“Who told you?” Gray asked darkly from next to me.
Gareth sighed and admitted, “Aria let it slip this morning.”
“Everyone knows?” I asked.
“Most of the facility was here,” Gareth confirmed. “And you know how fast gossip spreads.”
“Can I address everyone?”
“Whatever you need.”
Gareth returned to his seat, and James looked at me.
“Are you going to be okay?” he asked.
“I kind of have to be.”
He gave me a curt nod, prying my coffee from my hands before climbing the stairs towards the rest of our research group.
“What are you doing?” Gray asked, gripping my wrist as I tried to walk past him.
“Having my say on this. I’m not having another God think they can run my life,” I said, pulling my wrist free.
I walked up to the lectern at the far side of the room, and Gray followed. I didn’t know if I was thankful for his presence or if this all would have been easier if he went to sit down so I could look at him when I needed some strength.
“Morning, everyone.” My voice reverberated around the room as the microphone attached to the lectern picked it up. “You’ve all heard what Aria told you this morning.”
My colleagues stared back at me with a mixture of expressions. Most of them looked on in amazement or fear, but there were a few, Emmanuel Teixeira included, that looked at me with fury seizing their muscles and tinting their irises.
Without hesitation, my gaze slid back to Hunter, whose face remained impassive. If I made the wrong move, the entire council was here to witness the disaster. I would seal my fate and undo all the hard work in a matter of sentences.
As I took in a deep breath, I felt the world swayed, but I held on to the lectern with a deathly grip. “What Aria told you is true. Obviously.” My aura still fluttered around me as I navigated through a whirlwind of emotions. “I chose not to tell any of you because it’s been difficult to process.”
“You didn’t think we deserved to know who we were working with?” Emmanuel piped up from his seat. “Didn’t classify yourself as a danger to the others around you? We had a right to know.”
“You’re still in one piece, Emmanuel,” I bit back. “I didn’t realise you had such a sensitive disposition when working with the Gods. If my partial divinity is such a concern, how do you manage daily in your lab?”
His cheeks flushed red and his bottom lip trembled as if he was about to say more, but Archer placed a hand on his shoulder and pushed him back against his seat.
I ran a hand through my hair, composing myself again. “The Gods have helped me to familiarise myself with my powers.” I stuttered on the last word, feeling uncomfortable. “They’ve been gracious and accommodating while I work to understand what exactly I am.”
Hunter raised an eyebrow at my words. It was a complete lie, but he wanted mortals to believe in them. If I spilled the truth, that my life hung in the balance, there would be several mortals in this room who would refuse to work alongside them, let alone believe that they were the kind and merciful deities we were led to believe they were.
“I’d ask the same courtesy from you all, please. This project is important to all of us and we still have a goal to meet.”
“Some of them have been more accommodating than others, right, Scott?” Matthew called out from towards the back of the room. He sat with the rest of Larkin’s team—where he had been reassigned after our issues came to a head.
My face flushed at his comment, and I ignored him. “If you have any concerns, please come and talk to me. Or—"
“Or Grayson,” Matthew continued, raising his voice for the room. “Since your boyfriend’s probably known about this from the start.”
There was a split second before the room erupted into fresh whispers and the urge to run gripped hold of me. The chance would have been a fine thing when Grayson stood behind me, pinning me to the lectern.
“My brother’s private life has little to do with this situation,” Hunter said clearly, silencing the room again. “If you have an issue with Quentin, I suggest you have that conversation in private rather than airing it in a public forum to make yourself feel better about your inadequacies as a man.”
I was shocked to hear Hunter defend us, but he wasn’t prepared for a mortal to embarrass the Gods. Even a demigoddess was better than someone who lacked any divinity running through their veins.
Gray’s fingers squeezing my hip brought me back to my senses, and I spoke up again. “I think it would be better for us to start this meeting or we’ll never get back into the lab.”
