Chapter 14
Sebastian
Of fucking course, the one chance I had to tease a blush out of Persy was interrupted by the harbingers of Death themselves.
At first, I thought it was just Rose coming to ruin my day, but apparently she had her husband in tow.
Those two were far too cheery to be the god and goddess of the Underworld. They were so … smiley. Particularly around each other.
Dominic’s face wasn’t built to smile. He’d spent the better part of his life scowling at everything that crossed him—which was essentially everything that came within his line of sight.
Until he lost his mind, married Rose, and decided that smiling seemed alright.
“Hello, Sebastian,” Rose said, looking at me with a passive, if not kind, expression like I hadn’t set her up to be the scapegoat for any fallout from my overthrow attempt. There were a lot of unsettled feelings I had towards that fact.
If I was admitting it to anyone, even myself, I was admitting it to Persy first.
The thought of that menacing ball of sunshine sent another wave of heat through my blood. I’d failed miserably in my attempt to keep the obvious appreciation I had of her beauty apart from any attraction.
That plan had gone up in a spectacular number of flames. I was lost to it the second she stepped in front of a piece of art. It was then that I realized anything I could use my power to create paled in comparison to her.
It was a wildfire burning through me, so intense I forgot that I was supposed to be keeping myself in check. Instead, I’d all but backed her into a wall, telling her how insanely beautiful she was.
There was something about seeing her lock-up around that woman who had given us the tour that made me feel deeply unsettled. I could tell that she was uncomfortable, even a little snippy, and my fucked-up brain wanted to assume it was because she was jealous.
I wasn’t ignorant. I knew when people were flirting with me, and there was no mistaking the suggestive tone in that woman’s voice.
It was that thought that had be abandoning my conviction to keep myself far, far away from her. I just hadn’t accounted for the fact that I would feel horrifyingly settled around my own work, a reminder of a time where I would have admitted I was happy.
Even looking at Afterlife, a tribute to Penelope and a silly hope that I’d experience a place like that one day, didn’t make me viscerally angry. It just made my focus zero in on Persy, bathed in the bright sun she deserved to be around, and lose my fucking mind.
At least I had my answer about Niky. I knew my old friend well enough to know that he wasn’t that much of an idiot. If Persy wasn’t used to men telling her she was beautiful, there was no way she was in a relationship with him.
There was no small part of me that was disturbingly happy about that.
I could appreciate Persy the way she deserved. I had no right to, but the thought was there regardless.
There was no time to focus on that thought, not when my instincts were telling me that a threat was about to jump out of the bushes and attack me. Thankfully, I knew that Dominic couldn’t kill me.
He certainly looked like he wanted to.
“Hello, Dominic,” I said, unable to keep the grin off my face. He lunged toward me, only stopping when his wife stepped in between us.
I rolled my lips together to trap in a smile. Remorse for setting Rose up or not, it would never not be funny to fuck with him.
I could see Rose reach behind her, presumably to grab for her husband’s hands. Right as I was going to make a comment about it, Persy stepped up beside me, pressing so close I could feel the electricity rolling off her.
Well, that was new. I’d never felt her power that close to the surface before.
“Hi,” Persy greeted, her voice as sweet as ever. “How are you two?”
Rose smiled at her, her hellfire green eyes glowing brighter. “We’re good. How are you doing?”
I didn’t even have to look at Persy to know she was smiling. “We’ve had a lovely morning. Then we just got here a little while ago.” Her sentence trailed off on an uptick, a question clear in her tone as she looked up to me.
A hoarse grunt was the only thing I could manage. I didn’t think it had fully dawned on me how much time we’d been spending together until then. Nor how much I didn’t hate it.
“Well,” Rose said, drawing out the word as her gaze bounced back and forth between Persy and I. “That’s good to hear. Do you mind if we steal you for a second?”
“What for?” Persy said, her body leaning in a tad closer to mine then resetting.
Dominic crossed his arms over his chest, rolling out his neck. I’m sure this pained him beyond measure. “We appre—” he broke off, clearing his throat. “We appreciate the list you provided, Sebastian.”
I scoffed loudly. “That hurt you to say?”
“Yes,” Dominic bit back. Now I understood why Persy loved to tease me about my aversion to gratitude. This was fucking hilarious.
“You were saying?” I drawled dramatically.
