Chapter 35
Sebastian
I got three blissful days with Persy before I had to attend that stupid fucking opera.
Realistically, it wasn’t the worst torture. The singers were incredibly talented, so much so that I tended to enjoy these things, and Persy would be coming with me.
I just didn’t see that much value in extracting myself from bed, especially when Persy had fancied attaching herself to me at all times. I was a physical person, and it felt like a sign from the Oracle that Persy seemed to rival me.
I had to be the one to ask for a break.
Fucking insane.
Though now, I got to watch Persy put on her makeup, lazily watching from bed and fully intending on getting myself together at the last possible moment.
Persy smiled when she caught me staring at her in the mirror, a blush building on her cheeks. “What is it?”
“Just looking at you,” I replied honestly. It was that or tell her I loved her.
I was pretty sure she felt something similar, and both of us had come close to a confession over the past few days.
I needed to wait though. I needed these six months to be over so I could make sure there wasn’t a chance in hell she thought I was being anything other than honest.
Persy turned in her chair, crossing her legs and leaning back against her vanity.
“Yes?” I asked when she didn’t say anything.
“Just looking at you,” she replied, a smirk on her perfect lips.
I shot out of bed, stalking over to her and tipping her face up to kiss those words right off her mouth. Any more out of her and I was canceling.
Though when she laughed against me, I debated it anyway. I forced myself to pull away. “I think you should wear that gold dress again.”
Persy blinked, like it was taking her a second to remember what we’d been talking about. “I bought that to drive you crazy.”
Fuck, I didn’t deserve her. Though if she liked me, I must have been doing something right. “You did, love. Any chance you want to do it again?”
Persy laughed, bright and free. “I have another one I think you’ll like.”
The faster I got ready, the faster she put that dress on, so I pulled back and walked into her closet to change into the suit I’d moved over. I’d just gotten my pants on when I realized Persy had followed me in, leaning against the door frame and watching me change.
“Absolutely not,” I said, twirling my finger to tell her to turn around. “You stay in here and we aren’t going.”
Persy’s head tipped back in a laugh. I didn’t realize how little she”d been laughing over the past few weeks until she started doing it again. “I don’t want to get yelled at by my brother, so we’ll have to wait.” She walked up to me, placing her hand on my bare chest and a light kiss on my lips. “As torturous as that sounds.”
My heart clenched so tight, I was sure it would stop beating.
A weird chill broke over my arms at the thought, my skin itching like it did when the Oracle tried to call me.
I’d felt the same this morning, but if the Oracle had a fifth thing to discuss with me, she needed to be more obvious than making me crazy with the feeling of impending doom.
After another several attempts to make Persy stay home, especially after she put on a sunset orange dress that had a slit that showed off her legs, she managed to drag me through a portal and onto the steps of the Opera House.
Half the gods were on the steps already, making their way through reporters and patrons while cameras flashed around us.
My hand tightened on Persy’s reflexively, that chill returning. I didn’t give a shit about optics, she was holding my hand the entire way inside.
“There’s my brother,” Persy said, her hand pulling out of mine. She turned to me and spoke low. “I’m not ashamed. Not in the slightest. But I owe him a conversation.”
I made myself nod, though my hand felt overheated without Persy’s in it. I jerked my chin up to where her brother was standing, several steps ahead. “Go now. I’m not keeping my hands at my side the whole night.”
“I wouldn’t want you to,” Persy said softly, before gifting me with another slight smile and scurrying up the steps to her brother. I hated watching her walk away from me, but I straightened and greeted a few reporters who called my name respectfully.
I had the feeling someone was watching me, so I turned to survey the crowd.
A moment later, my eyes landed on Ariana and my heart stopped.
It wasn’t out of the norm that she was here. It was the type of event she frequented.
But this felt wrong.
I followed her line of sight to find it cemented firmly on Persy and Adrian, speaking between themselves. Persy’s back was turned, focused more on telling her brother about us than her surroundings.
No. This was wrong.
I turned back to my aunt. Then I saw her reach into the pocket of her trench coat.
I knew what was going to happen, as clear as a prophecy straight from the Oracle’s hands.
There was so much hate in her eyes, only the type that could come when you felt like someone had ripped your very life source away.
Power had been hers.
And she was pointing a crossbow at mine.
It was the worst type of revenge, to have the exact same weapon I’d used, albeit unintentionally, to harm someone mere months prior pointed at the woman I loved more than life itself.
But there was no time for passing thoughts about the circle of life or karma, not when my energy was better dedicated pushing people out of the way.
I didn’t see anything in front of me other than Persy’s face, smiling widely and drawing all attention towards her.
Fates help me, she was so full of light.
Light that I refused to let someone snuff out.
Persy was the first to notice, turning towards me as I was running up the stairs towards her, an adorably confused look building on her face.
There was no time to address it, not when I was two steps away. Persy’s face fell when she noticed the anguish on mine, her hands immediately reaching for me.
Good, I thought. It helped me hide her better.
And that was the last thing I thought before an arrow ripped through my back, piercing my heart in one clean puncture.
The pain, the feeling of blood spilling into my chest and abdomen, was a distant thought.
I was just glad the arrow hadn’t shot through my front.
Persy didn’t need to see that.
There were screams. Pushing. Cries for help and shouts to grab her.
None of that registered.
I was losing strength, and quickly. I knew what was going to happen. The god of medicine and all.
Something had ripped through my heart. I’d bleed out in seconds, and based on the pressure in my chest, I was already halfway there.
I sank to my knees, needing to save my strength and focus all my fleeting energy on Persy.
“Sebastian?” she cried, following me down to the floor, her hands coming up to my chest. I looked down, relieved to find that I wasn’t getting blood on her. “What did you do?”
“I had to, love,” I said, my voice nothing above a whisper. My eyelids felt heavy, begging me to close them. I forced them open.
I needed to see her. One last time.
Persy’s eyes were welling with tears. No, no, I didn’t want that.
But she’s alive, I reminded myself. You saved her.
“You’ll be okay,” I managed to say. She would. I’d made sure she’d be safe. Made sure that if I died, she would at least have something to help her.
“No,” Persy said, shaking her head. I wasn’t really aware of the way my body was moving, but I was laying down now. My head on her lap. I was pretty sure the arrow had broken. “No, please, no,” she pleaded, like she could barter with me.
I only managed to shake my head.
There was never any choice.
There would never be any other option than to do whatever it took to make sure she was okay. Happy. Safe. Alive.
There wasn’t a price I wouldn’t pay, including my own life.
I opened my mouth to say the last thing I could think to leave her with.
The truth. That I loved her more than life itself.
But nothing came out. I was too weak, my voice abandoned while my body fought furiously to keep me alive. It was a losing battle, and my heart was about to surrender.
My mind went next, accepting the fact that I was about to die.
My only regret was that I wasn’t able to tell her I loved her.
Darkness crept into the corners of my vision, and I knew it was time. I had no choice but to give myself over to it.
It made sense that it would be like this. At night, as far away from the sun as I could get.
I blinked and my vision cleared, framing Persy’s face over me, her expression contorted with pain.
No, that wasn’t true. I had my sunlight.
She was right here, holding me like she loved me.
This is how it should be, I thought, right as my mind started to feel hazy, like my thoughts were too far away. Giving me one last piece of art before I left.