AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Even without that, there were ways you could alter your divinity, make it a little less imposing. Stealthier.
Rose thought she was being stealthy, she really did. But while she was trying to sneak up on me, carefully placing her steps so that I wouldn’t hear the click of her heels against the marble floor, I noticed her the second she walked in the building.
Rose didn’t know that you had to consciously hide your power. Set aside the way we were raised, all grace and power and perfection, and embrace humanity. It was in your steps, your tone, the way you looked at people. The little tendrils of black smoke that chased her around, like dogs of smoke finding their home in her as Death.
That change—and, okay, the fact that I was simply preventing anyone from realizing who I was—was how I was standing here, staring at one of the most beautiful sculptures I’d ever seen, waiting for Rose to appear to my…left, if the distinct smell of narcissus flowers collecting there was to be believed.
Rose’s graceful form stepped up to my left a moment later, her long limbs and flowing hair visible from the corner of my eye. I kept my gaze trained on the sculpture in front of me, telling myself the smooth curves of the snakes’ bodies weaving through the man’s arms were just simply too captivating. It was easier to stomach than the alternative.
She took a second, too. I could sense her eyes flitting over the marble, taking in the incredible definition in the muscles, the painstakingly immaculate details in the hair. Rose gave me a grand total of thirty seconds of blissful peace, pretending to be too entranced by the sculpture before she broke the silence with one word, “Daphne.”
“Rose,” I greeted, finally turning to look at her. The familiarity in her form struck some closed off part of my heart for a moment, almost strong enough to crash through the wall I’d built around my guilt and shame. Her hair was the same shade of rich, dark brown, styled in the same long waves, and she was donned in the same clothes I had seen her in countless times before. Simple black dress, gold jewelry, perfect makeup.
It was her, and yet it wasn’t. Because the Rose I knew always had the faintest glimmer of pain behind her green eyes, and she never wore more than three rings on her hands. But now, there was something akin to peace floating in her gaze, and she had an egregiously large ring on her left hand.
I expected the ring, I’d seen the press release about her marriage. And the one about the attack on her.
Which made me feel a little sick if I thought about it too long.
But the ring was expected. Not the change in her expression.Thatwas concerning. But I didn’t want, or really even have the right, to ask.
“You missed a lot.” Rose’s claim hit low in my chest. Of course, she had noticed me looking. I’d been away from her trained eyes for too long it seemed, too used to being able to hide my own watchful gaze.
“I know,” I responded, turning back toward the sculpture. “Why are you here?”
Rose laughed with what sounded like disbelief. “Right to the point, then.”
“Please.” My voice sounded hollow in my own ears. I was speaking to her like a stranger, not my best friend.
“You need to come home.”
I knew it was coming, and yet the words hit me so strongly I took a step backwards. “And where would that be?”
“Daph,” Rose warned in a tone I had never heard used toward me. It was her goddess voice. And it pissed me off.
The skies, seas, and the dead always acted like they were more important. And the dead, with Rose at the helm, were sheltered. She made it above ground at times, that was for sure, but it was different than dealing with humans every day. Dealing with their ego and their money and their grudges.
I wasn’t sure whether I still belonged in a category with those three Houses. Maybe her using that tone with me made it clear that I wasn’t.
“Give it up, Rose,” I snapped, turning back toward her for this argument. “Just tell me what you want.”
“Lukas wants you home,” she said, her eyes looking for a moment like they used to.
The mention of his name made my temper skyrocket. “Oh, so you’re running errands for Lukas now? Guess a lothaschanged.”
“No, I’m making sure the world doesn't fall apart.”
I didn’t even try to fight my scoff. “Don’t be dramatic. I can promise you I’m not missed in that palace.”
“You are.”Lie.“But that isn’t the point. You are engaged, in case you forgot.”
“I have been for seventeen years. If I was going to forget, I would have by now, don’t you think?” I quipped, sending another flash of hurt to Rose’s eyes. But the hole I was digging for myself just looked all too comfortable to stop.
“So, you know, then, that the reason why there has been two storms in the past month and the catches have been reduced by overthirty percentis your doing?”
And there was the Rose I was friends with, the one who didn’t take shit from anyone, least of all me. She had pulled the one card I couldn’t argue with. Logic.
I knew this day would come eventually, where my lack of presence in Lukas’s realm caused problems. I had just been blissfully ignoring that inevitability.
