Page 25 of The Gods Veiling (The Valorian Veil #1)

Thayla

Harsh shouting pierces the blackness of my mind and the pain in my chest has me flinging myself up, gasping.

My body goes tumbling off whatever I’ve been laid on and the slippery sheets I try to grip slide through my fingers. My hip and half an ass cheek take the brunt of the fall, and I lay my face against the cold marble as I groan.

I’m just going to close my eyes again and the next time they open, I’ll be back in my bed in Oddian.

That fantasy is crushed the moment a hand touches my back. My lids fly open as I roll myself over and slide across the marble to get as far away from whoever it is that just snuck up on me.

I snatch the sheets that are wrapped around me off and jump to my feet. My hands rise to protect myself as my lungs force me to breathe through the fear.

The slightest bit of relief washes through me when I realize it’s only Yemi until I take in her pale face and her shaking her head.

“What the fuck is going on? Where am I?”

Her head whips so fast toward the door, I can’t help but follow her direction. I map the multiple silhouettes of massive bodies on the other side of the blurry glass as their voices blare through the room.

“Who the hell is that out there, Yemi? ”

Her chest heaves in sync with mine as though my panic is influencing her own. She nervously raises her hands with her palms facing out and takes a cautious step toward me.

“May I say something without you flipping out on me?” she whispers when she takes another step closer, only leaving about a foot between us.

“Fucking gods. I won’t flip out on you, Yemi. Tell me what’s happening before I do completely freak out and start rampaging through this region.”

“Well, that’s exactly what I was going to warn you about.

Your mouth. I’m not sure what happened in the Gods Veil, but it isn’t good for you.

Which means it isn’t good for me either.

You’re in a healing villa because you passed out.

The High Chancellor didn’t even announce anything about you before the Abandon brothers stormed the platform.

They’re pissed and demanding all of you reenter the Veil.

I have to go and tell them you’re awake, so please, whatever you do, don’t smart off to any of the gods about to walk in here. ”

“Wait, the Abandon who? Who the hell are they? So we still don’t know my Designation, domain, or anything?”

Her eyes widen. “Oh gods, I shouldn’t have called them that to you. Don’t call them that. That’s the name everyone has given them behind their backs. They wouldn’t take kindly to that.”

“Then that’s fucked up that people do that. That’s cruel.”

“You don’t know them. But you will soon. They’re your Valtrue.”

I manically try to snatch her back to me as she turns away to go to the door. She doesn’t have time to reach it before it slams open and hits the wall. As quickly as she was trying to get away from me, she makes it to my side, and we both freeze as the room fills up.

I survey the healing villa rapidly for an escape, but there’s only a singular window on the other side of the room. If I had to judge by the way the sky looks through the glass, we’re too high up for me to climb out of it.

“Move out of my way.”

I immediately recognize that bark.

My ragged breaths swiftly go silent as I straighten my shoulders and curl my fingers at my sides. I meet the High Chancellor’s scowl as he and his obedient followers stop in a straight line across the room in front of me.

Four massive bodies pile in behind them.

All the air in my body gets lodged in my throat as my chest pulls uncomfortably tight. It takes far too much strength to keep my feet planted in place rather than follow the line of that sensation .

Shit…

The gods who walk in and join the line of Chancellors are gorgeous.

There’s no other way to put it.

Two have their lips pressed in flat, serious lines. The other two are wearing something akin to smirks. Since they haven’t opened their mouths and said anything stupid, I can’t spot a single flaw in any of them for now.

Their honey skin, height, and features resemble each other’s. They’re most certainly brothers, but there are distinct differences I pick out immediately.

I settle first on the one on the right, whose smirk seems more threatening than welcoming.

There’s wildness surrounding him that makes my stomach do flips.

I get lost in the divide of his eyes. In one, the rich burgundy is overwhelming.

The promise of either the best or the worst time waits in the depths of that color.

The other is the opposite. The icy blue is like floating in the clouds. Peaceful.

Great. Every time I look at those two-colored eyes, I’m going to think about the god who got us all in this situation.

The smirk beside him says something different. There’s a reassurance to it like he’s trying to say, “I mean you no harm.”

