Chapter 32
Iused to watch Quentin as she worked in the lab.
It was where my obsession with her started.
There was a confidence about Quen that made her untouchable.
She moved with precision. Calculated her values and scribbled notes on surfaces when she didn’t have her notebook.
Quentin knew she was great, and to be allowed into her orbit made you feel like you were part of something phenomenal.
Now, she had been removed from the lab and into a world that she was still trying to get to grips with.
I understood her concerns about there being too many things and it all moving too quickly.
She had her life on Earth to think of, a nation of Gods to lead and her own threads of trauma that she was trying to untangle.
Despite her fears and doubts, she continued to move with a confidence that only grew as the days passed by.
When she finally caved and said she would need help, I swelled with pride.
Not because I would have a chance to have my say, but because she would allow herself to rely on me.
A woman like Quentin would only depend on you if she saw your worth and trusted you to her core.
To be bestowed that honour was better than any crown or throne in existence.
The house had been filled with congratulatory gifts for my golden girl.
Flowers, chocolates, gems. She barely spared them a glance as she set up a board in the living room with configurations of her inner circle.
Each spot had been filled and erased a dozen times as she tried to balance the council to her liking.
Surprisingly, although I would not tell her I was shocked, Quentin had handled the dismissal of elite Gods who had served in their roles for decades with class and poise.
The shock was only because I judged her by my own standards.
I would have taken great glee in telling Aria she was fired, but Quentin had found the strength to be polite and professional.
The same could not be said for Aria, who shattered multiple things in our home before I kicked her out.
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.
“We do value tradition here, but I can understand that you might want to change some of that.”
“With your help?”
Archer’s eyebrows rose, and he cocked his head to the side. “What a turn of events. Almost killed for a crime I didn’t commit and now being asked to take a spot on the council.”
“I’d like to point out that I never believed you were the one to kill Hunter.”
“No.” His expression was unreadable. “You knew better.”
They held each other’s gazes in a silent deadlock.
Their friendship, if it could be coined as such, was something I would forever fail to understand.
I put it down to the fact that Quentin enjoyed a project and Archer was one that needed a lot of work.
A hopeless case and a miracle that fed off success.
“Why me?” he asked, eventually.
“It’s a selfish reason,” she admitted. “The rest of the council was picked based on what I thought would be a good balance for Elysia and Earth.”
“And me?” His eyes flicked to me with a wicked glint. “I’ve always liked the thought of being your dirty little secret.”
“You,” I said, stepping forward and hissing the word from between my teeth. “Better watch your mouth.”
Archer laughed heartily, and I felt Quentin’s arm on mine in a silent plea. This was why I would have preferred them to break their friendship and stay at opposite ends of Elysia. Joke or not, I didn’t appreciate Archer making comments like that.
“Enough from the two of you,” Quen said, stepping in between us. “Archer, if you’re going to make a nuisance of yourself, then we should just forget about the council.”
“Oh, come on,” he said, rolling his eyes. “If you can put up with him, I’m sure you can deal with me.”
“Gray is my soulbound.”
“And you need me on the council to make sure you can trust everyone around you.”
“Exactly.”
“Hmm.” He hummed and took us both in. “I’m not sure how the others will feel about me being on the council. It’s not exactly a subtle move.”
“I’m not trying to be subtle with this. I’ve never made it a secret that I don’t trust anyone up here. If they’re unhappy with your appointment, then they can leave their post.”
Archer raised his eyebrows. “Well, that’s quite a stance. And a very difficult proposition for me to consider.”
“You’re not obliged, Archer.”
“No, I know that. But I think it would be good for everyone to have some transparency from the top. So, I accept the kind offer.”
Quentin’s shoulders relaxed, and she smiled. “Thank you. I’ll look forward to working together.”
“I’d like a word with you,” I cut in before they could continue any further conversation. “In private.”
“I’ll go take a look at the tulips,” Quentin said, looking uncertain. She turned to me, rising on her toes to press a kiss to my lips. “Behave.”
