“Is something wrong?” I asked, brow furrowing.
“You’re protective of her, but there’s something else in the air… I can’t put my finger on it. What have you done?” Erik was beaming at me.
Biting the insides of my cheeks, I cursed my brother before shrugging. “I asked her to marry me.”
He jumped to his feet, crossing the space and hugging me. “When? When is it happening? Please, Gray, let me run the ceremony. I promise to be on my best behaviour.”
“She didn’t say yes.”
Some of his spark dimmed. “She has reservations.”
“Yes.”
“You don’t seem upset.”
“I’ll convince her, Erik. Don’t worry.” I wasn’t sure how, but I would make Quentin my wife. “Do not breathe a word to anyone.”
He mimicked crossing his heart, but the grin stayed firmly in place. By the end of the afternoon, I was sure Sloan, Ignacio, and Elva would know of my plans.
The bathroom door opened and Quentin stepped out, fully dressed. “I’m going to buy you a bell,” she said to Erik. “And you better forget anything you saw.”
“You’re very—"
“Finish that sentence, brother.” My aura filled the room. “I dare you.”
He pressed his lips together.
“Hunter’s called a meeting,” I told Quentin, walking over to her. The colour drained from her face, and I continued, “I don’t think it’s to do with you, but I’m already late and considering we’re trying not to piss him off any further, I should see what he wants.”
“Gray,” she said, looking up at me. “Whatever he says, keep a hold of your temper.”
Gray and Erik left, and the knot of anxiety in my stomach tightened. I would rather be at the meeting with both of them just to make sure it didn’t get out of hand. Gray’s temper often got the better of him, as evidenced by his run-in with Archer at the lab. Act now, think later should have been tattooed to my boyfriend’s forehead.
I sat on the edge of the bed and pulled the pad of sticky notes and a pen from the bedside table.
Aria
Malachi
Waverly
Flynn
I made a list of the elite Gods that I needed to win over, sticking them to the wall near my bed. It was pointless adding Hunter to the list. After a few moments, I wrote Larkin’s name with a question mark next to it.
Larkin.
In my spare moments, when I was too exhausted to worry about my own troubles, my mind flickered to her. I wanted to talk to someone, anyone, who might help her, but she’d clarified that no one would believe me.
An idea had taken hold a few nights ago while I tediously worked through statistics, but it required me being able to talk to Larkin and engineering that wouldn’t be easy. I couldn’t walk into her lab without a valid reason, because scientists liked to gossip and that meant the word would get back to Gray and Hunter. I would dig myself an even bigger hole and Larkin wouldn’t appreciate being pulled into a mess.
Without Gray as a distraction, a familiar sensation rippled through me and I tossed the stationery onto the bed.
“Gray?” I called, walking out of the room. “Erik?”
The ripple grew into a wave. Intuition that there were Gods nearby. More than one. Had all three brothers come back to the house?
Hurrying down the hallway, Archer met me at the top of the stairs.
