don’t like being dismissed from a conversation that is very clearly about what my Valtrue and I are allowed to know.
V flaps his wings and glides the few feet over back to Seismet, leaving my side without giving me any answers or reassurances. Once he’s settled, he bows his head.
“Very well.”
The ground shifts beneath me. My feet stumble forward without my consent as a vine slips away from my waist. A blast of air tears loose strands of hair from my bun, whipping them across my face before everything stills again.
I suck in a breath that doesn’t fill my lungs. Nothing looks different, but I’m no longer tucked into Kyzen’s side.
“I’ve put an air bubble around the two of us. No one can hear us but ourselves. V is warning your men of that now,” Willow says.
“Why?” I ask, turning in a slow circle.
The guys’ glares flick between me, V, and the Vito men in a restless loop.
“Because Amick has a thousand questions I won’t answer. Riven is torn between wanting peace and wanting chaos. Kyzen is already preparing to speed up time so he can know what comes next.” Her gaze softens as it casts behind me. “And Creed…is struggling.”
I swallow hard.
I know he is. I’ve felt it since before we went to the Abandon. It stings that she sees it so clearly.
“What just happened between V and me may have felt tense, but I’m not angry with him, and he isn’t upset with me. We simply don’t agree on how to handle this.”
“Yeah,” I mutter. “I noticed.”
A faint, tired smile tugs at her lips before fading.
“I made myself a promise two hundred and twenty-five years ago, Thayla. I swore that when the next savior came, I’d write them a manual. I’d tell them step by step everything they’d need to know to succeed.”
She hesitates as her breath catches the tiniest bit, and her fingers tighten around nothing before she stills them.
“I didn’t realize the next savior would be in another realm when I said that. Regardless, I’m disappointed I can’t fulfill that promise for you and your Valtrue.”
My chest rises and falls, and the weight of her words presses down until my shoulders ache.
“Good,” I say, although an edge creeps into my tone sharper than I meant. I clear my throat. “We aren’t saviors. And we don’t want to be.”
“You all lost that choice the moment you were born,” she says with a small smile that belies the regret etched beneath it. “And I am so sorry for that.”
“No.”
“Yes.” She steps closer, taking my hands before I can pull away.
Ice crawls through my veins even though her steady grip is warm.
“You will accept that. Not because it’s fair, but because there is no one else who can do what you five can.
You all will save your realm. And when it’s over… then you make your demands.”
I want to argue, to deny this until I no longer can. I want to rage against every being who decided this was my fate. Instead, my body goes still. A deeper part of me already understands there’s no path around this. Only through.
“We aren’t saviors. Just…fucking puppets.”
“It can feel like that. The difference between being saviors and puppets, though, is that puppet masters tend to dispose of their puppets when they’re done using them.
You five are indispensable. Therefore, when the time comes, you will make your demands.
And they will be honored,” she promises with a grit in her tone that’s so sure, I can’t form an argument.
Her steady, unrelenting grip stills my rage-induced trembling fingers.
“If a line that should never be crossed is, I swear to you, I will come. My Nexus and I will stand at your side. You have powerful allies in Elementra. Remember that.” She holds my gaze until she’s satisfied with the nod I give her.
“Originally, I was only meant to give you something, then leave you to decide what to do with it. I’m not going to do that to you. ”
She steps back, drawing in a slow breath. The deeper she inhales, the heavier my exhale becomes, like my body already knows what’s coming and is bracing for it. My spine straightens instinctively as her gaze sharpens with intent and unyielding determination.
“I’m going to tell you exactly what you have to do.
But first, there’s more advice you need to hear, and I need you to take it to heart.
Starting now. This very moment. Remember the things I’m about to tell you and apply them to every situation you face.
When something feels off, listen not only to my voice, but to your gut. ”
She pauses. Long enough that I feel like she’s purposely leaving space for me to get my mind right and absorb her words.
“You’re going to find alliances from unlikely sources. Don’t let old grudges or differences stop you from reaching your goals. That doesn’t mean you forgive and forget. Redemption walks a different path. Mercy is an option, not an obligation. Leave room for change. Tolerance, at the very least.”
Fuck…seriously?
That’s her first piece of advice. So much harder done than said.
Her words sit heavy in my chest. There’s a list of individuals that guidance could be directed toward, and that isn’t a comforting thought.
“You and your Valtrue can’t do this alone.
You need people behind you, and they need to forget the hierarchical shit that’s holding them back.
Give them a reason to fight. Some are too afraid to pick the lock on the cage they’ve learned to survive in.
You have to do it first. Show them it can be done. ”
Fondness fills her gaze, and it holds my question at bay.
“You’ve already started doing it with the way you are with Yemi.”
My head jerks. “How do you—”
“Your Valtrue isn’t complete,” she interrupts and blindsides me with the change of subject. “And neither are you.”
Again, I flinch from her words. They land across my heart like a lash, stealing what little breath sat in my lungs.
“What does that mean?”
She shakes her head, and something almost tender flickers across her expression.
“That’s a journey you deserve to take without interference.”
The sweet feature on her face fades, and her demeanor shifts back into the more serious and practical stance she had moments ago.
She’s going to give me whiplash.
“The Angel Aura Amethyst is a powerful tool at your disposal. Surround yourself with it. When the Messenger decides it’s time to speak more freely, their words won’t hurt so bad if multiple stones are near.”
“How do you even know about those?”
Her lips curve. “I may or may not have one myself.”
There’s no way.
“One day, truths will be revealed to you. Each one will feel like a betrayal.” Her gaze doesn’t waver as my breath hitches, and I gulp down what feels like glass.
“Be careful where you place your anger. It is not V’s, Seismet’s, or the God of Chaos’s fault.
Some knowledge should never come from them, and it isn’t fair to demand it. ”
Her eyes close as her head tilts toward her shoes. I rock from side to side, sensing another change wash across her.
“I know what it feels like to be abandoned,” she admits in a mumble like the words hurt her to say as much as they hurt me to hear.
“What saved me from drowning in that feeling was realizing the sacrifices were worth it because it benefited my Nexus, me, and…Elementra, so many others. That isn’t a selfish desire.
It’s a mutual agreement. The sacrifices made on my behalf gave me an amazing life and my creator, still to this day, rewards me for the sacrifices I made.
Make sure you and yours benefit. Know your worth. ”
The weight of her conviction presses in. I don’t fully understand it, but I recognize truth when I hear it.
“Last but not least,” she breathes.
Power ripples from her hand as she gestures it in a circle. I stumble back, colliding with a wall of nothing but air as silver liquid spirals between us. Her arm vanishes into it, swallowed whole.
A gasp tears from my chest, and my knees nearly buckle.
“Why the fuck do you have a Gods Binding?”
“It’s cleansed back to its original state, and my sister and I have taken care of it for many years now. It’s time I return it.”
She presses it into my hands before I can refuse.
“Other than knowing you were at risk for growing corrupt if that power settled inside of you, this was the whole reason I came. The Gods Binding is a creation of order.”
“Yeah, you’ve already said that. And I’m painfully aware,” I mumble.
She hums. “Seven replicas were made that never should have existed. They stripped power from the original, and that imbalance has been growing for centuries.”
“So what, we destroy them?” I ask as dread curls low in my gut.
“No. If one is destroyed, the original can never be whole again. Seven came out—”
“Seven have to go back in,” I breathe.
Fuck us. Seriously.
“Together,” she confirms. “That act alone will right countless wrongs.”
My gaze burns into her. It’s terrifying how much she knows. And what’s even more disturbing is how certain she is that we’re the ones meant to carry this through.
“Are you a Messenger as well?”