“Amplify it,” he ordered.
This was a strange route to take. He wanted her to control it, but I’d expected him to ask her to hide it, not showcase it.
The chaotic energy Quen exuded trickled to nothing as she grew her aura around her. She was a beautiful sight to behold, illuminated in golden light so bright that it made the elite shield their eyes.
“Enough!” Hunter barked. “Get rid of it.”
The room dimmed as Quen pulled her aura back into her. The last wisps disappeared, and her gaze flicked to me briefly before returning to Hunter.
“She’s done well,” Erik said, leaning towards me.
“I never had a doubt.”
“You’ve shown considerable control,” Hunter announced. “For a half-breed.”
I sucked in a breath while a titter of giggles came from some of the elite. He was baiting her. Quentin was a prideful creature. She took everything as a personal slight and struggled to remain calm. Her instinct was to snap and defend herself.
“You’ll need to use whatever limited intelligence you have to maintain this ruse while we finish the project,” Hunter goaded her. “Or it’ll be more than your life on the line. That man you refer to as your brother and the pretty blonde he plans to make a wife will also pay for any mistake you make.”
“It’s mylimited intelligencethat is going to help complete it,” she informed him.
“There’s an entire team of scientists working on my project. You think too highly of yourself.”
“I’m a demigoddess. The ego comes with the territory from what I’ve witnessed.”
I stifled a laugh, biting down on the insides of my cheeks. That sharp wit was always ready to deliver a comeback.
Hunter turned away from her, walking back towards the steps that would lead him to his throne. “We’ll prepare to return this afternoon.”
Quen’s lips twitched as she suppressed a smile. First hurdle conquered—the relief was palpable through our bond, and I itched to go to her. Express the immense amount of pride that ran through me as she took on my brother.
“But for all our peace of mind,” Hunter said, diverting my attention away from Quentin. “I want to make sure that she won’t put us in any uncomfortable situations. You all know that my priority is Elysia and this council.”
I stood from my seat. “She’s just proven—"
But my sentence was cut short when Hunter turned away, a solid wall of blue rushing towards Quentin. It slammed into her with force, picking her off her feet and landing her across the council chamber.
“Hunter!” I yelled, aura flaring out around me. It faltered as a deep pain coursed through my chest.
My brother sauntered down the stairs, back towards Quentin. Erik’s aura wrapped strongly around my wrist and forced me back into my seat.
“If you get involved, he’ll make it worse,” he muttered.
This was true. My sadistic big brother had interesting ways to prove he protected us all. If anyone went up against him, he’d figure out how to make them pay. He’d make me pay for embarrassing him in front of the council, and I couldn’t risk her by stepping in. Bruised pride was curable, a corpse was not.
“I’ve heard a lot about you at the institute,” Hunter continued as he approached her. His aura picked her up and set her on her feet. “That you have a foul temper. That you can be difficult to work with. That you believe yourself to be better than everyone else.”
Her aura pulsed to life, and Hunter clucked his tongue.
“Are you losing control?” he asked. “Because it would be a shame if the first thing I need to do when I return is to kill your pathetic excuse for a family. Leave you abandoned and alone again, and this time it would be all your own doing.”
Pain rippled through my chest before Quen’s aura disappeared from view.
“You have no right to talk about my brother,” she spat. “Look at how you treat your own. Blood means nothing over a genuine bond.”
This time, when his aura struck her, it was directly to her abdomen, throwing her back into a pillar in the chamber. She hit the stone, folding in on herself before collapsing to the floor like a rag doll. Pain blossomed in my torso and along my spine so wildly violent that it pulled me out of my seat and to my knees. My howl was only drowned out by the crumbling of the pillar. As the stone fell on top of her, an unbearable ache ran through my chest and hips.
“Hunter, stop!” Erik called, falling beside me.
