Chapter 21
Sebastian
The entire table was silent. Their eyes bouncing back and forth between Persy’s empty chair and me.
And then Rose started laughing. She bent over at the stomach, giggling uncontrollably.
“Sweetheart,” Dominic warned, reaching over to wipe a tear from the corner of her eye.
Then Daphne started laughing too, and then Reyna joined in. The three of them were exchanging looks that I wouldn’t even begin to decipher if I had all the time in the world.
Not when I was telling myself that it would be a very bad idea to follow Persy outside. If I did, I was going to maul her. Pick her up and kiss the living daylights out of her until the storm in my chest calmed down.
Something needed to be done about the silence at the table, because Rose, Daphne, and Reyna’s giggles were dying down. I couldn’t even give Persy’s words enough attention, lest I risk exploding, but the fact that she defended me gave me the kick in the ass I needed to look at Adrian and say, “If I have not apologized yet, I am now. I am sorry for the harm I have caused you,” I looked to Reyna, “And you.” Addressing the whole table, I continued, “We may all be adults now, but we were children once. I understand that it may take time to believe that I have no intention of restarting this,” I said, shoving the sleeves of shirt up to reveal my forearms. “But, I hope that we might all get back to the friendship we had growing up. Now,” I said, my body finally deciding it needed to be within inches of Persy, immediately, “If you’ll excuse me.”
Throwing my napkin down on the table and ignoring the gaping stares, I walked out the back door in pursuit of Persy. I found her immediately, standing on the banks of the bay that Dominic and Rose’s home backed up to.
She had her arms crossed over her chest, staring out over the water. She didn’t show any sign of hearing me approach.
“Love…” I said, trying to carefully grab her attention away from her own thoughts.
Persy whipped around, giving me a small, devastating smile. “I’m sorry for yelling, okay?”
Before I knew what I was doing, I stepped in front of her, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. “If I’m going to accept an apology from you, it’s going to be for defending me.”
Persy’s lips fell open in a gasp, her eyes going wide with shock. “You want me to say sorry for that?”
I nodded, attempting to force my hand away from her face. “I don’t deserve it.”
“Ugh!” she said, twisting away from my touch. “Yes you do! How many times do I have to tell you that you deserve kindness and forgiveness before you get it through your thick head!”
I couldn’t tell her that the frustrated blush on her cheeks only made her eyes glow brighter. That would surely not do me any favors, but it was tempting. “You may have gotten me to believe that much, love. But I was referring to defending me in front of friends I betrayed. They have a right to take it out on me.”
Persy shook her head resolutely. “No. They may have a right to tease you about it when the time comes, but Adrian was being intentionally combative.”
Persy crossed her arms over her chest, curling in slightly on herself as if her heart was beating too fast for her body to contain. I was standing mere inches away from her before I could stop myself, our chests all but pressing together. My hand lifted on its own accord, hovering over her neck. “When was the last time you yelled at someone?”
“You, about ten seconds ago,” Persy said, looking down at my hand for a few, heavy seconds then up to meet my eyes.
I chuckled lightly. “Fair enough. Though an entire table is quite new for you.”
“What do you want me to say?” she asked, smiling bashfully. That grin was dangerous, enough to make my filter weaken and words better kept inside went spilling out. “You just bring it out of me.”
“That is not the way I would have preferred to make you scream.”
Persy’s eyes blew wide in shock, her mouth opening on a gasp. I felt like launching myself into the bay in hopes a spirit would drown me. I had no right to say that to her, no matter the truth of that statement.
“Forget, um,” I stumbled over my words, a true feat for the god of poetry. “Forget I said that.”
Persy breathed in, and I tried not to focus on the way her breasts pressed against the line of her shirt. “Why?”
“Love, that was a joke too far,” I said, trying to dig myself out of the whole I jumped in. “You’d do well to forget it.” I needed to forget it before my mind got confused and I tried to make that image a reality.
?
Persy
For a moment there, I forgot about my asshat brother and the pain in my chest, because I thought Sebastian was finally admitting that he shared a bit of what I was feeling.
My silly, hopeful heart had burst, sending all the heat and blood it hoarded down to my stomach when Sebastian had said he wanted to make me scream. But, of course, it was nothing more than a joke. A light tease fit for his personality instead of a promise for me.
“I do have a sense of humor, Sebastian,” I said, deciding that it was fine to let myself stand this close to him. “You can make jokes like that. It won’t scare me.”
I would actually probably collect them, but I was trying to keep it together.
Sebastian grinned and my stomach flipped. “Don’t tempt me. That’s a dangerous door to open.”
“Who’s to say I haven’t been holding out on you?” It was true. I’d restrained many a compliment or suggestive joke around him. It might be fun to start letting them out.
“Then I would say—” Sebastian cut himself off, looking over my shoulder. He cleared his throat, taking a slow step away from me, seemingly to make it less obvious that we had been standing so close. “I would say that your brother is walking down here.”
I turned over my shoulder, finding Adrian walking down to us with his hands in the pockets of his pants. “I should talk to him.” I certainly did not want to, seeing as something felt like it shifted with Sebastian, but I understood what needed to happen.
