Page 18 of The Gods Forbid

Bad idea. Persy brightened even further, so much so that I was sure she had stolen my power over the sun. “What do you like? I’ll make sure the kitchen is stocked. Would you please consider making at least breakfast? I really feel bad asking Kostas for help but he’s the only other person I know who is even remotely capable in the kitchen is Nikolas and—”

“I’m cooking. For both of us.” Nikolas would lose a hand before I let him anywhere near that kitchen.

Persy looked two seconds away from running towards me with arms open, demanding a hug, and that was certainly not happening. “What else?”

Persy blinked quickly, remembering what she was in the middle of. “Right.” She reached up and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, looking around like she forgot something.

“Any more of a tour?” I asked, reminding her what we were doing. I was an asshole, but I was not in the business of embarrassing people. If I had the option to subtly remind her what she was doing, I was taking it.

Persy’s honest smile returned. “The bedrooms!”

Wait no, that wasn’t—

I was following her anyway.

Bad fucking idea. Because she led me down a hallway that focused all my attention on the subtle sway of her hips as she walked. Then she stopped.

Oh, fuck no. Might as well say it. “Fuck no.”

Persy didn’t even react to the bite in my tone. “Yes. One of your younger guards—we were fairly confident he wasn’t involved in the conspiracy—helped me charm your closet so that all your things came here.”

“That’s not my problem.” It was a problem that her gesture spun something dangerously close to gratitude through my chest.

Persy stepped closer, her chin titling up just an inch. “What is, then?”

The problem was that our bedrooms shared a wall. The proximity was torturous enough but I had zero fucking intention in hearing her move around her room, having to sit through the sounds of her changing or showering or fucking forbid hear her with Nikolas.

“Little close for comfort, don’t you think, love? It would be easy for me to sneak into your room and—”

I was flat on my ass a second later. Persy was standing over me, looking down on me like I’d somehow gotten myself there instead of her doing it to me. “I wouldn’t try that.”

Lesson fucking learned. Especially when it made her stand over me like an avenging angel, her hair billowing around her like a halo. “At least help me up.”

Persy reached out a hand, but the second her bracelets caught the sunlight, I realized that her helping me up would require me to touch her. I popped up on my own, leaving her hand hanging there.

The fact that I didn’t take her hand didn’t seem to bother her and she just turned to face my room. “I won’t go in. But this is yours. Let me know if you need anything. After you get settled, I have something else to show you.”

Something was wrong with her. She was talking faster than normal and seemed to be trying to get away from me for once, instead of staying in my space until I felt about ready to pop. She scurried away into her own room, and by that I mean she took precisely two steps away from me, that was how close together we’d be living, before shutting the door quickly behind her.

I would not be concerned with her sudden shift in mood.

I finally turned and took in the space she’d given me. I went to the closet first, finding exactly what she’d promised. All of my clothes, in the exact same orientation they were at my house. Not my home—no, I didn’t have one of those. I lived in a graveyard of my parent’s influence, their legacy breathing down my neck at all times.

The only property to my name I could tolerate was a small cottage nestled in the mountains outside Delphi. Unfortunately, it looked quite similar to Persy’s house.

Other than the closet, the room was simple, with a large bed in the center with a desk and dresser lining the walls. The decorations didn’t matter—it was torture nonetheless—but I would be happy to have a full-sized bed instead of cramming my limbs into the one in that blasted cell.

The reminder of the cell carried with it the realization that I was in the same clothes I’d entered with. There was no visible blood anywhere to be found, but I could still smell the sharp tinge of iron that came from Reyna’s injuries.

I ripped the shirt over my head and shucked away my pants, reaching for the first replacements I could find in my closet. Right as I was pulling the shirt over my head, I heard what could only be described as a gargle from behind me.

I turned, finding Persy at the door, staring at me with a slack jaw. “See something you like, love?”

Persy just blinked, and I wasn’t even sure she’d heard me. “I’m ready to show you the other thing now.”

She turned on her heel before I could respond and I followed her. I really needed to stop doing that. Regardless, she led me back through the kitchen and out to a quaint back deck that someone might describe as homey. Beyond that, there was a small shed a short walk away.

Persy was uncharacteristically silent as we walked, but I wasn’t going to be the one to break the silence. Once we reached the shed, a small replica of her own home, she pulled a key ring from her pocket and set to work pulling off one of the keys. Once she did, she handed it to me.