“Gray?” I called softly.
He raised his head slowly and locked eyes with mine. My heart clenched when I saw the dark bruise on the side of his face. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen him hurt, but he usually healed quickly. With the cuffs, his regenerative abilities, along with the rest of his divinity, was hampered.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
Blue eyes focused on me, a storm that raged with no sign of stopping.
Taking a moment, I steeled my spine. I often relied on Gray to guide the way, but he wasn’t in a position to do that now. I would help us navigate this. Take the lead.
“I’m working on finding a way out of this,” I assured him. “Larkin and Erik. We’re… I’ll find a way.”
There was no plan in place, but seeing him only strengthened my resolve. I knew I would do anything to save him. I’d found my way out of sticky situations here before. It would take some time to convince the others, but as soon as I left I’d get Erik to take me down to lower Elysia.
“I told you to stay away from Archer,” he responded. Gray’s voice was ice and the hair on my arms stood. He hadn’t spoken to me like this since the first time he stepped into my lab.
“I know,” I relented.
“I told you to stay away from him, but you couldn’t help yourself.”
“Grayson—”
“Are you satisfied now?”
I blinked and felt the heat of Erik’s body behind me as Grayson pushed himself to his feet. He swayed before steadying himself.
“I’m in here because of you!” he exploded. “My life is on the line because of you!”
He rushed at the bars, and I stumbled backwards into Erik, who steadied me.
“Gray,” Erik warned.
The anger was akin to what it had been when he was dragged through the facility. Raw, unfiltered, and dangerous. He raised his hands, still bound by the copper cuffs, and slammed them against the bars.
“You did this!” he roared.
My voice lodged in my throat. Shock held it captive, as I could only imagine how much of his aura would have devoured the space between us if he could manage it.
“Grayson,” Erik reprimanded him firmly. “That’s enough!”
“You,” Gray seethed, spitting the word as he turned his attention to his younger brother. “I told you I wanted to break this fucking bond, and you begged me not to.”
That was a punch to the chest, and I winced at the pain that uncoiled so rapidly that I lost my breath.
“All this for a demigoddess,” Gray continued. “I have lost my fucking mind.” His gaze returned to me. “I knew. I knew you would be more trouble than you were worth, but I let myself getcaught up in it all. I lost my damn mind, but all of this is down to you, Scott.”
“Gray, I?—”
“I made myself weak. And for what? The likes of you?”
“You don’t mean that.”
His voice boomed through the halls while mine shrunk to a whisper.
“I wish I’d never laid eyes on you.”
“No.”
There was once a time where none of those words would have affected me. I despised Grayson as much as he did me and I would have matched each of his insults. But then it all changed somewhere along the way. I softened to him, getting to know him and finally falling in love with him. Gray was an ass, but he was mine and treated me well. With him, I was safe.
