Chapter 18 Grayson
The chaos that ensued was one that I revelled in.
Hunter had finally popped the cork on the bottle that had been threatening to burst for decades.
The Gods wouldn’t be happy until blood was spilled, and it was fine by me if they wanted to paint me as the bad guy.
There wasn’t much they could do when I finally got rid of my brother and left them with no other choice but to listen to me.
Though, judging by the way the minor Gods had rallied, many of them had come to their senses and realised Hunter wasn’t the saint he portrayed himself as.
“You’ve made the biggest mistake of your existence, Grayson,” Hunter bellowed.
Around us, Gods and Goddesses unleashed their auras.
It was a frighteningly bright mixture of colour and power.
While some stayed firm, using their gifts to attack one another, others had disappeared—whether out of cowardice or strategy, I didn’t know and I couldn’t honestly say I cared.
The rest of the Gods meant nothing to me.
I was only after one. I was not interested in war, just a clean and simple murder.
Trust the rest of Elysia to take my clear objective and make it into a scene.
If anyone accused me of being dramatic again, I would point them to this time in our history.
Unleashing my aura around me, I let the black tendrils reach out, stretching and curling in the air. “The only mistake I ever made,” I told Hunter, “was trusting you. You never had my best interests at heart. You only cared about yourself. You still only care for yourself.”
“I wanted the three of us to build something that could be heralded for an eternity. Brothers at the dawn of a new era. We would never have to worry about disappearing into the ether. Ceasing to exist the way the others have.”
“Yes, and how has that worked out for you?” I asked, approaching him.
“The demigods are gone and we are disappearing at an alarming rate. Ceasing to exist because mortals no longer have faith. It did us no good. And now you want to blame it all on me? Really, Hunter, a bit more foresight might have helped rather than these half-baked plans. I’m sick of hearing the entirety of Elysia bitch and moan about how you never seem to follow through on all your plans.
Empty promises from a fraud no longer seem to have the impact. ”
“You are the fraud,” Hunter spat back at me. “What is it, Grayson? Do you want us all to believe that you are some reformed character thanks to your little half-breed?”
My blood boiled as he dared to bring her up. “Don’t you dare speak about Quentin like that.”
“I told you, she has her uses. I’m not about to let her go to waste.”
“Where is she?”
“Safe and sound back at mine. She knows better than to get involved in all of this.” A smug smirk tipped the corners of his mouth upwards. “Not unless I force her to.”
It was curious that my parents named their eldest Hunter and that he would go on to live up to his namesake.
He stalked and hunted Gods and Goddesses for his collection.
What was the council if not his own personal cabinet of trophies?
A selection of gifts that could be called upon when he needed them.
How proud he was to have appointed us all to our positions, and we were only too happy to accept, blind to the horrors that were ahead of us.
I lived with my choices every single day. I questioned why I never trusted my gut and pushed back against Hunter when it mattered the most. That was my burden to bear. I was not about to let Quentin suffer the same consequences. Not when she barely understood the enormity of what she was.
“Stay away from her,” I warned him.
“Why would I do that? After all, she’s my fiancée.”
One tendril of my aura struck the ground between us, causing a tremor that took Gods off their feet and a crack in the pretty paving of the square. Hunter’s aura wrapped around him like a cocoon before he disappeared from sight.
In a split second, I followed him. Unsurprisingly, I landed outside his property. Of course he would have changed the permissions on his home to make sure no one else could enter. Balling my fist, I hammered on the door.
“Hunter!” I yelled. “Get out here. For once in your life, stop being a coward and face me.”
There was nothing. No movement. No sign of his aura. Just silence and nothing more. I hammered on the door again, wanting a reaction. Needing him to get out here so we could finish this feud. I would have brought the building down to its foundations if it wasn’t for one thing…
“Quentin!” I called out. “Quen!” Nothing. And that was the silence that continued to drive me to the brink of insanity. “Quentin!”
“Gray.” Erik appeared by my side. “This is pointless. We need to regroup and figure out the best way to handle this. He won’t come out. He’ll be planning, and we need to do the same.”
I looked between my younger brother and the door that hid my soulbound. There was a time when I would be able to feel her presence, but now there was emptiness. Breaking our bond had ruined my chances of knowing she was okay. That she was safe.
“Gray,” Erik implored. “We need to go.”
“Okay,” I said, finally making my decision. “Head back to mine. I’ll join you soon.”
“Where are you going?”
“This war is partially my fault. I won’t let them fight it alone.”
“You don’t—”
“I won’t abandon them when they didn’t abandon me,” I explained to him. “And we’re going to need all the help we can get because Hunter has an ace.”
Erik’s face paled as he understood what I said. The odds were stacked against us, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t fight until we had nothing left. And Gods were prideful beings, which meant surrendering was not an option. I only hoped that I would not have to meet Quentin on the battlefield.