Page 96 of The Gods Forbid

I wasn’t going to tell her that if I died and took all of Apollo’s power with me, she’d probably follow me. “I know.”

With a nod, she backed away, giving me the room to stand. She looked behind me, clearly towards Persy, before returning her attention to me. “You know who she is?” she asked, her voice in a whisper.

I nodded, even though my neck felt stiff.

“It is good to see her again,” Pythia said, a wry smile on her face.

I grumbled noncommittally, wanting to get the fuck out of here as soon as possible. Just as I was turning to leave, not even bothering with a goodbye, Pythia said, “I hope you’re planning on stopping by your home. I’m tired of cleaning cobwebs off it.”

“Humor doesn’t suit you,” I shot back.

Pythia tilted her head at me. “I was not making a joke. That house grows weary in your absence.”

“You went there?” Pythia would never leave this temple unless she felt it was necessary.

She nodded, completely refusing to acknowledge the gravity of this situation.

Well, now I felt like even more of an asshole.

“I’ll go,” I said, letting that be my goodbye.

Chapter 19

Persy

From the moment we stepped into Delphi, I’d had this odd sense of deja vu.

It was impossible that any of this feeling was rooted in a real memory. I’d never been here, and the scenery was unique enough to remember it. Sprawling hills that were such a rich green they were practically glowing in the sunlight. You could just barely see the sea peeking out from a valley between the mountains, glittering so spectacularly it made the mountains themselves shimmer.

I would have known if I’d been here before, and yet it felt oddly like returning home.

The only thing that had made me feel anything other than contentment was watching Sebastian kneel in front of the Oracle.

I actually thought she was rather welcoming, all things considered, but there was something terrifying about watching her push herself into Sebastian’s mind and take over his body. The muscles in his back had gone taut, so much so I was worried they’d snap.

When he came out of the vision, he only seemed to grow more tense as they whispered to each other. The gods were not gifted with supernatural hearing, so it was nothing but muffled voices, though curiosity burned at my throat.

A few weeks ago, Sebastian had mentioned—rather casually, I might add—that he’d been called to the Oracle three times in his lifetime. This was his fourth. I wasn’t going to be the one to tell him he’d broken his own record.

Whatever this was about was his own business. If anything, what the Oracle said would probably help my case. She was nice, though I didn’t think that was a common opinion people had of her.

Eventually, Sebastian stood and headed my way, saying “I’ll go” to Pythia as he walked away. I waved at her, knowing that Sebastian would likely be backing me out the door before I was able to say a proper goodbye.

I was right.

The second Sebastian got within two feet of me, he lifted his finger and made a twirling motion, telling me to turn around. I laughed as I did it, happy to walk back out into the natural light. Even though Prometheus was having an unseasonably warm spring, there was nothing like a bright, midday sun.

As we walked out, I turned to him. “I like her.”

He barked a laugh. “Of course, you did.”

“Hey!” I lightly batted his bicep, trying not to notice that it was rock hard. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Sebastian smiled, though it came a second too late. “Just that you tend to like most people. Even Oracles that are historically difficult.”

Sebastian was leading me somewhere, walking with purpose out of the temple and down a path that looked like it lead to a whole lot of nothing. Despite that, not a bone in my body told me that I was unsafe. “I didn’t like you at first.”

“Oh, really?” Sebastian said, the corner of his mouth turning up in a grin. “I’d like to talk about the inclusion of at first. That implies you like me now.”