Page 88 of The Gods Veiling (The Valorian Veil #1)

Thayla

Shadows dancing across the floor greet me as my eyes slowly blink open.

My fingers twitch against leather rather than soft sheets and the lamp a few feet from my face tells me I’m in the living room, not my bed.

Heat coming from my front not my back draws my attention. There’s weight resting on both my thighs and a head is tucked on top of mine.

I’m in someone’s lap.

Slowly and agonizingly, I use the armrest for support to push myself up. I bite my lip to hold in a whimper with each move. My entire body is sore and stiff, but it’s my back that screams with every exhale.

I’m not sure what I thought it’d feel like when I woke up, but I sure was hoping a hell of a lot better than this.

My breath hitches when I finally sit myself straight.

The flame from the fireplace flickers in the room, bathing Amick in an orange light. I’ve never seen his face so relaxed, so smooth. His wavy chocolate hair has fallen over his forehead in a messy but perfect way.

He and Riven have never looked more similar.

My eyes scan his strong jawline, down his neck, and to his chest that rises and falls with his deep breathing. He’s sleeping so peacefully, and I can’t help but lay my hand against his heart .

He wasn’t this peaceful the last time I looked at him. He was a level of angry I can’t even describe. It was like all thought left him. He looked empty, devoid of all emotions.

His whispered reassurances that Riven would take care of me were monotone. He promised he’d come for me as soon as they took care of the Court.

I follow the path down his body to where not only his hand but another is resting on my thigh. I trace that arm back up to Kyzen’s face.

The wrinkles in his forehead aren’t as pronounced as the fear I saw in him when he reached me first, but they’re there like this isn’t a fulfilling sleep for him. If I could reach his face, I’d run my thumb across it to smooth them out, then force his lips into his signature smile.

His repeated apologies make my heart hurt and my chest pulls tight.

I wasn’t expecting a soothing embrace to respond. That awareness has my fingers flinching against Amick’s chest.

“Creed,” I breathe.

“I’m here, Thayla.”

The other couch creaks and I want to look behind me, but imagining how much that’ll hurt forces me to stop. He comes around the back of the couch without me having to ask and kneels behind Amick’s head until he’s eye level with me.

“How long have we been sleeping?”

“You’ve been asleep for about twelve hours. It’s just after midnight. They fell asleep a little while ago.”

“Have I been in his lap this whole time?”

“He wouldn’t let Kyzen or me move you.”

“He’s just been sitting here holding me?”

“Yeah. We’ve brought him food, tea, and some books to read. He’s fine.”

My face softens on Amick’s features. He’s probably exhausted and so uncomfortable. “I’ll get up so he can get to his bed.”

“He’ll be fine there for the night. They both will be.”

I cock my head to the side at his tone. Then I glance at the very deep breaths they’re taking. Neither of them has made the slightest twitch.

“Did you do something to them?”

“Slipped a sleeping remedy in their drinks. They weren’t going to go to sleep until you woke up and I didn’t know when that’d be.”

I snort, then groan when the movement both pulls my back tight and wakes my bladder up. “Fuck. ”

“Are you okay?” His dark tone has my body breaking out in chills.

“Define okay.”

His throat bobs as he swallows. “Is there something you need me to do for you?”

“No.”

I don’t want to ask for his help or admit I don’t think I can get myself off Amick’s lap. Although logically, with him having a Healer Designation, he’d be the one I should ask.

I’ve never felt so weak and emotional as I do at this moment. Plenty of the beatings and whippings I’ve taken have left me this helpless, but their company makes this different.

Lambrit’s always been the one to be here, waiting to clean up what I couldn’t without me ever having to voice my needs. He never drew attention to the weakness or insecurities in me.

I don’t even know if he knows yet what’s happened.

Showing Creed this side of me is so much harder.

A pitiful cry tears from my throat as I attempt to push myself up and the painful breaths falling from my lips cause them to quiver.

“Don’t. Don’t do that to yourself. If you want me to fix a drink that will wake one of them, I will. Don’t refuse help because it’s me offering.”

I bite my lip to stop the never-ending tremble. “It’s not because it’s you offering.”

“Then tell me what’s wrong and what you need.”

I slam my eyes shut at his demand.

Which is more embarrassing, Thayla, peeing on Amick or asking Creed for help?

Putting it like that makes the decision seem so simple.

“I need to use the bathroom, but I don’t think I can get up.”

I refuse to open my eyes and look at him, but I sense every move he makes. His body comes behind mine and the touch of his hands landing gently on my sides has my breath stalling in my chest.

