Page 243 of The Gods Order

Kira.

The damage done to our souls before we’d ever taken our first breaths. The fact all four of them are connected, not only to each other, but him.

She tells us the entire story.

No one interrupts. No one asks her to stop.

We simply sit here and listen as every certainty we’ve ever had about our beginnings quietly comes apart.

Silence swallows us whole for a fleeting second once she’s done explaining these stains are here to stay forever.

Riven lets out a humorless huff of laughter before dragging both hands over his face.

“Well…” His voice cracks. “That somehow managed to be worse than every theory I came up with.”

Beside me, Amick’s head bows.

His fingers curl into loose fists against his knees, knuckles whitening as he silently works through every piece of what she’d just told us.

Creed doesn’t move at all.

His eyes remain fixed forward. I know that look. He’s replaying it. The vessels. The souls. The damage. He’s trying to understand what it means and how he can fix it.

I find I don’t have a question.

Not yet.

Only one thought continues to circle my mind.

We began our lives already a little damaged.

“So much for splitting our souls,” Amick says low.

“What does that mean?” Thayla asks.

Creed releases a long sigh, scowling at Amick.

“When the Vitos visited us, I noticed that it wasn’t just Willow’s soul attached to theirs. Their souls were attached to hers. As one. They said that’s the way of a Nexus. Then you told us everything Willow shared with you and the comment about us not being complete stayed in my mind. I thought that meant I should split our souls and attach them to yours. I’ve been planning on doing that, but I first wanted the stain on our souls gone so they didn’t spread to yours. Guess that isn’t happening.”

I shake my head. Both devastation and denial rage in me.

“But the pieces in us have been healing, changing. You said it yourself,” I say.

He fucking shrugs.

“What I see changing could be stains, but that doesn’t change the fact if we carry a piece of Kira’s soul in us, they aren’t being attached to hers.”

I hate that I agree.

I fucking hate that our father has stolen something so precious from us.

I really, really loathe that she’s already explained we can’t kill him.

It’s a bitter pill to swallow when that’s what we’ve wanted, planned to do for more than half our lives. We just have to fucking recognize, evil or not, he’s a part of the foundation of this realm.

I’m going to make his life fucking miserable as he rots away with no power.

Thayla clears her throat multiple times while drying off her face and rolling her shoulders out. After she wipes her hands across her thighs a few times, seriousness settles over her.