Chapter 20
Persy
The fateful day had come.
Rose had bugged me about it for four months, and today is when I finally caved.
Things had felt a little too intense for a while after the visit to the Oracle and the … other events in that span of days.
I knew this would bring up grudges and snappy comments and I didn’t want this to follow something that raw.
But after multiple weekends of dodging Rose, it was time to bring Sebastian to Saturday brunch. Probably the most mundane thing any of the gods took part in. If humans knew that multiple gods gathered in the Underworld every Saturday to eat pancakes together, they probably wouldn’t believe it.
Despite their power, the gods still had a life to live. So, pancakes it was.
I’d sent an Iris letter to each person I knew was coming, politely asking them to keep the comments to a minimum and try to remember that Sebastian was once their friend.
The one I sent to my brother was a bit more strongly worded. The only thing he’d said in response was an Iris letter in return that read—Did you write this? Since when do you say fuckhead?
I did. Especially when I really, really needed my brother to restrain himself from being a protective fuckhead and give Sebastian a chance.
Sebastian would never admit it, but he was a little nervous. I heard him leave for the studio at five in the morning. I followed him out thirty minutes later, feeling similarly high strung, but snuck in the back door. I could kiss Quinn Hephaestus for helping me soundproof this room, his inventions forever saving lives.
I would tell Sebastian soon, especially since I could see his patience waning. It wasn’t that he wanted to invade my privacy. If he did, he had ample opportunity to do so over the past four months.
It was more that he was curious, wanting to know what was my saving grace, the way that painting was his. I almost wanted him to just barge in one day, especially so that I wouldn’t have to deal with the little trickle of fear of showing him, the god of so much art and beauty, what was behind that door.
It wasn’t misplaced doubt in my own abilities. No, I’d actually been more or less chastised by multiple people over the years for choosing a different path.
It was more that I … something that his power sustained had saved my life, giving me an outlet and a safety net and I wanted him to know that I honored that gift.
It wouldn’t be the worst thing to have him just watch when I didn’t know he was there.
I couldn’t dedicate any more thought to it, not when we had a massive hill to climb today.
I was sitting in my usual place on the countertop while Sebastian was taking far more care with a cup of coffee than I’d ever seen him use. For him, it was normally the quickest path to caffeine, he didn’t much care for the art of it. He’d actually started slowing down a bit, integrating some of the methods I used to make sure the coffee tasted as good as possible.
“Are you nervous?” I asked, right as he walked over to me with a cup of coffee in hand.
As I took it from him, placing it in between my legs and settling my thighs a little wider, he said, “Yes,” plainly.
“Why?” I asked, finding no trickle of surprise accompanying the question. I’d grown to expect honesty from him.
Sebastian’s head cocked slightly, settling his hands on either side of my thighs as he studied me. “We were friends,” he said, clearly referring to Adrian, Lukas, and Dominic, specifically. “But it was a friendship built on trying to strangle each other and pressing on sore spots.” That was how the three of them still were, but I let Sebastian keep speaking. “I do not want that dynamic to be confused with a problem on your end.”
It took me a second to fully process what he was saying. “You think if you start bickering with them it will make it look like I’ve just let you laze around in this house instead of helping?” I said, keeping my question light, something I’d learned opened the door for a more honest conversation with him. “You’ve helped plenty. The antidote, the list of high-ranking members, your uncle.” I could feel myself getting a bit worked up with defensiveness and protectiveness, but felt no desire to fight it.
Sebastian shrugged, the move traveling down his arm and making his hand brush against my thigh. A rough bolt of energy shot up my leg, making me realize that I’d widened my position quite a bit. My legs were practically bracing his hips, and my calves started buzzing with the desire to hook them around his waist.
I wet my lips to try to distract, but all it did was draw Sebastian’s attention and make his next words land far too close to my mouth. “You could argue I did all that out of self-preservation.”
“Did you?” I challenged. All I got in return was a small smirk from Sebastian, but that told me everything I needed to know. “They know you’ve been helpful,” I tried to assure him, but didn’t want to undermine his nervousness.
Sebastian’s smirk split, revealing a bit of a smile. “That isn’t my concern. I’ll be damned if I let my desire to strangle one of them make you look bad.”
Oh, wait. He was worried about how I’d look? Oh, he needed to back away from me right this second or I was kissing him. Feeling panicked and jumpy, I adjusted my hair behind my ears and forced myself to say, “That is very kind.” It also made me want to maul him, but that part needed to stay a secret. “How about this?” I said, jumping down from the counter and landing so close to Sebastian I almost stepped on his feet. I had to be quick, or this wasn’t going to work. “You change and I’ll—” The second I made a move for the sink and the dirty dishes stacked there, Sebastian caught me around the waist and spun me away from it.
