Page 133 of The Gods Order

“That bitch keeps her Binding on her. Of course she does,” Riven says, throwing his hands up. “Derivius is going to have to get his hands dirty. If not, we’ll have to break in while she’s sleeping. There’s no other way to get it.”

Unfortunately, he’s right.

I hate to admit it, but this surprises me. Rella is logical, analytical. Keeping her Binding on her is a level of paranoia I expected from my father. Not her.

“Val, do the others know Derivius doesn’t have his Binding?” I ask.

“As far as I know, they think he hid it when he stole Sabe’s years ago.”

I nod. “So they should only know hers and Creation’s are gone. Unless she hasn’t noticed or cared to check.”

“Correct. We can ask Derivius if Creation has said anything.”

“That’s fine, but where are you going with this, Amick?” Thayla asks.

“I’m trying to understand Rella’s behavior. It doesn’t make sense she’d risk carrying it unless she feared losing it.”

Thayla closes her eyes and rubs her temples. “Well, that’s the next problem. First things first—Kira’s. Now that we know we’re going to the Abandon, time to plan. Where do we start?”

My lips pinch tight. I try to hide the answer, but she looks at me first. Her determination fractures, and she plants her hands on her hips.

“Yemi’s and my training. Right.” She exhales sharply and turns to Val. “How long do you realistically think it’ll take for us to get this down?”

His quiet sigh doesn’t help.

“You can’t put a timeline on these things, Thayla. You’ll get it when you get it.”

“Okay, but I need a timeline. A goal. Motivation. The quicker I get this, the quicker we get his Binding, and the closer we are to fixing this shit show. So can you give me direction?”

He glances at Yemi, then studies Thayla.

“This is your number one priority?” he asks.

She scoffs. “Yes, obviously.”

He nods. “Very well. One week. Starting today.”

She jerks back. “You’re serious? You think you can teach us this in one week?”

Her brows furrow when he shakes his head.

“I can’t teach you to master it in a week. But I can teach you what you need to get in and out of the Abandon unsensed and unseen. This has to be your focus.”

“What does that mean?”

“This will take more than a few hours a day. You’ll have to give up your Court rotation and hanging around the Athenaeum. You and Yemi. Mara will need to take over your training. This will be your all-day rotation for the next week. Morning to evening. That’s the dedication required.”

“They can’t stop physical training for a week, then go into the Abandon. They still need to keep those skills sharp,” Creed says.

Val considers that, then nods. “That’ll have to be before sunrise or after sunset.”

“Fuck,” Thayla mutters, then looks over her shoulder. “Yemi? This isn’t just my schedule.”

“Evenings preferably. I’ve gotten spoiled sleeping later, and waking up to sling swords sounds dreadful.”

Thayla chuckles, nodding with a smirk. It fades as she looks at Kyzen, Creed, Riven, and me.

“Okay then,” she mutters.