Dominic flipped me off, but continued. “We’ve been running through the list, making sure everyone knows that this shit isn’t starting back up.” I fought another scoff. I bet that was going just fine. “Most people get the message and have moved on to lick their wounds, but there are a few that are posing problems.”
Close family members, I’d guess. “Who is it?”
“I believe he’s your uncle. By marriage,” Rose returned, her gaze studying me intently.
I had a few of those, seeing as my father was one of seven siblings, but I knew exactly who she was talking about. He was married to my aunt Ariana and they both thought they were walking into fame, wealth, and power the second I took over.
Powerful motivators, those were.
“Andrew is pitching a fit, I assume?” He was probably trying to rationalize with them, convincing them that he was a threat. Good man.
Rose nodded, smirking. “We figured if he heard it directly from you, he’d give it up and realize this is hopeless. We are currently at the stage where he says nothing but I’ll win, you’ll see over and over—whatever that means.”
I froze up, disgust building over my tongue. “Something my father used to say. Apollos will win, you’ll see.”
I didn’t realize until a breath too fucking late that I’d verbalized the thought that had crossed my mind, letting everyone in on something I hadn’t ever planned to repeat. Fucking hell.
It was Persy who filled the silence. “I think that’s a good idea, Rose. Sebastian, what do you think?” When she turned to me and found me already looking at her, she startled a bit, her head moving back in surprise.
She did that. Every time. I wouldn’t be the one to explain that I was staring at her more often than not and she should get used to it.
“I think he’ll fuck off if I promise to pay him in Apollo antiques.” Blackmail was far preferred to torture of any kind. Less messy.
Persy smiled, a genuine quirk of her lips that made my heart hit my sternum painfully. She found me funnier than she was willing to admit, but I was okay with her secret smiles for now. “I think it would be really appreciated.”
Ah, so this was a test then. I’d probably score enough brownie points to finance a bakery with Adrian if I helped with this. It wasn’t even the barest lift on my part.
It was easy, and yet I had the urge to say no.
It was so ingrained in me, so much so that I’d likely have just said it without a second thought. Now, there was something stopping me. A slight hesitation where I paused to consider whether that was what I really wanted to say.
And, unfortunately, I didn’t care for the image of Persy having to report to her brother and say that I’d refused to help tell an uncle I’d never liked to fuck right off into the sunset.
Actually, now that sounded rather appealing.
I inhaled deeply, a bit of Persy’s sweet perfume assaulting me, and turned back to Rose and Dominic. Rose looked as curious as ever, but now Dominic was donning a fascinated look that made me want to punch him.
It was one of those oh, I see looks that made people look pedantic and annoying.
He didn’t know shit about being locked in a house with a little torture device in the form of a beautiful woman.
“Where is he?” I asked, rolling my shoulders back to get over the tightness building in my chest.
“Dragged him down to Purgatory,” Dominic said, smiling like it was a fond memory. Probably was, the fucking psychopath that he was.
It said nothing about my character that I also found that image worthy of a chuckle. Maybe even a laugh.
“I can deal with him,” I said. “Now, I assume? Since you barged in here.”
“We interrupting something?” Dominic asked, raising an eyebrow doubtfully.
I was halfway to telling him yes asshole when Persy responded, “I was hoping to have a few more hours here, but this is important.”
She wanted to spend more time in front of my art and with me?
Yeah, Dominic was fucking interrupting.
“Again, we’re thankful,” Rose said, gathering a portal behind her. “If you’ll come with us.”
Moments later, we stepped into some distant house in Purgatory—the Underworld’s only city, straddling both the land of the living and the dead. The house was well kept, but simple, mostly dilapidated grays save for my uncle sitting on the worn couch in a bright yellow suit.
He looked like he was attempting an impression of a flattened banana.
“Ah, see I knew you would come for me,” my uncle said when he saw me, standing and throwing his arms wide.
I stood in front of him, arms crossed over my chest and refusing to greet him. “You really thought I would come bail you out?”
My uncle’s face fell in confusion. “Is that not what you’re doing?”
I laughed incredulously, “Oh, no, no, no. Not to save you.”
“Go ahead and sit back down, Andrew,” Dominic said, his god voice on full display. My uncle wisely plopped back down. Shit, I hadn’t heard that in a while. It was chilling.
