I’d also been made redundant from my position and although I’d expected it to sting in a manner similar to Aria, the sharp rejection and embarrassment never came. Instead, there was a sense of relief. Years of bowing and scraping at the top and I thought it would be remedied by moving higher up the ladder. I never thought about how it might feel if I stepped off it entirely. The freedom to no longer perform for the crowd and dilute myself to be somewhat palatable. Instead, I could focus on the only thing that mattered, and she didn’t care how terrible I was.
For the last week, I’d made myself available to her for every question she had. They mainly revolved around Gods and Goddesses she knew very little about. I explained responsibilities and personalities. She made detailed notes and then wandered off, muttering to herself. She was a beautiful chaos in motion.
“Thank you, Malachi,” Quentin said, getting up from her spot on the sofa.
“I should thank you,” he replied. “I’m looking forward to working together.”
I leaned against the doorframe and watched as he leaned in and kissed both of her cheeks before straightening up and heading towards the door. I stepped out of the way, allowing him to pass, and then made my way over to Quentin.
“That’s all of them done?” I asked.
“Not quite,” she said, avoiding my eye. “I have one more spot available.”
“And who is the lucky God or Goddess?”
Quentin looked sheepish, and the question hung unanswered between us. The ripple of chaos hit me and I bit the insides of my cheeks until I tasted the tang of blood. When I said I would do anything for her, I’d shot myself in the foot because Quen really liked to test my patience.
“When will he be here?” I asked, trying to keep the annoyance out of my voice.
“I thought it would be better if I go and visit him,” she replied, looking up at me through her lashes.
“Since when did we make house calls?”
“He hasn’t come to visit, Gray. I’m not sure what he’s thinking or how he’s coping with everything. I should have checked in on him sooner.”
“You had more important things to do.”
She rolled her eyes. “I won’t be long.”
“I’ll come with you.”
“There’s no need.”
“I would like to speak to Archer as well.”
“You’ll need to behave yourself.”
I wrapped a tendril of my aura around her waist and pulled her into me. “You know me. I’m an angel.”
The veil of black materialised around us and when it was gone, we were out on Archer’s grounds. Interesting.
“Gray!” Quen scolded me. “You could have taken us to the front door.”
“Manners have never been his forte.” Archer strode through the rows of colourful tulips, coming towards us with purpose. “You should know that by now.”
“Your security has some issues. We can just waltz in here,” I pointed out. “You might want to get that fixed.”
“I already fixed it, Grayson.”
There was a pause as I let his words sink in. I would never have been allowed on Archer’s property a few days ago. We would have been taken to his front door and gone through the whole charade of being guests who showed up unannounced. Today, I could step into his grounds without a single restriction.
“I wanted to talk to you,” Quentin said, breaking through the awkwardness. “Do you think you could spare me a minute?”
“I’d hardly be able to say no to our esteemed leader.”
Archer walked up the stairs and reached us. My arm stayed possessively around Quentin’s waist even when she was trying to signal for me to leave. It was hard to trust the God of secrets.
“I don’t think there needs to be any airs and graces between us,” she said, cheeks turning rosy.
