Page 108 of A Veil of Gods and Kings

I scowled. “All right. Fair.” I popped a bite into my mouth. It stung my palette, aching against my teeth, but the sugar also dissolved, the fluffy sweetness of the bread melting. I closed my eyes and took a second bite.

“What do you think?” Temi said.

“Heavenly.”

Another group bustled by, their perfumes and oils tangling in the air together. Temi smiled. “Best thing you ever tasted?”

“No.”

“No?”

“You can never beat cake.”

Temi’s brow furrowed, and she nodded towards the street again. “Cake?”

“Yes,” I said. “Name something that’s better for solving a problem than a slice of cake?”

I ripped the remaining portion of my treat in half and popped another bite onto my tongue. Wrinkles swept over Temi’s forehead. “Umm… making a list of pros and cons, coming up with a plan, taking small steps towards overcoming it? Should I go on?”

“No.” I looped my arm into hers. “Because you’re wrong. The correct answer is cake. All that other stuff comes in second.”

Temi scrunched up her face. “I guess I’ll have to take your word for it.”

“Yup.” I popped the last bite into my mouth and licked my fingers, the dusty sweetness of it lingering on my tongue.

“Shit,” Temi cursed under her breath and yanked my arm, pulling me into an alley and jerking us down where we crouched behind a vendor stall.

“What’s wrong?” I whispered.

She nodded towards the crowd. “Our brothers.”

“What?”

Dozens of people walked by, night settling around them, dipping everyone in blue ink. The crowd undulated, a mass of barely contained chaos. Two men, not quite like our brothers but similar, held hands, and they pushed through the crowds together. One leaned over and kissed the other on the forehead. For a moment they exchanged a smile so tender it bloomed in my heart. The second man reached up and grazed his finger down the other’s jaw, and then they hurried forward.

“That’s not them,” I whispered. “They just look alike.”

Temi frowned. “It is. Apollo’s veiled them.”

“What?” I gasped. “Hyacinth is sneaking out?” And he and Apollo had apparently gotten over their dislike of each other. He’d told me not to get involved with a god, but he had done so himself. We both seemed to have an issue with our hearts wanting something duty demanded we ignore.

“I guess so,” Temi said. “And something must be wrong; I could tell Apollo was worried. We need to return.”

We waited another heartbeat and then snatched out into the crowd ourselves, jogging towards the palace. When we arrived, we snuck in through a back door, dashing through the hallway and into my sitting room, scrambling the servant’s cloaks off. As I crumpled it under my arm, a knock sounded.

“Yes?” My voice came high, and I cleared my throat. “Come in.”

Emrin stepped in. “Cyn asked us to join him in the throne room, dressed to receive. We have a visitor.”

“Another?”

Emrin sighed and nodded, pulling the door shut.

“It’s not just a visitor,” Temi said, her tone heavy. “It must be a god.”

38

Apollo