Epilogue
Persy
I married Sebastian one year to the day after he arrived in Prometheus.
I wanted it to be sooner, but he made me wait until the second half of the deal was over. Six months with me, six months out in the world as a test.
Though a large part of that second half was spent with me, he’d made it. He was less public than he was before, focusing on the actual aspects of his power rather than the fame.
What he’d always wanted.
Sure, everyone still loved Apollo and demanded his presence as often as he offered it, but he spent a lot of time taking care of his power, whether it was painting or a hospital fundraiser or shooting arrows off our porch in Delphi.
While he had reduced his time out in the world to the point that he wanted, I increased it. I hadn’t realized how much I’d isolated myself in Prometheus until Sebastian started dragging me to things with him, pouting at me and saying there was no way he’d enjoy himself if I wasn’t there with him.
It didn’t take much to convince me, especially since I silently agreed. With Nikolas taking on more responsibility and Calpurnia’s insistence that I get comfortable delegating, I was able to step back slightly.
It only made me better at my job, able to separate my life from work and engage in both better.
I certainly made use of my extra time. I still couldn’t quite believe what my life had turned into most days, but I’d never once, for even a second, doubted Sebastian.
How he’d completely repaired his relationship with Luce and Nikolas. How he perfectly reintegrated with the other gods, even forming somewhat of a brotherly relationship with Adrian.
So much so that Adrian was standing at the end of the aisle I was walking down, prepared to bless our union with his own hands.
It was one of the sunniest days we’d had in a while, Sebastian’s power anchored here in full force. We were in the hills behind my house, the same landscape he’d painted in the first days he was here.
That painting now hung in the spare room, once his bedroom, and now converted into a cozy, private part of the world that was supposed to be focused on work, but was really spent reading or distracting each other from work.
A particularly bright ray of sun refocused my attention on the path in front of me. I was holding a bouquet of bright, spring flowers in my hands as I passed by a select few of our friends, which also happened to be all of the gods.
There were few times where there was this much power in one place, but all I could focus on was Sebastian.
He was in a clean, white button down that highlighted the sun-kissed tone of his skin and the sharp line of his jaw. His dark hair stood out against the color, pushed back off his face and letting his multi-colored eyes shine.
I almost tripped over my own feet when our eyes connected, a bolt of lightning cutting me straight in half. Uncaring how it would look, I picked my pace up, almost running down the aisle toward him.
I crashed into Sebastian, his hands coming around my back to steady me. “You are beautiful, my love,” he whispered in my ear, voice gruff.
My eyes already felt misty with tears, but I pulled back and ran my hand down his face and over his heart. “You’re beautiful,” I said, intending to mean both his appearance and his soul.
“I’ll make this quick,” Adrian said, his words making us step apart slightly, though Sebastian’s hand never left my body, simply dragging down to hold my wrists.
To be entirely honest, I didn’t hear a word Adrian said. I could tell he was talking about us being a surprisingly good match, and made a joke that had light chuckles flitting through the crowd, but I was too busy staring at Sebastian.
What I did hear was Adrian’s voice kicking up in volume, his tone going hard, as he said, “If any of you have a problem with this, shut up.”
That was more of an endorsement of our relationship than any.
“Excuse me.” All the blood drained from Sebastian’s face, and he turned toward that voice, eyes full of rage. He looked ready to drive a knife through the heart of whoever had spoken.
I followed his stare to find the Oracle standing at the end of the aisle.
My father was halfway out of his chair in the front row, but my mother steadied him.
“Carry on,” the Oracle said, moving slowly down the aisle, as fast as her weak limbs would allow. She hardly ever moved from her corner of the temple, especially now that Sebastian and I spent time at Delphi. Realizing that everyone was staring at her, and she made quite a few gods shrink away from her as she passed, Pythia stood up straighter. “I’m simply taking the opportunity to watch a prophecy play out in person.”
My eyes shot to Sebastian, brows pinched together. All he did was reach up and smooth a hand down my face, gripping my jaw as his grin widened. Then he turned back to Pythia. “Take a seat, would you?” His tone was entirely soft, even a bit mystified.
Pythia nodded at him, slipping into an open seat and pulling her legs up into a cross-legged position. Jason Dionysus, sitting next to her, shivered, causing his girlfriend to smile and place a hand on his leg.
Adrian cleared his throat, though it sounded suspiciously like he was smothering a laugh. “Right, well, I think that’s a good a blessing as any,” he said, nodding at Pythia. Even a king had to respect her power.
“I’m losing patience,” Sebastian grumbled under his breath, his tone heavy in a way that made my stomach tighten. Adrian looked like he was about to hit him.
“Please,” I whispered, able to hide the desperation in my voice a bit better. I wanted this to be over as quickly as Sebastian did. I needed him to be my husband.
He’d made me wait long enough.
Adrian managed a laugh, which seemed to coincide with a look at his wife. “You have the blessing of everyone important,” he said, sliding his gaze from Sebastian to me.
Wait. That meant—
“You are married in the eyes of the Fates and the Oracle,” Adrian confirmed. I knew that we were Fated, I knew it deep in my soul, but the confirmation…
Tears were slipping down my cheeks now.
