“I’ll be outside,” she reassured me.
I gave her a small nod, and she left, aura following her out of the room. Wisps of hope and safety shut behind a door and out of my reach.
I fixed my gaze on Hunter, locking eyes with the God who held all the cards. I never thought it was possible to hate someone as much as I did the man standing in front of me now. But whatever he had to say, I would listen and if there was a chance of getting Gray back, nothing would stop me.
“Quentin,” Hunter started as he took a step towards me.
His tone still held authority, but the edges of it had softened. I was no longer Scott. He addressed me by my name, reminding me more of the God who had placed a ward on me in my kitchen. That night seemed a lifetime ago. And I knew better than to fall for the facade a second time.
I threw up my hands, the rattling of the chains attached to the cuffs ringing out through the room. Even though there was zero chance of me causing any damage, Hunter stopped a few steps away from me.
“Where is he?” I asked, swallowing back the tremble that threatened to taint my words. “Why are you doing this? It’s me you want to punish, so go ahead and punish me.”
There was a colourful history between Hunter and Grayson that spanned centuries. They had been sniping at each other for years without it boiling over into murder. A, potentially naïve, part of me hoped that the instinct to be a protective older brother resided in Hunter, even if it had remained dormant forhis entire existence. That Gray was not his true target. The only thing that had changed was me. I knew the trouble had started when I walked into their lives.
Hunter shook his head, features softening. “I don’t want to punish you, Quentin.”
Even though he denied it, what else would he call this? He’d ripped my soulbound away from me and threatened to kill him. Death was swift. Grief was prolonged, inescapable suffering.
“I want to strike a deal with you.” He pinned me with a stare that made it impossible to decipher his true intentions.
“What kind of deal?”
“The kind that will keep Grayson alive.”
It would have been so easy to throw myself at his feet and accept without hearing his terms. Something inside told me to agree to his conditions without receiving them, but I knew better than that. I may not have been a politician or divine for long, but I knew the caveat that came with an offer from someone like Hunter was bound to be costly. That didn’t mean I would decline it. Keeping Gray alive would be worth it, even if it meant sacrificing my life.
“I’m going to need you to be more specific than that.”
There was a beat of silence. It wasn’t hesitance. It was a calculated quiet while Hunter weighed up his words and kept me teetering on the edge. A power play that he had perfected.
“I want you by my side to help rule Elysia.”
The request was so smooth. So simple. He said it as casually as he might ask if I wanted a cup of coffee. A laugh almost escaped my lips.
“You want me to become a top-tier God?”
Politics was never an avenue I entertained when I thought about my career, but neither was being a demigoddess. It was highly unlikely that he’d allow me to continue my job in the lab, as I’d be too much of a risk to leave on Earth, but it was a smallprice to pay. A seat on the council to monitor me. I could give him that. There were ways to bend the rules to keep in touch with Cassidy and Sophie.
Hunter had less control than me. A chuckle escaped his lips and pulled me back to my senses. With a smile on his face, he advanced towards me again with the same measured steps. My immediate instinct was to back away until the wall stopped our tango. It had only been a few months since Hunter played protector, placing his ward on me and reassuring me he wouldn’t hurt me. If I had known then what I did now, I would have asked him to leave my house and taken my chances with Gray.
The smile on his face grew, knowing that I was a captive audience and my blood ran cold. Hunter raised a hand, and I flinched. No amount of training at Sal’s could prepare me for the violence the Gods exhibited. But the strike never came. Instead, he placed his palm gently against my cheek. The sensation was simultaneously surprising and nauseating and I pushed my head against the wall, trying, and failing, to get some space.
“In a sense.” He stared down at me, eyes moving along my face and taking in every line. The scrutiny made my skin itch and my jaw twitched under his hand. “The only way to grant you that would be for you to marry me.”
There was a moment of silence while the words sank in.
And then I laughed.
I actually laughed.
I couldn’t stop it.
My body shook from the effort. Pure hysteria stemming from the most ridiculous request. Surely Hunter understood how absurd it was to so casually address a marriage between us? It was pure, unfiltered madness.
The hysterical joy was cut short when his hand was replaced by a thick tendril of blue. It swiped me across the face with suchforce that I stumbled several steps across the room with my ears ringing. Reaching out, I tried to steady myself using the table but my knees buckled, bringing me, and a lamp, to the floor.
Hunter towered over me. “I don’t take kindly to people laughing at me. Especially when I am offering them a lifeline.”
