Page 85 of The Gods Forbid

I thought I was hallucinating Persy’s hand pressing into my forearm, because that was only the type of thing that happened in my imagination.

But no, no, there was a soft, delicate hand on my forearm, and it belonged to her. “Whenever you’re ready, I’d like to hear about this mistake.”

Fuck, I could have kissed her for phrasing it like that. I wanted to.

She wasn’t shying away from the fact that it was wrong, but she’d given me the grace to view it as a mistake. It was that kindness that had me breathing in and saying, “Each one represents ten tattoos given.”

I had over thirty rings circling my arms, and if you counted the members of my family that were involved, I’d have more.

Persy’s finger ran over the curve of one of them, and she was seemingly unaware that she’d done it. “Do you wish they were gone?”

I raised my free arm, twisting my palm as I looked at the tattoos. “No.” I was somewhat shocked by my answer. “It’s a good reminder.”

“Of what?”

“Of a mistake.” It was the first time I’d admitted out loud, how much I regretted what I’d done.

“Is it odd to say they suit you?” Persy said, a small smile on her lips. “Not the meaning behind them, but the tattoos themselves don’t look bad.”

This was only the second time she’d alluded to something about me looking good. Yes, I kept track.

It felt as good as it did the first time.

“It’s not odd,” I said, finally smiling. The events of the past hour made me never want to smile again.

Right then, Persy’s blinks started to slow. The adrenaline in her limbs was fleeing quickly, meaning she was about to go headfirst into a crash. She’d need to sleep. Rest.

I found a plush towel resting on the marble next to her sink and brought it over to her. I extended it in one hand, covering my eyes with the other.

Persy laughed softly, and the sound went right to my groin. Fuck.

I was so busy trying to control myself, I almost missed her pained whimper. My eyes shot open immediately, and thank the Fates, she’d wrapped the towel around herself.

“What is it?” I said, placing my hands on her waist to steady her.

“My ankle,” she said, wincing. “I think it might be sprained.”

Before she could tell me not to, I scooped her up again, far too delighted by her shocked gasp. “That I can help with.”

Persy made me put her down, agreeing to let me steady her with a hand with my eyes closed as she changed. I picked her back up to carry her to bed, laying her down gently and forcing myself not to memorize this image.

I healed her ankle quickly, my hands buzzing with power and the feel of her skin under mine. Within seconds, she was out, fast asleep and finally at rest.

I sat down in the chair next to her bed and didn’t move until morning, until I was sure she wouldn’t dream about what had happened.

That was a pain I knew far too well.

Chapter 17

Persy

I was trying really hard not to freak out about what happened.

To be honest, I’d already forgotten about the tray of food and my ankle. I was far more concerned with the fact that Sebastian had washed my hair.

He was doing the right thing in the face of my small breakdown. I was the selfish one who stole every single second with greedy hands. I was just happy he didn’t seem to notice that it wasn’t the bath or the space that had calmed me.

It was him.