Chapter 3
Persy
I was back at Sebastian’s cell the next day.
Kostas had almost knocked down my front door at midnight, then had paced through my kitchen trying to talk through the anger pumping through his veins that Sebastian’s plates kept coming back untouched.
Kostas had been a resident of Prometheus once, and had never left. He was a child who was forced into the role of a parent far too young, picking up the slack that his parents left when they’d turned their backs on their children and only focused on each other.
After years of shouldering responsibility he was far too young to carry, he moved out and found freedom. However, unsure what his skills were or even his passions, he was roped into a fraudulent scheme that preyed on his skills with people and ended with him costing many people their life’s savings.
He’d elected to come to Prometheus, seeking redemption. He found it.
Now, he spent his days cooking in the morning and trying out new recipes for pastries and cakes and any sweet under the sun in the afternoon. Kostas was the only reason Adrian and the other gods thought I baked.
Kostas had refused to let me tell them he’d baked the things I brought them, too scared of a god’s reaction to his work and nervous it would crumble his confidence. He asked me to pretend I made them, hoping my relationship with the gods would allow for honest feedback.
The only problem—he was simply incapable of making anything bad.
Which was why he was so distraught over Sebastian. He was still working through his innate desire to fix when something wasn’t going to plan. And he couldn’t wrap his head around a situation where Sebastian wouldn’t want to eat at all, only settling on the belief that his food was worse than starvation.
“Kostas,” I said softly. “I’m not sure what’s going on with him, but it’s not your food. He won’t eat at all. Your food is excellent.”
Kostas took in a deep breath, his lips trilling as the air passed. “I’m sorry—it’s just he of all people should have good taste.”
“Don’t apologize,” I responded quickly, coming over to rest my hands on his shoulders. “I understand.” Sebastian was the god of everything beautiful, it wasn’t a stretch that his opinion would matter more to him. “I’m going to talk to him tomorrow.”
Kostas’s eyes immediately went panicked, still a little uncomfortable voicing his anger. “No, no, I wouldn’t want you to say—don’t do anything on my account.”
I shook my head lightly. “He needs to eat, Kostas. I won’t mention you unless you want me to.”
His panic fled and after a few minutes, he felt calm enough to head to bed.
I, however, stayed up most of the night tossing and turning.
When the night ebbed slightly, a sign the rest of the world was entering dawn, I decided that was as good a time as any to pay Sebastian a visit.
He was awake when I turned the corner.
“Good morning,” I said, letting a smile rise to my face. Those two words only seemed to ignite a visceral rage in him. He looked at me like I’d come to deliver his last meal. Funny—seeing as he hadn’t voluntarily ate anything for over a week. “Would you mind coming to grab this?” I asked, nodding down at the coffee mug in my left hand. “I can’t open the door with both of these in my hands.”
Sebastian’s nostrils flared. “The only reason you are in that predicament is because you locked me in a fucking cage.”
I winced before I could stop it. “Well,” I said, resetting my shoulders. He’d made me angry. And committed treason, I had to remind myself. “Like we discussed, this situation was not my first choice. I’m sorry.”
Wow, he did not like when I apologized to him. He looked like he was about to lunge at me.
To distract from the little trickle of something that spread through my chest, I extended the coffee mug towards him. “Please. I’d like to talk to you.” When he opened his mouth, I cut him off. “I’d prefer it if you didn’t express how much that angers you right now. It’s a bit too early for that.”
Sebastian hesitated for a moment, openly examining me. But then he rose on surprisingly steady legs and walked over to me.
It only took him about three strides to—
Oh.
My thoughts were cut off when he reached the bars and I realized that this was the first time we’d stood close to each other. I knew he was taller than me, but I didn’t expect that I’d have to tip my head back that much.
I wasn’t used to people being this much taller than me, and it did something weird to my insides.
What was I supposed to be doing? Right, handing him the coffee.
His hand curled around the ceramic mug before I could move, reaching through the bars. His fingers brushed mine and I almost dropped the mug. He must have run his hands over the blanket before I’d come or something because there was a little shock that ran up my arm when he touched me.
If he felt it, he didn’t show it. He just looked down at the shiny gold mug dwarfed by his enormous hand like it offended him.
“Gold is my favorite color,” I offered as explanation. “I know it’s not technically a color, but I like anything metallic. Especially when it picks up the light and there’s a bit of a rainbow in the reflection. That way I don’t have to pick between the colors.”
Sebastian made an odd sound in the back of his throat, like he’d gone to scoff and then tried to cut himself off in the middle of it.
I left him staring down at the coffee in his hand while I unarmed the door. By the time I made it through, subtly rubbing the prick of blood between my fingers, he’d retreated to the other side of the room.
Fine. But he’d have to get used to the proximity soon or he’d be sleeping on the roof.
“Do you mind if I sit here?” I asked, nodding towards the foot of the bed. “The stool is rather uncomfortable.”
“Yes,” Sebastian said, and my mouth dropped open an inch in relief before he continued. “Yes, I do mind.”
I blinked away my relief, rolling my lips together and plastering on a pleasant smile. People normally responded well to smiling. Sebastian was different it seemed, regarding my smile the way one would regard a sneer.
“Alright,” I said, not wanting to push it. I walked over to the stool and sat down, crossing my legs in hopes that would help the sensation of the wood pressing into my skin. No such luck. “Did you sleep well?”
“Not a fucking wink,” Sebastian shot back. He took a sip of his coffee to punctuate his point, his strong throat working on a swallow.
