Chapter 6 Quentin
Isolation was something I chose as days and nights became indistinguishable.
Food held no appeal, and I pretended to be asleep when any of the others ventured into the room.
Whether they believed I was in a peaceful slumber was up for debate, but no one disturbed my ruse.
What was I meant to say to them? Confirm everything that Erik had probably already told them?
Deal with the pitying looks and platitudes? I couldn’t deal with any of that.
Most of my thoughts revolved around my stupidity in agreeing to work on the E.L.I. project. The unravelling of my life began the moment I signed the contract. I should have taken a postdoctoral research position in some far-flung corner of the globe and things would have been so different now.
These Gods, Gods I didn’t even believe in, had destroyed my life piece by piece. They had taken what I had never offered and left me in ruin.
And yet, I didn’t fully believe that.
My lack of faith had been shaken by the kindness that wrapped its arms around me in the form of Erik and Sloan. It had been splintered by bellyaching laughter provided by Ig. Uprooted and cast out by the pure, intense, and unconditional love Grayson offered.
Grayson.
In all the silence that reigned through my days, I replayed the events that led to my predicament. When I grew tired from the anger, I slowed the memories down and analysed them with precision, falling back into old habits that had served me well.
Grayson was a being who was built on rage, and he rarely had control over it.
Vicious and vile, these were traits he displayed without shame.
But there was another side of him I couldn’t ignore.
A loving and caring side that was dialled by the same intensity as everything else in his life.
And the more I thought about it, the less I believed it was nothing more than a show he put on.
No one could fake love like that, could they?
It was impossible. Despite the vitriol he spewed when I saw him in the cells, some, possibly foolish, part of me became less certain about how much truth was behind the words.
Hope was a dangerous thing. It began as nothing more than a spark that could rapidly grow into something all-consuming. And it was what pushed me to get showered and dressed for the first time in days. I was clearing away the fog in order to make my next move.
Hunter had destroyed my life, and I planned to return the favour.
There was no reason to control my anger, but I had to be cautious about how I unleashed it.
How many times had I been told this was a game?
I assumed I could take to it quickly, but I’d been blindsided. Now I knew exactly what I had to do.
With a final glance in the mirror, I tried to separate myself from the fury that bubbled at the surface as I sat on the edge of the bed and thought about Hunter.
There was no doubt that he would be waiting for this.
For me to require his presence. Within seconds, there was a booming knock that came from downstairs.
Getting up from my spot, I opened the bedroom door and padded down the hallway. Erik’s voice was clear as he argued with Hunter. His distaste for his older brother ran freely. Even Erik couldn’t be polite when it came to someone messing with his responsibilities.
“You had no right to put her in that position,” Erik hissed.
Hunter had caught sight of me as I came down the stairs and smiled. “Perhaps you should let her talk for herself. After all, she is the one who requested for me to be here.”
Erik turned around, brow furrowing. “Scott?”
“Please, Erik. I have something to discuss with Hunter,” I explained as I came off the last step. “Privately.”
Once upon a time, I looked at Hunter in my kitchen and was struck by how well put together he was.
Never a hair out of place or a crease in his shirt.
Perfect. He was a caring protector who offered me solace.
I considered his marriage to Larkin before she showed me the truth of it, and thought of how lucky she was to be paired with him.
But the best monsters were those who knew how to disguise themselves.
“Hunter.” I tried my best to keep my voice level.
“Why don’t we take this to Erik’s study?” he suggested, slipping past his brother into the house.
My eyes flicked towards Erik before I nodded.
Hunter led the way through the bottom floor of the house and into a room I’d yet to explore.
Erik’s study was the same ivory that the house was predominantly painted in with deep red accents.
The upper half of the walls were covered in wallpaper that, on closer inspection, were old wedding invitations.
He was a sentimental God. And this was a fitting place for the conversation that was about to be had.
Hunter stopped in front of a bookcase holding large leather-bound tomes and gave me his attention. “What can I do for you?”
I looked at the man in front of me and felt nothing more than the burning desire to ruin his life. I’d make sure he felt regret for meddling in mine.
“I’ve been thinking about your offer.”
“You still wish to keep my brother alive after all he put you through?”
Something in me faltered. Had Gray told Hunter about our visit? He usually opted to keep his personal life a secret from his big brother.
“He has been spitting feathers since your little visit.” Hunter sniffed, clearly unimpressed by Grayson’s outbursts. “He hasn’t exactly filtered his thoughts.”
I swallowed hard. If I told Hunter that he could go ahead and kill Gray, he would oblige quicker than a heartbeat. All Hunter needed was a credible excuse. I would be the next person who was forced to take responsibility for his actions.
It was pointless denying there was a small part of me that wanted to hurt Gray. He used my vulnerability against me. Brought up my lowest points and sharpened them before stabbing at me. Vengeance would be sweet, but not like this. A death sentence was too extreme.
My throat closed up as I reached for the words I’d been rehearsing. “I’ll agree to what you want on the condition that you keep him alive.”
