Page 34 of The Gods Forbid

If I wasn’t mistaken, Sebastian let out a sigh of relief. He sucked the breath back in as quickly as it had left him. It seemed to shock him, so I didn’t point it out.

“But I’m assuming there were people higher up in your plan that didn’t receive a tattoo.”

Sebastian scrubbed a hand over his jaw, rubbing two fingers over the joint like it was sore from hours of clenching it in restraint. “You’d be correct.”

I felt my mouth curve into a soft smile, carefully pressing forward. “As I’m sure you understand, we need to make sure that they know this is over. I—”

“I’ll give you a list.”

I blinked, unsure if I’d heard Sebastian correctly. “A list?”

I couldn’t quite read his expression, but the wash of color in his eyes was glowing brighter than normal. “I am intelligent enough to know when I’ve lost.” I wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so I just nodded. When Sebastian did that to me, I had the urge to keep talking. To my surprise, that was exactly what he did. “I never wanted a war. I never wanted this to be messy. I saw an opportunity to take Adrian’s power quietly, to force him into handing it over willingly. I’ve lost the element of surprise and I have no intention of finding another way to overthrow him.”

That was more insight into the way he thought than I’d ever gotten before.

He didn’t crave violence. That was a greater sign of hope than I would ever tell him.

I studied him quietly. It looked like that moment of honesty had tired him out. I understood that.

“Fair warning,” I said, smiling and keeping my voice light. “I’m about to thank you.”

Sebastian’s eyes brightened with a smile. His grins never reached his eyes, but there was a smile there now. “I’m prepared. Hit me.”

“Thank you.” My words were a tad breathier that normal, but I was chalking that up to the breeze getting in the way. I was feeling a little less afraid of him now, so it surely wasn’t that.

“Great, now that torture’s over.” Sebastian rolled his shoulders back like he was physically shaking off the words. “Did you know this was the best light in the Mediterranean or is it just a favorite spot of yours?”

Sebastian had just asked me a question. Had willingly engaged me in conversation. I fought a knowing grin, which would have surely killed the moment if he caught it. “Is both an acceptable answer?”

Sebastian released a disbelieving laugh, and I tried not to note how his strong throat worked with the motion. I certainly did not dedicate any time to noting how the chain of his necklace moved. Or any thought to what hung at the end of that long chain. “You’ll just disagree with me if I say no, so sure.”

“See?” I said through a laugh. “You’re coming over to the dark side.”

Another lick of fear dipped in my stomach when Sebastian gave me a slow once over. Somehow I knew, just from the raise of his eyebrow, that he was noting the way my entire body was turned toward the sun, absorbing every bit of light I could get. “Starved for sunlight?”

The rough and low tone of his voice hit me like an arrow to the chest. It would be all too easy to mistake that lilt for something else. It was unsettling enough that I answered honestly, even though I hadn’t made it a habit to lie to him. “My mom used to call me her sun baby,” I said, smiling genuinely at the thought of my mother. “I’d start crying if I wasn’t in the sun for at least four hours a day.”

A handful of seconds went by before Sebastian finally answered. “Then why do you do it? Why willingly live that far away from it?”

I breathed in, trying to keep my reaction neutral. I’d trained myself not to show how much it affected me for a long time. “It’s beautiful in a different way.”

It was. Prometheus only had real sunlight for about five hours a day. While the rest of the world was covered in bright morning sun and comfortable evening light, our sky was a diluted version of that color. Sometimes, on busy days, I missed the sun completely.

But our nights were pretty spectacular. We had the clearest view of the stars. Every so often, neon washes of color would flash along the sky. It was wonderful, but my loyalties lied with the sun.

“That didn’t answer the question,” Sebastian said, leaning in as he said it. Dammit.

I turned away as my cheeks heated with a little jolt of fear. When he’d leaned in, I got a whiff of his cologne which had the same effect on me as smelling smoke in your house.

It made me want to run.

I sighed, trying to calm my heart with a large breath. “I think it’s okay to set aside my desire to be near the sun when I’m able to help this many people.”

“Sacrificial, are you?”

I shook my head quickly. “No.”

“Don’t lie.” I didn’t even have to look at Sebastian to know he was smiling as he said it.