Thayla #2
He retracts his hand but falls in step with me as soon as I march forward. I clench my fists as Mara moves to my other side.
“You’re supposed to be at Amick’s trial right now. Where’s your Valtrue?”
“None of your fucking business.”
“It is if the first place you came after the trial was my Court.”
“It isn’t your Court, dickhead. I’ve already told you that. Also, I didn’t come here. I got dropped from the sky here. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have shit to do.”
I don’t wait around for his ass to respond. I slide Derivius’s gift off my arm and my starshoot carries me straight to my bedroom.
“V!” I holler as I sling my closet door open.
Silence surrounds me, making my chest cave in, and my fingers curl tighter around the bracelet. A bellow rips from my throat as I throw it as hard as I can against the wall.
My Chaos erupts from my stomach.
Pure, unfiltered destruction tears through my closet in a matter of seconds as I let the fucking fury and worry bleed out of me.
The only thing left standing untouched as the agony falling from my lips dies off is me.
I’m not really untouched, though.
I’m burning up inside.
I never should’ve walked into that room with that bitch.
Yes, she gave off some crazy energy the entire time, but it never truly felt threatening. If I’m completely honest, her off-the-wall remarks and laughter reminded me of how Riven acts when he goes full Chaos.
The guys’ comment about her never being physically abusive and fighting was beneath her, I guess gave me a false sense of…not exactly safety, but confidence that if she or the Dark Gods tried some shit, we’d be okay. We’d really only have to worry about them, not her.
That wasn’t me attempting to undermine a Beginning God, but in reality, us five against one felt like good odds.
I didn’t see her pulling some shit like this, though.
I drag in a deep breath and turn from the mess of my closet as the self-cleaning gets to work. The sight of my empty bedroom has a sharp lump forming in my throat.
“V, I don’t know where you are, but I need you to come to my bedroom.”
No more than a second later, a hoot and a flash of light fill the space as he lands on my bed.
“Thayla, what’s wrong? What’s happened?”
“The Goddess of Creation happened.”
I give him a very condensed version of Amick’s trial, and the condition Creation set in terms of her approval for them enacting their right under the Law of Doppia Disaccord.
He flaps his wings frantically as he waddles back and forth across my bed.
“You need to call for Derivius. Now, Thayla.”
“I’m going to, but can you reach out to the guys, please? I can’t feel them. It’s like when I was in…” I stumble back as reality really sets in. “You can’t reach them. They’re behind barriers just like I was in Hell.”
“I’m sorry, Thayla. Call Derivius.”
Fuck.
Right.
“Derivius.”
A moment passes with no response, and my eyes close as panic pulses through my body.
“Now is seriously not the time to ignore me, Derivius. I need you.”
With my words, I also pull my Chaos forward as strongly as I can without actually letting it out to decimate my room.
“Thayla.”
My head whips toward my door and I haul ass toward the kitchen. Derivius turns in his spot, gaze narrowing as he stares at me.
“What are you doing here?” he asks. “Where are the boys?”
“The Goddess of Creation kicked me out of her house, and I have no clue what to do, where they are, what she’s planning. I swear I’m going to seriously fucking kill—”
“Okay, okay, take a deep breath. Start from the beginning.”
I do as he says, but not exactly. I skip the weird-ass garden tour and jump straight to the bedrooms. His glare deepens as I get through the conversation Creation and I had before she shoved my ass through a starshoot.
“This is fucking absurdity. Give me a little time to get to the bottom of this. Stay put until I return.”
“What? No. You can’t expect me to just sit here while they’re trapped there.”
“I do expect that, Thayla. What do you plan to do? Storm Valveilious with your one-woman army? No. That’s a death wish and won’t do anything to help us right now. Stay put. I’ll be back.”
Before I can argue any more, he starshoots out, and I grip my roots as another bellow rips free.
The desire to tear the house to shreds is strong.
“Let’s go to Yemi’s,” V says as he flies to my shoulder.
“I don’t want to go to Yemi’s, V. I want…I want to get my fucking men.”
“I know, my Vedae. I know. But allow Derivius some time to do this in the way of the gods.”
Way of the gods…
A laugh bursts from my lips as I shake my head, then stare at the ceiling in disbelief.
“This is literally what Annalise just warned us about. This is a political battle. What fucking game are they playing with this?”
“The one they always have. Who can get the upper hand on who. Since the boys were born, it was who can use them best. The Goddess of Creation or Accord never really partook in that angle with them, so I’m not sure what their advantage is now.”
A heavy breath falls from my chest. “Do you think Creation’s really playing a game? Maybe it’s possible she actually wants to get to know them now that she realizes their agreement is about to be void. She’s just going about it the wrong-ass way.”
He hoots as he nuzzles my cheek.
“That’s a possibility. I think what’s more of a possibility is that you want to believe that to alleviate your own worries, and maybe, just maybe…it’s because you hope to one day rebuild your relationship with your mother and you’re projecting.”
I tighten my jaw and turn my head from his.
“I’m going to change and we’re going to Yemi’s.”
“Thayla…”
“No.”
I stomp back into my room and head for my closet. It’s still in the works of rearranging itself back to normal, but it’s tidy enough that I can find a simple outfit to put on.
My whole body vibrates as I walk the short distance to Yemi’s back door, and my hand trembles as I lift it to knock.
Doren pokes his head out cautiously, as if surprised that someone’s at this door rather than the front. He swings it wide when he realizes it’s just me.
“Thayla. What are you doing here?”
“What?” I hear Yemi shout, followed by her footsteps coming this way. “Thayla, what…”
Her eyes scan me from head to toe as her entire Valtrue piles up behind her and stares at me.
“The Goddess of Creation kicked me out of her house and starshot me to the Court. She kept the guys. Derivius is going to find out what’s going on.”
My flat voice sounds as hollow as I’m starting to feel and her jaw drops open.
“That bitch. What do we need to do, Thay? You tell us and we’ll do it.”
My gaze moves to Sevryn’s harsh tone.
That’s the first time he’s ever used my nickname.
My bottom lip trembles as every emotion imaginable assaults my chest.
“I don’t know.”