I’d chosen the right side. If he was in charge of my torture for the rest of eternity, that would have been … well, he would have certainly enjoyed it.
My uncle looked at me, brows drawn together. “You are with them?” He was really trying to audition for a leading role in a play with that level of drama.
I stepped forward, slightly to my left. Right in Persy’s line of sight. He didn’t need to look at her. “I am,” I said. I was only acting confident and reformed because I really didn’t want to have to work this asshole into my estate. Not one ounce of Apollo deserved to be in his hands. If I could convince him I was all goody goody now, maybe he’d fuck off into oblivion on his own.
Andrew’s eyes narrowed, like he was trying to figure out whether I was full of shit.
“You won’t find me pretending,” I said, snapping that line of thought clear off. “This whole thing is over. You’d do well to listen.”
Andrew slid a sneer in Dominic and Rose’s direction, unclear which one of them he was particularly disgusted with. Dominic lunged at him while Rose smiled cruelly, both reacting like they would kill him for disrespecting the other.
That actually checked out for them. I guess I could be … happy for their relationship. I didn’t like death. It was messy and had a disturbing lack of sunlight associated with it. If a love struck marriage was the way to save either of them from an early grave, then I guess it was cute.
Or something.
“I must say, I’m deeply upset to find you’ve abandoned this,” Andrew said, lacking any of the fire necessary for true passion. So, it was money,then.
I dragged both my hands down my face. “How much?”
Andrew flinched, the move obviously forced and coming a second later than any natural reaction. “That is an incredibly rude question.”
“I don’t give a fuck,” I snapped back. There were feelings I’d long repressed about the role he and countless other people who had twenty years on me played in forming me into the leader they wanted. I didn’t have plans to unlock those feelings in front of everyone, so I clamped down, rebuilding the dam that held it at bay. “How. Much?”
Andrew seethed, his nostrils flaring. “You’re lucky I can be bought. Others won’t give it up this easily.”
So there were others resisting, huh? What idiots. “Tell me who, and I’ll double whatever you ask. Who knows, maybe there’s a villa in your future, too.”
It was sloppy negotiating, but I had enough money to make him go away and give Persy something to work with.
Andrew’s knuckles went white. “You know exactly who I’m talking about. I’ll still take that offer, though.”
Fucking Fates, I knew she was going to be a problem. His wife, though separated for many years, was the definition of stubborn. All fire, zero finesse, and a whole lot of misplaced conviction. To her credit, her sister, my mother, had made a lot of pretty promises about what awaited her when her nephew became king.
Too bad my mother was dead and I had no intention of honoring those promises.
I walked over to Andrew, dropping into a crouch so I could look him in the eye. He needed to know how deadly serious I was about this. I may not have been in control of the way this conspiracy was built, but I sure as shit could be the one at the helm of the ship destroying it. “You will get nothing unless I will it. You will go back to Ariana and tell her and her little band of friends that they have no ally in me. If they want to try their hand at a human led coup against a god who the public fucking adores, they can go right ahead. I’ll wave them down to the Underworld with a smile on my face.”
Over the course of speaking, I’d felt my power kick in. I hadn’t intended it to, but it wouldn’t be rejected. If my power of truth made Andrew understand that I was not, and never would, lie about this anymore than I already had, then so be it.
“You do that, and I’ll consider letting you retire on my payroll,” I said, letting the truth burn into his skin.
“And if I don’t?” Andrew gritted out, like he’d actually felt the hot iron melt his skin.
I smiled cruelly. “I have no problem throwing you into the Styx myself. I’m sure our lovely gods of the Underworld wouldn’t mind.” I turned over my shoulder to find both Rose and Dominic watching with small smiles on their faces. “Would you?”
“Not in the slightest,” Dominic said, sounding rather cheery.
“Have a nice swim,” Rose said, smiling wide
I nodded once. Good, that was settled. That actually went surprisingly—
“And who would you be?” Andrew said, eyes on Persy. When I’d crouched down, he got a perfect view of her.
Fuck.
“You know who I am,” Persy said, speaking with the tone she would use with a child she adored, not my fuckhead uncle.
“Ah,” Andrew said, snapping his fingers together. “I could spot that Jupiter arrogance anywhere. What are you doing here with my nephew?”
