“Hmm. Maybe this is good. Look at you—you’re a wreck. In all the years I’ve known you, the most emotion you ever showed at the office was when we gave you a birthday cake and you smiled. People were shocked you had teeth. There was a whole betting pool about it.”
I groaned into her shoulder. “Was I really that bad?”
“Worse,” she said, laughing. “But now it makes sense.”
“I don’t want to go back to being that person. But I fear that’s in my future. Obviously, being around my soulmate has had an effect on me. That and coming to terms with who I really am. But soon that will all be gone because Roman wants to be a good man,” I spat.
Cassie giggled.
“If I even tried to come near him right now, I’m pretty sure he would question my morals. And get this: He’s going to start secretly importing demigods onto the property just to get a read on them to see if they’re my match.” I sniffled. “I feel like I’m a commodity on the black market.”
Cassie raised a brow. “Well, at least you’d be a high-end commodity.”
I groaned. “That’s not funny.”
“It’s a little funny,” she said, smirking.
“I suppose it is considering all he has to do is look in the mirror to find my soulmate. Cassie, what am I going to do? It feels hopeless at this point.”
She thought for a moment.
“Maybe this is him laying it all on the line for you. Like denying his desire for you is such a sacrifice that eventually it will unlock your heart, and then he’ll be able to read you, and the blockhead will figure it out. So maybe you just keep doing what you’re doing—humiliating yourself—and it will all work out.”
“That sounds like fun.”
“Doesn’t it?” she teased. “And just so you know, I got Jonas straightened out. There will be no more slipups.”
I forgot about my doom for a moment, eager to see how things had gone with my friends.
“Oh, really? What did he say?”
“Just that he won’t screw up again. Then he started going on and on about how what we really needed to do was find out who tore you and Roman apart and expose the culprit. Maybe take this person before Zeus and ask him to enact some poetic justice. Liketheyshould have to go on a quest. Then he started going off on my mom and how she should have done more for the women persecuted during the European witch hunts, considering how many of those women worshipped her. So, I had to rip him a new one and let him know that the gods actually did save most of those women, but we couldn’t very well broadcast that or we’d risk exposing our world. Needless to say, Jonas isn’t my favorite person.”
Cassie wrinkled her nose.
That was unfortunate. I probably wouldn’t get my happy ending, but after everything Jonas and Cassie had done for me, they deserved theirs. They belonged together. I’d just have to figure out how to make that happen.
“He grows on you. I promise.”
“I’m not judging you for dating him. He’s hot and broody, and he hates that he’s a demigod almost as much as you used to. But you have to admit—there’s something a little off about him.”
I grinned.
“There’s something a little off about all of us. Greek and Roman gods aren’t exactly the poster children for emotional stability.”
“This is true,” Cassie agreed. “Regardless, Jonas won’t be accidentally throwing you under the bus again.”
“At this rate, I think I’ll have to throw myself under there.”
“Well, just make sure you don’t get run over. Your face is too pretty, and honestly, I’d miss you. So promise me you’ll do whatever it takes to finish this quest.”
“I’d miss you too,” I said, my voice pitching unnaturally. “So much.” I sucked in a dramatic breath, like I was gearing up for battle. “Okay. I can do this. Right?”
Cassie patted my head like I was a good little puppy.
“You’ve got this. Now let’s make a plan to get Roman to finish the job.”
And, oh, what a plan it was.
