Page 90 of Queen of Tempests and Sin

‘Yes!’ she cut in before I could finish. ‘Go! I’ll take care of Guinn, don’t even worry about it.’ She clapped her hands in delight, practically bouncing in her chair. ‘OMG, we’re going to be sisters!’

‘That’s a bit premature. I’m⁠—’

She waved me off, eyes sparkling. ‘Don’t fight it, Cordie. Don’t fight the bond or the love you feel for him. You can deny it with your words, but your heart’s already chosen.’

I swallowed hard, my chest feeling bruised. ‘I’m scared, Sephy. What if he gets tired of me? What if I give him everything and he leaves? Gods don’t stay… they take what they want and move on.’

Her expression softened, all her teasing vanishing in an instant. She reached across the table and covered my hand with hers. ‘I know that fear. I lived it. I thought Hades would drag me down into darkness and leave me there alone. But instead… he showed me I wasn’t something to be caged. He wanted me free, even if that meant I could walk away from him.’

Her thumb rubbed a circle over my knuckles, grounding me. ‘Poseidon may be tempestuous, but I’ve seen the way he looks at you. That isn’t lust alone—it’s devotion. You calm him, Cordie. You take that rage that could drown cities, and you quiet it like the tide easing back from the shore. He needs that… he needs you.’

My throat closed, tears pricking hot at the corners of my eyes. ‘What if I’m not enough?’

Sephy squeezed my hand, her smile warm and certain. ‘You already are. You just have to let yourself believe it.’

I sniffed, trying to blink back the sting in my eyes. I wasn’t used to feeling this vulnerable, and it rattled me to the core. Vulnerability wasn’t my strong suit. Banter was safer. Banter, I could handle.

‘Any chance this pep talk comes with a shot of tequila?’ I muttered.

She ignored me, smiling faintly at some memory only she could see. ‘I once had this conversation with Hecate. She told me love isn’t simple. You can’t fight it or bend it to your will—it shapes you whether you’re ready or not.’

I drew in a breath, meeting her eyes as she continued. ‘The Greeks knew there were eight kinds of love. Philia—a bond deeper than friendship. Ludus—the joy and playfulness you bring out in each other. And pragma—the kind of devotion that lasts a lifetime.’

She paused, her gaze glinting. ‘And then there’s Eros.’

‘Eros?’ My head snapped up.

Sephy’s grin turned sly, her eyes sparkling. ‘Sexual passion.’

The words hit me like a spark to tinder. A shiver raced down my spine, heat coiling low in my stomach as the image of Poseidon’s hands, his mouth, his body against mine, flooded my mind. My breath caught, and I shifted in my seat, trying—and failing—to hide the flush creeping up my cheeks.

Sephy’s grin widened. ‘Ah. I see that struck a chord.’

‘I—no, it didn’t,’ I lied badly, clutching my coffee as if it was a shield.

Her laughter rang out, warm and teasing. ‘Cordie, you’re glowing brighter than a lantern fish. You don’t have to say a word, your face says it all.’

She grinned suddenly, mischief flashing in her eyes. ‘And if he ever forgets how lucky he is, we’ll get Bronte to hex his balls until he remembers.’

Despite myself, a laugh burst free, half a sob, half a giggle.

‘There’s the Cordie I know,’ she said, giving my hand one last squeeze. ‘Come on, let’s go training, then we’ll make you all pretty to visit your man.’

I tried to laugh it off, but my pulse had other ideas. ‘Yeah, well… maybe he’s worth getting a little pretty for.’

* * *

Perseus teleported me to Genesion later that day, after I said goodbye to Guinn. The sudden shift left my stomach lurching, as if I’d been shoved through a cosmic washing machine, and then the world reformed into light and water and impossible beauty.

‘This is our king’s residence,’ Perseus said with a devilish smile, gesturing grandly towards the towering dome of crystal and steel ahead.

It rose from the ocean floor like a jewel, light scattering across its surface, and the city beyond thrummed with an energy that made my chest tighten.

Genesion stretched across the seabed, not in the crushing black depths but in that rare place where sunlight still reached. Shafts of green and gold poured down from the surface, painting the domes and corridors in a restless shimmer. It was a kingdom carved from sea and sky, balanced in the deep, where the ocean’s weight pressed close but did not smother. My throat went dry. I’d expected grandeur—but not this.

The moment I stepped inside Poseidon’s residence, my breath stilled. It wasn’t a home so much as a cathedral of power—glass walls opening to the endless blue, every surface gleaming, every line drawn with the precision of a god.

The main living space opened wide, framed by sweeping panes of crystal-clear wall that looked out directly into the navy-blue depths. Schools of fish drifted past, glimmering like scattered jewels, while shafts of light pierced the water in golden streaks, dancing across the floor.