The look on Tobias’s face hardened and one green tendril shoved me away until the backs of my legs hit the bed and I fell onto it.
He left me with his parting words. “Some of us never wanted a war, but Grayson forced our hands.”
There was a shift in the air. A static that you could taste on the tip of your tongue. It was as if whatever had been caged was desperate to finally be released. It set my teeth on edge and made my heart skip in an irregular pattern. Usually, when mortals prayed to us in a congregation, it strengthened us. Our aura shone in an uninhibited glow around us and our power pulsed through our veins. With the cuffs on my wrists, the usual pleasure and satisfaction was traded for an intense pain and discomfort. The ache in my head and the itch under my skin were becoming unbearable.
“He’s not looking great. Little pasty. Sickly Victorian, if you will.”
I didn’t need to look up to know that Ignacio had finally deemed me worthy to visit.
“Fuck you,” I said through gritted teeth, and pushed myself up to my feet with some difficulty. When I looked up, the room was filled with familiar faces that I had been unable to hear enter thanks to the pounding in my ears. “I’ll never forgive you for wasting so much time.”
“You’ll get over it,” he said, unbothered by my anger. “Because you would have done the same.”
And it was true. How could I hold a grudge against him? Ig had only displayed the selfishness that we all possessed and did so unapologetically. If I were to be honest, I would have been worse. Self-preservation and protecting Quentin came above all else, and no logical argument would have convinced me otherwise.
“How is she?” I asked, hoping one face in the room would be able to answer, but there was not a single response.
“No one’s seen her other than a few days ago when Hunter paraded her around lower Elysia,” Larkin eventually said. She looked less than impressed. The disdain for my brother was no longer hidden since their divorce.
Malachi leaned against a wall as he spoke. “Your parents seem pretty convinced she’s not worth the time. Said she’s told them she’s capable of making her own decisions and that Hunter is what she wants. I implore you to have patience with them. This must be a difficult situation for them to be caught in.”
I closed my eyes for a moment, trying not to direct my anger at my parents. They didn’t know her. They’d barely had a moment with Quentin. She was trying to survive, but they were too short-sighted to understand that. Mum was no doubt concerned about what this meant for my future. She was always worried, since back when I left home, that I would never find my feet. Never find someone to accept me with my gifts. She would have taken Quen’s choice as a personal attack.
Dionne shifted uncomfortably to the left of the room, but I caught it as I opened my eyes. Ignoring another wave of discomfort, I fixed my gaze on her. “Dionne. Share with the class.”
She looked up at me with her dark eyes. “We need to get a move on and do this, Gray. I overheard Mabel arguing withHunter. I can’t be sure, but I think he’s planning the wedding for tonight.”
“Tonight?” Erik said, eyes growing wide. “You can’t be serious. I told him I wouldn’t. He hasn’t…” He trailed off.
“He’s not going to waste any more time. He’s planning something,” I said. “Hunter’s never?—”
A steady beat of thunderous footsteps grew louder as they descended into my prison. The tension was palpable, but I shook my head to the audience. Hunter was much lighter on his feet. Still, tendrils of different coloured auras filled the room in anticipation of a fight. The fears were soon eased when Andreas appeared.
“Hunter’s requested Elysia in the square,” he announced. “You won’t have long.”
“He’s going to make a spectacle, and he expects us to be a part of it,” Flynn muttered under his breath.
Andreas approached the bars of my prison. “Are you prepared to do this again? There will be no coming back from this, Grayson.”
I nodded slowly. “Are you ready?”
“I am. I will not stay to be a pawn, but I will help the best I can.”
With Hunter, the rules ceased to exist. He wouldn’t hesitate to use someone’s responsibilities against them, and war was exactly what he would be after. Especially if this plan worked.
“They’ll all go with you?” I asked about the others with the same responsibilities. The minor Gods who looked to him for their lead.
“As many as I can convince. There are some who believe they know better.”
“Glory-hunting bastards.”
A wry smile came across Andreas’s face, making him look younger.
“We really need to hurry,” Dionne called.
Andreas stepped away from the bars and everyone else came into view. The expressions ranged from boredom to apprehension. If this worked, we all knew a war waited on the other side for us. Elysia and Earth would be tipped into chaos, and perhaps that was why my body ached. It was so tangible I could almost taste it.
“I really appreciate?—”
