Chapter Text
LEX
This entire escapade, as far as I am concerned, is over.
Helen is gone—fled from the jet like a coward. If I see her again, I’ll have her arrested. The marriage is already being annulled.
I’m in the process of buying the farm back for the Kents. There is no way I would ever let them lose their home.
Apollo is coming back to the mansion.
Soon enough, everything will be as it once was.
Well, nearly everything.
On my computer plays a shaky video taken by a paparazzi at my premature funeral.
I watch as Grace shouts at my father for giving up on me, then accuses Helen of having me killed. I watch as Grace screams at the crowd that none of them even know me—and she couldn’t be more correct.
She glares at Helen with fire blazing in her eyes.
“I know you did something to Lex, and if you think for even one second that I’m just going to let it go, you’re wrong. I am going to find out the truth…You can count on it.”
While I was gone, she was the only one who refused to give up on me, the only one who defended me at every turn and battled to find the truth about my disappearance. She knew how dangerous my father was, how dangerous Helen could potentially be, and she never let those dangers silence her. She fought for me…even when no one else did.
When the video ends, I play it again. And again. And again. And again.
GRACE
For the next two days, I feel like I’m floating. Everything is slowly clicking back into place, like Lex was the missing puzzle piece I needed.
Lex buys back the farm and puts the deed in Martha and Jonathan’s name. I tear up at that, no matter how hard I try not to.
His unending generosity never fails to amaze me.
After a text from him in the morning, I head over to the mansion. Any trace of Helen has been completely eliminated.
Walking into his office and seeing him sitting behind his desk has comfort and familiarity bursting inside me.
“Hi,” I breathe, smiling so much my cheeks ache.
“There you are,” he says, like I’m exactly who he’s been waiting for. He stands from behind his desk and steps around it. “I wanted to let you know I’ve arranged for Apollo to come home. I just got off the phone with Robert Weatherby.”
“Good,” I say, more than pleased that I’ll see Apollo again soon. “You know, Robert and Nate were so good while you were—…gone.” I can’t bring myself to say dead. “They searched for you, put hundreds of hours into it.”
“At your behest, I hear.”
I look down at the floor, pivoting the toe of my shoe a bit, and shrug. When I glance up again, he’s smirking, just a little bit.
“I’m really glad you’re home,” I say quietly.
He swallows, his gaze intense like it contains a million hidden secrets. “You have no idea.”
Trust me, I do.
I walk over to the couch and sink into it, pulling my feet up. “Will you tell me about what happened on the island?” I request.
He inhales sharply and turns back toward his desk, gathering up some pieces of paper and sliding them into a manila folder. “There’s really not a whole lot to tell, Grace. I mean, I didn’t exactly have a lot of company—unless you count the fish.”
“Were you scared?” My voice is soft, almost a whisper.
He goes still for a moment before snatching up a pen and walking over to me.
“There were moments where I wondered how I was going to survive,” he admits. “But I knew I’d do whatever necessary to make it home.”
He holds out the pen and folder for me. I take both, still staring up at him.
“But it must have been so hard, out there alone…I mean how did you even know how to survive?” I wonder.
“Sign it,” he urges, opening to the first page in the folder. “I’ve read enough to know finding fresh water and making a shelter of some kind was my first priority. I made traps for small animals and then used bits of the animals that I wasn’t going to eat as bait for fishing.”
“I don’t know if I could’ve done all that,” I murmur, signing the piece of paper absent-mindedly.
He takes it from me and heads back toward his desk. “You’re more capable than you give yourself credit for, Grace. I mean, when you were younger you survived in the forest by yourself before Clark found you.”
“For a few days,” I protest. “Not three months! And I had stolen candy bars to fuel me.” I blink a few times. “Wait, what did I just sign?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
I trust Lex completely, but I can’t deny the slight alarm that rings in my head. I really should pay attention to things that I sign and thoroughly read them; Lex just distracts me so easily.
“Lex,” I say.
He glances over at me. “Don’t worry about it, Grace. It’s just a contingency plan. The likelihood of it being relevant is low.”
“I’d still like to know,” I tell him.
He sighs, flicking through the pages. “It’s my new will. I’m making you sole beneficiary of my estate in the case of my death. Like I said, it’s just precautionary.”
My eyes go wide as saucers. “Lex, you can’t leave your entire estate to me!”
