Chapter 19
Persy
From the moment we stepped into Delphi, I’d had this odd sense of deja vu.
It was impossible that any of this feeling was rooted in a real memory. I’d never been here, and the scenery was unique enough to remember it. Sprawling hills that were such a rich green they were practically glowing in the sunlight. You could just barely see the sea peeking out from a valley between the mountains, glittering so spectacularly it made the mountains themselves shimmer.
I would have known if I’d been here before, and yet it felt oddly like returning home.
The only thing that had made me feel anything other than contentment was watching Sebastian kneel in front of the Oracle.
I actually thought she was rather welcoming, all things considered, but there was something terrifying about watching her push herself into Sebastian’s mind and take over his body. The muscles in his back had gone taut, so much so I was worried they’d snap.
When he came out of the vision, he only seemed to grow more tense as they whispered to each other. The gods were not gifted with supernatural hearing, so it was nothing but muffled voices, though curiosity burned at my throat.
A few weeks ago, Sebastian had mentioned—rather casually, I might add—that he’d been called to the Oracle three times in his lifetime. This was his fourth. I wasn’t going to be the one to tell him he’d broken his own record.
Whatever this was about was his own business. If anything, what the Oracle said would probably help my case. She was nice, though I didn’t think that was a common opinion people had of her.
Eventually, Sebastian stood and headed my way, saying “I’ll go” to Pythia as he walked away. I waved at her, knowing that Sebastian would likely be backing me out the door before I was able to say a proper goodbye.
I was right.
The second Sebastian got within two feet of me, he lifted his finger and made a twirling motion, telling me to turn around. I laughed as I did it, happy to walk back out into the natural light. Even though Prometheus was having an unseasonably warm spring, there was nothing like a bright, midday sun.
As we walked out, I turned to him. “I like her.”
He barked a laugh. “Of course, you did.”
“Hey!” I lightly batted his bicep, trying not to notice that it was rock hard. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Sebastian smiled, though it came a second too late. “Just that you tend to like most people. Even Oracles that are historically difficult.”
Sebastian was leading me somewhere, walking with purpose out of the temple and down a path that looked like it lead to a whole lot of nothing. Despite that, not a bone in my body told me that I was unsafe. “I didn’t like you at first.”
“Oh, really?” Sebastian said, the corner of his mouth turning up in a grin. “I’d like to talk about the inclusion of at first. That implies you like me now.”
“That’s the part you’re latching onto? Not that I just said I didn’t like you?”
Sebastian’s hand hovered over my back as we navigated the winding path. “Precisely. Come on, love. Tell me how much you like me.”
I tilted my head back and laughed, feeling something more than just the sun burning into my skin. “Fine. You’re tolerable as a roommate. I don’t know how I’m going to survive without your cooking.” And his company, but that felt too honest to mention.
Sebastian reset his grin, the muscles in his cheek falling for just a moment. “Who says I’ll stop?” he asked, causing a jolt of hope to hit me square in the chest. We hadn’t talked about what would come of this … friendship when these six months were over.
A few nights ago, I had a dream of him showing up at my door, falling to his knees and apologizing for attempting to restart his plan against Adrian. I’d woken up feeling awfully calm, instead of angry that what I’d worked towards for six months hadn’t taken hold. I was focused on the fact that meant he’d come back to me for another six months.
“That would be—” My stupidly hopeful response was cut off when I realized we’d approached a house. I would never say this out loud, but that house looked like someone had taken it right out of my own mind.
It looked like a bigger version of my house in Prometheus, with everything dialed up. Beautiful panels of rich, dark wood. Sun catching every corner of the house, shooting through the floor to ceiling windows. So big I could see straight through the house to the expansive back porch, with a view of the sea over the cliffs.
“Is this your home?” I choked out.
“I have a house in Rome and Athens,” Sebastian said, walking up the short steps to the front door. “But yes, this is my home.”
“It’s beautiful,” I said, staring up at the vaulted ceilings. A small bit of jealousy rang through my chest. I could spend weeks in this house and never leave. There was so much sunlight, so much love in the walls of this house.
When I dropped my eyes from the ceiling, I saw Sebastian looking at something. I followed his gaze over to the huge fireplace in the main room, then over the mantle. Hanging there, carefully preserved, were two large bows.
I knew which one was his almost instinctively. The top one was carved from a dark wood that somehow looked like it was threaded with gold in the sun. It looked strong, healthy. I could almost see it in Sebastian’s hand, hanging by his side like an extension of himself.
“You need that with you.” All of the sudden it became very important to me that Sebastian have that bow with him.
Sebastian chuckled lightly. “I haven’t used it in years. It wasn’t missed.”
“Liar,” I said, through a smile. I hadn’t even realized that I’d caught the shift in his tone, but apparently I was becoming quite attuned to him.
“Fine,” Sebastian said, his lips breaking into a full smile, “Just to prove it to you, I’ll show you that no time at all has passed.”
