“That’s probably for the best,” he said. “But you’re not exactly proving yourself to be trustworthy.”
“I haven’t—"
“I was around you before you were gifted, Quentin. You hold a lot of secrets. So many of them are bubbling under the surface. You could ease the burden if you shared them.”
I had never been an open book. Trust and vulnerability weren’t appealing to me. There was too much fallout if it went wrong. That was my opinion before Gray and all the secrets we’d woven together. There was no way I could let any of that slip, because the consequences would be greater than a broken heart and bruised pride.
“Why don’t I start?” Archer suggested. “A little while ago, when you first visited Elysia, I saw you all gathered near the pool. I stepped into it and asked it to give me its secrets and then I saw you. I knew then that there was something special about you.”
Yet another person who’d failed to tell me anything that might have seen me prepare better for the situation I was in. Steeling myself, I responded flippantly, “I cheated on a spelling test when I was eight.”
He pressed a hand to his chest and feigned shock. “They should strip you of your degrees.”
“I’m sure you’ll keep my secret.”
“Every single one of them,” he said seriously. “All you need to do is trust me.”
“We’re not at the stage where we get wine drunk and I spill my guts.”
“Not yet.” He fixed his smile back in place, dimples hidden, so I knew it wasn’t genuine. “What happened, Quentin? You used to let me into your dreams and walk through Elysia with me. You used to seek me out when you were afraid in those moments.”
“You infiltrated my dreams and brought me to the heavens, where I shouldn’t be. You were the only one I could find. I had to rely on you.”
“You make it sound so sinister.”
“You’re proving to be Jekyll and Hyde.” I’d probably regret calling him out on his behaviour, but I couldn’t swallow it back any longer.
“I’ll strike a deal with you,” I said confidently, although I felt anything but. “Tell me your secrets and I’ll tell you mine. What’s all this for? And spare me the bullshit about kindness. What are you gaining out of this?”
“So cynical for someone who’s yet to gain an understanding of the world.”
He clucked his tongue and pulled the cuffs from his trouser pocket and looked at me expectantly. Usually, I was happy to use them, but this didn’t feel like it was for my benefit, so I stood rooted to the spot. There was a waver in his patient demeanour as he sighed and moved towards me.
“You won’t be in them for long,” Archer assured me, grabbing my wrist roughly and trapping it in the cuff. “But you’ve been a little volatile lately. I expected you to be a star student with all that education behind you, but it’s my fault for making assumptions.”
I bristled at his attack on my intelligence. This wasn’t the lab or something I could learn from a book. He expected me to rein in my emotions when there were so many reasons that amplified them beyond my control.
“We don’t want to unnecessarily scare any of them,” Archer finished.
“Why not? What does it matter?”
He clipped the cuff around my other wrist and dropped my hands so they were bound and rested against the lower part of my abdomen.
“They’ll be your family,” Archer said. “And you only get one chance at a first impression.”
“I have my family,” I gritted out between clenched teeth.
“If you’re talking about Elva—"
The events after I walked out of the pool hit me, and I remembered Elva explaining that my mother—biological mother—was her cousin. But she wasn’t the person who instantly crossed my mind the moment someone mentioned family.
“Cassidy,” I said forcefully, cutting across him. “I have a brother who’s probably wondering where I am.”
It was a concern that clawed at my brain, but I’d yet to find the courage to voice it. Anger was the driving force behind me finally being able to ask about my true family.
“You don’t have to worry about that,” he replied, guiding me out of the room. I tried to move away, feeling uncomfortable with his hand at my lower back, but the heels hampered my escape attempt. “I’m sure Hunter will have explained the situation.”
The blood drained from my face. “He told Cass?”