The corner of his mouth ticks up. “I think I can,” he says and drops the file onto his desk, sliding his hands into his pockets and taking a few steps toward me. “You’re the only one I trust not to kill me in order to profit from my death. And I want to make sure that if anything does happen to me, you’re taken care of. I don’t want it to be like it was, where you and the Kents were left with nothing in my absence.”
My throat is tight with emotion, my stomach somersaulting with indecision. “I don’t know, Lex…"
He sighs and comes closer till I have to tilt my head back to keep looking up at him, since I’m sitting and he’s standing. His left hand slides out of his pocket, and he gently touches beneath my chin, his thumb brushing just under my bottom lip.
“I’ve survived so far,” he says quietly. “Let’s hope this document doesn’t have to be used…at least not for a long time.”
“Ok,” I breathe out, mesmerised by him in a way I probably shouldn’t be.
Ever since he came home from the island…I don’t know what it is, but something has changed. Shifted.
He’s still Lex, but there’s something different about him, something different in the way he looks at me.
His thumb inches up, touching my bottom lip. My breathing stops, oxygen caged in my lungs.
I can’t move, can’t think.
Then he steps back and turns away, walking toward his desk. “There is one other thing I’ve been meaning to address.”
My ears are ringing—I can hardly hear him—and the place where his hand touched me still burns. “Oh?” is all I can muster.
He opens a drawer of his desk and pulls out something rectangular wrapped in brown paper. “For you,” he says, holding it out.
I stand from the couch and move over to take it. “What is it?”
He doesn’t reply, waiting patiently for me to take the present and start ripping off the paper, which flutters to the floor at my feet.
My eyebrows furrow as I stare down at the worn, hardcover copy of Wuthering Heights in my hands. I carefully open the cover and my eyes go wide. “Lex…” Published in 1848. “This is a first edition.”
“I missed your birthday,” he says simply.
He has handwritten a small note on the title page.
To Grace,
In our distance, the universe turned a mighty stranger. Whatever our souls are made of, yours and mine are the same.
- L.
He uses quotes from the novel itself in his small inscription. But they mean so much more when penned by his hand.
“Thank you, Lex.” My voice is broken and scratchy. I look up at him, meeting his gaze.
And I was right; something has definitely changed.
“How is it? Are you settled in?” I prop my cellphone between my shoulder and ear as I run my hands over Apollo’s coat, just enjoying being close to him after about two months apart. He’s been back for three days now, but I missed him dearly.
“It’s…certainly fancy,” Addy tells me over the phone. “The kid is actually pretty nice though.”
I called Nate and asked him if he would let Addy come to live in the guesthouse at Weatherby Downs as a personal favor to me. Addy volunteered to do work around the property in return, but it turns out the one thing they need is someone to keep Nate’s little sister, Pippa, company and help her with her homeschooling.
Addy—though having no experience in that area—is extraordinarily smart and has taken on the role.
As I think about all the homework piling up on my own desk back at the Kent farmhouse, I wonder if I need my own personal Addy to help me keep on top of it so that I make it to graduation successfully.
“It’s nice, right? Has Nate convinced you to ride a horse yet?” I wonder, a hint of amusement in my voice.
Addy scoffs. “No, and he isn’t going to. Sorry, Grace, but I just don’t like horses. They’re terrifying and oversized.”
I laugh, leaning back against Apollo as he munches on some hay in his stall. “Don’t underestimate Nate; he’s more persuasive than he seems.”
“He’s certainly something,” Addy mutters.
“Hey, listen…” I hesitate for a moment before pushing on. “Do you um…Do you want to talk about what happened before—before you arrived in Smallville?”
Her bruised face flashes through my mind.
I can hear her breathing on the other end, the steady inhale and exhale of her breaths. “Look, it’s not a big deal…”
“It doesn’t have to be,” I tell her quietly. “But…it’d be ok if it was.”
The silence stretches between us long enough that I wonder if perhaps she isn’t going to answer. Finally, she says, “When I aged out of the system, I didn’t have anywhere to go. I mean, I thought I had this apartment lined up but it fell through at the last minute and…Anyway, I ended up crashing with an old friend. Someone I thought I could trust. But turns out he…he wasn’t a good guy. He was actually…pretty terrifying. It was stupid; I was stupid.”
