“It’s too late anyway, Gray.” She opened her eyes, glassy with tears, and looked at him. “It’s a long game if you plan to balance the heavens and Earth.”
“And we lose our kin while that happens?”
“You’ve seen how many voted against us. If you go rogue, then you’ll just join us in not existing and Hunter will continue to rule the way he wants.”
“You said yourself that others see the truth.”
“But we would need utter chaos when the time comes to remove him.”
“Elara,” Grayson said, balling his fists. “They’ll never forgive me if I stand there and help take your life. I’ll never forgive myself.”
“You will forgive yourself. I forgive you. Archer will when the time is right. When they are ready to listen and you show them this.”
“I don’t want to do this.” His voice broke, and he looked away from her.
“I know. That’s why you have to.”
* * *
The living roommoved back into focus and Gray was tense beneath me. I moved my face away from his to look at him properly.
“You didn’t do it because you wanted to. She asked you.”
“Elara,” Grayson whispered her name. “I’d known her for a long time. She was like a sister who brought her gift, her hope, everywhere. I spent less time with her after she met Archer. Our contact was non-existent by the time they got married.”
“She was a friend, and you had your hand forced.”
Not just by Hunter, but also Elara. She had asked him for a fatal favour, and how could Gray deny her a dying wish?
“It’s not an excuse,” he replied. “I made a decision and I am not proud of what I did, Quentin. There is not a day that goes by where I wish I had chosen another option. Elara was certain that I saw it clearest. Saw Hunter for what he truly was. She was adamant that I kept my position and tried to remove him from his seat. She forgot I am not the most congenial God in Elysia. I tried to be compliant, but it didn’t last long. Some days it feels like it was all for nothing.”
“Why haven’t you shown Archer? Or any of the others?” I asked. “Why haven’t you explained to them?”
“Do you think we have spent a single second in each other’s company without vitriol flowing between us? Hunter took Larkin from him, and that was a blow. At least he can still see her in Elysia. I took Elara from him in the most permanent manner. I wouldn’t forgive anyone if they took you from me, no matter what their reasons.”
“But Gray—"
“When Archer showed you his memories, did you believe it straight away? You are a scientist, Quen. Tell me the marvels of the brain.”
The brain was the organ I was fascinated with. If I didn’t adore the mechanisms of development, I would have specialised in neurobiology.
The specific mechanism that Gray was alluding to was false memories. Manipulating them and showing others what you thought to be true. I didn’t believe Gray was showing me anything fake, but neither had Archer. Both were genuine sides to a story, but in Archer’s grief and anguish, it was unlikely he would believe Gray.
I believed what I saw. Teamed with what Larkin had told me, Hunter was a master manipulator. He found an individual's weaknesses and strengths and figured out how to use them to his advantage. Gray craved acceptance, and love and Hunter used him and gave him a position on the council to placate those emotions. The moment he took it too far, Gray could no longer deny what his brother was—a monster.
If I thought this was going to help me, I was mistaken. Getting a glimpse at Gray’s past further complicated things.
He lifted me from his lap and set me on the sofa beside him. I instantly missed the warmth and comfort of his body.
“You are not obliged to stay with me,” he said. “You have both sides of the story and you are more than capable of deciding what you feel is right for you.”
“But we’re bound,” I pointed out.
The black from my hands was slowly fading to give rise to the usual brown of my skin.
“Bonds can be broken,” he replied.
A sharp pain ran through my chest, making me gasp for air. Gray shifted next to me, his hand landing above my heart and the other on my back.
