Chapter 37
Sebastian
Our friends apparently were smarter than I gave them credit for.
Very wisely, no one bothered to come check on us until the next morning. Incredibly well-timed, too, seeing as we’d spent most of the morning in the shower.
Persy had clung to my back when I tried to rise from bed, absolutely refusing to let me go.
I’d be a right fucking idiot if I complained about that. Though she had energy and pain to work through, my own adrenaline and fear had barely ebbed.
I didn’t even care that I’d almost died. I cared that she’d almost been hurt.
By the time we left Persy’s bedroom to greet our guests, Persy was behind me, her hands wrapped around my chest, and matching my steps with her own.
“Oh, fucking hell, can you not?” Adrian said, slapping a hand up to cover his eyes. Reyna smothered a laugh under her hand—poorly, I might add.
“I’m afraid this is going to be the best you get,” I said, running my hand over the back of Persy’s palm where it was flattened to my chest.
I could feel her lift up on her toes, her body scraping against my back in a way that would make this situation much worse for her brother.
“I haven’t really let go of him,” Persy said over my shoulder. While her brother didn’t need to know that I’d made very good use of that fact, it was true. “And I don’t really plan on doing so any time soon.”
My heart slammed into my rib cage like it was trying to work it’s way out of my skin and into her hands.
Adrian dropped his hands slowly, like he wasn’t convinced we weren’t about to start stripping in front of him. By the time he did, Persy had dropped back onto her heels, so he could really only see her hands and the top of her head from behind me anyway.
Adrian looked uncomfortably at Reyna, silently begging her to come save him.
She laughed, running a hand down his arm. “Adrian, baby, you should be happy for your sister.”
“But did she have to pick him?” He shoved his hand toward me dramatically.
“Adrian, don’t say that or I’m going to have to hit you,” Persy shot back, her words muffled against the space between my shoulder blades.
I grinned, and some might have called it a wicked one. “She said she’ll hit you if you say anything bad about me,” I said, my voice clear.
Adrian dropped his head back and begged for help from his ancestors. “Persy, would you please just make this easy on me?”
Persy grumbled something rather colorful under her breath, which made me smile even wider, and inched her way around my body. She didn’t remove her hands from me for a second of it, coming to stand in front of me and looping my arms over her shoulders so she could hold onto my wrists.
I widened my legs and flattened my hands over her abdomen, pulling her tight to me.
“You know what,” Adrian said, turning to leave. “Fuck this. You both seem fine. I’ll be back when I don’t feel like I’m going to throw up.”
“You will do no such thing,” Reyna said, catching Adrian’s wrist and yanking him back. She turned to me and Persy, sighing heavily. “We both understand the need to be close to one another right now, but could we maybe just sit down so my lovely husband doesn’t keel over?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Persy said, and I had to curl my lips to trap a smile. I knew exactly what she was about to say. “I’ll just sit on Sebastian’s lap, and I think that’s worse than what we’re doing right now.”
She was correct about that. Standing, I could tilt my pelvis back so there was an inch of space between our bodies and keep myself in check. There was no chance in hell I’d be able to do that with her sitting on my lap.
“PERSY!” Adrian yelled, sounding more like an exacerbated ten-year-old than a king and god.
Meanwhile, his wife was laughing her ass off. “Well, you two are clearly fine and healthy,” Reyna said, then reached behind Adrian to pull something out of the back pocket of his pants. “We just wanted to show you this.” She waved a newspaper in the air. “And see for ourselves whether the sun had made its way here or not.”
They could see that just fine. It was crossing five in the afternoon and the sun had just began its descent. If I had to guess—god of light and all—I’d say that Prometheus would now function like it was the height of summer at all times, with long, sun-filled days.
Persy made no move to reach for the paper, so I leaned forward with her in tow, and grabbed the paper from Reyna. I unrolled it, only catching a glimpse of the photograph on front cover, before Persy ripped it from my hands and crumpled it.
“I do believe I’m entitled to at least two weeks of peace before I’m reminded of anything related to that night,” Persy said, burrowing further into my chest.
It was fucking awful of me, but the way she was so obviously affected by the concept of my death warmed my chest. If she had been the one in that position, I would probably still be wreaking havoc, so it was at least comforting to know she was in the same boat.
Comforting wasn’t the right word for it. Because I didn’t feel at all calm and the only reasonable solution was to fuck her until both our voices were hoarse.
“We just thought we should tell you that the two of you are now rather famous,” Reyna said, coming to sit down at our kitchen counter. She chose Persy’s normal seat, and I had half the mind to tell her to move.
But Persy would think that was impolite, so I stopped myself. I might have also decided against it, my own capacity for kindness kicking in.
“We weren’t famous before?” I asked with a raised brow.
“Not like this,” Adrian grumbled, dropping his forehead to the top of Reyna’s head. I heard an obvious inhale of her hair, which upped my respect for him.
We might have been more similar than I gave us both credit for. We had been friends once. And seeing as I was intending on marrying his sister the second she let me, I supposed I could develop some degree of brotherly affection for him.
“What do you mean?” Persy asked, her grip tightening on my wrist.
