The urge to kiss her was overwhelming, and it took a lot of self-control not to. I was used to getting what I wanted, and this was fast becoming torture. She admitted it herself that things wouldn't last with Holden, but I knew that didn't mean she wanted me to step into the spot.
I heard the gasp as she looked past me. Pulling away to give her space, she saw why I'd brought her here.
"Are these fireflies?" she breathed.
"Yes, they are," I answered.
"This is beautiful."
Her eyes were large as she looked around us at the bugs lighting up the space.
"It's luciferase and luciferin that makes them glow like this," she explained.
Quen reached out a hand and waited until one bug landed on her palm.
"They use the same complex in the lab. You can test promoter strength of genes if you… Sorry. Sorry."
She looked embarrassed at having drifted back into work, but I shook my head. I knew all the facts, but she could tell me. Watching her get lost in the world she was comfortable in made my heart thud in double time. It was access into a life that she worked hard for and protected fiercely.
"Don't apologise, Quentin."
The bug flew off her hand and joined the others around us. She rested her head against my shoulder, and I put an arm around her, keeping her as close as I could.
She sighed and said, "I think this is possibly the sweetest thing anyone has done for me."
There was a swell of pride in my chest to know I'd presented her with something that had beaten the rest. Something I hoped would stay with her even when I couldn't. A lasting memory as a gift when we were eventually separated.
"Gray?"
"Yes?"
"Aren't the others going to wonder where you've been most of this week?"
"Erik knows."
"You trust him with a lot, don't you?"
I thought of Erik. He was the most harmless out of the three of us brothers. He tried to do what was right, even if it didn't always work out. He separated me from Quentin, but that was before he knew about the binding, and I knew Erik would never forgive himself for that, so what would be the use in being angry at him?
"Just like you trust Cassidy with everything, no?"
There was a beat of silence.
"It must be nice to have blood. I wonder sometimes what it would be like to have blood relatives," she said.
I wanted to tell her it was overrated. That for every Erik, there was a Hunter. I wanted to tell her that her biological mother was also a force to be reckoned with, but her heartbreak was too much. That she couldn't live without Quentin, so she refused to live at all. I wanted to take her to Elva so that they could bond.
I didn't say or do any of those things, because to do so would be to put her life in danger.
"Your adopted family was good to you, though?" I probed.
"I wouldn't have swapped Mum and Dad for the world. Couldn't cope without Cass even though he's a giant pain in the ass most of the time."
"If I were a mortal, I might actually fear your brother."
She laughed as I hugged her close.
"He likes you,” she assured me.