“You really are a merciful one.” The comment was less of a compliment and more of a bored observation.
“I try.” I was seething but pushed down on the feelings, unwilling to risk Hunter catching on to the truth beneath the surface. Not when everything relied on playing the game better than he could.
When Hunter’s hand moved to his pocket, I flinched again, and he clucked his tongue. “You’ll need to trust me.”
He continued to reach into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. When he opened it, a ring was nestled inside and the bile climbed up my throat. I barely had time to get used to Gray’s ring, no longer sitting on my finger, before Hunter insisted on replacing it.
“I’m glad we could come to this arrangement, Scott. It’s the best decision for the two of us.”
Without warning, he grabbed my hand and pushed the ring onto my finger while I suppressed the urge to be sick.
A large round stone glistened in the centre of a thin band, flanked by two smaller ones.
The weight of my decision currently weighed on my ring finger as I took in the enormity of our agreement.
“We should share the news with the others,” Hunter said.
There was a moment of hesitation. This was not a typical engagement.
Not a joyous occasion that you wanted to share with your loved ones, but a yoke around my neck.
Eventually, I nodded, numb to the sensation, and followed as he walked out of the room and down the corridor.
Everything in Erik’s house felt too bright, and I focused hard to keep my balance as the weight of my decision sunk in.
The sound of multiple voices drifted through the house and fear suddenly settled into my bones.
Once the news was broken, there would be no way to back out of this. Not with my life intact.
“Quentin!” Erik greeted as Hunter ushered me into the room first. His face fell when he saw his older brother. He had clearly hoped Hunter would have left by now, potentially thanks to my orders.
Erik stood up from the sofa as Hunter put an arm around my shoulders. My body stiffened at his touch, but I forced myself to relax. The dark circles were yet to be wiped from under Erik’s eyes and my heart lurched because this would only add to his pain.
“Please tell me you haven’t.” Erik looked horrified. “Quentin.”
“What’s going on?” Larkin asked, leaning forward to stare at us.
“Why would you do this? Gray—”
I cut him off. “Gray made his feelings pretty damn clear, Erik.”
“You’ve lost your mind! There is no way you are that stupid.” Larkin rose to her feet, anger flashing in her eyes.
“How could you agree to marry him?” Erik raged. Red surrounded his body in swathes, reaching out in all directions. Hunter’s blue formed a shield in front of me. The role of protector was something he had perfected when it came to public appearances.
“You want to pretend you care now?” Erik had also latched on to the strange attentive persona he displayed. “I told you to stop this, Hunter! You’re causing too much damage.”
To see Erik so angry only added to the fact that I was now in some warped version of reality. This type of rage was reserved for Grayson. I took it as another thread of evidence that pegged them as related.
Erik turned his fury on to me. “Gray is your bound!”
The comment brought forth a flurry of emotions, but I met Erik’s anger with my own, regardless of the doubts that I’d been experiencing. “Not anymore.”
My statement silenced the room.
“Quentin.” My name was a hiss from Larkin’s lips.
The doubt grabbed me in a chokehold, but I pushed past it. “I’ve made my decision.”
“What did you say to her?” Larkin moved towards us. “What did you do to her?”
Hunter shook his head, maintaining his calm. “I didn’t do anything. Quentin understands what’s on the line. She sees sense where you can’t.”
The tension and anger in the room were palpable. It was a living, breathing entity that threatened to tear us all apart. And Hunter was trying his best to hurtle us over the edge of reason.
His lips twisted into a smirk. “There’s no need to be jealous, Larkin.”
Her eye twitched as she looked at me. “He’ll ruin you. Whatever you think is possible is nothing more than foolish.”
My response never materialised as Hunter took the lead. “We’re not seeking your approval.” His aura stood strong before me as an immovable blue wall. There was no chance he was going to risk his newest prized possession. “We’ve told you, and now I’ll be taking Quentin back to my estate.”
“What?” I was taken aback by the sudden need to move me into his home. It was bound to happen, but I thought I would have a few days to gather my things.
“We can get preparations under way as soon as possible.”
The panic clawed at me, but I told myself this was for the best. This way I wouldn’t need to prolong the game.
Let us get married. At some point, he would release me entirely from the cuffs and the moment he did, I was going at him with everything I had.
Even if he forced me to wait, I would make him pay.
“I’m not letting this happen, Hunter,” Erik said, following us out of the room. “We’ll petition the council.”
“Go ahead, but I’d be careful if I were you, little brother. You don’t want to end up in the same position as Grayson.”
My brow furrowed as I turned my attention to Hunter.
“There’s an upside to having an alliance with the God of secrets,” Hunter continued. “You can’t hide a thing and I’ll make sure to find your deepest and darkest secret and use it against you.”
Archer.
That God could find out anything from anyone. Hunter had been plotting and planning who to keep onside and Archer had been pivotal in each decision.
“I guess we’ll see you at the wedding.”
Hunter’s aura wrapped itself around us properly, and the last thing I saw was Erik’s distraught expression before we were whisked away.