I shook my head and kept walking. Gray kept up the pace beside me.
"Don't push me out, Quentin. What happened? What did he say?"
We made it outside before I turned to him. "I'm suspended for two weeks, Gray. I am suspended from my job!"
"He can't do that."
"He can. He has every right. He could have fired me if he wanted to because I broke the terms of my contract. So really, I'm getting away with it lightly. And I've managed to lose a friend in the process."
I was a cross between angry and upset. The situation had been handled so badly, and it was all my fault. I needed to be on my own to process everything that had happened and figure out how to salvage something from the wreckage.
"Quentin, you'd have left him anyway," Gray said matter-of-factly as I walked away. "At least it's done now."
I stopped in my tracks and turned on him. "Excuse me?"
"You said you were going to leave him today."
"Are you being serious?"
"Were you lying to me?"
The blood pounded in my ears as I looked at Gray, trying to take in what he said.
"No!" I said. "No, I wasn't lying to you."
"So? No harm done."
"Are you kidding me?!" My voice was rising.
Gods were selfish. Stupidly selfish, and it was shining through Gray. He didn't care that Matthew was hurt. Gray got what he wanted, regardless of the consequences, and for him, that was the end of the story. But I felt the guilt, and I'd lost a friend and I'd just been suspended.
"Lots of harm done!" I yelled. "Gods, you can be such a selfish prick sometimes!"
He opened his mouth to respond. But there were wisps of red, and Erik appeared next to Gray. My stomach churned, thinking Hunter might have found out about our secret.
"You need to come to Gareth's. Sorry, Quentin," Erik said. He looked between us. "What are you both doing out here?"
"Why? What's wrong?" Gray asked, ignoring his question.
"Some issues have arisen back home. Hunter expects us to go back there. He wants a meeting before we leave so we're on the same page."
My heart calmed slightly, and Gray turned his focus on me.
"Go," I told him. "I need to go."
Some distance would be good for us. He'd been pig-headed, and I needed to calm down.
"Quentin," Gray said, looking unimpressed.
I looked at him before my eyes flicked to Erik, who looked uncomfortable.
"You need to deal with this," I said.
They needed to keep things as calm as possible or Hunter really would find out, and we'd be in shit. We needed to continue like nothing had happened.
"We need to talk when I get back," he told me viciously.
Hunter briefed the Gods before we arrived back in Elysia. The restlessness of the minor Gods had bubbled over, and they wielded their powers loosely at home. Usually, I'd be happy to head back there, but my thoughts were only partially in Elysia with my kin.
