Page 221 of The Gods Order

She hums, and her small smile slowly grows.

“Then we’re going to make sure by the time we have little baby Vedaryas flying around, the realm is safe.”

That we will do.

I swear it.

“I should’ve known the four of you wouldn’t do as I asked.”

Our attention whips toward Creed’s door, and Derivius shakes his head with his arms crossed.

“To be fair, he just woke up,” Riven says, patting the bed beside him.

Derivius laughs beneath his breath as he makes his way over to where I’m sitting rather than taking Riven up on his offer. He gives Creed’s shoulder a squeeze while cupping Thayla’s cheek at the same time.

“You look much better, my boy. You had us worried there for a while.”

“I’m not sure why everyone was fretting so much. It’ll take a hell of a lot more than that to kill the God of—”

The air rushes from his chest when Thayla smacks him in his stomach.

“I beg to differ. I believe my little troublling could put you on your ass in less than a blink,” he says, winking at the mischievous smirk on her lips.

“She can put me on my ass whenever she wants. Preferably so she can sit on—”

“Riven,” she shrieks, whipping her flaming face to his.

“Sorry, little burden.”

I don’t believe he’s sorry at all.

“Have you heard anything pressing?” I ask Derivius as he perches himself on the side of the bed.

He gives me a pinched smile and shakes his head.

“Everything is pretty quiet for now. Well, aside from the million times I’ve been asked if I have an update.”

“Val or Meridamus?”

“Are we back to Val now?” he asks.

Thayla takes a deep breath and releases it very slowly.

“No. At this point, calling him by his name rather than saying Dad makes me feel like I’m being a petty teenager. Everything’s still fresh. It…”

“It’s always been a lose-lose situation. For all of us. It’s never been fair and I don’t know if or when it will be,” Derivius says, reaching over and patting her hand. “Yes, your father’s been nagging at my mind all night. He doesn’t want to cross a line by reaching out to you directly.”

She blows out a breath and picks at Creed’s shirt.

“Where is he right now?” she asks.

“Wandering around,” Derivius says, “waiting for word about all of you.”

She nods, tightening her lips as she stares at the wall over Creed’s head. He grunts low, patting her thigh until she meets his gaze.

“I heard you want to go see your mom.”

“That’s not important until you feel better,” she says.