Page 141

She was right. I just didn't like it.

I wanted her sprawled out on a bed for a week straight, uninterrupted.

But my other duties trickled in by nightfall and I had to part from her, especially if I wanted to end my night with her awake.

Let alone the flogging I'd receive if I tried to interrupt the schedule of the person I was visiting.

There was one loose end I had to tie up. Something that had been said while an arrow was pressed to Reyna's throat that I hadn't quite been able to get over.

I stepped through a portal into a dark hallway, the light dim and artificial, completely cut off from the sun. A distant corner of our world, fueled purely by mystical power that created the illusion of this place standing on the outside of it.

Supporting its weight, even.

The gray and drab continued for two turns down the hall before it turned to a lovely watercolor of sunset, an intentional change, and I found my target.

And by the time I was through the door, there wasn't a trace of that gray, chased away by the bright, airy styleof the owner.

Persy was curled up in the large chair behind her desk, somehow contorting her long limbs into some kind of twist so that they could fit with her on the plush leather.

She had her head resting in one hand, the other holding a pen as it ran quickly over papers stacked high on her desk.

Actually, the entire desk was covered in a mass of papers that looked entirely chaotic to me, but probably represented some sort of system in her mind.

When Persy saw me, she uncurled herself and stood, straightening to her full height as she smoothed her sunlight-blonde hair. “Adrian.”

I came around her desk and greeted my younger sister with a kiss on her cheek and a hug. Even from that slight touch, I could tell how much tension she was holding in her body.

"You okay?" I asked, pulling back.

Persy nodded quickly, unable to admit to any strife. She'd taken on so much since she stepped into this role four years ago.

But while my brotherly instincts wanted me to press and make sure she wasn't too stressed, another duty won out.

"How's our prisoner?" I asked, my voice hard around the words.

Persy's eyes flashed, not quite able to accept that characterization. To her, no one but the worst of the worst in Prometheus was a prisoner. They were residents.

But in my mind, the title was deserved.

"Fine," she said crisply. "We agreed to one month oftrue captivity so he can think about his mistakes. That's what we're sticking with."

I hummed, knowing better than to argue with her on this. The arrangement we'd decided on was fresh, fragile.

I knew she could handle it, but I still wasn't sure I agreed with the outcome.

I wanted revenge, she wanted rehabilitation. "I just came to make sure that all was going according to plan."

Persy smiled with a brightness that was in such contrast to the dark energy still lingering in this place. "It is. Thank you for checking in."

Then she stepped around me, heading for the hallway.

She paused at the door and turned over her shoulder, her eyes shining like clouds hiding the midday sun. “Sebastian is my problem now. Let me deal with him.”