My eyes squeeze closed. “I’m sorry, Addy—“
“Look, it’s whatever,” she cuts me off, her voice dismissive and clearly uncomfortable. “I don’t need your pity, Grace.”
“No, no,” I rush to say. “It isn’t pity. It really isn’t. It’s um…It’s empathy, Addy.” A shaky breath rattles through my body.
She doesn’t say anything, but she hasn’t hung up either, which tells me she’s willing to hear me out.
“I know what that feels like. A while back—before I met you at the group home—there was this guy who asked me to a school dance, here in Smallville. And I trusted him, I liked him. Or I liked the attention, I guess.” I shake my head, though she obviously can’t see me. “Anyway, he ended up being a—a terrible person, and for so long I blamed myself. I should have seen it coming, I should have known he wasn’t good. I was stupid for ever going out with him.” I blow out a breath, emotions bubbling up that I thought were long since buried. “But I’ve realized since that his actions…they weren’t my fault. None of it was. He was a monster and if it hadn’t been me, it would’ve been some other girl. Monsters like that…they always find a victim. So it isn’t our fault for being one.”
We are both quiet then for a long, long beat. “Yeah.” Her voice is hoarse. “Yeah, you might be right.” I hear a voice in the background, then Addy’s muffled words replying to the person. After a moment, her voice comes through clear; “Sorry, Gracie, I’ve got to go. Pippa needs something. I’ll call you in a few days, yeah?”
“Ok.”
“And Grace?” There’s a pause. “Thank you so much. For everything. I—I don’t know what I would’ve done…”
“It’s ok, Addy. What are friends for?”
It is a privilege, I think, to be able to help your friends, to have the resources and connections to do so.
We hang up, and I start to carefully comb Apollo’s hair. My hands are shaking a little; I haven’t talked about Brett in a while.
“How is she?”
Lex’s voice startles me. I have come to appreciate his sudden appearances after missing him for so long, thinking I’d never see him again. He walks up the aisle between the stalls, coming to a stop outside Apollo’s.
“Addy?” I question. He must have overheard me on the phone…Exactly how much did he hear? “She’s good, settling in well, I think.”
“Good. You know if I had been here—“
“You would have taken care of her; I know,” I assure him.
Lex nods slowly. “Nate’s certainly done you a lot of favors in my absence.” There is something barbed in his voice, though it is carefully disguised under a thin veil of nonchalance.
I wrap Apollo’s mane around my fingers anxiously. “What, you think he’s going to come and collect or something? I don’t think he’s expecting anything in return.”
“Not quite so…literally,” he agrees. “But he’s not doing it for free either.”
This makes me frown, and I step out of Apollo’s stall, closing the gate behind me and locking it. “What do you mean?”
The smile that curls Lex’s lips is sardonic. “Come on, Grace. We both saw Nate’s…acute interest in you.” He opens his hands in a shrug-like movement. “I just want to make sure it’s perfectly clear to him that nothing is going to happen between you two. Ever.”
Oh.
I stare at Lex for a moment, my lips slightly parted in surprise. He has never been so openly opposed to a love interest of mine before.
He’s just worried about you and doesn’t trust Nate, I think to myself. Lex made it perfectly clear long ago that nothing was going to happen between us. I’ve come to accept that—I mean, I had to, didn’t I? Considering he literally married another woman.
“He’s just being a good friend, Lex,” I say softly. “Nothing more.”
Nate might flirt and tease but he’s harmless at the end of the day. He doesn’t know me well enough to have anything more than a passing crush. Besides, he’s a gorgeous billionaire; I doubt he’s in short supply of beautiful women.
Speaking of gorgeous billionaires…
“Also Lex, I didn’t get to say this before—or rather, I didn’t know how—but…I’m really sorry about Helen. I’m sorry things didn’t work out.”
He nods, stepping forward until he can lean his forearms on Apollo’s stall door beside me. Apollo nozzles at Lex’s hand for a moment before going back to his hay.
“I know,” he says. “But I’m not sorry for how it all worked out. Helen and I weren’t meant to be.”
He states it so calmly, like this is a realization he has long since made peace with.
“There’s—there’s something else…” My voice is unsteady now, timid and apprehensive.
He straightens up and turns to me, giving me his undivided attention. Somehow, that makes it worse.
I fiddle with the bottom of my shirt, emotion steadily rising inside me. “I—“ The words get caught in my mouth.
