Page 240 of The Gods Order

Just…stories about Thayla, her mom, and their lives before it all changed.

Apparently, as a child, Thayla ended up covered from head to toe in dirt every time she was set outside. It only took minutes.

She’d laugh so hard she’d hiccup, then get angry at the hiccups.

She loved bedtime stories and always asked for one more so she didn’t have to go to sleep.

He shared all kinds of small things.

Memories only a parent gets to keep.

Each one was spoken with fondness and longing. He tried to hide his desperate desire to go inside and see the woman he loves, but the number of times he glanced at the door or the windows gave him away within minutes.

I’m sure more than anything he wanted to witness her and Thayla reunite.

I understand the decision he made, even if it’s hard to wrap my mind around. What’s easier to understand is that he, Thayla’s mom, her, us, and I’m sure countless others were put into situations where every choice felt like failure.

Derivius’s words feel truer than ever. It was a lose-lose situation.

A long breath escapes me as my brothers and I stand silently, staring across the view the sunrise provided us. Gold pours over the mountain peaks, creeping steadily downward until the horizon glows beneath us.

It’s a gorgeous sight.

The front doors swing open, crashing into the wall hard enough to draw every head.

Thayla bursts through the threshold with dried tear tracks on her cheeks and eyes still a touch swollen. They’re wide with wonder, though, and find the four of us instantly.

“My mother is the Messenger, and we have a Starwoven bond.”

Shock holds my brothers and me in our place. She bounces her gaze over each of us numerous times like we’re supposed to be reacting very differently right now.

My small smile fades as something deep within my chest pulls taut. It isn’t painful or anything like that, but it recognizes what she just said.

“A Starwoven bond,” I mutter.

“The Messenger,” Amick says.

We glance at one another.

“You probably need to explain a little better than that, Thayla girl,” Val says, stepping from around the side of the house with his hands in his pockets.

He graces her with a warm smile that she returns.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

She takes two steps toward us, and we meet her the rest of the way.

I reach her first and cup her cheeks as I stare into her eyes. My mouth parts, and my head shakes.

“I…” A sigh slips from me as I try hard to grasp the words circling my mind. “I feel like I’ve always known there was something deeper, something more between us, but I’ve never been able to put my finger on it. Is this it?”

“Yeah,” she mumbles, gripping my wrist as she gives me a tender, almost sad smile that I don’t understand. “My dad is right. I need to explain better than that. I have a lot to explain, actually.”

She laces our fingers together, then slides her hand into the crook of Creed’s elbow as she guides us back to where we were standing close to the edge of the ridge. She lowers herself down, and we each follow suit.

For a blissful moment, she stares out over the region protected by the barrier with a comforting smile lingering on her lips.

We don’t pressure her to talk right away.