Which I don’t trust whatsoever.

I can’t decide if his short, wavy hair is black or midnight blue.

The way the light from the window continues to reflect off it seems to make it change from the dead of night to right before daybreak.

His dark navy irises have bright white rings around his pupils that I can’t stop staring at.

The stress on his forehead smooths out the longer I gawk, and his posture gradually relaxes like he was only tense because he thought I’d attack.

He may be getting ahead of himself.

Maybe it’s from the lack of food since breakfast, but when I move to the next one who has a calculating look about him, my mouth waters. Not because of his attractiveness…not entirely, anyway.

His short layers are swooped back in a perfect flow of melted cocoa. His citrine yellow eyes remind me of the sweet edible crystals that recipe book from the nonmagical realm taught me how to make.

Judging by the seriousness across his face, he’d be delighted to know I’m comparing his features to sugary treats.

The last one is a whole different kind of beast. I can’t decipher if he’s preparing to toss me over his shoulder or stand guard between his brothers and me.

Our gazes lock in a battle of wills. It takes an immeasurable amount of strength for me to stand toe-to-toe with him. None of his features register in my mind. I’m too focused on keeping him from seemingly peering inside of my soul and ripping all my secrets out from under me.

“What did you do in the Gods Veil?”

The malice seeping from the High Chancellor has my attention shifting to him and my fists shake at my sides. I’ve had enough of him today. After what just happened in the creation of his question, I’m in no mood to deal with him.

“None of your business.”

The room falls eerily still and my skin heats with the attention solely on me.

The High Chancellor meets my stare and moves closer.

His footsteps thunder around the room and my body tenses in warning.

A small chuckle floats through the air, and I want more than anything to see who it was that made that slip of a sound.

“You listen to me, you foul, ignorant, peasant girl—”

He’s lost his fucking mind.

“High Chancellor, if I may.” Chancellor Ellian steps forward.

He doesn’t necessarily stand between us, but he’s definitely positioned his body at an angle that semi-blocks me.

“I believe we should allow her Valtrue to speak with her and we go converse with the gods. If it is their will for us to know what took place in the Veil for young Ms. Godrun, they’ll tell us. ”

The High Chancellor shakes where he stands before seeming to remember himself. The change in his mood gives me whiplash. “You are right. Her Valtrue is responsible for her, and they can get down to the bottom of this.”

My teeth grind together as he speaks of me like someone who’s now owned.

He faces the men. “Let it be known that just because she is your Binder, she will not get preferential treatment. She has been nothing more than a nuisance since the Veiling in Oddian and it will not be tolerated. See to it that she gets in line, or I will see to it the gods and the Valories take care of her.”

He commands the other Chancellors to leave. They do so with no hesitation and bow to both him and the men.

All of them—my Valtrue, I fucking guess—dip their heads in understanding.

Something inside of me snaps.

It’s not that I expected them to defend me or anything. They don’t know me, but I would’ve taken them not responding at all over them agreeing to that shit.

Great. I’m stuck with four men who probably love and worship these assholes in power.

Just as the High Chancellor reaches the door himself without even a backward glance, my blood boils over. “Oh, High Chancellor. ”

My condescending sound has him sneering at me over his shoulder.

I let a vicious smirk cross my face. “Make sure while you’re conversing with the gods about me , you thank them for that extra power you keep syphoning from the Veil.

I’m sure they’d appreciate your gratitude and your forward thinking with bringing your concerns about me to them.

When I pray tonight, I’ll make sure to ask for forgiveness. For both of us.”

Everyone in the room stiffens. Except for the one with two-colored eyes. His laughter rings throughout the room and the sound makes my chest flutter. I ignore that completely and sit in my smug satisfaction when the High Chancellor startles just a bit.

He doesn’t admit it, but he doesn’t have to. He straightens his shoulders and gathers the bottom of his robe, then hauls ass through the door.

Yeah, run along and stop the other Chancellors from prying into my business.

An incredibly tense and awkward beat of silence passes through the room. I let my eyes roam all over the men standing here staring at me. The longer they look without speaking, the antsier and pissier I grow. Especially when this foreign jerking in my chest keeps getting tauter.

“So—”