“I’m still hungry,” Sebastian said. “You talk.”
I turned back to him, opening my mouth to ask him to save me some food. My stomach had been so sour, I’d barely touched my food.
“I’ll make sure your food is warm,” Sebastian said, a sly grin on his face.
I wanted to push his shoulder away playfully, but my brother would be able to see that. For some reason, my mind decided a better alternative was to settle my hand on his stomach, lightly shoving him. My fingertips burned under the steel of his stomach, but I managed to say, “Good. Don’t leave without me.”
Sebastian’s neck looked stiff, like he was trying to hold it in place. “I would never commit such a sin.” He stepped away and my hand fell between us, Sebastian’s head finally dropping down to look at it.
He breathed in, then straightened. “Adrian,” he nodded, my brother clearly arriving, then slid me another look that made me want to laugh before leaving us alone.
I turned with him, facing my brother while watching Sebastian walk back to the house. As if he could tell that I was watching him, he looked over his shoulder and I caught my smile at the last minute.
When I returned my focus to Adrian, he was staring at me like my face was on fire. Maybe I didn’t do such a good job of hiding that smile after all. “I should fucking kill him,” he ground out, jaw hard.
“What?” He couldn’t do that. “Why?”
“That,” he said, circling his finger over my face, particularly the point where my brows were drawn together. “That’s why. You look like I’m about to rip your favorite toy out of your hands.”
I frowned, crossing my arm over my chest. Sure, I did enjoy a lot of my time with Sebastian, and some might even say I preferred to spend time with him, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t aware of what was going on. “I’m not a child.”
“Trust me,” Adrian said, dragging his hands dramatically down his face. I restrained the urge to knee him in the groin while he wasn’t looking. “I know.”
His tone still wasn’t pleasant enough for my liking. I couldn’t have him sending a lightning bolt flying into Sebastian’s chest. “Please don’t kill him.”
“Persy … has he—” He cut himself off, shaking his head like he couldn’t even find the words to verbalize what he meant. After a moment, he finally said, “I understand that there might be … an attraction or something.”
I sucked in a breath, shaking my head rapidly. “No, no.” Adrian raised a skeptical eyebrow, the expression pure big brother calling bullshit. “There’s nothing going on.”
“Persy…” he said, warning in his voice.
“Fine!” I half-yelled, throwing my hands up. Even in the Underworld, I heard thunder boom as Adrian’s anger spiked, clearly imagining the worst. “That’s not what I meant, Adrian. Calm down or I’m not telling you anything.”
Adrian took one, pointed deep breath. “Start talking before I start sending a storm cloud after him.”
“Nothing is going on,” I said on a deep exhale. There wasn’t. Despite the thing that Sebastian had said about … well, the scream thing, which made me—
The point was, Sebastian was charming and witty and made jokes like that all the time. I was the one who’d gone and developed feelings for him. That was my problem.
“I’ve grown to care for him,” I said carefully, watching Adrian’s every move. I really didn’t want him to electrocute Sebastian. “I’m sorry for making a scene at the table, but you all don’t see how much work he’s putting in.”
Adrian dragged both his hands down his face, which was rather dramatic, but I was keeping that to myself. “I can see it. He’s not different but he’s,” he paused, searching for the right word. “Well, he’s more like the Sebastian I was friends with.”
I couldn’t help the smile that burst across my face. Adrian clocked it and immediately groaned. “Persy, please.”
“You try living in the same house as him for four months and tell me you wouldn’t have a tiny crush on him!” I said, the words bursting out. I clapped my hand over my mouth, as if that would shove the words back inside.
Shit.
Adrian, to his credit, didn’t laugh. His lips rolled together in an obvious attempt to hide a smile, but that was the extent of it. “I am not one to judge someone for developing feelings for the person you have to spend all your time with.”
“It’s not the same as you and Reyna,” I said quickly, even though the words felt like a lie on my tongue. He and Reyna were literally Fated, upsettingly in love, and perfect for each other.
Sebastian and I were … none of that.
We couldn’t be.
Adrian opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. “It’s nothing more than a crush. It’ll go away.” Another string of words that tasted bitter. Adrian’s raised eyebrow made panic burst through my chest. I was barely able to think about what would happen when these six months were over, let alone think about someone else knowing I might be struggling. “The important thing is that he’s doing what he can to repent. I would really appreciate it if you gave him grace.”
“I’m trying,” Adrian said, sounding exacerbated. “He was my friend. It’s not easy for any of us, but you’ll have to excuse me for trying to sort through the fact that he almost killed my wife, tried to overthrow me, and he—” Adrian cut himself off, but waved in my general direction.
I didn’t know what that was supposed to mean. “Well, do better. Or do you want Dominic after you for ruining his wife’s brunch, too? I have no problem helping him plot against you.”
That sobered Adrian, the blood draining from his face as he fully realized what had happened, the truth cutting through his lingering fear and anger. “I will be nice.”
“You sure you’re capable of that?” I couldn’t help but tease. Needling my older brother never lost its charm.
