Erik was with Larkin, currently shielding her from the rest of Elysia as they had a private conversation. I’d wait to talk to her about everything that happened. I couldn’t trust myself not tomess up. To not trip over the chaos that had stirred inside of me. And in part, that was thanks to my soulbound.
“You knew,” I said, coming up to her on the dais. “And you didn’t say a word.”
To her credit, Quentin didn’t falter or shy away. “Yes.”
“You were living with him, knowing what he was capable of! You should have told me. You should have told someone.” The anger was thrumming through my veins. The thought of her walking into that home. Sleeping under his roof. My vision was blurring.
When I tried to break our bond and push her towards Hunter, I did it so she would keep her life. I thought he at least understood the value of having her in his corner, and that meant she would be safe. But no one had ever been safe from Hunter. I understood that now.
“I made a promise,” she said.
“It was a stupid promise,” I hissed.
Quentin narrowed her eyes. “You made a promise to Elara and kept it until this day.”
“That was different and you know it.”
“No, it isn’t. You made a promise to a friend, and so did I. Larkin needed my help and she trusted me.”
“And you should have trusted me. I’m here to protect you.”
“I—”
“Did he do anything to you?” I asked, and when Quentin hesitated the nausea rolled in my stomach. “What did he do?”
“Nothing.”
I gripped her arms and pulled her closer to me. “Quentin, I swear?—”
“Nothing. He didn’t do anything to me. I promise you.”
She wasn’t telling the truth. Something wasn’t right. I could feel the fear and the shame that thumped through her with every beat of her heart.
“I know he did something,” I intoned.
She closed her eyes for a moment and took in a deep breath. “He was a little violent. Nothing else.”
I clenched my jaw, regretting every decision I’d made from the moment Hunter put those cuffs on me. If I could, I would have reincarnated Hunter just to murder him all over again. He should have been put through torture before tasting death. In hindsight, it felt like an easy option for him to just cease to exist.
I was pulled from my thoughts when Quentin placed her hands on my cheeks. “Stop it,” she breathed, eyes sliding from my face to the crowd in the room and back again. “It’s over. He’s gone. You need to keep a level head, Gray, because they’re all watching you.”
A level head? How did she expect me to keep a level head?
“Grayson.” Her eyes were back on me, but there was a bite to her tone. “Control your aura. Please.”
The surrounding space was growing darker, and it took all my will to pull it back in towards me.
Quentin reached up and kissed me. “Better. We have a plan to get to the end of all of this. Please stick to it this time.”
There she was again. Her anxiety had disappeared and was replaced with a resilience that I was in awe of. Quentin would talk when she was ready. I would make sure of it. But for now, there were still things that needed to be tied up.
“What would I do without you?” I muttered.
“Let’s hope we never have to find out.”
“Gray.” Ignacio joined us. His usual jovial nature had been replaced with a much more serious facade. “I’m not telling you how to run things, but I don’t think waiting too long is a good idea. The sooner we get things into place, the better for Elysia and Earth.”
“You’re right,” I agreed. “We need to start looking towards our future.”