I stood, blocking his view of her. Shame, hotter and uglier than I’d ever known, burned my throat. This was my family.
She had a beloved king as a brother and parents with the cutest fucking love story on the planet.
I had … Andrew, betraying his own wife for a check. Parents who were dead and hadn’t gotten a single tear from me.
Persy calmly stepped around me, willingly entering my uncle’s space. I had to curl my fists to stop myself from picking her up and dragging her away from him. “Thank you for passing along the message to your wife,” she said with an easy smile.
Andrew blinked, one, slow drop of his eyelids that made his eyes look like they were about to bug out of his head. Yeah, been there.
Though if he was thinking half of what I was thinking when Persy first stepped into my cell, I was going to fucking kill him.
Persy clasped her hands in front of her body, turning to Rose and Dominic. “Are we done here?”
Dominic was busy sneering at my uncle—which I appreciated—leaving Rose to respond. “We are. I think Andrew understands what needs to be done or bye bye money, right?”
My uncle nodded, contempt all over his face. He could hate it, but it didn’t change.
“Great,” Persy said, her smile widening. There was something different about this one, though. A little more tense. “We will see you later.”
My eyebrows were on their way up when Persy stepped forward and grabbed my hand. I was too distracted by the fact that we were touching, really touching, for the first time to pay any mind to my surroundings until we stepped right through a portal into the main marketplace of Prometheus.
It was the lack of light that I noticed first, Prometheus already in the middle of a mild sunset even though it was mid-afternoon. At least it was a little later than it was last week.
When I recovered to the shift in my surroundings, I looked down to find Persy panting like she’d just gone for a run. “Am I missing something here?”
“Huh?” Oh, that sound was far too breathy for my comfort.
I bent down in search of her eyes. After a moment, she lifted her eyes to mine. “You have plans.”
I looked down at my watch. “In two hours.” I’d promised to meet Penn at three.
“Yeah, well, I was over it,” Persy said, snapping for the first time since I’d known her.
My confusion gave me the opportunity to pause and understand what she’d really said, stopping my instinct to bite when snapped at. “Was my uncle making you uncomfortable?” I gritted out, the words barely making it past my clenched jaw.
Persy rolled her shoulders back, crossing her arms over her chest. “No.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I’m not.”
I couldn’t help but smile. Not to mention the fact that my hand was still buzzing from where she’d held it. Once that door had been opened, my mind was running wild with opportunities.
None of which would ever be fulfilled. I’d sooner launch myself into the nearest dense forest from above than come onto her.
She was responsible for me. I wouldn’t make her job harder—or, fuck, more uncomfortable—by crossing that boundary.
There were certain thoughts that would be locked away forever. But she’d grabbed my hand. Maybe it was … alright, friendly even, to place my hands on her shoulders.
It was to prove a point after all. It was happening before I could stop it. I laid my hands on the curve of her shoulders, immediately assaulted by the soft texture of her skin, the heat of it. Luckily, my mouth had a habit of running even when my brain hadn’t commanded it to. “Persy, love, what just happened? We ran out of there with our tails on fire.”
Not that I wasn’t eager to get her away from my uncle, but…
Persy was eerily still, save for her mouth turning down in a frown. At even the barest chance that was about the fact I’d touched her, I released my hands from her shoulders, dropping back down between us.
Persy turned her frown down to follow them, the curve deepening for a second, before she looked back up. “I didn’t like the way he was speaking to you. He’s your family.”
I smiled ruefully. “You’ll learn to expect that with mine.”
“Were your…” Persy started again. “Were your parents like him?”
A sigh fell from my chest, deep and heavy. “Do you want the honest answer?”
“Always,” Persy said softly, yet she looked like she might have been lying.
“Worse.” My parents were cruel, there was no way around it. I had promised myself that I’d never end up like them, drawing the line at the physical violence that they doled out so easily.
Then a crossbow got involved and I hated myself more than any other moment in my life.
Persy’s face fell. “This isn’t pity, I swear. I’m just sad that your uncle would fold like that over money.”
“It’s an incredibly powerful motivator.” I hadn’t expected much more from Andrew.
“Still,” Persy said, but didn’t finish her sentence, because Nikolas was approaching us, eyes on us like he caught us making out in a closet.