“I’m going to lift you up, then hold you steady until you get your balance. Ready?”

I nod once.

He lifts me with an ease that makes his physical strength so obvious in this moment. His touch doesn’t linger, though, as he does exactly as he said he would.

Unfortunately, it was his hands that were providing the stability. A shriek tears through me as my knees give out and I immediately regret my decision to get up .

I throw my hand out to catch myself on the armrest of the couch, but I never connect. Creed’s arm wraps around my hips and he spins me at the same time. The next thing I know, I’m being lifted by the back of my thighs and my legs automatically tangle around his waist.

My face buries into his neck, and it takes everything in me not to bite him just to alleviate my own agony. “Creed.”

“Let me do this. I can’t take your pain, Thayla.”

I take a couple of deep breaths until the burning down my spine subsides. He takes that as his sign he can start walking. “You can feel my pain through my soul? Can they?”

“They won’t feel it to the extent I do, but yes, we can all feel it.”

I groan. “Okay, so I can assume your domain has to do with souls?”

“Something like that, yes.”

“Still not comfortable enough to tell me?”

“Comfortable isn’t the word I’d use anymore.”

The uncertainty in his voice is shocking and I don’t know how to respond. After what he did for me today, I don’t think there’s a domain he could tell me he has that’d scare me.

Of course now I have some guesses, but they’re off the wall if I’m being honest. I have an ugly tendency to think the worst, and I’m not trying to do that to him or any of them anymore. Not after today.

I may still be mad at the situation I’ve been put in, but it could’ve been a thousand times worse had I got a Valtrue of other gods.

What if the god that’s messing with me had interfered with Derivius’s plan and paired me with Mellcom, Jeremiah, Chasin, and Gladian instead of it being Mara?

The thought makes me shiver.

“Reach your hand back and open your door.”

“You can do it.”

“I can’t—”

“I’ve already given all of you permission.”

His chest flinches against mine. “When?”

“A couple days after the Abandon.”

He hums, maybe grunts, as he opens my bedroom door and heads straight for the bathroom. When the lights come on, I squint until my sight adjusts, then I catch my reflection. Well, my face that’s resting on his shoulder .

“Yikes. I definitely look like I went toe-to-toe with the God of Strength and lost. Maybe next time.”

If I didn’t think I could be even more mortified, Creed proves otherwise. Instead of giving me the chance to try to get balanced on my own again, he sets me on the toilet. Then he kneels until he’s eye level with me.

“I’m not the brother to make those types of jokes with. That’d be Riven, possibly Kyzen, depending on the subject. There will never be a next time.”

My lips part as I struggle to find something to say.

Note to self, Creed doesn’t appreciate dark humor in tense situations.

“I think I got it from here,” I whisper.

To my surprise, he flicks on the sink as he passes it by, then perches himself in the doorway with his back toward me. I have half a mind to tell him to get all the way out, but the way my bladder is begging for relief, I decide it’s not worth it.

Slowly rocking from side to side, I grip my pants—not pants, definitely not pants.

Frantically, I pat myself down and take in the state of the clothes I’ve been dressed in.

It’s just an oversized T-shirt with the back cut out, someone’s boxers, and nothing else. One wrong move and I’m going to have a nip slip out the armpit hole.

Just take care of your business, then you can ask questions.

Exhaling harshly, I do just that. Every move I make, though, is made at an agonizing pace and it takes enough energy out of me I grow pissed. I’m literally out of breath when I’m finally able to shimmy the boxers back on and reach behind me to flush.

Fuck, this is humiliating.

That sound was obviously the cue Creed was waiting for. Wordlessly, he turns, cuts the water off, and scoops me up. I already know my face is flaming and I refuse to look at him.

“Did you all help Amick get me dressed?”

“No. He made Kyzen go get the clothes and cut the shirt. I fixed a warm bowl of soapy water and got rags, then he made us leave the living room. I don’t know how he did it. You were in the same spot on his lap when I left and returned.”

Knew he had magic hands and that he’d be efficient as well as respectful.

Creed suddenly stops walking once we hit the end of my bed and I push up on his shoulders to prepare myself for him to put me down. I find his eyes distant and his body stiff, though .

“What’s wrong?”

He shakes his head. “Seismet would like to see you.”

“Really, right now? He just spoke to you?”

“No, Verlet did. He asked him to. Your line of communication will strengthen with time, but for now, he can’t reach you this far. He says you need it.”