“Wait, what?” But he was already moving. He walked over to the mantle and easily scooped up both bows, grabbing a sleeve of arrows I hadn’t seen resting next to the fireplace and walked purposefully outside onto the back deck.
I scrambled after him, almost stumbling over a couch that looked like it would hold me hostage for multiple hours.
I burst onto the patio after him, immediately hit with a blast of fresh sea air. In the distance, I could see trees that had targets placed on them. It looked like they went on far longer than normal arrows could travel, but that was Apollo for you.
This was good. I wanted to have him reconnect with archery. Though something about viewing it like that felt wrong, like it was tainting the experience.
I didn’t realize I was smiling until I had to look down while I took the steps off the patio and saw the apples of my cheeks pressing into my vision.
Sebastian was weighing the bow in his palm, flipping it over the back of his hand and catching it again. That … did something to my stomach. I was stunned into silence as he pulled a thin arrow out and notched it.
His movements were so quick, so assured, as he pulled his elbow back and sent the arrow flying into a tree hundreds of yards away. I didn’t even have to squint to know that he’d landed in the dead center of the target.
“Show off,” I said, coming up next to him, my arms crossed under my chest. His eyes dipped for a moment, then continued down to the other bow resting against the stand next to him.
Penelope’s bow. It was obviously carefully preserved, and someone would be hard pressed to tell you that the bow likely hadn’t been touched once in the ten years since Penelope had died.
“You try,” he said, picking up the bow and extending it to me. When I paused, my mouth opening to say something in protest, he added, “Since you want to be smart about it.”
I rolled my lips together to hold in a laugh, even though he was about to make me embarrass myself in front of him. Hiding a groan, I grabbed the bow from him and felt a small jolt up my arm, as if my power was saying cool. My power was very subtle, not coming out in big, booming thunderstorms like my brother’s did, but rather in small crackles of electricity.
When it spoke to me, it normally meant something.
So, I was choosing to believe my power was telling me to just enjoy this little break from reality with Sebastian and not mess it up with talk of work and responsibilities.
We were friends, I guessed. Might as well do things that friends did, like … shoot arrows at targets … yeah, I was moving forward with that logic regardless.
I nodded down at the arrows, silently asking permission to take one. Sebastian extended his hand in a sweeping motion, the universal signal for go for it.
I grabbed the arrow, surprised by how light it felt. I’d seen people do this before, so I knew the basic mechanics of it. I notched the arrow and settled my fingers over the bowstring. I pulled my elbow back quickly, barely thinking about my movements.
This wasn’t going to be pretty, might as well get it over with faster.
The only problem was that when I released my hand and sent the arrow flying, it landed directly in the center of a target, one that was so far away it wasn’t nearly as marred as the ones closer.
My mouth fell open in a gape the second Sebastian asked, “Where did you learn how to do that?”
He sounded really angry.
I shrugged, even though I was equally mystified myself. “I don’t know. I’ve never shot an arrow before.”
“Well, fuck. You’re one of those.” Sebastian handed me another arrow, nodding with his chin to notch it.
I looked up at him, trying to ignore the jolt of electricity that shot up my arm once my hand made contact with the arrow. “One of what?”
“There are some people who don’t need to be taught. They just naturally feel the balance and know that the bow does most of the work if you don’t fight it.”
“Huh,” I said, pulling the bowstring back. I understood what he meant. I could feel right where it needed to go, my muscles lining up to follow. I didn’t fight it. I released my hand and the arrow flew through the air.
For a second, I thought that it had disappeared. Then I blinked and realized that I’d simply cut the first arrow in half with the second.
I turned to see Sebastian’s reaction, but moved too fast and caught my foot on a stray root. I stumbled directly into his hard chest, which would have been lucky in any other situation than the one where I was trying to keep some serious distance between us so my mind stayed clear.
Sebastian’s hands folded around my upper arms, steadying me as I straightened. The proximity caused me to scrape against his front, our clothes sliding together.
“You alright?” Sebastian asked, the words rougher than normal. Or maybe it just sounded different when his mouth was inches away from mine.
“Yes,” I said, staring directly at his lips. I forced my eyes back up to his, though that didn’t feel any better. “I split that first arrow.”
Sebastian grinned, looking over my shoulder. “That you did, love. Good job.”
My skin warmed under the praise, the feeling pooling where Sebastian’s hands were circling my arms. I felt his thumbs make a pass over my skin, and I prayed it didn’t pebble in response.
Sebastian looked back down at me, his gaze sliding from my forehead down to my chin. It lingered somewhere between my nose and chin, but before I could think about that any further, I lost the battle with myself and let my eyes fall back to his lips.
It would be really easy to kiss him. I wouldn’t really have to move that far. I wanted to. I really, really wanted to.
I breathed in, trying to regain some composure, but my mind didn’t bend. It was halfway to convincing itself that not only could I kiss him, I should.
My hand tightened over the bow, pressing into the wood. That was what did it, what snapped me out of it. The reminder of what this was. That I was the silly one for developing feel—an attraction towards him.
