Page 147 of The Gods Order

“You sound very sure of that,” I say.

“I am. If that’s what he wanted to do, he would’ve already tried.”

Everyone stares at him for a heavy moment, letting his certainty hang in the air. I’m not so sure that my father would never do that, but I suppose he doesn’t have a good enough reason to yet.

After another strained second, Thayla clears her throat.

“What other details do we have to nail down?”

She glances at Amick for an answer and his hesitation doesn’t get past her. A long breath pours through her nostrils as she pulls her shoulders back.

“Yemi’s and my ability to separate the sound, sight, and perception of power from all of us,” she says.

“Yes, but you are working on it and are very close.”

Val’s tone leaves no room for argument. Which she doesn’t attempt to argue. She gives him a sure nod.

“You and Yemi aren’t who’s holding us up,” Amick says. “Our father technically is. We still have multiple things to figure out. One, how to get him out of the Abandon for a much more extended period of time than Derivius was able to accomplish the other day. Once we figure that out, on the day of departure, I think it’d be wise for Doren to do another quick location check to make sure, for some odd reason, he doesn’t take his Binding with him.”

Doren nods in agreement, but Yemi shakes her head.

“You weren’t drained, per se, after the other day, but you were definitely tired. You can’t be tired while we march through the God of Obliteration’s house.”

“Vullie has the remedy for that, bestie. Doren would’ve felt right as rain the other day if he had just trusted me.”

“Forgive me, Riven, but we’re all aware of what happened the last time I trusted you with my drink,” Doren says, and multiple snorts echo around the table.

“That won’t happen again, and that solves any power loss Doren might have,” Amick says, taking back control of the conversation. “Second issue is, once we figure out how we’re getting him out of the Abandon, we decide the official day and time. Our last trip to the heart of the Abandon was in the dead of night. That won’t be the case this time.”

“The Beginning Gods meet at the Neutral daily anyways, correct?” Gladian asks, glancing at Meridamus.

“Yes.”

“So then we already know they’ll all be in the same location,” Gladian continues. “We ask Derivius to cause some sort of distraction. He is the God of Chaos, so I’m sure he can figure out a way to buy us a couple of hours.”

Multiple murmurs of agreement and disagreement float across the table. Everyone has an opinion about how much time we’ll really need. Will Kira give a fuck about what Derivius has to say or do?

I listen, but my attention stays on the two Beginning Gods who are only paying attention to each other. They’re either communicating in their minds so we can’t hear them, or their looks speak for themselves.

Val catches me staring, but I don’t bother facing away. The wrinkles in his forehead smooth out as he tightens his lips. My stomach cramps and I subtly shake my head at him. He graces me with a small fucking smile and one dip of his head.

Shit.

“Derivius won’t need to cause a distraction,” he says. “My presence will be enough.”

Silence slashes through the Court so abruptly my ears ring. The sudden squeeze across my chest has me struggling to draw in a breath.

“No.”

Val offers Thayla the same smile he just gave me and her fingers put mine in a death grip as she glares at him like he’s lost his mind.

“It’s all right. It’s time,” he says and she shakes her head.

“It absolutely is not.”

“Thayla—”

“I said no.” She points directly at him, not willing to back down. “The moment Obliteration learns you’re back, everything changes.”