“Leave!”
Archer didn’t need to be told twice. His aura wrapped around him, and he disappeared from the house, leaving me with Hunter.
I would like to say that I wasn’t afraid, but that would be a blatant lie. Everything about Hunter chilled me to the bone, and just when I thought I had seen the depths of his monstrous personality, he managed to surprise me with something more intimidating.
My fists balled as he approached me, gazing at a spot on my cheek that had been throbbing since I picked myself up from the floor. I froze when he reached up, my body becoming stone. He tutted, letting his palm rest against the skin.
“You’ll need to work on your reaction to me, Quentin,” Hunter said as the warmth of his power ran through my face. I couldn’t find it in me to be grateful. I’d have rather sat with a bruise than owe him anything. “We’re a loving couple.”
“It would help if you didn’t throw me down the stairs because of your own paranoid delusions.”
He moved his hand swiftly so it caught my jaw in a painful grip. His plan seemed to be to heal one, give one. “You’ll have to forgive me for the misstep. But if you’d been privy to the bloodshed your kind caused, you’d be just as suspicious.”
When he let go of my jaw, I took a step back to get some space.
“Do you think you’ll make it to your room this time? Or has the morning taken a toll on you and your mind? I’d be happy to escort you.” Hunter asked with an air that said nothing was wrong. As if he really was a loving partner. It terrified me how easily he could switch his personality.
“I don’t think I’ll ever forget where it is again,” I muttered.
Anxiety felt somewhat like chaos, but lacked the same carefree appeal of my old friend. The churning sensation in my stomach was void of the tinge of excitement and my mouth became numb if I gave the notion too much thought.
Something didn’t feel right. The same way that it hadn’t the night I found Quentin laying in the middle of the road. The image still gave me nightmares, but they were usually kept at bay by the fact I refused to let her leave my side. Now that security was no longer there, I was being haunted by the possibilities of her wellbeing. Or lack thereof.
I tried to soothe myself by laying on the floor and reminding myself that this was not our bond. I’d severed that and I no longer had the right to access how she felt or know if she was in any danger. I reminded myself for the millionth time that she was smart enough to recognise when she was in trouble. More than once, since she had met with divinity, she’d managed to wriggle out of difficult situations. It was in her nature, after all,to be a success. And Hunter wouldn’t keep her in her cuffs for long. The pull of her gift would be too much for him to resist.
Images of Quentin played behind my closed eyes. The way she moved and laughed. The flick of her hair as she turned around. How she hid her face after every orgasm, embarrassed by the screams that I coaxed from between her beautiful lips. Her scent was the ghost of a memory and I would have given anything to bury my head in her hair and then between her legs and claim her as mine again. I chuckled to myself as I thought of Quentin’s reaction. She’d castrate me before I had the chance to get near her in any capacity, let alone intimately. If I ever had the chance to be with her again, I would most likely spend the rest of my life grovelling for forgiveness.
I wondered about the possibility of that happening. Of us reuniting. Confidence in my plan was waning. There was too much out of my control. Too many variables that were left in the hands of others. It struck me that this was part of the God complex that Quentin often pointed out. The confidence came from knowing you could manipulate the outcome, but now there was nothing but… faith.
Huh, maybe I needed to be a little easier on the mortals. There was a thought.
My ears pricked up at the sound of footsteps and I turned my head towards the stairs, waiting to see Hunter. It had been some time since our last meeting, and I was certain he was bursting at the seams to wax lyrical about something or other. If he thought I cared for his monologues now, he was under yet another delusion. I was quite literally a captive audience. Nothing more.
There was a small flicker of hope that it could be Archer paying me another visit. As irritating as his presence was, I believed there were a few brain cells between his ears. Dusty and in need of a workout, but I was certain they existed. Maybe something I’d said had penetrated through his lead-lined skulland we could work together temporarily to get out of this situation that was as much his doing as Hunter’s.
I wasn’t delusional enough to think Quentin would find her way down here again, and so my next best hope was Archer.
No such luck. Instead, platinum blonde hair came into view accompanied by wisps of deep red. My little brother had finally found a way to control his temper long enough to come and see me. What a blessing.
“How can you just lay there at a time like this?”
I groaned as Erik came off the bottom step and strode towards me. A God on a mission. Rolling over, I laid flat on my back and stared at the ceiling. “What else do you expect me to do?”
“Something. Anything.”
Sitting upright, I stared up at my brother with narrowed eyes. “Didn’t I tell you not to bother visiting me? I want nothing to do with you.”
“You made that perfectly clear. Good thing I’ve decided not to listen to you.” Erik fixed me with an equally icy stare before shaking his head.
He looked like shit. Pointless being nice about it. The circles under his eyes were dark and his hair was out of place. The guilt swelled for putting him through this and then I remember it wasn’t me for once, but Hunter. This all led back to our big brother.
“You broke her and now she’s going to marry Hunter for some mad reason,” Erik said, his hands around the bars. “You broke your bond and broke her heart, and for what? This was never her fault. What you said was cruel, Gray. I’ve stood by you through everything in your life, but the way you spoke to her. The things you said?—”
“Do you think I wanted to say those things?” I hissed, forgetting that I was trying to contain all this so it couldrun smoothly. “Centuries of being alone and then finding my soulbound and you think I wanted to break it. Break her? Stupidity clearly runs through the family if you’ve settled yourself on those thoughts. Try thinking with the right head, for once in your life.”
“What do you expect me to think? It’s like the whole of Elysia has lost its mind. Hunter won’t let us into the house to get in touch with Quentin. She’s agreed to marry him and you’re lying on the floor as if you have nothing better to do.”
“I’m going to repeat that I believe you and Hunter clearly weren’t around when brains were handed out in the family.” I got to my feet, staring down at him now while anger coursed through my veins. The words I said came out slowly, to make sure there was no room for misunderstanding. “If I didn’t do what I did, then she would almost certainly be dead by now. I’d rather lose my life than Quentin lose hers. Are you able to comprehend that?”
