Chapter Three

Apollo might have been exaggerating how bad his wound was. Set had healed him in seconds yesterday, but Apollo had complained that he felt faint and needed rest, and Set had rushed to help him to the couch. Since then, he'd been hovering around Apollo, asking him if he needed anything about a thousand times a day.

Apollo loved it.

There was still a little pain in his shoulder, but the wound was healed and hadn't even left a scar. There was no reason for Set to hang around like this and worry about Apollo, and while Apollo should probably tell him that, he didn't want to. He wanted to keep Set's attention. He wanted them to spend a little more time in Set's suite, just the two of them.

They'd have to go back to the real world and what Apophis was up to soon enough. In the meantime, Apollo would take advantage of every second Set was giving him.

"I could really use a snack," he said.

He was sprawled on the couch, watching TV, or at least, he'd been watching TV before being distracted by Set. Set was focused on his phone, frowning and glaring, and Apollo wanted to know who he was texting.

Set looked up. "You're a god. Use your powers to get yourself a snack."

Apollo pouted. "But I'm wounded and in pain. You can't expect me to get myself a snack. You said you would take care of me."

Set sucked in a breath.

Apollo knew he'd been pushing his patience, and it probably wasn't a great idea, but he was having fun. Set wasn't avoiding him anymore, and he took Apollo's teasing without even threatening him.

A plate of pastries appeared on the coffee table. Apollo beamed and leaned forward to snatch a croissant.

"I thought your shoulder hurt," Set pointed out.

Apollo made a show of gingerly touching the spot where he'd been stabbed. "It does. Do you think that maybe the blade was poisoned? Am I slowly dying?"

Set rolled his eyes. "You're not slowly anything. I don't think you've done anything slowly in your entire life."

Apollo wiggled his eyebrows. "I can be slow if I want to."

Set looked away, but if Apollo wasn't mistaken, he'd seen a slight redness to his cheeks. It might just be Apollo's imagination, but it made his heart soar.

He knew Set wasn't as annoyed and bothered by Apollo as he acted. It would have been easy for him to heal Apollo and kick him out or to have someone else heal him. Apollo had suggested asking the god of medicine, but Set had glared at him and told him to shut his mouth. Set might not say it out loud, but he cared.

Apollo was starting to realize that he couldn't expect words from Set, but he only had to watch Set's actions to know what he was feeling. He was taking care of Apollo, even though they both knew Apollo was healed and felt no pain. For some reason, though, Set was going along with this, and Apollo hoped it was because he liked Apollo and wanted to spend more time with him.

"I still don't understand what you were thinking, going to Apophis like that," Set said.

Apollo swallowed his mouthful of croissant—almond croissant, his favorite—before answering. "I don't think I was thinking much, to be honest."

Set snorted. "Something tells me you don't often think."

"Not if I can avoid it." He took another bite of pastry and sighed. "I guess I wanted to understand him. I don't know why he's doing this, and I have a hard time believing that power is his main motivation. The more humans he kills, the less power he has over the human race. Besides, why would he want to kill so many of them? I like humans, and they're useful."

"I don't know about useful," Set grumbled.

"Oh, stop it. We both know you like humans well enough to wear their clothes and eat their food."

"You're the one eating, not me."

Apollo pushed the plate with the pastries toward Set and stared at him until Set huffed and grabbed one of them. He chose a pain au chocolat —a plain exterior with a sweet center. Apollo wondered if that said anything about him. Even though Set was a god of violence, storms, and a bunch of inconvenient things, he was sweet when he wanted to be.

The problem was that he didn't often want to be.

"I think that more than power, what Apophis wants is chaos and pain," Set said.

He was staring at his pastry after only taking one bite. Apollo wanted to tease him, but Set had turned serious, and Apollo wanted to hear what he had to say.

"He's the god of chaos, after all," Set explained. "And he's been locked up for thousands of years. I imagine he's been resentful the entire time, and now he wants to make people pay."

"He's focusing on the wrong people, then. He should be trying to make you and Ra pay, not the human realm."

"But we have protection. I don't know if we'll win this fight, but we have allies we didn't have last time. I'm sure Apophis is aware of that, which is why he hasn't attacked us head-on. He will eventually, but first he's going to hurt us through the human realm."

"He can't think that will work with you." Even though it would. Set might act as if he didn't care about anyone or anything, but Apollo knew it was just an act. Set didn't want the human realm to be destroyed any more than Apollo did. He just acted like he didn't care.

"Maybe not with me, but with Ra? He's always had a soft spot for humanity, and that hasn't changed."

"So Apophis is torturing Ra and, at the same time, making himself more powerful by creating more chaos," Apollo said.

Set nodded. "Exactly. All this chaos and pain are making him stronger."

Apollo shook his head. "I still don't understand."

"That's the difference between you and gods of chaos and pain. You don't think like we do. You don't want the same things we do."

Apollo frowned. "Why are you including yourself in that group?"

"Because I'm the Egyptian god of violence. What do you think that means?"

"You might be the god of violence, but it doesn't mean you're happy about what Apophis is doing. In fact, I know you're not. You want to stop him as much as we all do." Apollo was sure of that, and he didn't need Set to tell him.

