The weatherin Elysia was warm and a gentle breeze rustled the grass as a group of Gods lounged around, enjoying the day.
A woman with olive skin and long dark hair laid back on the ground and spread her arms out wide. “Hunter needs to calm his shit. Why is he so desperate to get you two together? It’s like it’s his secret kink or something.”
Elva flushed bright red while Erik and Gray laughed.
“It won’t happen,” Erik said confidently. “Not that he’ll listen to me.”
Mallory rolled over, lying on her stomach and looked at Erik, flipping her hair to one side. “What about me, Erik?” she questioned. “Who am I destined to fall in love with?”
“I’m not a crystal ball, Mal. You’d have to let me read you if you want me to know that.”
She pulled a face and rolled onto her back again, staring up at the sky. Elva’s fingers gently combed through her cousin’s long locks.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be in love,” Mallory declared.
“Join the club,” Gray chimed in.
Mal laughed. “It’s a little different, Gray.”
“How do you work that out?”
“You won’t fall in love because no one will have you. You’re a handful and you’re picky as fuck. Gods help the woman who catches your eye.”
The group fell apart with laughter except for Gray, who maintained a stony expression.
“For me,” Mallory continued. “Greed and selfishness are in my blood. I’m too selfish to share my time with anyone or… well, I’m going to want to love someone with everything I have and demand the same from them.” She pushed herself up onto her elbows, enjoying the attention from the group. “Do you think our gifts are more of a curse? Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to forget all of this and live amongst the mortals—"
“Mallory!” Elva scolded. “You can’t say that.”
“Why not?”
“If Hunter hears you, he’ll pull you in front of the council.”
Mallory shrugged her shoulders.
“You’ve got some balls, Mal,” Gray commented.
“Bigger than yours,” she shot back.
* * *
The memory faded away,but the room remained out of focus as tears blurred my vision.
“She seemed…” I struggled, trying to get the words out around the lump in my throat.
“A lot to handle? You had to get it from somewhere.”
“Did you know about me, Gray? Why she didn’t want me?”
“First, she wanted you, Quentin. Mallory couldn’t bring you back here and your father died, so that left you in the care system. Mal saw that to be better than death. But she couldn’t live without you, either. She didn’t want to see anyone else raise you, so she asked Elva…” Gray paused. “She asked Elva to use her gift.”
I sucked in a breath, knowing that Elva was responsible for death.
“I didn’t know about you,” Gray admitted. “None of us did. That was one of the last memories I have of Mallory. I guess after that was when she visited Earth more often and found someone.”
Nodding slowly, I said, “I don’t think I want to talk about this anymore. Not right now.”
That simple memory had stirred up more than I thought it would and more than I could process healthily.