Not sure where that image came from, but it was rather hard to forget about once it materialized. Persy’s face would be all flushed, her forehead falling to my chest to cover her embarrassment at being caught, all while I reached up to cradle the back of her head, turning my shoulder to hide her.
Fuck.
Well, one way to kill that image was Nikolas bounding up to us. “You were gone all morning.”
“That a problem?” I bit out before I could restrain it. There was no denying it anymore. I was fucking jealous. It burned like hell, especially since I had no right to be.
Persy smiled at him. “And?”
Oh, so she could be cheeky when she wanted. Good to know.
Nikolas’s eyes swung to me and back to Persy. “No problem,” he said, raising his hands. “What were you all up to?”
“Wrapping up a loose end,” I said vaguely.
Nikolas nodded, his lower lip curling outwards, demonstrating how thoroughly impressed he was. Asshole. “Nice. Heard you’re with Penn in a few.”
I nodded slowly. It was true. “I am.”
“Good kid,” Nikolas said. Then he crossed his arms, looking me up and down with a smirk on his face. “Who knows, maybe I’ll swing by.”
“What a treat that would be,” I said, voice thin. Although, I hated him a little less knowing that he and Persy weren’t together. I was well aware that made me an asshole.
Didn’t stop me, though.
“Oh,” he said through a laugh. “Now I’m definitely coming.” That shit-stirring attitude was exactly the reason I appreciated his friendship when we were younger. There was a little trickle of familiarity that made me think that idea wasn’t the absolute worst thing I’d ever heard.
But I had more pressing matters, starting with why Persy was still visibly irritated. She was so steady, so calm, that when she tensed up it was hard to miss. To me, at least.
I paid Nikolas no mind, barely restraining the urge to flip him off, as I turned back to Persy. “We good?”
Persy blinked up at me, though this time she didn’t jerk back when she realized how close we were. “Yeah,” she said, more of a breath than anything. “Thank you for helping. I’m sorry that it involved your family like that. If I’d known, I would have…”
“Saved me from it?” I said, intending it to be a light-hearted jab.
“Yes,” Persy responded, deadly serious.
Fates almighty. The only way to deal with that was to ignore it. Not completely. Her dark expression would be haunting me for a long, long time. “Happy to give you something to report to Adrian.” It felt easier to convince myself that I was helping shut down the conspiracy because it helped Persy.
Better than accepting that I didn’t exactly hate any of what I was doing.
That just sounded awful.
Persy saw right through me. I could tell, just by looking into her eyes. I could often tell what someone was thinking just by looking at them, noticing their small expressions before they could clamp down on them. This felt different, more understanding than observation.
And I could tell that Persy was letting this slide. For now, as it always was with her. She smiled, and for a second I thought it was my shoulder that did it, but then I realized that she was looking over my shoulder.
I turned, finding Penn standing outside one of the outer buildings , waving over at us. “Hi!” he yelled, his voice carrying easily over the lush gardens.
Wait, that was where I told him I was meeting him. Was he twohours early?
Shit, I really needed to make sure I was nice to this kid. I waved back, just one raise of my hand. When I turned around, Persy looked like she was about to burst out of her skin.
That was an expression that would easily make me spiral into an obsession trying to replicate.
“I should probably go now that he saw me,” I said to Persy.
“Great! All the more reason to join you,” Nikolas said, clapping his hands together. I ignored him.
Persy stepped closer to me, close enough that our chests almost brushed. “Be patient with him. He doesn’t do that well with sudden loud noises, so try to grab anything before it drops to the floor.”
I nodded. Just because I didn’t find all that much value in being nice to people didn’t mean I’d intentionally set Penn off-kilter.
Persy’s smile settled into a lovely, soft expression. Motherfucker, my chest felt tight.
I jerked my chin behind her. “Go. I’ll see you later.”
Persy didn’t move. “I think I owe you dinner tonight. I’ll bring something from Kostas.”
No freaking out over her chef. “Alright.” Good, that sounded passably agreeable.
Persy looked over her shoulder at Nikolas, who was openly staring at us. When he realized he was caught, he suddenly found a passing butterfly incredibly interesting.
“You’ve done enough today,” she said, voice dripping over me like the softest of fabrics. “Your uncle is kind of an asshole. Fuck him.”