I could respond in a number of ways. Remind him of what he did to land himself here. Let my anger towards him win and snap back with well, that bed is brand new and quite comfortable, get over it.
Or I could take a different path.
“I didn’t either, to be honest,” I responded, moving right through his rude response. It was hard to maintain your conviction to answer with anger when the person you spoke to wouldn’t react to it. “I don’t think I actually fell asleep. Would you consider this a new day, then, or an extension of yesterday?”
Sebastian just blinked at me.
I gave him the benefit of the doubt, imagining he was thinking of a response. I took a sip of my own coffee, relishing in the creamy, slightly sweet flavor and let him deliberate.
After another two sips, it became clear he had no intention of answering me.
A little rumble of frustration built in my chest. Normally, we’d start working with residents right away. Their initial nervousness and fear of ending up in Prometheus normally gave us an opening, a little window of vulnerability, that we could use to ensure they understood we only meant to help.
I cocked my head at Sebastian, openly studying him. “You know it’s not very nice not to respond when someone asks you a question, right?”
Sebastian chuckled sarcastically. “I’m not a nice man, love. It’s best you learn that now.”
My eyes narrowed on him. I was sure he believed that. And yes, maybe he wasn’t very nice. That didn’t mean he wasn’t kind. I’d be trying to find that side of him first. “You held the coffee for me. Some might consider that nice.”
Sebastian looked downright offended. “You asked me to hold it.”
I nodded, swallowing another sip of coffee. “You didn’t have to listen.”
Sebastian leaned forward, crossing his ankle over his knee and resting his forearms on his leg. Something in the position made the outline of his muscles under his long white shirt seem even more pronounced. Interesting.
“I didn’t really have a choice,” Sebastian said. “Not with you ambushing me.”
He was really intent on seeming like an asshole. “You did,” I said, pushing back. “These bars are quite thick.” I reached up behind me, running my hand over the wide plate of iron. “I could have rested the mug on there. Or held both in one hand. But you helped me.”
Sebastian was visibly frustrated, his lip curling with disgust and his eyes growing dark. It was so visceral, it made me a little nervous. I fiddled with the end of my hair passively to distract from the slight uptick in my heart rate. “You have an incredible ability to spin things into a positive.”
See, that was a compliment. A nice one, I wanted to say. But instead, I settled on, “Thank you.”
The corner of Sebastian’s mouth twitched. I couldn’t figure out if it was an almost smile or if his mouth was going to open in shock. “I just called you naive.”
“I’m choosing to believe you meant optimistic.”
“See,” he said. He’d scooted down the bed. Closer to me. “Naive.”
“No.” I leaned forward on my crossed leg. Even though we were several feet apart, it felt like I was speaking directly into his face. But it was important that he understood this. “Naivety requires ignorance. I’m not ignorant. I may choose to believe that people are inherently good or choose to view things in the best possible light, but that does not mean I am ignorant to the darkness.”
Sebastian let out two breaths before he responded, “Poetic.”
“Thank you,” I said, leaning back with a smile. “Especially coming from you.”
Sebastian ran his hands through his hair and then down over his face. “Stop thanking me.”
Wow, I was really frustrating him.
“No.” I had no plans to stop. I took another sip of coffee then remembered what we’d been talking about. “Anyways, what other nice things have you done for people?”
Sebastian looked at me skeptically. “Are you asking because there’s so few of them, surely I’d be able to remember them?”
A surprised laugh jumped out of me, my lips splitting into a smile. I didn’t think I’d ever see someone get visibly angry when someone laughed, but Sebastian’s raised eyebrow fell back to resting and his jaw pulsed. “However you choose to answer that, I accept.”
There was a moment where I thought I’d gotten to him, that he’d show me a little slice of how his mind worked, but ultimately, he answered. “Nothing I can remember.”
Disappointment curled under my sternum. Baby steps, I reminded myself.
I shook my watch down my wrist, looking for the time. I wasn’t late—surprisingly—but I’d spent more time with Sebastian than I intended to.
I rose, tipping my head back and draining the rest of my coffee. When I dropped the mug, Sebastian was staring at me, his eyes focused somewhere between my face and midriff. I looked down, expecting to find a coffee stain, but my clothes looked fine.
I walked over to Sebastian, extending my hand. His muscles tensed, but he didn’t move as I stepped up right next to him. Even with him seated, his head was almost to my shoulders.
Goodness, this was a new sensation.
“I’ll take that cup,” I nodded to the empty mug in his hand. The whites of his knuckles pulsed once, his grip growing momentarily stronger. “Someone will be by with food shortly. Eat it this time, please.”
Sebastian’s eyes found mine, his head tipping back ever so slightly. “Do you think saying please is going to make me want to listen to you?”
I shrugged one shoulder. “I’d hope so. But I’m asking for my chef, not for me. He’s worried you don’t like his food.”
Sebastian stayed silent, doing nothing but staring at me with that observant expression I was now realizing was commonplace for him. It was like he was examining every little brushstroke of a painting.
If that painting was sentient, it would surely appreciate that attention, but it made me feel itchy and too aware of my body.
“Alright,” I said, feeling the need to break the silence, which was very foreign for me. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Later today or at the end of the week?” Sebastian said, only speaking once my back was turned to him.
I looked over my shoulder at him, then decided to give him just a little taste of his own medicine. I didn’t answer, just gave him a small smile and left to work for the day.