Page 153 of The Gods Order

It makes more sense now than ever before.

I do a double take at the small smile on Val’s face. I grunt as I kick my sword and spin it in my hand.

Enough of all that.

“We’re going to swing these things or what?” I ask.

He chuckles, getting a good grip on his as well.

“Yeah, but let’s see what you’ve got without using your power.”

Despite myself, a short breath of amusement leaves me.

Then I charge.

Thayla

18

Yesterday’s training started a little on the…unbalanced side.

I’ll admit to myself that Val announcing the night before that he was going to make his return known to the other Beginning Gods didn’t settle with me very well.

Even though I didn’t say it out loud, I made my feelings about it pretty obvious. It was hard to look him in the eye for almost an hour yesterday morning, then when I spoke to him, I was short, sharp, and had more attitude than I should’ve.

Once I started fucking up the instructions he was giving me, I had a nasty little pep talk with myself.

Unfortunately, I had to accept that he was right.

He told us the first night we met with him and Meridamus that him making his return to the realm known wouldn’t be impulsive or on a whim but when the time was right. Him adding the comment about wanting it to be his choice when Kira found out about him really hit the nail a little deeper.

It is his choice and this wasn’t an impulsive decision. It was one he weighed the pros and cons for, then decided helping us achieve this was the perfect reason and timing.

After I gave myself no other option but to accept that he knows what he’s doing, training went differently.

For hours upon hours, Yemi and I practiced everything we’ve learned. Not on ourselves like we’d been doing up to that point. We practiced on each other.

She’d separate the sight, sound, and perception of power so no one could sense me, then I’d turn around and do the same for her.

It sounded simple enough when he first said to try it, and I went into it cockier than I should’ve since I got my power of Accord under control.

That wasn’t the case at all on our first few tries.

Val refused to let either of us settle into predictable routines. The moment Yemi successfully separated the connections around me, he’d order us to move apart from one another.

She had to keep her focus on me while I wandered farther from her. The distance stretched our connection until one of us inevitably slipped. My power would flare for half a heartbeat, or she’d accidentally let the sound of my footsteps bleed through. Every mistake sent us right back to the beginning.

When we finally managed that consistently, he made us talk. Not about training. About anything.

Plans for the mission. The weather. Our men. It didn’t matter. His goal wasn’t conversation. It was distraction. The more our attention wandered, the harder it became to maintain the Boundaries we created around one another.

Just when we thought we had figured that out, Meridamus joined in.

He’d purposely interrupt us with questions. Crack jokes at the worst possible moments. Once, he actually walked between us while dramatically declaring that he was testing the strength of our concentration.

I still don’t know whether I wanted to strangle him or thank him.

Probably both.