“Grace, whatever it is, just tell me.” He reaches out and puts his hand on my arm, the pads of his fingers slipping just beneath the sleeve of my t-shirt.
It’s warm and comforting and—
Distracting. Utterly distracting.
I step back and turn away, his hand hovering in the air for a moment before falling back to his side.
“I wanted to tell you but I just didn’t know how.” I pace across the breezeway, putting some much needed distance between Lex and I.
“Tell me what?” His voice is harder now, borderline suspicious.
Deep breath in, long breath out, I coach myself. “Before the wedding, Helen came to me and asked me not to attend. She said it was her wedding day and that she’d be more comfortable if I wasn’t there.”
The ensuing silence is somehow very loud.
Lex’s jaw ticks. “She uninvited you?”
“Yes,” I admit hesitantly. “And I knew it was a bad sign and I had this terrible feeling in my stomach but I thought it was just—“ Jealousy. I can’t say that aloud. Tears rise up, filling my eyes. “I didn’t want to make a big fuss over it and ruin your day. So I didn’t say anything to you but…maybe if I had…God, Lex, I’m so sorry.”
His lips purse, and he walks to me, reaching up to smooth my hair out of my face. “Grace, listen to me: None of what happened is your fault. You couldn’t have prevented it or seen it coming, and it wasn’t your responsibility to.” A look of frustration passes over his face. “The only person at fault is me, for being so naive.”
“Naive?” I echo, surprised. “Lex, you weren’t naive. She’s a manipulator, and a good one at that. She never let her fake persona down around you, not even once.”
He looks down for a moment. “It’s all over now. I’m home.” His hand brushes down my cheek and rests on my shoulder. “And everything is going to be alright.”
It’s exactly what I need to hear.
“What?” I mutter, staring down at my algebra homework and reconsidering my decision to graduate high school.
“Need some help?” Clark asks from behind me.
I’m sitting out in the field, beneath one of the big, shady trees. I don’t even glance at him. “I’m fine." My tone is short and sharp.
“Grace…” He walks around till he’s in front of me, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t know how many times I can say I’m sorry…But I really do mean it.”
“And I told you it’s fine.”
I can forgive Clark for destroying his ship and accidentally flipping over Jonathan and Martha’s truck while they were in it; he never meant for that to happen. I can even forgive him for forgetting that I was on the farm too and could have been hurt, along with all of our animals. He clearly didn’t realize what a big explosion it would cause.
What I am struggling to forgive is that he abandoned us afterwards. He made the choice to leave us behind—even after he learned that Lex had died. He knew I needed him more than ever and he didn’t care.
How do I move past that?
“Please,” he says quietly. “I miss you.”
My hand tightens around my pen, my eyes closing for a moment. “I missed you for three months. You didn’t care then.”
He kneels down so we’re close to eye level—though he still towers over me. “I did care, Grace. I wanted to come home so badly—“
“So why didn’t you?” I snap. “I understand that when you’re on the red kryptonite, you aren’t yourself. You aren’t in control. But there were multiple times where you took the ring off and rang home and you still decided to put it back on, even when we pleaded for you to come home. We needed you, Clark. I needed you.”
Pain fills his face, his hands clutching together, knuckles white. “I’m sorry,” he repeats, looking on the verge of tears. “Every time I took the ring off, all I wanted was to come home. But the pain was so overwhelming, it felt like I was going to drown. I just wanted the guilt and agony to stop so…I put the ring back on. I wish I hadn’t. I wish I’d been stronger. I’m sorry.”
Pressure sits on my chest, heavy and inescapable. I was in so much pain these past few months; if I had a magic way to turn off all those terrible feelings, would I not have taken it?
I think I would have.
How can I blame Clark for doing the same?
Fiddling with my pen, I stare down at my homework. “I missed you so much,” I whisper.
“I missed you too,” he says emphatically.
Shoving aside my schoolwork, I lean forward and wrap my arms around his neck. He hugs me back, burying his face in my neck.
“It’s ok,” I tell him, my voice jagged but laced with relief. “I forgive you.”
LEX
The doors to my office open and my father strides inside, document in hand.
And I was having such a good day.
“Dad, what brings you to Smallville?”
I’ve been back working for LuthorCorp for over two weeks now, but there’s nothing urgent enough on the books to bring my father all the way out here to discuss it.
“This.” He tosses the document onto my desk with a resounding thud.