“Sebastian!” I said, swatting his forearms where they were banded around my waist.
“As you can see,” he said, though I really couldn’t see him when he was holding me like this. “I’m already dressed. You, on the other hand, need to hurry or we’ll be late.”
At that moment a couple things became crystal clear. One, I was in silk pajamas that might as well been air for all they separated Sebastian’s skin and mine. Two, every hard plane of Sebastian’s body was burning into my skin.
While a large part of me wanted to stay right there, burrowing into his warmth, I knew I had to walk away from him. Sebastian seemed to have the same idea, because he released me very suddenly, pulling his hips, then chest, then arms away from me. His hands were the last to go, dragging behind the rest of his body.
As I stepped away from him, a laugh falling from my lips, his hand tapped once on my hip, ushering me along. My laugh grew, though my skin set off like a wildfire, and I turned over my shoulder to look at Sebastian.
His face was a little more serious than I would have expected, but when his eyes settled on my smile, his lips pulled into one of his own.
I changed into a light sundress fit for the late spring weather in a daze. The only thought that passed through my head other than the burning mark of Sebastian’s hand on my hip, was a small bout of disappointment that I needed to dress for warmer weather.
Warmth meant summer and summer meant the end of Sebastian’s time here. Four months already down the drain.
Shaking off the thought, I walked back out to find Sebastian weighing two bottles of wine in his hands. I knew he was in contact with some of the other gods, and about a month ago, Jason Dionysus had shown up on my doorstep with a dozen cases of wine behind him.
Sebastian had simply hauled them inside and started pairing them with meals he cooked. I certainly wasn’t complaining about that.
“I think they’ll like the red better,” I said, my lips pulling into an easy smile. I wasn’t going to tease him about a housewarming gift. Unless he’d honed his housewarming-gift-skills by meeting former girlfriends’ families, then I’d—
I tucked that thought away to the very dangerous place it came from.
Sebastian nodded in agreement, setting the other bottle on the counter. “I like this one better, anyway,” he said, nodding to the bottle he was leaving behind. “We’ll drink it tonight?”
I nodded, my cheeks feeling warm. Dinner was something I looked forward to every day. Sitting in the kitchen with him, talking or reading or just … spending time with him. “Ready?” I asked to distract from my blush.
Sebastian nodded, motioning for me to gather a portal. I often did around him, and he always walked through behind me with a hand hovering over my back. We stepped out into Rose and Dominic’s entryway, immediately assaulted by loud voices and laughter.
Sebastian straightened slightly, but otherwise went forward without hesitation.
For a second, my feet felt glued to the floor. I’d been in awe of him many times over the last few months, but it really struck me how much it took for him to do this. To set aside the shame and guilt and act like he was walking into brunch with old friends instead of people he’d harmed.
Eventually, my legs started moving and I followed him around the corner into Rose and Dominic’s kitchen. The second we appeared, the room went dead silent, all the chatter and laughter grinding to a halt.
The only movement in the room was the steam rising from the stove Rose stood in front of, while everyone else gaped like fish.
Irritation started to rise in my throat. I’d asked them to—
“Careful not to burn the pancakes,” Sebastian drawled, looking pointedly at the stove.
“Do you want to be the one to cook?” Rose shot back, a hand planted on her hip.
“Oh, absolutely not,” Sebastian said through a chuckle. With that, everyone seemed to remember their place and snapped to attention.
Dominic walked up to Sebastian first, clapping him on the shoulder while he took the wine out of his hand. The nod he gave Sebastian was as close to a thank you as he was willing to give. Dominic would be getting a smacking kiss on the cheek for being the first to treat Sebastian with some kind of forgiveness, though he would likely hate the affection. Unfortunately for him, it was just as fun to needle him as it was my brother.
Rose switched places with Dominic so that she could come up and gave Sebastian a quick hug. I could tell in the set of Sebastian’s shoulders he was restraining a comment about Dominic flipping pancakes. I kind of wished he would just say it, especially if that was what their dynamic was, but I understood wading in.
The next to approach were Daphne and Lukas. I could breathe easier with Daphne at least, knowing she was the most comfortable around Sebastian. Their greeting was quick and seamless, though my breath hitched when Lukas followed his wife.
“My brother tells me you were the one to give him a kick in the ass to tell Kostas how he felt,” Lukas said, his huge arms crossed over his chest, though he wore a smile. “Thanks for doing it so I didn’t have to waterboard him until he listened.”
At Sebastian’s answering laugh, I thought I felt tears spring to my eyes. I was going to be begging Kostas to keep Lukas stuffed full of treats for weeks.