I tried to pull her back in for another, but she slipped away quickly, wise to my moves.
I watched as she trotted down the stairs and immediately walked between the rows of flowers.
She spread her arms out, tipping her head back so her face was directed to the sun.
A breathtaking sight that I would never tire of.
“You’re drooling. It’s disgusting.”
The comment was enough to pull me back to the matter at hand. Archer was standing there looking mildly irritated by my presence. At least it no longer bordered on murderous.
“If you’re about to read me the riot act about staying away from Quentin, that seems like it’ll be an impossibility now,” he said.
“That wasn’t what I was about to say.”
Archer clucked his tongue. “You know better than to lie to me.”
“It wasn’t what I was going to lead with,” I muttered.
He chuckled and then rubbed the back of his neck. “I hope you know I have no interest in Quentin romantically.”
“I guess old habits die hard with the comments.”
“Something like that. I only ever wanted to protect her. From you.”
“And I assume your position on that has changed?”
“No. Not exactly. But she’s survived a lot worse, so you’re not anything to lose sleep over.”
It irked me that Archer still thought I was some sort of threat to Quen. She was my bound and I wouldn’t hurt her. Perhaps he would accept it once they started working together, and she was a permanent resident of Elysia.
“Look, Archer, this conversation I wanted to have with you wasn’t about Quentin. It was about Elara.”
His faced drained of colour, as it often did when his soulbound was raised. The spark and humour he had possessed moments before had disappeared to be replaced with a guarded look.
“What about her?” he asked, sounding less friendly.
“What you saw… What I did…” I took in a deep breath. “It doesn’t make it right and I don’t expect you to forgive me for it, but I tried to carry out her wishes. I tried to make sure she had a friend with her even in those last moments.”
Archer stared at a point over my shoulder, frozen in time and eyes growing glassy. If this had been Ig, I would have clapped a hand on his shoulder and pulled him into a hug. However, this was Archer and we didn’t foster that type of relationship. I was doubtful that we ever would.
“I never understood your friendship with her,” Archer admitted.
“Hope and chaos. Even now it makes little sense to me, but it worked for you both.” He paused, looking out at Quentin, but not really seeing her.
He was away somewhere in his head. Archer swallowed hard.
“I am grateful that she could turn to you when I couldn’t be there for her. When I couldn’t save her.”
Those words were a punch in the gut. I never realised that Archer also blamed himself for what happened to Elara.
She was his bound. It would have been his natural instinct to protect her at all costs.
I knew how I had felt when Quentin was taken away from me, but our outcomes had been very different, and he lived with his guilt every day.
“No one could have saved her,” I said, feeling my throat tighten.
He nodded his head slowly and locked his eyes with mine. “You did what she asked of you.”
Maybe there was a selfish part of me that hoped for redemption now that Archer knew the truth, but he wasn’t ready to absolve me from my sins any more than I was ready to forgive myself. The mistakes of the past were there to serve as a constant reminder.
Archer turned his head, looking out at Quentin again. She was leaning down to inspect the flowers, brushing her fingers against the petal. Enjoying simple pleasures. He kept his focus on her as he spoke. “If the situations had been reversed, I would have done the same.”
I ground my teeth together to stop myself from saying something I would regret. To think that Quentin would ever be in that position…
This was my penance. Archer and Quentin’s friendship was an echo of mine and Elara’s. I just hoped it would end in a happier fashion.
“Are you two done?” Quen called, using her hand to shield her eyes from the sun.
“All finished, golden girl,” I replied. Taking a few steps past Archer, I held my hand out for her and Quentin walked back to me, taking it and gracing me with a smile.
“If you’ve both completed your business, I’d like to have some peace in my home again,” Archer said, trying and failing to sound light-hearted.
“Sorry for dropping in unannounced,” Quentin said, shooting me a pointed look.
“If you need anything…” I trailed off.
“I’ll be sure to let Quentin know.”