I gritted my teeth together, trying not to imagine what my old friend might say if she knew her husband had corrupted their grounds with a deathly flower so he could carry out his murderous rampage in her name.
“Can’t you get in touch with Dionne?” Quen suggested. “If Archer’s down here, she could check the house?”
“I’m not sure Bexley would be pleased if we pulled her girlfriend into this mess,” Larkin argued.
Quentin’s shoulders slumped. She understood the bond between siblings and the difficulty of wanting to breach boundaries. I’d have sold Hunter for a stick of gum whereas I would lay my life on the line for Erik.
“We can wait,” Erik said.
I narrowed my eyes. “Erik.”
“We can wait,” he said, more forcefully this time. “The project is almost done. Hunter won’t be able to delay the vote forever. If we rush into all this straight away, it’ll raise suspicion and we could ruin Quentin’s chances of survival.”
“We’re not burying the issue,” Larkin agreed. “But we’ve always put our own first.” She shared a look with Quen. Whatever had transpired between the two and led to Larkin’s divorce had left my ex-sister-in-law grateful to Quen. “We can keep an eye on the situation and gather evidence to bring to the council once she’s safe.”
Holding Quen against me, I pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Everything I’d done over the past few months was to keep her alive. I’d lied, my ambition took a backseat, and I made myself somewhat palatable so I could talk to others about her.
Pushing past the darkness that pulsed inside me, I took in a deep breath. As Erik said, we had time. The vote would happen soon and Quentin would be safe. Once that happened, I would tuck her away in a far corner on Earth before we rattled the heavens with our revelations.
“You are my priority,” I reminded Quen. “I don’t want you to worry about this. Nothing has changed.”
“Everything is changing.”
“We’ll get to the bottom of it,” Larkin said, stepping towards us. “Don’t give them the satisfaction of ruining your chances now.”
Quentin nodded her head slowly, fist gripping tighter on my shirt. We were asking her to walk beside murderers and act as if nothing was wrong. It was a task we were versed in, but Quen was being thrown into the thick of it.
“Why don’t you come back to mine?” Larkin suggested.
“No.” I wasn’t letting her leave my side.
Larkin fixed me with a stare. “It’ll be good for her to be seen with people other than you. We’ll laze by the pool and unwind from this mess.”
“I think I’d like that,” Quentin said before I could stamp out the ridiculous idea.
“We’ll all go.”
“No.” She rubbed my arm gently. “I’m going to spend some time with Larkin. You are going to see your niece and nephews. We don’t have to be attached at the hip.”
My eye twitched. “We’re not attached at the hip,” I gritted out. “We’re bound by souls.”
She pressed a chaste kiss to my cheek, and I tried to catch her lips, but she pulled away.
“Spend time with your family,” Quentin told me, still looking uncertain. “I’ll be safe with Larkin.”
Pulling away from me, she joined Larkin’s side. The chaos still poured from Quen’s form, but starting a fight now wouldn’t help the situation. We’d discuss it when we were back on Earth.
“I’m trusting you, Larkin,” I said, still staring down at Quentin.
She snorted. “First time for everything.”
“I’m still decorating,” Larkin said as she led me through her home. It was more modest than any of the others I’d walked through, but still put my family home to shame.
The walls were bare, and the rooms held little furniture. I couldn’t help but peer through doors as she led us out to the garden.
“You haven’t been here much to get started on decorating,” I commented.
“It won’t be long. I have lots of ideas for how I want the place to look. Hunter had the final say when we were married. I’d have burnt the place to the ground given half the chance.”
