Page 31 of The Gods Forbid

I could almost hear Persy’s voice in my head, begging me to be nice. Saying she appreciated when people were. It was only the desire to prevent her from yelling at me for upsetting our friend that had me steadying my voice and forcing out a semi-polite. “Thank you.”

Daphne curled her lips, as if to restrain a laugh, but wisely chose to just nod and step back through a portal, Reyna’s antidote in hand.

The second she left me alone, I ran my hands down my face, already exhausted from a few moments of charity and kindness.

Having collected myself enough to feel an ounce more control over myself, I stomped out of the house to do something entirely selfish.

Chapter 9

Persy

There were flowers on my kitchen counter.

Fresh flowers.

As in someone put them there. Someone that wasn’t me.

I blinked twice, and when my vision cleared, they were still there. Beautiful and full of color and sitting in a stunning vase that I didn’t recognize.

No one had been in my house today. No one except…

“Sebastian?” I asked, trying to get his attention even though I’d felt his eyes on me since the second I stepped in the house. And sure enough, when I turned to face him, he was already looking at me. Leaning comfortably into the side of the couch, book in hand, and paint still all over his clothes.

I had half the mind to tell him to change. Even though I’d seen what he’d been painting with my own eyes this morning, I still couldn’t help but feel like there was more I hadn’t seen. And that made me want to snoop.

That was horrible and so, so wrong, especially since I’d told him he couldn’t go in the room on the other side of the studio.

“Are you responsible for those flowers?” I managed, pointing towards the bouquet.

Sebastian shut the book with a muffled snap. “Yes.”

Oh. Alright. Okay.

I was having a very normal reaction to that. A reaction that was definitely the exact same as when my mother or father brought some by. Technically, a man had brought me flowers but it was either from my brother or a friend.

This was normal. Very normal.

“Thank you.” Goodness, my voice sounded hoarse.

Sebastian stood, his cheek pulled into a grin. “Don’t mention it.”

I opened my mouth to tell him how much I appreciated it regardless, but he cut me off with a wave of his hand. “I was serious. Don’t bring it up.”

Within seconds, he managed to get me riled up again. I’d had a rather peaceful day after I managed to calm down from this morning. I had a mild heart attack when I thought he’d snuck out, hoping I wouldn’t find a dead body on the edge of Prometheus if he tried to flee.

What I found felt worse. I didn’t tell him—which was an omission not a lie, but I had been standing there, watching him paint, for longer than I admitted.

I just got sucked in. I couldn’t help but watch as the muscles in his back shifted and moved while his hand moved the brush around the canvas.

He was in so much control in that moment. It was almost eerie, how easily he was able to turn blobs of paint on a palette into a painting so realistic it made me question my sanity.

I was so off-kilter. He was responsible, which, in my mind, made it okay to push him a little bit. “Actually, I would like to know why you bought me flowers.”

Sebastian’s eye twitched. “I didn’t buy you flowers. I bought your kitchen flowers.”

Whatever the dip in my stomach was, it was not disappointment.

“Well,” I said, the sound nothing more than a tool to clear my throat. “It does make the kitchen brighter. Thank you.”