Page 5 of Chaos and Crowns

“We…can handle this?” Antony echoed, face inscrutable.

Odelle’s stomach sank, but she wouldn’t back down now. Acknowledging that she wanted to avoid Antony was admitting defeat.

“Yeah.” Odelle aimed for a nonchalant tone. “We’ll figure out what the Shadow wants. Nora and Adam will come back to the Eteria having gained an edge.”

Antony nodded slowly, and heavy silence blanketed the courtyard once more. Odelle swallowed thickly, wishing she could wave away the oppressive awkwardness that hung in the air. He shifted from foot to foot, opening his mouth as if to say something, but then snapping it shut again.

“If I’m going to have my head on straight enough to solve any problem, I need to get some sleep,” Odelle commented. “I should get back to the city.”

“You don’t think you should stay at the Sanctuary? In case the Shadow comes after you?” Antony asked, his look of concern making Odelle unreasonably irritated.

“No.” She shook her head too hard, the short strands of her bob brushing her cheeks. “I need to go home.”

If she stayed here, this close to Antony, she wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about him. She would think about how he stood so unsuspectingly under the mistletoe at Nora’s Christmas party. She would think about how too much eggnog and the cheery sound of Christmas carols sung by sorcerers who didn’t know the words had made her bold. Odelle would think of the taste of Antony’s lips—and how it had turned bitter on her tongue when he pushed her away. She certainly wouldn’t get any sleep here, dwelling on the sting of rejection and the hurtful words that had come from a man who was so kind to everyone else. Words that had proved what she had already been afraid of.

Women like you don’t end up with men like me.

Odelle didn’t belong in this newfound world of magic and Light. His barb had cut through the armor of self-confidence she clothed herself in. Now her pride prickled as it tried to repair itself, desperate to be away from the one who injured it.

Antony didn’t argue further about Odelle staying the night. Apparently, he didn’t want her near him either.

“I’ll meet you in the park tomorrow, and we can come up with a game plan for figuring out the Shadow’s motives,” Odelle said, already turning away from Antony, ready to be rid of that gentle hazel gaze. He might have said goodnight as she turned the corner, but that was probably just her imagination.

3

“Blyad.” Odelle cursed so forcefully the two older ladies sitting on the bus in front of her stopped their tittering to stare. Since they looked curious instead of scandalized, Odelle guessed they didn’t speak Russian.

Even if they did, Odelle didn’t have attention to spare them. She jumped off the bus as soon as it stopped and marched up the steps towards the mirrored, kidney-shaped sculpture at the center of the park. Everybody stared as she stopped next to Antony, and she didn’t blame them. The long purple garment he wore, a chiton if Odelle remembered correctly, was interwoven with threads of silver that glistened even in the thin winter sunlight. A city dweller might not bat an eye at Antony in a dress, but the molten silver fabric wrapped around his shoulders as a cloak of sorts couldn’t be ignored.

“What the Hell, Antony?” Odelle hissed, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him towards the street. She definitely didn’t spare a moment to think about how muscular his biceps felt under her hand, despite his slight build.

“I dressed up,” Antony defended as he trailed her to the curb, “I thought making a good impression on anybody we had to question would help our interview go smoothly.”

“You’re the one who’s going to end up being questioned dressed like that.” Odelle scanned the street for an unoccupied cab. “You have to know people don’t dress like that anymore. I mean, you see Adam and Nora regularly.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean I own any clothes like that. And Adam is much taller than me. None of his clothes would work.”

Odelle sighed in exasperation but worked to repress her annoyance. She was polite to people she didn’t care for in interviews all the time. She was an adult who could be civil to Antony to fight fear incarnate, not a teenager who refused to meet the eyes of anybody she had ever kissed. Still, something about the sting of Antony’s rejection made her feel more petulant than she had in years, as if he had poked an exposed nerve with Nora’s spear. She shoved the thoughts into a dark recess of her mind, instead herding him into the cab she hailed.

“Well, we don’t have time for a shopping trip. We’ll find something reasonable for you to put on at my place.”

Odelle gave the driver her address and grimaced. The thought of Antony in her space rankled her nerves but bringing him anywhere dressed as he was would cause a plethora of problems.

Antony had the decency to look contrite and stared out the window, avoiding Odelle’s glare. His remorse appeared to be forgotten quickly though, as he nearly pushed his face up against the window, admiring the skyscrapers. His mouth hung open as he craned his neck upwards. Odelle’s heart performed a funny flip in her chest, and she looked away, spending the rest of the short drive staring out her own window.

Besides a few odd glances from her downstairs neighbor, the pair made it to Odelle’s apartment without further mishap. She tossed her keys on the counter and made her way back to her bedroom, leaving Antony standing in her kitchen and looking like he didn’t know what to do with his hands.

It wasn’t long before she emerged from her closet, victoriously clutching a pair of track pants and a gray zippered hoodie that would fit Antony at least passably. She even found two mismatched socks in a bin of odds and ends, a miracle considering that she found putting socks on carbon fiber feet a waste of time.

She tossed the clothes at Antony, who was now inspecting the odd mess of Polaroid pictures and wedding invitations plastered on her fridge. He didn’t get his hands up in time and the clothing fell in a heap at his feet. Bending to pick them up, Antony frowned at the garments.

“Who’s are these?” he asked, “I thought you lived alone?”

Odelle shrugged a shoulder, leaning her hip against the counter.

“Oh, it’s just stuff guys have left here. I couldn’t be bothered to track them all down to give them back.”

Antony’s brow furrowed as he stared at the sweatshirt clutched in his hand. Her gut clenched at the thought that he might be judging her for her promiscuity, but she set her jaw. She refused to be ashamed of going after what she wanted. And besides, weren’t the ancient Greeks the height of promiscuity? Even if Antony thought she was beneath the likes of legendary sorcerers, she didn’t have a hard time finding willing partners. That thought buffed another scratch from Odelle’s armor of confidence.