Chapter 13
Anxiety felt somewhat like chaos, but lacked the same carefree appeal of my old friend. The churning sensation in my stomach was void of the tinge of excitement and my mouth became numb if I gave the notion too much thought.
Something didn’t feel right. The same way that it hadn’t the night I found Quentin laying in the middle of the road.
The image still gave me nightmares, but they were usually kept at bay by the fact I refused to let her leave my side.
Now that security was no longer there, I was being haunted by the possibilities of her wellbeing. Or lack thereof.
I tried to soothe myself by laying on the floor and reminding myself that this was not our bond.
I’d severed that and I no longer had the right to access how she felt or know if she was in any danger.
I reminded myself for the millionth time that she was smart enough to recognise when she was in trouble.
More than once, since she had met with divinity, she’d managed to wriggle out of difficult situations.
It was in her nature, after all, to be a success.
And Hunter wouldn’t keep her in her cuffs for long.
The pull of her gift would be too much for him to resist.
Images of Quentin played behind my closed eyes.
The way she moved and laughed. The flick of her hair as she turned around.
How she hid her face after every orgasm, embarrassed by the screams that I coaxed from between her beautiful lips.
Her scent was the ghost of a memory and I would have given anything to bury my head in her hair and then between her legs and claim her as mine again.
I chuckled to myself as I thought of Quentin’s reaction.
She’d castrate me before I had the chance to get near her in any capacity, let alone intimately.
If I ever had the chance to be with her again, I would most likely spend the rest of my life grovelling for forgiveness.
I wondered about the possibility of that happening.
Of us reuniting. Confidence in my plan was waning.
There was too much out of my control. Too many variables that were left in the hands of others.
It struck me that this was part of the God complex that Quentin often pointed out.
The confidence came from knowing you could manipulate the outcome, but now there was nothing but… faith.
Huh, maybe I needed to be a little easier on the mortals. There was a thought.
My ears pricked up at the sound of footsteps and I turned my head towards the stairs, waiting to see Hunter.
It had been some time since our last meeting, and I was certain he was bursting at the seams to wax lyrical about something or other.
If he thought I cared for his monologues now, he was under yet another delusion.
I was quite literally a captive audience. Nothing more.
There was a small flicker of hope that it could be Archer paying me another visit.
As irritating as his presence was, I believed there were a few brain cells between his ears.
Dusty and in need of a workout, but I was certain they existed.
Maybe something I’d said had penetrated through his lead-lined skull and we could work together temporarily to get out of this situation that was as much his doing as Hunter’s.
I wasn’t delusional enough to think Quentin would find her way down here again, and so my next best hope was Archer.
No such luck. Instead, platinum blonde hair came into view accompanied by wisps of deep red. My little brother had finally found a way to control his temper long enough to come and see me. What a blessing.
“How can you just lay there at a time like this?”
I groaned as Erik came off the bottom step and strode towards me. A God on a mission. Rolling over, I laid flat on my back and stared at the ceiling. “What else do you expect me to do?”
“Something. Anything.”
Sitting upright, I stared up at my brother with narrowed eyes. “Didn’t I tell you not to bother visiting me? I want nothing to do with you.”
“You made that perfectly clear. Good thing I’ve decided not to listen to you.” Erik fixed me with an equally icy stare before shaking his head.
He looked like shit. Pointless being nice about it. The circles under his eyes were dark and his hair was out of place. The guilt swelled for putting him through this and then I remember it wasn’t me for once, but Hunter. This all led back to our big brother.
“You broke her and now she’s going to marry Hunter for some mad reason,” Erik said, his hands around the bars.
“You broke your bond and broke her heart, and for what? This was never her fault. What you said was cruel, Gray. I’ve stood by you through everything in your life, but the way you spoke to her. The things you said—”
“Do you think I wanted to say those things?” I hissed, forgetting that I was trying to contain all this so it could run smoothly.
“Centuries of being alone and then finding my soulbound and you think I wanted to break it. Break her? Stupidity clearly runs through the family if you’ve settled yourself on those thoughts.
Try thinking with the right head, for once in your life. ”
“What do you expect me to think? It’s like the whole of Elysia has lost its mind. Hunter won’t let us into the house to get in touch with Quentin. She’s agreed to marry him and you’re lying on the floor as if you have nothing better to do.”
“I’m going to repeat that I believe you and Hunter clearly weren’t around when brains were handed out in the family.
” I got to my feet, staring down at him now while anger coursed through my veins.
The words I said came out slowly, to make sure there was no room for misunderstanding.
“If I didn’t do what I did, then she would almost certainly be dead by now.
I’d rather lose my life than Quentin lose hers. Are you able to comprehend that?”
I went to jab at his temple, but the cuffs stopped me from reaching my goal. Erik’s eyes grew watery as he swatted my hand away. A loud clanging filled the space as the chains hit the bars.