I raise an eyebrow, staring up at him incredulously. He only stares back, equally defiant.
Fine. I open the folder and browse the document.
“This really has nothing to do with you,” I tell him, closing it and pushing it away from me.
“You’ve decided to leave your entire estate, including your LuthorCorp shares, to Grace Cooper,” he states, a hint of disgust colouring his voice. He shakes his head in perpetual disappointment. “God, Lex, don't you ever learn?”
I lean back in my chair and heave a sigh, settling in for a long scolding.
“I mean first jumping into things with Helen which obviously didn’t end well and now you turn around and decide to give everything you own to this—this girl?”
There is no point explaining my logic to him; he’s incapable of understanding things like trust and love.
“She gets everything I own in the event of my death,” I say. “But you aren’t planning for me to die any time soon, are you, dad?” The mocking tone in my voice is intentional.
He scoffs. “If that plane crash proved anything, it’s that we never know what might happen. Do you really think making some farm girl your beneficiary is a smart choice, Lex?”
My forefinger taps against the arm of my chair in annoyance, but other than that, I refuse to show my irritation.
“Well let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that,” I say. “I think I’ve had enough near-death experiences to last a lifetime. Wouldn’t you agree?”
He huffs and shakes his head, muttering something under his breath before turning to leave.
Two days later, Grace storms into my office and starts pacing in front of my desk, spinning some story about a drunk reporter that even I struggle to keep up with.
“And he just…He’s asking too many questions! I don’t like him.”
“The reporter?” I question for clarity.
“Yes! He’s asking all these questions and just being way too nosy, and the last time that happened was when Roger Nixon started poking around—and we all know how that ended.” She casts me an anxious look, wringing her hands together.
“Wait, go back. Tell me exactly what happened, from the start.”
She sighs. “Clark rescued this reporter after he crashed his car. The guy was drunk and nearly hit Clark—deja vu much?—but swerved at the last second. Clark used his powers to save him, and now the guy—who just happens to be a reporter—is digging around and might find out the truth.”
“He isn’t going to find out the truth,” I immediately refute. I won’t let that happen. “What’s this reporter’s name?”
“Perry White,” she tells me.
I go completely still. That is the same reporter that cornered me at boarding school, pretended to be genuinely interested in me and friendly, only to try to coax out dirt on my father.
God, I hate reporters.
“I’ll take care of it, Grace,” I tell her calmly. “You don’t need to worry about it.”
GRACE
The next morning, I head back to the mansion to ride Apollo. Deciding to stop by and see Lex first, I go down the hallway, toward his office.
As I approach, an unfamiliar, frustrated voice floats toward me. “…you need help, Lex. Between the island, your failed marriage, and everything that's happened since you came to Smallville, you have experienced incredible emotional and physical trauma.”
“And your prescription's more time on the couch? We just spent five sessions exploring my psyche,” comes Lex’s biting response.
“No, we spent five sessions discussing your art collection, your fascination with expensive cars—everything except the most traumatic moments of your life.”
I stop in the doorway, hesitating as I see an older, short woman speaking to Lex.
He goes very still at my presence, any emotion on his face completely disappearing. “Grace.”
“Sorry,” I say, taking a step back. “I—I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“You’re not. We’re finished here,” he states.
The woman scoffs and shakes her head, snatching up her bag before striding out of the room, straight past me.
I walk inside, closer to him. “Who was that?” I ask carefully, not wanting to pry but also concerned.
“No one, don’t worry about it. Are you here to ride? I’ll come out and help.”
“Lex,” I say softly. “Tell me.”
We have been so open and honest with each other recently. I don’t want that trend to die off and be replaced with half-truths and secrecy again.
He sighs and rubs a hand over his mouth. “After I returned to LuthorCorp, it was required that I undergo a psychological evaluation. It’s necessary red tape—nothing more. But the shrink, in her apparent unending concern for my wellbeing, is refusing to sign off on our sessions.”
This makes me frown, my concern growing. “Why? Is—is something wrong?”
“No,” he assures me, his voice soothing. “Nothing’s wrong, Grace. Like I said, it’s just red tape. I’ll sort it out.”
He’s not being completely honest, but I don’t think it’s in an attempt to be deceitful necessarily. He just doesn’t want me to see any hints of his weaknesses.
One of Lex’s security personnel enters the room. “Mr. Luthor, there’s a Perry White here to see you.”
