If Quentin wasn’t in my arms, staring up at me with inquisitive eyes as she tried to piece together the puzzle, I would have brought the house down to its foundations.
“He’s planning a war,” I said firmly. “There’s no doubt the others would know. If they don’t, they will soon. How much did he have?”
“One little planter and the plants didn’t look healthy, Gray. He can’t start a war with that.” She chewed her bottom lip. “But Archer and Hunter were in the lab that night. Hunter knows he’s taking them. He was instructing Archer. Hunter’s the one who’s pulling the strings.”
“Malachi heard them talking about a deal. What the fuck are they playing at?”
“I don’t know, but this can’t be good, right? It could just be preparation for when he calls the vote?” The colour had drained from her face.
Hunter and Archer had never seen eye to eye, but suddenly they were inseparable. The pair of them were having secret conversations and whereas I’d been brushing it off as nothing more than trivial matters, a deep churning started in my gut that told me I was missing a piece of the puzzle.
I hoped my misstep wouldn’t cost us everything we worked towards.
Erik ran his hands through his hair and pulled violently at the pale blonde strands.
If I had it my way, I would have gone straight to lower Elysia and dragged Archer back here, but Quen stopped me. Her logic won out over my rage and I pulled in the only other person I trusted.
Quen abandoned her work to join us. I wasn’t sure if it was her drive to find answers or if she didn’t trust that I would stick to the plan instead of going rogue.
“It might be nothing,” Erik mumbled into his hands as he ran them down his face.
“Do you really believe that?” I asked him. “I might have thought the same if Hunter hadn’t been there with Archer, picking flowers like they were on a date. Oleander, Erik.”
“Oleander is needed for the cuffs. He might be working on a project. He had them produce the collar.”
“The collar was created down on Earth! Hunter made the mortals do that dirty work!”
Larkin’s brow furrowed. Her presence was thanks to Quen. She was the best bet at an answer. Hunter might have been our brother, but we’d spent little time with him. She had been his wife. His confidant.
“Stop pacing,” I said, my eyes following Quentin as she walked up and down the room.
“It helps.”
Erik suddenly shot up from the seat and grabbed a pen and notepad. “The minor Gods who’ve passed recently, do you remember them all?”
“Phillipe,” Larkin started.
We worked through the list while Quen hovered nervously. There was little she was able to contribute to this discussion, and I would have preferred for her to busy herself with work or visit Sloan. Answers would not come easily here, which meant peace would not settle in her soul.
When we pulled apart, the sheet was filled with names.
“What are you trying to figure out?” Quen asked. “Do you think there are more people involved in this than Hunter and Archer?”
Erik waved her off, staring at his list, and she clamped her mouth shut.
“Does it strike you as a coincidence that these minor Gods were in favour of cleansing Elysia of the demigods?” Erik said eventually, straightening up and turning back to us.
I snatched the paper out of his hand and looked at the names. “Are you sure?”
Memories grew hazy when years stretched out behind us.
“Most of them, if not all of them, helped to round them up,” Larkin confirmed, staring over my shoulder at the list.
My brain connected the dots quickly. “You don’t think it’s an accident that they’ve ceased to exist?”
“Oleander is being brought up to Elysia. Archer’s attempting to grow it up here and minor Gods who fell on the other side of the argument suddenly start disappearingen masse.”
“You think Archer’s picking them off one by one?” I asked.
