The harsh laugh left my lips and echoed in the space, loud and empty of joy. It came as no surprise that Hunter would choose to side with Larkin. He tolerated his wife only marginally better than he tolerated me. Their mutual irritation at my existence served as a strong bond between the pair.
“Yes,” I said. “I’m sure that’s what my dear sister-in-law was doing. Looking out for my wellbeing has always been at the top of her priority list.”
Everything to do with Larkin was a power play. I maintained that was the primary reason behind her union with Hunter; power first and love second. She enjoyed being partial to knowledge before others and delivering it in the cruellest ways.
Hunter opened his mouth to respond, but the sound of footsteps made my ears prick and he seemed to have picked up on them as well.
“Make yourself scarce while I do some damage control,” Hunter told me.
I refused to move from my spot. I stood there, looking at my brother with a defiant tilt of my chin.
“That is an order, Grayson!” Hunter barked. “You’ve already pushed your luck today.”
With one last glare and the nagging reminder of what I had to lose, I took myself out of the room and upstairs to find the cell that would be mine for the duration of the sentence Hunter had condemned us all to.
It took some convincing before Gareth allowed me and Matt to leave the facility so that we could return home. The incident had left us all shaken. Two Gods scrapping with each other and damaging the lab had not been on the list for day one of E.L.I.
Matt took a pair of copper cuffs with him in order to restrain Grayson again, although I wasn’t sure how he planned to undertake that task. The sharp ache in my ribs that shot through me with every step was a vivid reminder of the fact that we were powerless when he was uncuffed.
The black smoky protrusions that came from Grayson had been fascinating, almost beautiful — like the rest of him. The violent nature of them had been well disguised, but I’d never be caught off guard by them again.
As we pulled up outside the house, a different train of thought took over. I prayed Holden wouldn’t make a comment about my living arrangements, but that’d been a dream.
He let out a low whistle as we stepped out of the car. “You can afford this place with what Gareth pays us?”
Charlie was the only person who’d been welcomed to my home. Even Gareth had met me in my tiny flat in Oxford before I returned to London, and then I visited his office.
My cheeks burned, and I stared at the ground. “My family,” I mumbled. “I inherited it.”
I was grateful when he didn’t press the matter any further. The mention of inheritance, the subtle slip of death, usually halted conversations. No one wanted to dig up the memories. Not that I’d have to dig far. My parents were always at the forefront of my mind.
Matt followed me silently as I walked up to the door of my parents' three-bed, detached house that was legally mine, even if I didn’t see it that way. I knew I was lucky to have this home. I just wished it were under happier circumstances.
Stepping into the hallway, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the quiet that met me was foreboding. Two Gods had returned here after a vicious fight, and I was meant to believe that they hadn’t continued when they arrived here?
“Hello?” I called out, slipping off my boots and leaving them in the hall. I pointed to Matt’s feet, and he followed suit.
“Through here,” a deep voice replied.
Matt and I walked into the living room, where the voice had come from. I could feel him brushing against my heels and pushed back on the rising irritation at his disregard for my personal space. When I entered the room, Hunter was sitting on my sofa, ankle crossed over his leg, calm and alone.
“Where is he?” I asked, eyes scanning the room, but there was no sign of Grayson.
“Cooling off,” Hunter answered me, uncrossing his legs and leaning forward. “He shouldn't cause you any more issues.”
Matt scoffed, standing beside me. I couldn’t help but agree with the sentiment.
“I thought that was the promise you gave before you joined us down here,” he said to Hunter.
I placed a hand on his arm, feeling the muscle tense under my touch. Antagonising the Gods wouldn’t win us any favours. We’d experienced first-hand what happened when Grayson was unhappy with us, and I didn’t particularly have any desire to see what Hunter was capable of if we pushed him.
“Why don’t you settle in?” I suggested.
“I’d need to get some of my things,” Matt told me. We’d come straight to mine from the institute with nothing more than what he’d brought to work that day. “I don’t want to leave you.”
“She’ll be fine,” Hunter assured him.
The doubt and distrust were evident in Matt’s eyes, and even I wasn’t sure I believed Hunter. How could we trust him when his brother had just viciously attacked us? The skin around Matt’s neck was brutally red from where Grayson had wrapped his powers.