“What is he doing here?” I ask, surprised and unsettled.
“I have no idea. I told him to leave town,” Lex mutters. “Send him in.”
A minute passes before Perry White saunters into the room.
“Ah! Just the two people I wanted to see,” he says with a smile. I cross my arms over my chest, unimpressed. “The sister and the best friend. I’d love a quote from both of you on the miracle that is Clark Kent.”
I stiffen, and even Lex looks tense.
“I told you not to come back to Smallville,” Lex says, his voice cold.
“Well, I could’ve stayed away…but then you’d never know what I have on your father.”
A beat of silence.
“If it's personal, I don't care. If it's legal, the statute of limitations must've passed long ago,” Lex says.
I look at him, studying his profile. Why is he interested in dirt on his father? Has Lionel finally pushed Lex too far? Or does Lex simply feel he needs to be prepared to defend himself against his father?
“Trust me, you’ll want to hear this,” Perry says, coming closer. “And all I ask in return is everything you know about Clark Kent.”
“You’re not going anywhere near Clark,” Lex bites out, practically vibrating with anger now.
“Oh come on, you must have something.” Perry turns to me. “What about you, sweetheart? You care to share just how special your brother is?” He reaches out to put his hand on my shoulder. I shy away, not wanting him to touch me, but Lex is already there, grasping Perry by the collar of his shirt. He turns and slams him up against the wall, making me jerk back with a gasp.
“I'm warning you!” Lex shouts, his face close to Perry’s. I’ve never seen Lex like this before. “Stay away from me, and stay away from my friends. If I ever see your face in Smallville again, you won’t like what I do. Now get out.” He shoves Perry to the side like he’s trash, and the older man stumbles before righting himself.
“Looks like the jungle living really took a toll,” Perry pants.
My eyes are wide, my heart beating fast as Perry strides past me and out of the room.
Every version of Lex that I have known has always been so carefully controlled. He doesn’t act on impulse or careless instinct, but rather thinks things through and rationalizes them until he’s found the most logical path.
This is a very different version indeed.
His chest heaves up and down with pent up fury. Perry is right; Lex does look like a wild animal right about now.
His eyes meet mine, a note of shock shining in them, like he can’t believe he just did that. “Grace…”
I notice his hands are shaking and step forward, taking one of them between my own and holding tightly.
“He can’t find out about Clark’s secret…He can’t,” Lex breathes, as though explaining his reaction.
“I know,” I say hesitantly. “He won’t.” His fingers curl around my hand, his palm warm. “Lex…” I hesitate for a moment, but I need to ask; “Are you ok?”
He lets out a long exhale and closes his eyes for a moment, getting himself back under control. His fingers squeeze mine before he gently extricates his hand, turning away. I study the taut pull of his shoulders, the way he carries himself almost…defensively.
“I feel like…” I struggle to find the right words. “Like you were expected to just come back from that island and go straight back to how things were. But it’s ok if things are different now. It’s ok if you’re different.”
I don’t know if this is the right thing to say to him, if it’s what he needs to hear. I think it’s what I would want to hear, had I been through something so life-altering.
For over a minute, Lex stares out the large, arched window of his office. I almost start to think he’s not going to respond at all, the silence enveloping us.
But then he quietly says, “I hallucinated when I was on the island.” I don’t say anything, wanting to give him space to speak. “The doctors thought it was probably a side effect of malaria or some similar disease.”
My eyebrows furrow. “But you don’t get sick.”
“Exactly,” he says and finally turns back to face me.
We both know that Lex was impacted by the meteors and that it led to him having enhanced healing and a strong immune system in some capacity. But the way that works exactly and the bounds of it remain unclear.
“What did you hallucinate?” I ask.
His lips press together for a moment as though he is contemplating. He steps closer to me, and I stare up into gray eyes. They are familiar eyes—my favorite eyes.
“You,” he says.
My stomach drops. “Me?”
He traces my face with his gaze as though outlining every detail. “It was always you, Grace.”
My lips part on a surprised breath. What…? There is so much subtext in those words that I can’t begin to decipher it all. I don’t even know where to start.
Something akin to panic makes my heart flutter, and I take a few unsteady steps back. “I—I’m going to go see Apollo,” I say shakily.
He says nothing, but a shadow of disappointment crosses his face.
I turn and walk away quickly, my heart pounding with something I can’t yet explain.