I hunted that one myself.
“What the fuck, man?” I snapped as Dev dragged me away from her door and down the hall toward our wing.
Dev sighed likeIwas the unhinged one.
Me.
“It was a raw chicken, Ash.”
“That was the best one there!” I protested. “I chased it for, like… ten minutes!”
“You’re going to freak her out,” he said, disgust curling his lip.
I looked back over my shoulder, chest sinking.
“She didn’t like it?” I asked, voice smaller than I meant.
Dev hesitated. “…She seemed to like the flowers.”
My mood immediately spiked.
“She did?” I grinned, the kind that stretched too wide. “Shelikedthem?”
He muttered something likeGod help us, but I didn’t care.
“I’ll get more!” I announced, already pivoting, ready to sprint outside.
Dev grabbed my arm. “Will you settle the fuck down?”
I bounced on my heels, energy sparking through me like static.
“I just want her to know I like her,” I said, genuinely confused why this was difficult. “Flowers mean that, right?”
“Ash,” Dev said carefully, “she is not a forest raccoon you’re trying to tame.”
I blinked at him.
“Not helping,” I muttered, already planning where I could steal the next bouquet.
“Dude, chill. You don’t even know her.”
“I don’thaveto know her! I feel her!”
I launched myself onto our couch and rolled across it like a dying Victorian woman, limbs everywhere. “Isn’t she just so beautiful?”
Dev stared at me, amused in thatI’m judging you but also enjoying this meltdownway.
“Her name is Seph,” he said finally.
“Seph.” I tasted it. “Seph seph seph…” I smacked my lips, trying it again. “Seph.”
“It’s short for Persephone.”
I froze mid-roll.
“Makes sense,” I breathed, awe punching through me. “She is agoddess.”
Dev pinched the bridge of his nose like he was getting a migraine.