The little bit of relief I felt was quickly squashed when Daphne and Lukas moved to sit down at the sprawling table, leaving Reyna and Adrian as the last to say hello.
Reyna, in her wonderful, graceful glory smiled like her and Sebastian were old friends. You’d never guess she’d been pierced by an arrow at his hand mere months prior. “Hello, Sebastian,” she said, walking up to him.
I was still behind him, so I could see how taut his muscles had grown. “Reyna,” he said, voice sounding thin. Reyna opened her mouth to say something, but she was cut off by Sebastian’s next words. “I’m glad to see you are well and healthy.”
Reyna didn’t miss a beat, whereas I was trying not to cry. My brother was so laser-focused on the back of Reyna’s head, I wasn’t sure he’d even heard what Sebastian said. “I am doing well, thank you,” Reyna said, with a slight smirk, perfectly toeing the line between cheeky and sincere.
Five down, one to go.
I held my breath as Sebastian’s eyes slid to my brother, standing behind Reyna looking like he was seconds away from snapping. “Adrian,” Sebastian said, dipping his chin once.
Please, I silently begged my brother. A very tense, drawn-out moment later, my brother nodded at Sebastian in greeting. Certainly not friendly, and clearly done so that my brother could continue clenching his jaw, but I was at least glad that it hadn’t resorted to physical blows.
Sebastian turned to me, cocking his head as a small smirk grew on his face. That went as well as one could hope, he said, not even needing to open his mouth to communicate the words.
My answering smile said, made it through the hard part. When I looked away from him, everyone was staring at me. My stomach tightened a bit under the attention, not sure what to do besides say, “Good morning.”
Everyone seemed to snap out of it then, coming up to hug and greet me. Rose gave me an odd look, that I knew meant that she wanted to talk to me later, and Reyna hugged me a bit tighter than normal. It was my brother that made me think I was missing something. When he hugged me in greeting, he did so with his attention still on Sebastian, distracted.
“Please, Adrian,” I said, quietly. His eyes snapped down to me, brows drawn in confusion.
I could tell he was seconds away from asking to speak to me in private when Rose clapped her hands decidedly and said, “Alright, pancakes are ready.”
“Don’t let them get cold,” Dominic snapped at the group, then placed a light kiss on Rose’s head. I found Sebastian’s eyes, having to keep my smile hidden the same way he was trying to restrain a grin. We’d both get punted into the Styx if we said anything about Dominic’s change into a doting husband over the last year.
When I tore my gaze away from Sebastian, I caught the tail end of Lukas literally picking Daphne up and moving her away from the spread of pancakes and toppings, grabbing two plates.
I made a step towards the counter, but somehow found myself looking at Sebastian again. He made a small jutting motion with his chin towards the table.
I narrowed my eyes in return, silently protesting his consistent demand to serve the both of us. His expression didn’t move an inch, which meant I wasn’t winning this one. Maybe I invited the loss, but that was of no matter.
Walking towards the table and taking a seat at one of two chairs that appeared unclaimed, I saw Daphne give me a small confused look, like I’d failed to tell her something. I wasn’t sure what that meant, and I was starting to get a little nervous about this brunch.
It was certainly a problem that I was hoping Sebastian would hurry up and sit down, claiming the free seat next to me.
After several moments of watching three grown gods fuss over pancakes, Sebastian calmly loaded our plates up.
A small crack opened up in my chest. Sebastian should have been a part of that. The entire table was silent as Sebastian walked over, taking the seat across the table from Adrian, and slid my plate in front of me.
Adrian’s eyes moved over the table slowly, snagging on my plate. I looked down, expecting to find ants crawling all over my food based on his reaction. All I saw was a delicious stack of pancakes with my preferred toppings on it.
I guess I hadn’t realized that I never told Sebastian what I wanted. I didn’t see a problem with that, given we’d eaten pancakes multiple times together, including one unfortunate instance where he and Kostas tried to teach me how to make them and I ended up flicking batter in Sebastian’s face in frustration.
I looked up to find Sebastian staring at Adrian looking at me, his thumb braced under his chin while his fist was in front of his mouth. This certainly couldn’t continue. “How was everyone’s morning?” I asked the table in an attempt to cut some of the tension.
Why was everyone staring at me like my hair was on fire?
Daphne was the first to respond. “Lukas and I were at Sounion last night so we were able to sneak in a swim this morning.” I would be thanking Daphne for years for having my back, answering genuinely.
“I’m sure that was fun,” Dominic quipped, double meaning clear in his voice.