Reyna smiled, clasping her hands together under her chin. “Everyone is obsessed with you two. Calling it the love story of the century, which is saying something considering…” she trailed off, gesturing at her and Adrian.
“Oh,” Persy sighed lightly, almost sounding unsure.
I bent down to speak closer to her ear. “I think this is a positive thing, love.”
Persy looked up, her eyebrows already drawn together. “You might be used to this, but I’m not.”
While I doubted Persy had ever been able to walk anywhere without being recognized, she wasn’t as public a figure as the rest of us. “Does that make you nervous?”
Persy blinked, thinking for a moment. “No, I don’t think so,” she said decidedly. “I guess I’ll be with you at anything public in the future, so that won’t be a bad thing.”
I bent down quickly, stealing a kiss.
Adrian groaned and barked a curse. He could fuck off.
Especially when Persy was sighing into the kiss, relaxing against me.
“Well,” Reyna said, long and drawn out. “Point being that everyone was quite moved by what happened on Friday. Sebastian, you look like a hero. And Persy everyone is enamored by you.”
I could imagine they were. Even though I’d missed most of it, having been unconscious and all, I could tell how raw those minutes were while I’d been out.
Persy was beautiful when there were emotions scattered all over her face.
“My aunt?” I asked, even though I wasn’t sure it was wise that I knew where she was. I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t kill her.
“She’s in a human prison,” Adrian answered, his jaw going hard. “Unluckily for her, when she chose to make her attempt on Persy’s life that public, then after—” he broke off, waving his hands between us, wisely sparing us both a retelling of events. “I think it’s best we let them deal with her.”
“Fine by me,” I said, my voice full of anger. “At least her idiocy will spare us in the future.” I doubted any of my remaining family members would try anything after witnessing the power of the gods displayed in front of their eyes, and the treatment my aunt was surely going to receive in the human media.
“I think this might be over,” Reyna hedged, running her hand down Adrian’s arm. Even her words didn’t seem so bitter, like she was ultimately thankful for all of this.
I understood that. I doubted Adrian would have pulled his head out of his ass as soon as he did without this. Really, he should be thanking me.
I kept my mouth shut.
Persy’s hand tightened on my forearm. “Everything is settled. Loose ends tied. Heirs instated.” She tipped her head up to look at me, and I resisted the urge to kiss her again. “You need to pick someone else, though.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said, the words a reminder.
Persy shook her head slightly. “I don’t even like the idea that I’m the one who would take your power. That’s yours alone. Pick someone else.”
I could move Penn and Nikolas up in order, I guessed. But she was still making that list somehow. I trusted her more than anyone.
This time, I didn’t resist the urge to kiss her, dropping one quick peck on her lips. Adrian didn’t seem to hate it as much this time around.
Good, he was accepting the fact I wasn’t going anywhere.
Quite the development.
Right when I pulled away, still looking at Persy, a thought popped into my head. I pulled her closer as I spoke. “I just finished a painting that, if I do say so myself, is pretty good. Probably would fit well at the Olympian museum. We could do a reveal and hold hands and tell everyone how much the gods love each other and all that shit.”
Adrian smothered a laugh under his hand. “You can laugh, you know,” I added. “It won’t kill you.”
Adrian shot me the middle finger, but said, “As long as it’s not anything I do not need to be seeing of my sister, fine.”
He was fucking insane if he thought anyone but myself and Persy would be laying eyes on those. “Don’t cry. It’s a good one.”
Reyna laughed, sharing a loaded look with Persy. I guess Reyna wouldn’t be the worst sister-in-law to have. She actually reminded me quite a bit of Penelope. They both seemed to feel things very intensely.
“I, for one, am excited to see it,” Reyna said, moving to stand. She turned to Adrian, placing her hand in his. “Let’s leave them to themselves.” When Adrian hesitated, giving Persy a weary glance, Reyna added, “Or do I need to remind you what you did after I got shot?”
Though there was a distant pang of regret at the reminder, I mostly felt fine, focusing on the fact that Adrian was grumbling. And when Persy scrunched up her nose and turned into my bicep, I felt completely content.
“Come on,” Reyna said through a laugh, pulling Adrian after her. With one final look at us, Adrian backed his wife through a portal and left us alone.
“He’ll make an alright brother-in-law,” I informed Persy.
She gasped, turning in my arms and looking up at me. “That’s quite the escalation,” she said, though there was a clear note of hope in her voice.
I brought my hand up to her face, tracing the perimeter and settling it on her jaw. “I had six months to think about it. Not an escalation at all.” Persy’s answering smile made me offer up even more. “Besides, the Oracle already told me you’re marrying me.”
Persy frowned. Quite adorably, I might add. “She did not tell you that.”
I shrugged. “She showed me you. That’s enough.” I used to think that prophecy meant that Persy was going to be my end, but she had clearly been a gift.
“You know what, I think we should go to Delphi,” Persy said, rising up on her toes in excitement.
I felt myself smile. “I think you’re right. I’m bringing the bows. I want another favor out of you.”
I did get my favor. As natural a talent as Persy was, I was the god of archery. Lucky for her, the favor I wanted was simply three days of uninterrupted time with her.