I laughed, unable to stop the sound. “Right you are,” I said, and then because I was sure Penn was bouncing up and down waiting for us to be done, I begrudgingly ended our conversation. “See you later.”
Persy smiled and nodded, stepping away from me and giving Nikolas a quick kiss on the cheek before walking away. Nikolas could fucking wait as I watched her leave, tracking her the entire way.
When I turned back to him, he was looking at me like I’d sprouted a second head. “You made her swear.”
My eyebrows drew together. “What?” It was only then that I realized that she had just called my uncle an asshole when I didn’t think I’d ever heard her use that word.
“She hardly ever swears.” Yeah, dumbass, I know that. “Only when she’s really frustrated or angry.” Nikolas was speaking like he was somewhat in wonder of the whole situation. Honestly, he was the type to try to tease her into saying shit.
I was a fucking bastard, because this whole thing made my chest swell with pride.
That I could rile her up enough to make words like fuck slip into her vocabulary, make her lyrical, sweet voice roll over it.
And rather than resolving to back off, to stop frustrating her, all I wanted to do was find more ways to get her to say it. Different situations where she’d be so overwhelmed, a breathy fuck would slip past those perfect lips.
I didn’t feel an ounce of shame for that, even though I should. I really should.
Nikolas didn’t need to see me grinning like a fiend, so I steeled my expression and jerked my chin towards Penn. “If you’re gonna come torture me, might as well start now.”
It would be … interesting to see how Nikolas acted around me. Nikolas opened his arms dramatically. “After you, Seb.”
I turned to stride towards Penn, conveniently hiding my expression. That was a teenage nickname that I hadn’t heard in years. Nikolas, who’d been arguably my best friend then, had a right to use it. Didn’t mean I was used to hearing it.
We made it to Penn quickly, but he managed to get some serious air on his excited jumps on our way over. “How are you today, Penn?” I asked. I knew how to be nice.
Penn smiled, “I’m really excited.” His voice was shaking.
Shit, I’d never taught someone art. Trying to explain the method behind each individual brushstroke was damn near impossible. I blacked out half the time when I was painting and when I came to, there was something down on the canvas.
I cleared my throat, resetting my shoulders. “Well, let’s get started.”
Penn made quick work of showing me the room that Persy had set up. She had thought of everything. It was fully stocked with all the finest materials, the most considerate details, down to certain chairs that made it more comfortable when you leaned over.
I could barely get a word in edge-wise, Penn was talking so fast. I could see where people may have treated him poorly in the past. Not by any fault of his own. Most people were rather selfish, moving through life at the speed they preferred.
If they only paused to listen, they’d find that Penn was actually an incredibly good story teller, you just had to take the time to tune into the way he spoke. If he wasn’t able to sort through the difference between someone being rude because they were selfish instead of them being rude because he did something wrong … yeah, I could see the hurt there.
And for a kid who couldn’t be over eighteen…
Too much harm, far too young.
“And this is what I’m working on now,” Penn said.
“Oh shit,” Nikolas’s voice sounded from behind me, echoed by my own, “Damn.”
“When did you start this?” I asked, pointing at the near-completed wash of color that came together in a haunting, but somehow comforting picture of someone’s blurred face.
Penn cocked his head. “This morning.”
“Penn,” I said, my tone far more serious than I’d used in a while. “This is exceptional.”
Nikolas plopped down in a chair, dramatically whistling. “Told you.”
“You didn’t tell me shit,” I shot at him, sounding annoyingly like I was speaking to a friend.
Nikolas raised his hands, smiling. “I’m sure I did. Maybe your memory is failing you. You’re getting old.”
“I am one month older than you,” I said. When we were younger, he used to hate it when I put him in a headlock. Might as well bring that back.
Nikolas pouted, bringing his hands up over his heart. “You remembered? How sweet.”
“Fuck off,” I gritted out, turning my attention to a giggling Penn. “I don’t think you have much to learn. This could easily end up in a museum as it is.”
Penn immediately started crying.
“Fuck, wait, please just hold on,” I said, while Nikolas tried—poorly, I might add—to smother a laugh behind his hand. “What I mean is, what do you think you want to learn?”
Penn calmed down with a few breaths. “I really want to learn how to use oils. It’s much more precise. Less abstract.”