Rose swatted him on the arm then stole a bite of pancake off his plate. “What he means to say is that sounds lovely.” Rose turned to me, adding, “Spent most of the morning cooking with a shadow.” Dominic smiled like a fiend at that.
“Adrian, Reyna?” I asked, mostly looking at Reyna. I still couldn’t get a read on my brother.
Reyna looked at Adrian with a smile, clearly placing a hand on his leg under the table. “Took a walk around Olympus. It was really sunny this morning.”
Though I knew that meant Adrian was in a good mood, a small bit of jealousy threaded through my chest. Prometheus had been brighter than normal this morning, but nothing could beat the full force of the sun. I wondered what it would be like to wake up with the sun again.
“That sounds really nice,” I said, hoping my voice communicated how thankful I was that Reyna had answered calmly, especially while my brother was leaning back in his chair with a scowl on his face.
“You?” Reyna asked, eyes warm as she looked at me and Sebastian.
My instincts raised slightly, feeling like the answer to this was a test of some sorts, but I smoothed them. “Great,” I said with a genuine smile. I looked over at Sebastian, finding his hands folded over his mouth. Positioned like that, you could see the paint splattered all over his sleeves and hands.
“You busy this morning?” Adrian said, staring pointedly at Sebastian’s hands. His voice was on the wrong side of combative, and my back straightened in preparation for Sebastian’s retort.
“Yeah,” Sebastian, nodding and flipping his hands over to inspect the paint. “Finished a piece.” I just managed to catch my expression at the last moment. It was relief and gratitude and something that felt a lot heavier all at once. Sebastian had responded like he was speaking to a friend, not someone who was clearly being rude.
I opened my mouth to say something in support of him, but Adrian beat me to it. “Glad to see Persy’s kindness isn’t being taken for granted,” he said, though his tone implied that he had expected it would be.
Oh, no. I did not like that.
“It is not,” Sebastian said, and I could tell he was fighting to keep his voice level.
“What have you painted recently?” Reyna asked, her hand coming down on Adrian’s over the table.
Sebastian took a sip from his mug, and for a moment my eyes dropped to track the bob of his throat as he swallowed. “Mainly landscapes.”
Well, now I just wanted to know what the other paintings were. Speaking of, I still didn’t have the landscape he’d promised me.
“You do one of Olympus?” Adrian said, raising his eyebrow at Sebastian. I shot him as murderous a look as I could muster, not above contemplating serious bodily harm. He was being intentionally rude. I knew he was angry and hurt, but that didn’t give him a right to do this.
Sebastian breathed out, pausing purposefully. “No. Though I’m open to commissions.”
I clenched my hand to stop myself from reaching for Sebastian. He was being so perfect, respectful, but still himself. Not to mention, what he said subtly communicated that Olympus wasn’t his.
Adrian, on the other hand, let out a disbelieving laugh. “Oh, I may well take you up on that. I’m sure you have the place memorized, given how long you were planning to kill me and take it.”
“Stop,” I said, my voice barely making it past the gravel in my throat. I was furious and I didn’t know what to do with it. I’d never felt like this before, so … angry on behalf of another person.
Adrian didn’t listen to me. “Or should I still be planning for another attempt on my wife’s life?”
“I said, stop.” My voice was loud now, enough that my vocal chords felt strained with force.
The room went dead silent, Adrian’s eyes whipping to me. “I specifically asked you not to be an asshole and you ignore that request not twenty minutes into this meal.”
Guilt creeped into Adrian’s expression, his mouth opening to apologize.
“No,” I said, cutting him off. Once I got started, it was just too easy to keep going. I looked around to the entire table. I knew their rage was justified, but I had asked them to hide it. Sure, Adrian was the loudest, but no one had done anything to stop him. There was a difference between teasing someone for an old mistake, but that wasn’t what this was. “Do you know how difficult it is to sit at a table full of people you know you have hurt and keep your composure? How horrible it is to have to ignore your shame and act like everything is normal? Sebastian did that for you. He is trying, and if you won’t give him the chance to apologize and mend your friendship, then he fucking won’t!”
My lungs were desperate for air, my body needing to move. I stood, my anger propelling me out of my chair. I turned back to Adrian. “You were all friends before this! You should know that what happened was a mistake. Yes, a horrible, misguided, harmful mistake—but a mistake, nonetheless. There is more to someone than their past. And there is more to Sebastian than this stupid conspiracy.”
I turned to Sebastian, his eyes plastered on me like he didn’t recognize me. I had to turn away from the intensity in his stare.
“You want Apollo back? Then be fucking ready to act like it!” The outburst made my voice hurt and my head dizzy. I threw my napkin down on the table, turning away and stalking out onto Rose and Dominic’s back deck.