“James,” I called, walking over to the windowsill where blooms grew in the boxes. “Do you know what these flowers are?”
The same flowers were growing in Archer’s manor on his bedroom windowsill. These looked much healthier, but they weren’t common. At least, not that I knew of. The pink petals were bright and inviting under the lamp that offered them light and warmth.
“I’m not a botanist, Scott,” he mumbled, flipping through a lab book he found. “That’s Imran’s field. I thought you might have an idea, considering you helped with the cuffs.”
“I wasn’t involved in making them. They handed me a rack of different liquids and left it at that. They just needed me to check the biological effect. Fascinating what happens when you look at it all down the microscope.”
Hunter was the test subject for those experiments. I watched keenly down the microscope as the blue flecks in his golden blood dimmed when the liquid was nearby. Enclosing it in the cuffs had a similar effect.
“They must be looking for something stronger for the cuffs,” I muttered to myself.
But if these were flowers to help design restraints, why was Archer growing them in his home?
It further irked me that Emmanuel probably had access to the flowers and extra information because he belonged to whatever boys’ club had banded together in the facility.
“Nerd,” James called in his low timbre, and I would have thrown something if I had it to hand.
“You should show me some respect. I’m a deity.”
“Partially.”
“Still better than you.”
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, she says she doesn’t want to be treated differently.”
Away from the rest of the Gods, away from the man who wanted me to spend eternity by his side, it was easier to pretend that nothing was wrong. James had no idea how violent Elysia was or how corrupt the Gods were. He knew what he’d been taught and what he’d been taught was to fall to his knees in his time of need and pray to them.
“Oh, Quentin,” James muttered as he took photos of the pages that he thought were useful. “Goddess of success, hear my plea. I ask of you to bestow on me—"
“Stop it,” I hissed.
The unearthly warmth ran through me and no matter how hard I tried to push it away, James’ utterings were putting power behind it. The heat wasn’t gentle like when I called on it. It scorched through me, burning me from the inside and reminding me of when Gray was on his knees in front of me in the rain.
“James, I mean it. Stop!” I rushed over to him.
He laughed, turning around, but the smile dropped when he saw me. The glow of my aura pulsed around me and I would bet money that my eyes had changed.
“You remind me of a glow stick,” he mused, clearly biting back on a grin.
“I’m going to get Gray to snap you like a glow stick.”
“Does he like to be called Daddy when that happens?”
My jaw dropped open. “Get out. You’re causing more trouble than I thought.”
James laughed, closing the lab book and pocketing his phone. “I think we’ve got everything we could from here.”
Another idea flourished in my mind. “Have you prayed to me?”
He shook his head. “No. I haven’t really needed to.”
“Would you?”
“I thought you didn’t want me to.”
“Not now. Not here,” I said, untangling my thoughts. “Pray to me for this project. For us to find success before the rest of them.”
“You want to cheat?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.
