Gray set me down and grabbed my face in his hands. “Listen to me. Look at me and listen to me.”
I focused on him, and he got me to mirror his breathing. In for three counts and out for five and before long, it was regulated.
“I’m going to Gareth now,” Gray told me. “Get yourself dressed and come straight to the institute and find us. I’ll sort this. I promise.”
I nodded at him, and he pressed a kiss to my forehead.
“I’ll sort this, Quentin.”
Gray stepped away from me and disappeared in wisps of black, and I prayed that there was a way out of this.
Holden was a liability on a regular day, but with this information, he graduated to dangerous.
I'd never seen Quen look or feel so panicked. This level of chaos was something she didn't deal well with, but it was where I thrived. I needed to smooth this over before it got out of hand. Before she’d be put in the firing line by more than just her boss.
Gareth looked up as I appeared in his office. "Grayson!" he said, surprised. "I wasn't expecting you today. None of you are due here —”
"I need to speak to you," I cut across him.
"Take a seat," he said.
I sat down opposite him.
"How can I help you?" Gareth asked, well-meaning as always.
"I need to discuss Quentin with you."
Gareth stopped clicking through the files on his desktop and gave me his full attention. He narrowed his eyes momentarily and then said, "What about Scott?"
"Scott and I," I started and cleared my throat.
I had to tell him so that we could squash this. I had to tell Gareth to make sure Hunter didn't find out. Because if that happened, then I risked another skeleton falling out of the closet and I couldn't entertain the thoughts of the consequences if that happened.
"What about you and Scott?" His words were slow and measured, like he didn't really want to know what came next.
"Scott and I are —”
The sentence was lost as Gareth's office door flew open and Holden strode into the room.
"What are you doing here?" Holden said, eyes landing on me. "Trying to cover up?"
"Holden?" Gareth asked, eyebrows knitting together. "Do you want to tell me why you're storming into my office?"
I stood from my seat, but Holden was dead set on his mission.
"He's fucking Scott!" Holden announced.
My aura slammed the door shut. We didn't need the entire institute to see or hear this as they arrived for work.
Gareth rose from his chair, looking between us both. "I thought she was dating you," he said, settling his gaze on Holden.
"Yeah. Apparently, that didn't stop them."
There was a lot of anger swirling in the room, and I tried my hardest not to feed from it. But between Holden and Gareth, it was a difficult task.
"Explain. Now,” Gareth demanded.
I looked to Gareth, ready to try to calm him down.
