Page 49 of The Gods Forbid

“What did you have planned?” Nikolas asked Daphne. “I have some work to finish.”

I had to clench my hand over my pencil, hard enough that it bit into my skin, to draw my attention away from the prickling in my throat.

“That’s perfect, actually,” Daphne said, pushing her crimson hair behind her shoulder. “Lukas decided to abandon me for the day, so I could use the company while I do my own work.”

Nikolas’s shoulders tensed ever so slightly. He and his brother still weren’t on the best terms—half due to Nikolas’s guilt over his actions and half from Lukas’s remaining rage over the harm he caused Daphne. He pushed through it, responding, “And by abandon you mean…?”

“He’s simply doing his job and I’m choosing to be dramatic about it,” Daphne said, smiling as she said it, like she could do nothing but when she was talking about Lukas.

Nikolas and I both released a laugh at that, but it was him who responded, “Well, I’ll be damned if I don’t save you.”

Daphne tapped the side of his face affectionately, stepping around him to fully face me. “Hi, Persy.”

“Hi,” I said, before picking up one of the biscuits I stole from Kostas and dipping it in my tea.

“Did you make that?” Daphne asked.

My eyes were on my teacup, so it was easier for me to respond, “Not these.”

Daphne made a humming sound that tightened the muscles in my back in suspicion. “What is it?” I asked, looking up to find her studying me.

“Nothing,” she said, with a small shake of her head. “It’s just that when I was working on the antidote with Sebastian, he seemed to be under the impression that you don’t bake.”

He was right. Whether he’d figured that out through observation or the fact that I hadn’t touched an appliance in my kitchen since he moved in wasn’t important. What was more important was respecting Kostas’s wishes. “I’m not sure why he would think that.”

Oh, no. I knew Daphne well enough to know she didn’t believe me. Thankfully, she pushed through. “Reyna is doing well,” she said, prompting a considerable sigh of relief from my lungs. “And, of course, your dear brother is jumping around for joy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a February as sunny as this one.”

Seeing as Prometheus fought tooth and nail for every ounce of sunlight we got, I didn’t know the weather was that pleasant. Sebastian’s power kept the sun healthy and bright all year long, but Adrian’s control over the weather could mask it.

It seemed when his wife was healthy, he let Sebastian take over.

“I’m glad Sebastian was able to help,” I said, trying not to cringe at how light my tone sounded. That was odd.

Nikolas scoffed loudly, but I ignored it.

Daphne nodded, a ghost of a smile on her lips, like she knew something we didn’t. “Rose asked me to invite you both to brunch next weekend. Everyone will be there.”

By everyone, she meant all the friends Sebastian had betrayed. I wasn’t sure that would go over well, but I had to try. “I’ll talk to her. Adrian, too. I’ll only bring him if everyone is willing to give him a chance.”

I’d talk to Sebastian, too. Though that conversation would be entirely different than the one I’d have with my brother. My brother didn’t make me want to yell. Sebastian did, which was still a desire I was working through.

Daphne nodded, jabbing Nikolas in the stomach. It was only then that I’d realized Nikolas looked two seconds away from a quip. Before he could, Daphne looped her arm through his. “Come on, Nikolas. We have work to do.”

Nikolas let Daphne drag him towards the door, waving at me over my shoulder. With one last goodbye, Daphne whisked him away to the sea.

Once they were gone, I let myself sigh back into my chair.

This was good. Nikolas would have time to reconnect with his home. I’d have a moment of peace. Sebastian would…

I snuck a peek at the clock, realizing it was already well into the afternoon.

It wasn’t wrong of me to be done with work. Even though I’d be walking back into a house with Sebastian inside of it, I didn’t consider that work.

It felt wrong to … for some reason.

Deciding that I’d done enough for one day, and that it was at least something positive I could tell Calpurnia at our session tomorrow, I replaced files back in their proper stacks. While it was a type of organized chaos that surely would have given anyone else—my brother, for one—several health problems, I found it manageable.

It was how my mind felt sometimes, and there was something comforting about seeing it represented in reality.