I nodded, understanding him perfectly. I looked around to some of the other paintings in the studio, his standing out easily. They were really good, but I was holding off on saying so lest he start crying again. I found a painting that clearly belonged to him, one depicting a garden. It would transfer well to oil. I pointed at it. “Let’s start by turning this one into an oil painting,” I said. “We can either do an oil rendition or try to use the oil to replicate the effect of the watercolor, which is more taxing on blending but good practice.”
Penn nodded quickly, running to grab materials before I could even tell him to. Nikolas was chomping away in the corner on a bag of carrots he’d somehow pulled out of nowhere. “You sound like a horse.”
“You sound like a—“ His words were cut off when the door opened. He immediately straightened, pulling his shoulders back and swallowing thickly. “Hi, Kostas.”
I turned to the door to find the infamous Kostas standing in the doorframe. He looked like he just stepped right off a boat, with sun-warmed skin and wind-blown hair to complete the look. Even his smile was one of someone gazing off dazedly into the horizon. Either he was blushing or he had some color from the sun on his cheeks. “Hi, Nikolas,” he said, an airy note to his voice.
Oh. Oh, now everything was coming together. Nikolas had a big fat crush.
“Were you looking for me?” Nikolas asked, a clear note of hope in his voice.
Kostas nodded and I didn’t even have to look at Nikolas to know his smiled widened. “I brought you this,” he said, revealing a glass container behind his back stuffed to the brim with cookies. Kostas looked at me nervously. “I”ll find you later. I meant to bring some to Penn and a few others, too.”
“No need,” I said before I could tell myself not to do it. “Penn’s right there,” I said, gesturing to the back of the room. “Might as well stay. Especially if you plan on offering me one.”
Kostas blinked at me, clearly shocked, before coming to. “Yes, yes, of course, yes.” He rushed fully inside, trying to close the door and balance the tray at the same time. Eventually, he handed me a cookie and walked to Penn to hand him one too. Penn ate his in one bite—literally, I thought the kid might choke—then stole another one. Finally, Kostas settled next to Nikolas, sitting so close to him there was no mistaking either of their intentions.
They seemed to suit each other, Nikolas being a fuckhead aside.
I chomped down on the cookie, my brows immediately crunching together. “Shit, that’s good.”
“Really?” Kostas gasped.
I raised an eyebrow. “No need to be humble. I ate your food for a month straight, I know how good it is.”
Nikolas straightened even further, clearly suffering from a small bout of irrational jealousy. Yeah, well I suffered through a month of thinking he was in a relationship with Persy, he could fucking deal with me giving his boyfriend a sterile compliment.
“Your apprentice is waiting,” Nikolas said, gesturing back to Penn. This time, I flipped him off.
It was true, though. Penn looked like a dog about to get a treat. I dragged my hands down my face, walking over to Penn. Settling in and widening my stance so I dropped more to Penn’s height, I started giving him instructions as best I could.
It was like trying to explain how to speak Ancient Greek to someone who hadn’t learned it since birth like I had, but I attempted it anyway. Penn followed along well, either stopping to ask questions or easily fixing something when he used too heavy of a hand or mixed the wrong color.
I stayed in a constant state of impressed the entire hour or so Penn worked, able to get a good base layer down. Oil took far more patience, but Penn seemed to be adapting well.
It was … pleasant, I guessed. Kostas and Nikolas hung around. I learned that Penn and Kostas were quite good friends, which I was pretty sure added to Penn’s overall comfortability. That was good.
Nikolas did a piss poor job of trying to subtly flirt, making it extremely obvious that he was half in love with Kostas already. It was deeply unfortunate to discover that I was happy for him. That I even appreciated the company of an old friend. It had been a long, long time since that had been the case.
It set me so far off-kilter that I’d started acting without thinking. Normally, every response, every word was carefully crafted to find that precious balance between making people think you were connecting with them, but ultimately keeping them at an arms length.
So much so, I’d somehow gotten myself roped into meeting with Penn twice a week. It was of no consequence that I’d offered. I could at least tell myself it was to give myself something to do instead of raiding Persy’s library when she stopped torturing me for a second.
It was that bout of insanity that also made me walk back home to Persy, and have to say, “I invited Kostas and Nikolas over for dinner next week,” right as I walked in the door. Persy smiled, the sight making the air feel thin. “I’ll cook.”