Page 42 of Gods of Prey
“Jovie?” Sebastian’s voice calls. “Your location says you’re here. Open up.”
Jovie shoots me a panicked look. To the door, she calls, “Coming!”
She moves to open it, revealing Sebastian standing in the hallway. Even without his divine memories, he’s imposing. His hard eyes scan the room before landing on me with unveiled suspicion.
“What are you doing here?” he asks Jovie, though his wary gaze remains fixed on me.
“I was just asking about New York,” Jovie admits quickly. So much for covering up. “About Sienna.”
Sebastian’s jaw tightens. “And what did he tell you?”
“Nothing helpful,” I interject smoothly. “Just that I knew her briefly. I didn’t realize how much she meant to both of you.”
Sebastian steps into my apartment without invitation, his presence filling the space. Even diminished, living as a mortal, there’s something undeniably divine about him. The God of Life, hiding in plain sight.
“I find it strange, all these coincidences,” he says, moving closer to me. “That you moved in across from us. That you seem to know things about Sienna that even I didn’t know.”
I maintain my composure. “Coincidences happen.”
“Not in my experience.” His voice is low, threatening. “Who are you really, Revel? Because I’ve had my team dig into your background, and you might as well be a ghost. No medical history. No social media. No credit score. Nothing.”
I feel Sienna’s presence near me, tense and watchful. “I value my privacy,” I repeat the same excuse I gave Jovie. “Not that you seem to care.”
“No one values it that much,” Sebastian counters, his upper lip lifting in a snarl. I’ve hit a nerve—awakened a god. “Not unless they have something to hide.”
Jovie steps between us, placing a hand on Sebastian’s chest. “Bash, please. You’re being paranoid.”
“Am I?” He turns to her. “First you tell me you’ve been seeing visions of my dead sister, and now this stranger who knows her appears out of nowhere?”
Jovie looks stricken. “I thought you didn’t believe me about seeing Sienna.”
“I didn’t.” Sebastian’s voice softens when he speaks to her. “But then I started seeing her too.”
I feel Sienna’s shock as a cold ripple in the air. This is unexpected. Sebastian shouldn’t be able to see her unless his divine consciousness truly is awakening.
I keep my expression neutral. “As I’ve said, grief manifests in strange ways,” I try again.
Sebastian turns back to me, eyes cold. “Or perhaps you’re not who you claim to be. And I intend to find out exactly what you’re hiding.”
The threat hangs in the air between us. I hold his gaze, searching for any flicker of recognition—any sign that the god I’ve served for millennia is still in there somewhere. That he recognizes me not as a threat, but as his closest friend. That we’ve sparred countless times before and always come out the other side.
But there’s nothing there outside of pure malice and—damn these human emotions—it makes my heart drop into my stomach in disappointment.
“Bash, let’s go home,” Jovie pleads, tugging at his arm. “You’re tired. You haven’t slept properly in days.”
After a long, tense moment, he nods. “Fine. But this isn’t over,” he tells me.
As they move toward the door, Sebastian suddenly stops, his head turning slightly to the right, exactly where Sienna hovers invisible. For a moment, something passes over his face. Confusion? Recognition?
It’s gone before I can decide.
Once they leave, I turn to where I know Sienna is. “Show yourself,” I demand.
She materializes partially, her form shimmering with agitation. “He saw me.”
“What the fuck was that?”
She cuts her gaze toward me, brows pulling together in a dangerous scowl. “She practically knew I was here already.”