“The goal should be that neither of you should die,” he pointed out, blinking back his tears.
“Well, that seems pretty unlikely, doesn’t it?”
“It doesn’t have to be.”
Erik spun on his heel, and I shifted my position to see the newcomer.
“Dionne,” I said, holding my hands and sweeping them down. “To what do I owe the pleasure? Or should I expect the whole of Elysia to be here and witness my misery?”
She rolled her eyes before addressing Erik. “You don’t have much time left. Hunter’s finishing dinner with Mabel now.”
“I told you to wait and follow him,” Erik replied.
“I needed to speak to Gray.” She turned back to me, gently pushing Erik out of the way.
“You need to get out of here. I don’t know what’s happening to her or what will happen, but Archer isn’t happy.
He went to see Hunter earlier today, but when he came back…
I don’t know. There’s something. He’s quiet, and he’s planning something.
He’s asked for my help tonight, which means he’s planning to talk to Quentin. ”
“About what?”
“I don’t know. He won’t tell me, no matter how much I ask. I’d withhold my powers from him, but I don’t want to effect Quentin.”
Erik fixed Dionne with a stare. “You don’t trust him?”
“I’m sure you’d agree that it’s difficult to trust anyone at the moment.” She glanced at the floor and back up at me. “You need to get out of here because if we’re all honest, this can only end one way.”
“You’ve been spending time with Andreas,” I said quietly before flicking my gaze to Erik. “Is there truth in that statement, Erik?”
Andreas may never have warmed to his son-in-law enough to have a cosy chat, but if Sloan knew anything, she wouldn’t hide it from her husband. Theirs was a relationship where nothing was off the table.
“It’s true,” he confirmed. “The discontent in Elysia has been brewing for decades. We’ve lost more Gods than we have in a long time.
Hunter wants to paper over the cracks and thinks if he gets rid of you and puts Quentin in a higher position, he can stabilise everything.
But Andreas doesn’t believe that’s true.
The unrest is still growing. There’ll be a war.
” Erik ran a hand down his face, looking aged. “With or without you.”
“I’ve been talking to the minor Gods about it,” Dionne cut in.
“Getting them to think about it. They don’t understand why Quentin would marry him when she’s been besotted with you.
They know Hunter’s twisted her arm. We had her long enough to know what she’s like.
They might not be willing to say anything to Hunter when they see him, but they are ready to come together and fight.
They refuse to be caught off guard this time. ”
If that were true, then this would be for nothing. Breaking my golden girl’s heart. Severing our bond. Elysia always attempted to keep the balance. They would sell their souls to avoid another war. And they waited until I was locked up to decide they had enough.
A scream ripped through me, causing both Dionne and Erik to flinch. The rage that had been bottled up unleashed in the most unbecoming way.
“Gray!” Erik yelled, looking worried as I bashed my wrists against the bars.
I’d done the self-sacrificing thing and it bit me in the ass. Never again would I be selfless, because it got you nowhere. She would never forgive me and I didn’t even have to go this far? Another scream left me.
“Listen!” Dionne yelled, topping my own. “We don’t have time for a tantrum. I’ve been thinking about this, but we’ll have to be quick and careful. I don’t even know if it will work.”
“What is it, Dionne?” Erik asked while I heaved in breaths, feeling wild.
“Gray’s power is chaos,” she started, eyes darting back and forth. “We need to get everyone we can in here.”
I narrowed my eyes. “And what use will that be? I’m not in the mood to be made an exhibition so you all have a reason to rally together and ride into war.”
“We need to pray to you,” she said, ignoring my verbal swipes.
“The oleander is contained within the cuffs and the bars, so we can’t get you out.
But it’s also not in direct contact with your skin, so it’s not its most powerful.
If we pray to you, worship you, if I try to get into some mortals’ dreams and get them to pray to you—”
“You think I’ll have enough power funnelled to me to break out of here?”
“Like I said, I don’t know if it will work, but we’re running out of time and options.”
There was a beat of silence. “When is the soonest we could try this?”
“Tomorrow? I’ll start planting the dreams now and the rest after Archer has spoken to Quentin. It should give me the best chance of getting as many mortals as possible. Erik, you need to talk to the people you trust and get them here tomorrow.”
“When?”
“That’s the tricky bit. We need to make sure Hunter doesn’t find out. Can you be on standby and as soon as I know he’s busy, I’ll come to you and we can make our way here?”
“That sounds like a lot of risk,” I pointed out, uncomfortable with how many holes this plan had.
“I can’t think of a better way of doing this.”
“Fine.”
“Erik?”
My little brother nodded slowly. “We’ve got one shot at this. We can’t mess it up.”
Too many uncertainties. Too many variables out of my control. But if I had my powers, there was a good chance that I could tip all the maybes into yeses.
Looking at Erik and Dionne, I felt the weight of the next few hours settle heavily on my shoulders. “That means we have to get me out of here and start a war.”