I would never forgive myself if I crossed that line. Even though I had never felt like any of this was work, almost to a concerning level, I didn’t know how he felt.
If he viewed me as his jailer and I tried to…
No, I wouldn’t even entertain that thought. I wouldn’t do that to him. I wouldn’t do that to me.
I stepped away from him, nearly whimpering when his hands fell to his sides. He took his own step back, nodding at the sleeve of arrows. “How about a little healthy competition?” he asked, through a voice that sounded a touch too hoarse.
“What’s the prize?” I asked, forcing a smile to my face.
Sebastian’s eyes went mischievous. Oh, no. “A favor.”
“That is incredibly broad,” I argued.
“Scared?” Sebastian shot back.
“Try rational.” Somehow, I’d reversed the step I’d taken to put distance between us and was back within mere inches of his rock hard chest. “You’re the god of archery.”
Sebastian smirked. “Doesn’t mean I can’t make mistakes.”
I chose not to comment on the fact he was admitting to something other than perfection for the first time since I’d known him. “You’re saying that so that I owe you a favor.”
Sebastian bent down, his eyes narrowing. “Come on, love. It won’t hurt.”
It would, very much.
Even with that warning, I straightened and let my smile speak for itself. I backed up and notched an arrow, firing it off to the furthest target I could spy once my elbow felt that click of balance.
Sebastian’s booming laugh made the sun feel ten times warmer on my skin. With a strength and ease that made me feel very unfocused, he shot his own arrow, landing right next to mine on the bullseye, making my arrow quiver with the force of it.
For the next four rounds, we alternated picking a target and matching each other’s shots, until one where I’d split Sebastian’s arrow and he laughed again, his smile bright and honest.
It was my turn to go first again, and that smile haunted me from the moment I placed the arrow to the second the bowstring snapped out of my fingers. My shot wasn’t bad, still landing on the bullseye, but it had felt much harder than the previous ones.
I could … ask him for help.
I shut that idea down the second it popped into my sweet, stupid brain.
Don’t do it. Don’t. That is so wrong, I chastised myself.
But I still felt like I had something ripped away from me when I didn’t get to kiss him. I wanted—needed—something to grab onto. Besides, I was bound to lose this game anyway.
“I think I lost the balance. That one wasn’t as good.” Persy, oh my goodness. I’d only messed that one up because I was thinking about Sebastian’s stupid lips and his stupid face and now I was lying to him.
Great.
“What’s wrong, love?” he asked, immediately stopping what he was doing and coming up to me.
“It feels weird now.” STOP, I yelled at myself. My mind politely told me to go shove it because she was having too much fun.
Sebastian came up behind me, his head floating over my shoulder. “What do you mean?”
Well, I had to make something up now. “I think it’s my shoulder.”
I’d never shot an arrow a day in my life before this, I didn’t know anything about shoulders and arrows but that didn’t matter when Sebastian was turning towards my ear and saying, “Pull up the arrow.”
I listened, bringing the bow up to the proper stance. I tweaked it slightly, bringing my elbow up too high and putting more stress on my shoulder.
“Your elbow is too high,” Sebastian said, heat pouring into my elbow as his hand hovered over the joint.
I pulled it too low, my body taking over. It was practically begging me to make him touch me, the feeling so intense I felt like I’d start shaking.
My heart damn near started doing joyful back flips when Sebastian settled his palm under my elbow and lifted it back up to the proper alignment. “How does that feel?”
“Right, I think.” I croaked out.
“Try it out,” he said, the words so close to my ear I was sure his face was almost pressing into my hair. I simply released my fingers, doing nothing to drop my elbow from its resting place in his palm.
Of course, the arrow shot in a perfectly straight line into the center of a target.
“There you go, love.”
Heat pooled in my stomach. Oh, no. This was very bad.
“One more.” Relief burst through my chest at Sebastian’s words. I leaned forward slightly, bending to reach for another arrow. When I straightened, Sebastian was still close but it felt like he’d shifted slightly back.
This time, I brought my elbow to the right height, but slightly wide. When Sebastian pushed my elbow in with soft pressure from his palm, I had to clench my abdomen to restrain a shiver.
I failed when Sebastian stepped closer once more, lighting a fire across my entire back. He bent down, and this time, I was sure his nose was nestling into the curtain of my hair.“Now, stop trying to let me win and shoot, love.”
I released my hand on a startled gasp, but of course, the arrow found the bullseye. I didn’t care, though, not when I was whirling on Sebastian. He thought he was so smart, didn’t he. “Game on,” I said, tilting my chin up competitively.
Sebastian matched me, coming an inch closer. “Best of five? Furthest target.”
I smiled, letting that be my answer. Five shots later, Sebastian won when one of mine slightly edged into the outer ring surrounding the bullseye. I made Sebastian run out and go check, and watching him jog back several hundred meters with an I got you look on his face made me laugh so hard, I didn’t even care that I’d just given him a favor without any restrictions.
I could only hope he didn’t use it against me.