Adrian nodded, placing his hands on my shoulders and physically moving me back towards the house. “No forks will be used for murder and I’ll keep the comments to a minimum. That’s the best I can do right now, all things considered. I’m still not convinced I shouldn’t kill him for—”
He cut himself off, but I couldn’t tell if it was for self-preservation or because he was hiding something. I couldn’t pay any mind to it because my stomach was all of the sudden very upset I neglected to eat anything before this.
Adrian and I walked back into the house, and I felt relief flood my limbs when the entire table was immersed in casual conversation, only paying us easy smiles as we moved to sit back down. The plate in front of me was steaming, looking seconds off the stove instead of sitting there soaking up the cold.
“Sebastian used that sun hands thing he does to warm the food,” Rose explained, nodding at Sebastian in gratitude. I forced myself to smile graciously at him, though I was feeling equally annoyed I’d never seen him do that trick.
Conversation picked back up, enough that it gave Sebastian the opportunity to speak quietly between us, just for me. “If you hadn’t been keeping me such good company in the kitchen, maybe I would have had an opportunity to show you that trick sooner.”
Oh, he thought he was hilarious, didn’t he? “You just lost book privileges for a week.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“I would.”
Dominic cleared his throat loudly, making me realize everyone was—once again—staring at us.
“Sorry,” I said, while I kicked Sebastian’s leg under the table. Unfortunately, he took that as an excuse to steady my leg by placing a hand on my knee, which made me feel like breaking something.
“Well, as I was saying,” Rose drawled, though her smile was entirely warm, “I think that it’s going to be Jason and Thalia first.”
Daphne shook her head. “Lia is seconds away from getting married.”
Lukas coughed into his hand, like the thought of disagreeing with his wife was making him ill. “That’s not what I heard. I was told they were about to break up.”
Daphne whipped towards him, “What? Who told you?”
“Quinn,” he answered, plainly. Even as a god, it was odd to hear them all chat about the others like they were friends, rather than the most powerful beings on the planet. Gossiping about Lia—the Roman goddess of the forge—and her Greek counterpart, Quinn. Discussing whether Jason—the only god of wine—was going to get married to one of Rose’s oldest friends, like that wedding wouldn’t be the most sought-after party in years, like it was just a passing thought.
Though Reyna was just as famous as the gods sitting at the table, I wondered if she ever thought this was oddly mundane.
Dominic pointed towards Lukas with his fork. “I heard that, too.”
Adrian winced. “Dominic is right, though I heard it from Lia, not her girlfriend.”
It was Reyna’s turn to look at him with bulging eyes. “When?”
Adrian tapped his hand over his heart. “Tattoo.” Lia Vulcan was responsible for most of the tattoos inked into the gods’ skin, and my brother’s newest addition had been working in his wife’s name into the mass of tattoos covering his body.
Reyna’s eyes went soft, melting as her gaze dropped to his hand.
“Luce would know,” Sebastian cut in gracefully, also seamlessly interrupting a moment where I thought my brother was about to flip the table and kick everyone out for a moment alone with Reyna. “They’re closest to her.”
“Oh,” Daphne gasped, looking like she was about to bounce out of her chair. “You have to ask them.”
That was a bridge we had yet to cross with the other person Sebastian considered a sibling—Luce Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt and Penelope’s counterpart. As I tried to keep my breath steady, Sebastian simply answered, “Will do.”
“I think you should ask them at the Council meeting,” Rose said. I’d forgotten the spring meeting was so soon, but after the way this brunch had started, I wasn’t sure how it could go much worse.
Sebastian raised his coffee in salute, the same way you would a wine glass, in agreement. Even if I wanted to talk to him about the Council meeting, that was a dynamic I didn’t quite understand, not the way the gods did.
Besides a few meetings that I sat in on, I didn’t know what went on there. The only meeting I remembered in any sort of detail was my very first. I’d gone away to university early, opting to study at a quiet, Minerva-sponsored institution deep in the mountains close to Olympus. At that first meeting, I had been a week into taking over at Prometheus, and was there to inform everyone what was going to happen moving forward.
There was a mix of older gods who were about to have their heirs take over and the new generation, my brother, Dominic, and Rose included. Sebastian, too.
I remembered him in vivid detail, especially how distant he looked. The wash of color in his eyes had looked duller than I remembered, the grin that I had a slight fascination looked forced.
Now, I knew what had caused it.
The memory made me want to place my hand over his and hold it tight.
I kept my hand by my side, knowing if I did that, it would throw this brunch into chaos. My hands were clenched into fists the rest of the brunch, holding onto my nerves and my sanity as I watched Sebastian slowly mesh back into this group.
My brother’s tone still wasn’t where I wanted it, but it went well, I thought.
“You okay?” I asked Sebastian as we stepped back through a portal into our house.
He looked down at me, his smile sending my heart beating double time. “Perfectly fine, love.”
Right as I was sighing with relief, he just had to add, “Let’s talk more about that speech you gave.”
I would be doing no such thing. I slapped his arm lightly, moving away from him quickly when he looked like he was about to follow me.
For the rest of the day, I couldn’t help but feel something else besides relief. That even though we’d crossed a huge marker in reintegrating him with the gods, it didn’t sit well in my body.