“You had to be told to apologise?” Scott asked, laughing.
I let out a roar of fury before the room darkened and I took my leave.
When Gray disappeared from the patient room, I huffed out a breath and noticed Erik and Sloan both looking at me curiously.
“I’m not sure how you put up with him,” I said, wanting to break the awkwardness.
I grabbed a measuring tape from the desk drawer and approached Sloan. The Goddess laid back on the bed without prompting and lifted her shirt to allow for measurements to be taken.
“He’s not that bad, really,” Erik commented. “My brother is more bark than bite most of the time.”
He would say that. He was Grayson’s brother. I’d do exactly the same for Cassidy. Regardless of his flaws, no one had a right to pick at them except for me.
Biting back on any comment I had, I placed the tape over his wife’s burgeoning belly. My bare fingertips brushed her skin before I realised the mistake and Sloan’s gift hit me.
This time, I saw nothing, the way I had with Erik. There were no memories, nothing that was familiar, but a deep pull within me. It was warm and friendly, almost like a glow. It didn’t force the breath out of my lungs or knock me off balance. It made me feel strong and protective in a way I’d never felt before.
When I removed my hand from Sloan, my legs gave way and I dropped to the floor, pain pulsing through my kneecaps and up my thighs.
“I’m so sorry,” Sloan said, sitting up.
Erik helped me back onto my feet. “Are you okay?” he asked, genuine concern colouring his eyes.
“I’m fine,” I said, shrugging him off. “I’m sorry. Sloan, are you alright?”
“Darling?” Erik asked.
Sloan pulled her shirt back down over her bump and looked at me with a gaze that made me shrink.
“Sloan? Honey?” Erik said, moving over to her.
“Erik, I think we need to leave,” she said to him.
“Is everything okay?” I asked, feeling panicked at the fact Sloan wanted to leave.
Had she seen something that I couldn’t? It was exhausting trying to keep control around beings that knew every inch of you without so much as a word. Could they know things about me I’d yet to discover? Was that how this worked?
“Everything’s fine,” Sloan told me, but some of the warmth had evaporated. “I just think it’s best we go now.”
“Sloan, I can’t apologise enough. If I did something —”
“It wasn’t you, Quentin. It’s complicated.” Sloan slipped off the bed. “Would it be okay if I stopped by again tomorrow?”
“Yes. That’s not a problem.”
“Thank you for your time,” Erik said with a nod.
His red aura wrapped around them, and within seconds they were gone, leaving me to ponder the sudden departure.
I made the swift decision to finish the rest of the day at home. My phone came off ‘do not disturb’ for any calls or emails from James. All I could think about was the way the two Gods had rushed out of my care and whether it would count against me if news went back to Gareth.
When I got back to the house, I shut the front door and leaned against it with a sigh. Another God pushed his way to the forefront of my mind.
Maybe I should apologise to Grayson for the way I behaved. I should have just accepted his apology. If we could make it onto civil terms, then maybe I could ask him about what Sloan felt after the contact earlier.
Making my way up the stairs, I crossed the hall to the room Grayson occupied. I wasn’t sure if he was home, but it was worth a try. Knocking on the door, I waited and was met by silence. If he was in there, he was probably ignoring me with a smirk on his face. Idiot. I turned the doorknob and pushed it open to see Grayson was in the room, but he wasn’t just sitting there.
He was shirtless, on top of a woman that I didn’t recognise. She turned her head towards the door, lipstick smudged, looking shocked and embarrassed, and I had to pick my jaw off the floor. Grayson, however, didn’t even look at me.
