Page 281 of The Gods Order

“Yeah,” Meridamus…groans.

“We need to go,” Kyzen says, wrapping his fingers around my wrists.

Before I can step away, my father catches my other hand.

“Be careful, my shooting star.”

I meet his eyes. The worry there cuts deeper than any blade.

“I will.”

I twist my wrist from his grip, then tighten my fingers around his for the briefest moment.

He hesitates. Then he lets me go.

Our hands stretch toward one another as I hold his gaze for as long as I can while Kyzen pulls me toward the doorway. The distance grows with every hurried step.

There are still a thousand things left unsaid.

Today isn’t giving us the time to say them.

My men and I spill in and out of the white room in the blink of an eye.

“To the barrier,” Creed commands.

His power brushes across my senses, and mine roars to the surface. For one last calming second, the realm disappears.

When it returns, we’re standing before the barrier. Shock holds me still for a heartbeat as I stare through it.

Through it.

It’s so weak now it no longer hides Godsden or the Abandon.

Shit.

I tear my attention away and sweep my gaze across familiar faces.

Seismet stands tall and ready, dipping his head once when our eyes collide. Mara sits atop Fausta, waiting for me, while Gladian, Prath, Barir, and Vullie flank her.

Havar’s face lacks any playfulness. Yemi and I lost the fight over him coming here, and now the sight of him on Verlet’s back makes my nose burn. That’s an unexplainable level of trust between him, Verlet, and my men.

Yemi is…

Oh.

Despite the seriousness on her face, she glows. Not from power. Sevryn, Doren, Iric, and Nero crowd around her with a tenderness that’s more than before. My lips part before I smile.

She completed her Starwoven bond last night.

It’s obvious this morning.

My weird little soul family.

They’re all making it out alive.

I refuse to consider any other possibility.

Beyond them, our allies, brave Attendants, and hundreds of Defenders wait in disciplined ranks, black armor drinking in the last of the starlight.