I went to jab at his temple, but the cuffs stopped me from reaching my goal. Erik’s eyes grew watery as he swatted my hand away. A loud clanging filled the space as the chains hit the bars.
“The goal should be that neither of you should die,” he pointed out, blinking back his tears.
“Well, that seems pretty unlikely, doesn’t it?”
“It doesn’t have to be.”
Erik spun on his heel, and I shifted my position to see the newcomer.
“Dionne,” I said, holding my hands and sweeping them down. “To what do I owe the pleasure? Or should I expect the whole of Elysia to be here and witness my misery?”
She rolled her eyes before addressing Erik. “You don’t have much time left. Hunter’s finishing dinner with Mabel now.”
“I told you to wait and follow him,” Erik replied.
“I needed to speak to Gray.” She turned back to me, gently pushing Erik out of the way. “You need to get out of here. I don’t know what’s happening to her or what will happen, but Archer isn’t happy. He went to see Hunter earlier today, but when he came back… I don’t know. There’s something. He’s quiet, and he’s planning something. He’s asked for my help tonight, which means he’s planning to talk to Quentin.”
“About what?”
“I don’t know. He won’t tell me, no matter how much I ask. I’d withhold my powers from him, but I don’t want to effect Quentin.”
Erik fixed Dionne with a stare. “You don’t trust him?”
“I’m sure you’d agree that it’s difficult to trust anyone at the moment.” She glanced at the floor and back up at me. “You need to get out of here because if we’re all honest, this can only end one way.”
“You’ve been spending time with Andreas,” I said quietly before flicking my gaze to Erik. “Is there truth in that statement, Erik?”
Andreas may never have warmed to his son-in-law enough to have a cosy chat, but if Sloan knew anything, she wouldn’t hide it from her husband. Theirs was a relationship where nothing was off the table.
“It’s true,” he confirmed. “The discontent in Elysia has been brewing for decades. We’ve lost more Gods than we have in a long time. Hunter wants to paper over the cracks and thinks if he gets rid of you and puts Quentin in a higher position, he can stabilise everything. But Andreas doesn’t believe that’s true. The unrest is still growing. There’ll be a war.” Erik ran a hand down his face, looking aged. “With or without you.”
“I’ve been talking to the minor Gods about it,” Dionne cut in. “Getting them to think about it. They don’t understand why Quentin would marry him when she’s been besotted with you.They know Hunter’s twisted her arm. We had her long enough to know what she’s like. They might not be willing to say anything to Hunter when they see him, but they are ready to come together and fight. They refuse to be caught off guard this time.”
If that were true, then this would be for nothing. Breaking my golden girl’s heart. Severing our bond. Elysia always attempted to keep the balance. They would sell their souls to avoid another war. And they waited until I was locked up to decide they had enough.
A scream ripped through me, causing both Dionne and Erik to flinch. The rage that had been bottled up unleashed in the most unbecoming way.
“Gray!” Erik yelled, looking worried as I bashed my wrists against the bars.
I’d done the self-sacrificing thing and it bit me in the ass. Never again would I be selfless, because it got you nowhere. She would never forgive me and I didn’t even have to go this far? Another scream left me.
“Listen!” Dionne yelled, topping my own. “We don’t have time for a tantrum. I’ve been thinking about this, but we’ll have to be quick and careful. I don’t even know if it will work.”
“What is it, Dionne?” Erik asked while I heaved in breaths, feeling wild.
“Gray’s power is chaos,” she started, eyes darting back and forth. “We need to get everyone we can in here.”
I narrowed my eyes. “And what use will that be? I’m not in the mood to be made an exhibition so you all have a reason to rally together and ride into war.”
“We need to pray to you,” she said, ignoring my verbal swipes. “The oleander is contained within the cuffs and the bars, so we can’t get you out. But it’s also not in direct contact with your skin, so it’s not its most powerful. If we pray to you, worshipyou, if I try to get into some mortals’ dreams and get them to pray to you?—”
“You think I’ll have enough power funnelled to me to break out of here?”
“Like I said, I don’t know if it will work, but we’re running out of time and options.”
There was a beat of silence. “When is the soonest we could try this?”
“Tomorrow? I’ll start planting the dreams now and the rest after Archer has spoken to Quentin. It should give me the best chance of getting as many mortals as possible. Erik, you need to talk to the people you trust and get them here tomorrow.”
