Chapter 33
Sebastian
She left me.
That beautiful little muse cut and run, sneaking out of bed then out of her damn house.
I would have woken up if she so much as breathed out of pattern, let alone fully got up and walked out of the fucking house.
She thought I was done with her. How cute.
I had two weeks left here. I had every intention of locking us both in this house and spending that time between her thighs convincing her to let me stay.
I couldn’t do that when she fled.
Fighting the urge to bury my nose in her pillow and smother myself with her scent, I rolled out of bed and took a quick shower in her bathroom. It would be mine soon enough, might as well get a jump start on using it.
While in the shower, I got a healthy whiff of her shampoo and had to deal with the physical reaction that evoked, lest I come at Persy like a dog in heat the next time I saw her. I ran through a few options for fucking her against the tile while I did it.
She had to let me stay. There was simply no other option.
If I wasn’t in love with her before, I certainly was now. She’d seen only one of the countless paintings of her lying in that studio. That had to be enough to convince her that I was serious about this.
We worked. Of that I was sure.
Even with all my sins, she had to have me. I wasn’t sure I would survive any other option. Even now, with her gone from me for barely an hour, my chest ached like my heart was tired of beating.
I stepped out of the shower and toweled off, noting several scratch marks and bruises marring my chest and throat.
Good girl, I thought, remembering how hard she’d held on to me as I’d bucked into her, and again as I pressed her up against the wall right outside her bedroom.
Not above snooping, I poked my head into her closet, and was surprised to find something in there smelled like my cologne.
Walking in fully, I spied a sweater I’d discarded on the couch weeks ago folded neatly on a shelf.
Little. Thief.
That was fine. I had a thin sweater of hers in my own closet.
After sneaking away to my room to change, I went to grab the sweater, intending to take it until she noticed it was gone then give her three more to take in return.
Though on my way back out of her room, I found her brother standing in the middle of the kitchen, arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face. “What the fuck are you doing in Persy’s bedroom?”
“Putting back a sweater she left out.” I wasn’t going to tell him shit before Persy did. That was her decision. The lie fell easily from my tongue, aided by the fact that I had my own clothing in my hand. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
Adrian grumbled something unintelligible under his breath before he finally said, “It’s time we hash this out.”
I scoffed loudly. “That can’t be the only reason you are here.”
“It’s not and shut up.” Adrian breathed in, pinching the space between his brows. “I forgive you.”
That shocked me. I’d admit it shocked me.
“You do?” I asked slowly.
Adrian shot me a look that was quite threatening, then said, “Yes.” I thought he’d leave it at that, but he added, “It’s clear you have abandoned your plan. My wife is alive. You haven’t made my sister unhappy. I should have no reason to hate you.”
“And you still do?” I asked, my eyebrow raising.
Adrian muttered something with a dark tone, low enough that I couldn’t make out any word other than brother, though that seemed wrong. “I forgive you,” he repeated.
The honesty of that statement hit me in the chest. He really did.
Before I knew what I was doing, I started speaking. “I forgive you, too.”
Adrian’s brows slammed together, and I forced myself to continue speaking. To explain. “I blamed you for Penelope’s death.” Adrian stilled. “Her family was hard on her about the merge, and when she died, I used that as a way to explain what happened. But I know it’s not your fault. Luce never blamed you. I don’t anymore.”
Adrian didn’t move for a moment, considering me. Finally, he said, “Thank you. Don’t think for a second I don’t understand what my birth did. But I’ve tried to remedy it.”
“You have,” I said, and those two words felt like a final admission that I was done. That this was over.
Adrian seemed to understand it too, nodding his chin once. “Now,” he said, clapping his hands and transforming into the suave asshole I was used to. He’d make an alright brother-in-law. “You need to go to the opera.”
I barked a laugh. “Why’s that?”
“Persy told me you’re working through different parts of your power, music included.” I nodded, choosing not to tell him that I felt like I’d satisfied music by tracing Persy’s hands while she sat at her piano. “The opera is close to the end of your sentence. Great ending. You should go.”
“So, I don’t have to be there, you just want me to?” I countered.
“Same thing,” Adrian shot back, authority in his tone.
I scoffed. “Fine.” Operas normally required formal dress. I wouldn’t complain about any excuse to see Persy in a dress like the one she’d worn two days ago. “Any grumblings from my family?”
Adrian shook his head. “No. Part of the reason I want you there. I need to know if it’s good silence or bad.”
Something made me nervous about that statement, my power flaring, but I shut it down. “Alright.”
“Spectacular,” Adrian said, clearly pleased with himself. “Where’s my sister?”
“I don’t know,” I said, speaking honestly. She could do whatever she wanted, but I wanted to talk to her.
Adrian was clearly two seconds away from calling me on my shit, but I chose to ignore that. “See you at the opera.”
I was clearly dismissing him, but Adrian chose not to comment on it, disappearing through a portal with a laugh.
The second I was alone, I went in pursuit of Persy, stepping out into an uncommonly sunny morning, which reminded me of what my power had done.
This ended now.
If Persy was simply ignoring the fact that my power had all but followed me here, changing the fucking fabric of how this part of our world ran, then I was making her answer me right this fucking instant.
To finally tell me if she was as in this as I was.