“Sorry,” I said, trying to rein in my emotions.
“Don’t apologise, Quentin,” Charlie told me, eyeing my aura warily. “I’ll understand if this means you can’t make it to the wedding”
“No, I’m still going to be at your wedding, Charlie.”
She nodded, looking unconvinced.
I expected things to be different when people found out, but I was surprised that Gareth and Charlie were the ones who seemed so wary. They were two of the people I was closest to and I’d hoped they could take it in their stride, but I shouldn’t have made that assumption.
“Okay.” Charlie rose from her seat. “I’ll let you get back to work. Maybe you can stop by Murphy’s soon and we can have a proper catch up.”
I wanted to say something, anything, that would make her stay for a little longer, but she needed time to process, and I needed to accept that maybe I wasn’t in control of every little thing in my life.
“This is the last thing I feel like doing,” I muttered as Gray tugged me over the threshold of the bar. “Can’t we pretend I’m ill?”
“No,” Gray said bluntly, and I was a second away from stomping my foot. “You need to embody a pageant queen tonight because I don’t know why they asked for drinks.”
“Maybe they’re going to put me out of my misery and kill me.”
Gray stopped abruptly, and I bumped into his colossal frame. When I tipped my chin to look up at him, my blood turned to ice in my veins. Unimpressed didn’t even scrape the surface of what Gray was portraying.
I placed a palm over his heart and gave him a sheepish grin. “Just a joke, bubba.”
“Do not quit your day job,” he replied darkly; but paired with the kiss he pressed to my forehead, I knew he wouldn’t hold a grudge.
Grabbing his hand again, I smoothed my skirt as Gray led us to the back of the bar. It was a small blessing they hadn’t picked Murphy’s or I would have been less inclined to tag along. Things remained strained between me and Charlie.
Flynn’s raucous laughter could be heard before we saw the Gods tucked away in a booth at the back. “There she is!” Flynn announced, holding up a beer bottle. “Guest of honour!”
“Sit down!” Malachi hissed, pulling him back down into his seat properly. “You’re drawing attention.”
Gray slipped into the booth beside Waverly and I was about to join him when Flynn patted the empty spot next to him.
Pageant queen.
Fixing a smile in place, I shuffled in beside Flynn, who scooted up, squishing Malachi to the wall so that I had space.
“I asked Aria to join us, but she refused,” Waverly said.
Gray’s eyes narrowed. “What made you think she’d be welcome after the stunt she pulled?”
I resisted the urge to kick him under the table. If I had to be on my best behaviour, then so did he.
“I thought if she spent some time with Quentin, then she might be convinced to change her mind.” Waverly shifted in her seat. “I don’t agree with what she did, and I told her as much. It felt like overkill to request an apology.”
“I thought Hunter was going to rip her in two,” Flynn added, knocking back the bottle and throat bobbing as he drank.
“What happened?” I asked.
Gray had been reluctant to tell me about the meeting when he came back to the lab. His mood was dismal, and when I tried to pry, he snapped. The pressure of the situation got to the both of us and I didn’t help with the macabre sense of humour that I’d developed since my secret was revealed.
Flynn leaned against me, pressing his shoulder into mine, and whispered conspiratorially, “Hunter went off. Told Aria that if she tried to behave like head of the council again, he’d make sure she was removed from her position and wouldn’t even have a space in lower Elysia.”
“It’s all about control.” Waverly ran a finger around the rim of her margarita glass, scattering salt onto the table. “He’s head of the council and he wants it to stay that way. Can’t have someone else treading on his toes. He didn’t even afford Larkin that luxury, and she is his wife.”
“Was,” Flynn corrected her. “Washis wife. Now we’re probably going to deal with Mabel.”
I snorted a laugh when Flynn mimed vomiting over the table. Gray hummed and the attention of the crowd turned to him. The ease that they lounged with disappeared and was replaced by tension, and I cocked my head to the side.
