Quentin’s aura stopped flickering and grew solid, pulsating around her frame menacingly.
“Control it, Quentin,” Erik said, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
Was she actually getting angry at what Ignacio was saying about me?
“Chaos and destruction all teamed with death.” He almost looked like he was enjoying goading her. “There’s not a decent bone in his body and yet you think what exactly, Scott? That you’re going to be the one to change him?”
Ignacio threw his head back and laughed. Quentin strode towards him with such purpose that I got up on my feet.
“Quen!” I called. “Don’t. Control it. Just like Sal taught you in the ring.”
She halted in front of Ignacio, silence engulfing us as she took in my words. Her aura slowly faded and eventually dissipated away. Ig banished his, and I let out a breath. Quentin turned around to address me, but for some reason, Ignacio opened his big mouth.
“Surprise, surprise,” he said. “He’s the only one who can keep you under control.”
It happened before any of us could stop her. Quen’s hand turned into a fist, wrapped with her aura. She turned around and pulled her arm back before punching Ignacio straight in the jaw and Ig went flying before he slid across the ground and came to a stop.
“I am notcontrolled by anyone,” she said, pointing her index finger at him.
Ig sat up, a small cut marring his lip, and Erik hurried over to help him up.
“Crazy bitch,” Ignacio muttered.
He barely got to his feet when my aura pinned him against a nearby tree. He had my blessing to train her. He was allowed to use his aura to prove a point. But I didn’t appreciate him running his mouth because she fought back.
“Gray!” Erik yelled. “Let him go.”
I dropped Ig as he hissed and left in a flash of orange without another word.
Erik sighed. “You two need to work on your people skills. We’re getting people on side, not pushing them away. I’m going to check on him. Join me when you both calm down.”
He left us, and I rolled my eyes, but beside me, Quentin looked worried.
“I’m sorry,” she muttered. “I just—"
“It’s fine.”
“It’s not. I hate people thinking they control me or that I can be controlled.”
“Trust me, darling, I know.”
“And I hate what he was saying about you.” Her aura flickered back into life around her.
A smirk graced my lips. “Aww, you care about my reputation. I am touched, Scott.”
“Fuck off, Gray.” But there was a smile on her lips as she walked away.
“You want to watch yourself, golden girl,” I called after her. “You keep defending my honour like that and I might just think you love me.”
She looked over her shoulder at me and, for a split second, I thought she might just say it. But she flashed me a grin, and I was knocked off my feet and straight into the river behind me. The ice-cold water soaked through to my bones, and when I resurfaced, Quentin was staring at me from the bank.
“We wouldn’t want you getting any ideas now, would we, bubba?” she said.
It was way too late for that.
* * *
The temperature droppedas evening crept in. I’d smoothed things over with Ignacio. He had never been one to hold a grudge and Quentin felt awful for hitting him so hard. She’d promised to take him to Sal’s as recompense, and Ig swallowed her in a hug that lasted a fraction too long for my liking.
