Page 30 of The Gods Forbid

Daphne’s eyes narrowed. “You have siblings. In the way that matters.”

“One of them is dead and the other I haven’t spoken to in a year,” I shot back, not even caring about the sharp bite in my tone.

Except I forgot who I was talking to. Unfortunately, I knew Daphne well. Enough to know her history and know that she was raised by a combative mother and dismissive father, all of which meant if you snapped at her, she would snap right back.

“And whose fault is that? You hurt Luce by refusing to talk to them,” Daphne said, breathing in. The second she opened her mouth again, I knew what was coming. If I wasn’t in Persy’s home, assaulted by the reminders of her expectation of kindness, I would have probably preemptively told Daphne that she should stop talking if she had any care for her husband’s life. Instead, I kept my mouth shut and forced myself to hear it. “You’re forcing them to lose two siblings.”

Fuck.

Guilt slammed me in the chest before I could stop it. I’d once considered Luce a sibling, having grown up alongside them my whole life.

I refused to talk about this any further, but the best I could do was grumble, “I’ll handle it.”

Daphne harrumphed, clearly wanting to talk about this more. Tough fucking luck. The only person who seemingly had the power to make me speak when I didn’t want to was off meandering about with her boyfriend, pouring all that precious, strong kindness onto him.

Fucking asshole.

Daphne smoothed the fabric of her pants, standing with the finalized antidote in her hands. She stared down at me as best she could. “I need you to know that I forgive you.”

I opened my mouth, but she waved a hand to silence me. “No. You need to hear this. We are all prepared to forgive you. Yes, some of us have some anger to work through first, but we are all want our friend back. Let Persy help you. Please. Because if you try to go for Adrian’s power again, that’s the last straw.”

I had no choice to admit that there were emotions warring in my chest. Unwanted, uncomfortable emotions, but they were there regardless. Even though I wasn’t sure Persy could do anything for me but turn me into a worse, more selfish man, I nodded, rubbing my hand over my jaw.

Satisfied, Daphne turned to leave. She made it all the way to the door before pausing and turning over her shoulder. Her eyes darted to me, then around Persy’s belongings scattered across the room. Her stare landed for a heavy beat on the kitchen, clearly noting the way I’d rearranged some of Persy’s once-abandoned kitchenware to make everything more efficient.

Something flickered across her face, an idea surely, before clamping it down with a shake of her head. She turned back to me. “If Persy bakes anything, please let me know first. Lukas is insufferable without at least a cupcake a week.”

I scoffed loudly. “Is that supposed to be a if hell freezes over thing?”

Daphne’s eyebrows slammed together. “What?”

Surely, everyone wasn’t this fucking obtuse. “Persy doesn’t bake.”

“But she—” Daphne cut herself off, gesturing towards the kitchen then stopping short as she took it in with new eyes. No leftovers, no cake stands, nothing. “She brings something new every time she comes over,” she finished, as if that answered anything.

“I don’t think that woman could bake if her life depended on it.”

Daphne’s eyes narrowed, latching onto the words I’d said rather than my tone. It wasn’t a criticism or a slight. I just simply couldn’t picture Persy wanting to do any of the things baking required.

Before Daphne could make up insane theories in her head about the status of our living situation, I pushed forward. “You should probably get that antidote to Reyna,” I said, nodding down at the vial in her hand. “We wouldn’t want Adrian to get mad you kept it from him for longer than a minute, now would we?”

Daphne didn’t even crack a smile. “Why do you hate him so much?”

Oh, there were multiple answers to that question, but she’d be hearing none of them. I shrugged, forcing my limbs to stay relaxed. Casual. “He had something I wanted.”

Daphne’s eyes narrowed, like she didn’t quite believe me. See, it was that weird glow in her hazel eyes that made me stay far away from people who thought they could figure me out.

I’d do well to apply that conviction to Persy.

That was a project for another day, because I had other shit to do right now. “Anything else you need? If not, I’d really like to get some stuff done before Persy decides to capitalize my evening.” It was harder to keep my voice harsh, because I didn’t quite believe that I was in for a completely horrible afternoon at Persy’s hand.

Fucking hell, she was working her way under my skin with alarming speed.

Daphne simply nodded, giving me grace. That was fucking annoying, because it forced me to feel guilt.

She looked down at my sleeves, still covered in paint. She breathed in, looking relieved. “It’s good to see you painting again. We’ve been in a severe deficit of your work.” She smiled, as if picturing her favorite work of mine. “Welcome back, Apollo.”

I had to clench my jaw to prevent a defensive reaction, like a shark snapping its teeth to ward off an annoyance. She was welcoming back the Apollo who was able to use his power to bring beauty and art into the world, not use it to grasp for power that wasn’t his.