“What’s wrong?”
Gods were selfish. Sometimes that selfishness was not wrapped in malice. It was cocooned in a deep desire to fulfil whatever need they had. Elva’s was to surround herself with family again and she ran with her plans without considering if it was something I wanted. Why wouldn’t it be? Blood family and divinity; I’d apparently hit the jackpot. No one, aside from Gray, understood that this was my version of a nightmare.
“I don’t want you bringing Cassidy into this,” I told her. “Or Sophie. The less my brother has to do with the Gods, the better.”
“He’ll still deal with you.” Elva read my face and her eyebrows rose. “Oh! You don’t plan to tell him.”
“There’s nothing to tell.”
“You’d hide your divinity from him?”
“Isn’t that the whole point of this? No one down there knows I’m part God.”
“What about when you ascend?”
“Ascend?”
“When you come home to us. Live in Elysia permanently.”
“I wish people would stop saying that. Half of you want me dead and the other half of you think I’m going to move here as if I don’t already have a life.” I ran my hands through my hair and tugged at it.
Her next sentence was muttered quietly with a furrowed brow, as if she was struggling to process my logic against hers. “We assumed because of Grayson that you’d want to be here with him.”
The anxiety blossomed so viciously that my aura unfurled itself around me. I was so focused on the life I knew and what was familiar to me; I didn’t factor in how Gray and I would continue our relationship if I survived this. E.L.I. couldn’t last forever and Gray hardly seemed the type to relocate to Earth.
Elva didn’t flinch as gold fluttered around us. She stepped up to me and pulled me into a hug. I battled with the desire to push her away, but eventually relaxed in her arms.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered into my hair. “You have a lot to think about and decide. I shouldn’t have assumed.”
My arms went around her willowy frame. It was strange to hug the woman who essentially murdered my biological mother. From what I understood, Elva had no choice. Not really. She couldn’t have taken any solace in the fact when her hand was forced and it felt pointless to punish her. The way she tried to induct me into her family and make herself a part of mine told me she was still deeply hurt by the loss and trying to make amends in her own way.
“If you’d like, we can spend time together,” I said, fighting against the sudden rush of tears. “Get to know each other. But please, leave Cassidy out of this for now.”
Dad used to tell me I was awful at compromise. That I was bull-headed and wanted things my way. I couldn’t disagree with him and it had served me well throughout my life, but there were moments where it exhausted me.
“I would like that,” Elva said, releasing me. “We should get you back to Gray’s.”
Smoky purple wisps appeared around us. Elva’s control over her aura was beautiful. It danced around her delicately, waiting for her command.
“Could we walk there?” I asked as it crept around me. “I don’t want him to see me in this state and worry.”
Gray’s attentiveness was something I was growing used to, but he had enough to deal with. My minor panic about belonging and family and him did not need to be added to his overflowing plate.
“Of course,” she said, offering me her arm.
Tentatively, I looped mine through it and Elva guided me through Ig’s home until we walked outside.
“Do you live with Ignacio?” I asked, unable to curb my curiosity.
“Not yet. Hunter hasn’t learned of our relationship. You know he’s been trying to pair me and Gray together.”
“So I’ve heard,” I muttered through gritted teeth.
“We planned to tell him, but with everything that unfolded, we decided to wait.”
“I’m sorry. I’ve put your plans on hold.”
Elva’s hand covered mine in the crook of her elbow and she clucked her tongue. “Don’t apologise. Things happen for a reason. We will get there eventually.”
