Gareth huffed. “You can work with Hunter, considering you don’t seem to have an issue with him.”
“I think I can work with that.”
“Quen,” Charlie’s voice rang across the lab.
I turned around, inverting a tube of blood to mix it with the anticoagulant. Unlike mortal blood, which was a deep red, the Gods housed ichor that was molten gold. Hunter’s contained flecks of bright blue, the same shade as his aura. This was the blood we’d been given when creating the cuffs, but I hadn’t known who it belonged to.
“Charlie,” I said, and felt a blush run to my cheeks. I knew that at some point, I’d need to face my old team but hadn’t expected to do so until lunch.
“You asked for reassignment,” Charlie cut straight to the point. There was a reason we got on so well.
Moving away from Hunter and the others, I caught Charlie’s elbow, aiming for some privacy. When I looked up and outside the glass front of the lab, I saw Holden standing there with two other security agents. However, the most imposing force was Grayson, standing there with a murderous look as his black aura pooled around his hands. It grew, darkening the hallway, when he saw my glance.
“I’m not dealing with the disrespect, Charlie,” I said, pulling my eyes back to her. “It’s your job to observe his behaviour. My job is to study his biology, not be on the receiving end of his —”
I was at a loss for how to describe it.
“God complex?” Charlie offered.
“Exactly!”
“Quentin.” Charlie almost laughed, making my name sound bright and airy. “He’s a God. Of course, he has a God complex, but I’m surprised you let him run you out like that.”
“He didn’t run me out!” I argued loudly, offended by the accusation from my friend. A few members of the lab looked over, and I dropped my voice. “He didn’t run me out. I just wanted to work on this project with a little less resistance.”
Charlie nodded at the sentiment. She would understand my desire to work hard in a male-dominated field. We were constantly trying to prove our worth.
“He —” Charlie started and bit her lip.
“What?”
She sighed resignedly. “Grayson said he won’t comply unless you’re working with us again.”
“What?” I wasn’t sure I’d heard her right.
When I looked past Charlie, I saw Grayson still intensely staring at me from outside the lab, as if trying to burn holes right through me. He probably could, if he wanted to.
“Why?” I asked her.
“I don’t know, Quen, but you know Gareth wants a full set of results, and if Gray won’t work with anyone else, then we’re about to lose a full set.”
I glanced around the lab where we were standing. Hunter worked with us without complaint. He allowed samples to be taken and asked questions while answering ours. Grayson looked like he wanted to kill me and then messed with my head. However, Gareth expected twelve sets of results, and the failure would fall squarely on my shoulders in this case.
“Fuck’s sake,” I hissed, reality sinking in and tears of frustration pricking my eyes. “Let me speak to him.” We walked out of the lab where the atmosphere was thick. “I’d like to speak to Grayson,” I told them all.
“Be my guest,” Holden said.
“On my own, Holden,” I snapped, not in the mood to play games.
“No,” he responded shortly, folding his arms across his chest.
“Holden!” I barked. “Don’t push me today!”
He narrowed his eyes before signalling to the other two colleagues and walked to the end of the corridor, staying in plain sight. Charlie gave me a reassuring smile before joining them.
“Hunter,” Grayson sneered his brother’s name once we were alone.
“Do you need something, Grayson?” I asked him.