Adrian smiled at me, his own eyes growing misty. “Congratulations, Lady Apollo.”
Sebastian’s hands were on my face a second later, pulling me into him in a soul-searing kiss that made me forget where we were.
I felt his own tears against my cheeks, and I wrapped my arms around his neck to pull myself tighter to him. I wasn’t sure how much time had elapsed until he released me. All I knew was that I was dizzy enough to sway into him, falling into his hard, warm chest.
Sebastian tucked his head into my neck, right as I felt a particularly strong ray of sun shine onto my back. He pulled back slightly, his nose running over my neck while my hair fell over his face.
He dragged his nose up to my ear, then spoke low. “This is what the Oracle showed me. This is what I painted.”
My knees buckled. He’d told me Sunlight Incarnate was an interpretation of that prophecy, of the image of him looking through my hair. I just didn’t know it was real.
Once the feeling returned to my legs, I noticed how warm the rest of me felt.
Oh, no.
We should have definitely gotten married somewhere else so we could have the house to ourselves.
As I stepped away from Sebastian to steady myself, everyone took that as invitation to come up and congratulate us—not that I was complaining.
Nikolas and Kostas gave us both hugs and smacking kisses on the cheek, which was made all the more special when their little boy reached out from Nikolas’s arms and did the same.
Penn was crying so hard, he couldn”t do anything but collapse into a hug.
I started crying again when my parents came up, especially when my father clapped Sebastian on the back and shared a look with him that carried so much fatherly support, it made me want to go back and kill Sebastian’s parents for failing him.
Most of the gods cycled through, offering their congratulations. Or condolences, as Dominic offered when he said he was sorry I’d have to deal with Sebastian for the rest of my life.
Rose, Daphne, and, Reyna hugged me at the same time, almost knocking me over from the force of it.
Lukas did actually pick me up, spinning me around in a brotherly hug until Sebastian took me out of his arms and tucked me into his side.
All of the sudden, the crowd around us stiffened, making a path to let Pythia walk down towards us.
The Oracle was walking slowly, enough for Sebastian to have time to pull me into his side as she approached.
When she did, she smiled at us, the sharp points of her teeth glinting in the sunlight.
“You deserve this,” the Oracle said, though her voice didn’t sound like her own. Even her body was held differently, her stance a bit more relaxed and fluid.
I recognized that voice, and when I turned to Sebastian to find his eyes wide and haunted, I knew who that voice belonged to.
He swallowed thickly, his hand tightening in my own. After a moment, he said, barely above a whisper. “Thank you, Penelope.”
The Oracle nodded, clearly channeling Sebastian’s lost sister. The connection was gone a second later, the Oracle’s standard voice and stance returning. “I shall see you soon,” she said, nodding at us both.
When she walked away, aimlessly walking towards the distant hills of Prometheus, my brother was the one to speak first. “I’m sorry, but she creeps me out.”
Sebastian laughed and I felt the sound right in my chest. “You’ll get used to it after a while.”
Adrian shook his head, intertwining his hand with Reyna’s, who was smiling up at him with stars in her eyes. “Nope. I don’t plan to ever see her again.”
“She has a habit of popping up out of nowhere,” I said, smiling. On a particularly … spirited day in Delphi, she’d just appeared on our back deck moments after I’d thrown on one of Sebastian’s old shirts.
Sebastian’s thumb passed over the skin of my shoulder, remembering the same event.
The only problem was that when I remembered that day, the events preceding it came floating to the surface, and I had the urgent and immediate need to drag Sebastian into our room.
Based on the way he was gripping me to him, I imagined he felt the same.
It was Reyna who said, “I’m terrible at keeping secrets. We were going to throw you a party later tonight on Olympus.”
I tried my best to look surprised, but my mother was even worse at keeping secrets than her. A fact Adrian knew the second he looked at my face. “Well, you clearly already know.”
Reyna didn’t look the least bit irritated. “Since you do, we will see you tonight at eight.” She turned back to the crowd, her voice rising slightly, in a way fitting for a queen. “Alright, everyone! To Olympus, please and thank you.”
Everyone, very wisely, listened, almost immediately and stepped through portals or made themselves scarce.
Sebastian waited until my parents were gone, at least preserving that bit of propriety, before throwing me over his shoulder.
My laugh hit his lower back, and I tossed my bouquet at Nikolas, knowing he’d take care of it. Sebastian stomped towards the house, rattling the door on its hinges when he slammed it shut behind us.
A moment later I was flat down on our bed, heaving with anticipation. He crawled over me, prowling and slow. When he had me caged in with his body and hands, he looked at me with that same level of deep observation I’d come to crave. “I should have made you my wife a long time ago.”
Wife. That word shot right through me, desperation building in my chest. “You were the one who made me wait, husband.” I countered, though my voice sounded a little too breathless on that last word.
Sebastian’s face fell, his expression growing serious. In a second, he had me flipped on top of him, my legs straddling his hips.
A laugh fell from my lips, and I let my body fall forward to kiss him. “You’re my husband now,” I said against his mouth. “And I love you. That’s all that matters.”
Sebastian’s hand tightened in my hair. “Good. Now let me kiss my wife.”
His mouth fell to mine and I forgot the world long enough for us to show up to our own party two hours late.