He didn't care what kind of god Set was. He was on their side, working to save humanity from Apophis's chaos, and that was all that mattered. Who cared what Set was the god of as long as he was good?

And he was good. Set might be gruff and sharp around the edges, but that was only a fa?ade. Apollo could see under that exterior, and he liked what he found. He wanted to get to know Set even better, and luckily, Set was finally allowing him in.

Set got to his feet. "You don't know what you're talking about. You don't know me."

Apollo smiled. "Not yet."

"Why would you want to get to know me? I'm rude, and no one likes me."

" I like you."

Set stared. He looked like he didn't understand what Apollo was saying, or rather, that he couldn't understand why Apollo felt that way. Sometimes Apollo himself didn't understand, but he didn't need to.

He saw Set in a way many people didn't. Being a god himself, he could see beyond what Set was supposed to be to the man he actually was. Set might be a god, but that didn't mean there wasn't humanity in him.

Apollo saw how important stopping Apophis was to Set. He might tell himself it was for selfish reasons, but Apollo didn't think that was entirely it. Of course Set wanted Apophis to be gone so he could go back to his old life, but he also didn't want thousands of human beings to die for no reason. He wouldn't let chaos and violence win, even though he was their god.

In Apollo's eyes, that made him a better god than most.

* * * *

Set was aware Apollo wasn't staying with him just to bother him. If that was all he'd wished to do, he could have found another way. No, he'd wanted to stay with Set because he liked him.

Set didn't understand that.

He wasn't likable. Even most gods in his pantheon gave him a wide berth. They were afraid of him because he was the god of violence, and he'd always played into that. Having people stay away from him meant that no one bothered him, which he enjoyed because most people were fools, but sometimes, it was a bit lonely.

It was impossible to feel lonely with Apollo around.

Apollo was too good for this world. He might be annoying, but deep inside, he was a good person. He'd never held who Set was against him. He didn't care that Set growled more than he talked or that he looked like he was about to kill someone every half hour. Set didn't know how Apollo could see right through that to the real him, but it made him uncomfortable.

A lot of things about Apollo made Set uncomfortable, including the fact that he was annoying as fuck. Luckily for Apollo, he was also pretty and charismatic, which meant that people tended to want to spend time with him anyway.

Including Set.

That was why Set should be careful. He needed to stay away from Apollo, because once all of this was over, Apollo would realize he could have so much better and leave.

He'd be right to leave. No matter what Apollo thought, Set wasn't a good person, and he'd never claimed to be. He couldn't be a good person when he was the god of violence. He was god of other things, too, but violence was the only one most people remembered.

Set didn't want to stain Apollo with it. He was the god of the sun, and it would be too easy to pull him into the darkness.

Set got to his feet.

Apollo blinked at him, as if he didn't understand what was happening.

Set didn't know, so he didn't have answers for Apollo. "I'm not good," he said with a growl.

Most people would have scurried away, but not Apollo. He continued eating his pastry, looking like he belonged on Set's couch. "That's what you try to convince people of."

Set wasn't surprised that Apollo was a stubborn asshole, but surely even he could see that Set was right. "You do remember which god I am, right?"

Apollo raised his fingers as he made a list. "Well, you're the god of storms, of foreigners, of the deserts, oh, and of storms."

He was right. Most people got stuck on the fact that Set was the god of violence and disorder, but not Apollo. He'd looked deeper, and he'd found more. "I'm also the god of violence," Set reminded him.

Apollo rolled his eyes. "So? If you think that's enough for me to stay away, then you don't know me."

"It should be enough. We don't belong together. I'm dark, and you're light."

Apollo grinned. "I do see we're different, but I don't think that's a problem. I'm also very excited by the fact that you think about us together. I would rather you not believe we don't belong, but it's a step forward and better than nothing."

How could a man be so infuriating? "You know who I am, so why would you want to spend any time with me? Why are you still here, in my suite?"

Apollo had finished eating. He licked his fingers one by one as he stared at Set, and Set forced himself not to look away. Did he find Apollo incredibly sexy? Yes. How could he not when Apollo was licking his fingers like that? But Set was an extremely old god, and he'd seen and done everything there was to see and do in the human realm. One little sun god wouldn't be enough for him to run or to feel ashamed of what he felt.

Apollo rose to his feet, and Set was glad for the coffee table between them. He wasn't sure what Apollo would do if it wasn't there, but he wasn't eager to find out.

"I know the Egyptian pantheon is older than the Greek one, but surely you're not so old that you don't remember what I told you earlier already," Apollo teased. "I like you, Set. I don't have a reason to, and I don't need one. I just know that I like you and want to spend more time with you. I realize we have to solve the Apophis problem, but once that's over, you won't be able to get rid of me."

That sounded like a threat, but Set's body and heart didn't think that way. He wanted to pull Apollo into his arms and shut him up with his lips. He wanted to drag him to his bedroom and not let him leave for several days.

That would be the worst thing they could do, so Set shook his head. "Even if Apophis wasn't a problem, it still wouldn't make sense for us to be together."

As always, Apollo wasn't deterred. He beamed as if Set hadn't just turned him down, and Set could only stare.

"That's what you think, but I always get what I want, and what I want right now is you. You should give in, but even if you don't, it doesn't matter." Apollo winked. "I like the chase."