“Thank you, Poppy,” he dismissed her, and the minor Goddess walked back inside.
My eyes followed Gray’s movements as he bowed deeply. Still bent at the waist, his gaze flicked up at me and he extended a hand.
“What are you doing?” I asked. When I placed my hand in his, he brushed his lips against my knuckles and straightened up.
“If you come with me, I’ll explain.”
“It’s not like I can run.”
“I’d catch you even if you tried.”
“Creep.”
Our fingers laced together as we walked along the paths that carved through lilies. The fog still rolled across the ground and the sky looked angry, but despite the chill in the air, an odd warmth ran through me that could only be attributed to Gray by my side.
“I was robbed of the chance to host a gifting ball for you,” he explained. “So I thought a private one for us might make up for the occasion.”
“Just the two of us?” I asked as we climbed to the top of the cliff.
“I thought you would prefer it this way. No pressure. No stress. After all, this is not a zoo or a circus.”
I bumped my shoulder against his arm as he used my words against me.
The wind whipped my hair around my face as we reached the top and Gray’s arm came around my shoulder, pulling me tight against his body.
“There’s something I want you to see,” he said, steering me to the left.
He pointed to a row of lilies that swayed in the breeze and dotted in between them were orchids, petals valiantly fighting to hang on against the assault of the weather.
“Terrestrial orchids,” Gray said. “I’m not sure if they’ll survive here, but it felt right that they grow beside mine.”
“I trained, and you spent the day gardening?” The laughter was threatening to trickle into the sentence. I couldn't imagine Gray doing something as trivial as tending to the garden.
“Not quite,” he admitted. “I invited Tobias to plant them. He’s the best in the business. Can get practically anything to grow.”
“Tobias,” I repeated the name. “He’s a minor God?”
“Yes. Why?”
“He came to visit Archer.”
“What for?”
“I don’t know. Archer wouldn’t let me stay for the conversation. He’s growing something in his bedroom.”
Gray’s mood darkened. “Why were you in his bedroom?”
“I was trying to find something to use against him,” I answered sharply.
“And did you find anything?”
“No. Not that it matters anymore.”
“No,” he agreed, tucking a loose lock of hair behind my ear. “It doesn’t.”
Melodic notes filled the air around us, but there were no speakers or musicians. Elysia held its own magic, and I was still learning its secrets.
“Will you dance with me, Quentin?”
