“Colour me intrigued.”
Larkin turned to me. Her facade was icy, the way it had been before she opened up to me about her past. I was ready for whatever comment she was going to say, but she thought better of it and walked out of the room with Archer on her heels.
“Erik,” I said, pushing Larkin to the back of my mind. “We need to get out there and find him. I need to find him.”
“It’s too dangerous to take you out there,” Erik replied. “You know this.”
There would be many Gods, and Goddesses, that would take my gift from me hoping to win. The prayers continued to keep it amplified, and I wondered where else James had sent the footage of my speech.
“Our plan is out the window. We need to move because if Gray is with Hunter, he is going to need me,” I explained.
Ignacio appeared in the room with us, soaked to the bone and looking concerned. “He’s up on the cliffs,” he told us, heaving in a deep breath. “Hunter’s there.”
“We need to go,” I told Erik, who nodded.
Ignacio was the one who took us there. The orange of his aura enveloping us until we were blind to the world.
When we reappeared at the base of the cliff, I looked at Ignacio. “Why didn’t you take us straight to him?”
“We don’t know what we’re facing.”
“It doesn’t matter!”
From the top of the cliffs, I could see the clouds of blue and black. They collided together like some violent variation of the Northern Lights. I took off at a run, feet slipping through the mud and making every step unsteady.
“Quentin! Wait!” Erik called after me.
“For the love of the Gods.” Ignacio’s voice was growing close.
I urged myself forward, unwilling to let them stop me when Gray could be in danger. This war had no certainties. Chaos reigned, but so did protection. I wouldn’t have put my money on any particular outcome. Not unless I could get involved.
By the time I crested the cliff, I had a clear view of the brothers. They were on the floor, exchanging punches. Their auras didn’t dance with a gentle flow, the way I was used to seeing from Gods and Goddesses. Instead, they were sharp and moved with precision.
When Hunter punched Gray across the face, something inside of me crumbled and a strangled scream ripped from my throat. “Grayson!”
He tipped his head back to look at me before it snapped back towards Hunter. A burning sensation ran through my body, inescapable and searing hot. My steps fumbled and Ignacio was by my side, while Erik continued towards the pair.
“Hunter!” Erik called over the sound of the rain. “Put a stop to all of this!”
Large swathes of red pushed out around Erik, joining the blue and black. The black that was slowly retreating towards its owner.
I pushed myself to my feet as Larkin and Archer appeared.
“It would be too much to ask you to stop making rash decisions. You were told to stay home,” Larkin hissed. She grabbed my arm in a vice grip. “Quentin, Goddess of success, I ask you for your success in this task. Failure is not an option and only you can grant its certainty. Bestow upon me success the likes of which I have never known.”
The sensation of being gutted was violent. A hollow feeling ripped through my chest as she took my gift from me. I expected it would happen. That someone would take it from me. More than once. But I hadn’t expected it to be Larkin without my permission.
“Larkin, we don’t have time for you to wax lyrical,” Archer said as he grabbed Ignacio’s arm. “Ignacio, God of luck, bless me with the opportunity to do what is needed today. Bless me with luck that favours me and my plans.”
Ignacio’s face paled, and he winced as his gift was stolen from him. We held on to each other as Larkin and Archer made their way towards the fight.
“Quentin,” Ig said, looking concerned. “Are you okay?”
“I need to get to Gray,” I told him, starting to put one foot in front of the other.
Hunter had left Gray, focusing on Erik, Larkin, and Archer. I scrambled towards Gray, who was lying motionless on the ground. As I reached him, my stomach plummeted to my feet to see the knife sticking out from his side.
“No. No, no, no!” I said, dropping to my knees beside him. “Gray. Gray, are you okay?”
