My eyes begin to drift shut. We’re at peace now, I think, in this realm. “Are we dead?”
Orfeo sighs, the soft air from his nose ruffling my hair. “I think so.”
“And you love me?”
His chest vibrates with a laugh. “Yes, you silly half-human. I love you.”
I go limp, letting myself melt into his arms. I want to say the words, but I’m too tired. I press my cheek to his chest and think,I love you too.
Diantha
My body slamsinto the snow-dusted forest floor with a bone-shaking thud.
Pain—unrepentant, razor-sharp pain—rocks my entire body, and I let out a strangled scream. My ankle throbs; my chest feels like it’s been cracked open with a crowbar; my face thumps with the extra blood flow rushing to the bruises around my eyes.
But I have no time to lie here, injured prey for some creature or human to take advantage of. I force myself to my feet, dragging myself over to a tree and then using its bark to hoist myself up. I’m still wearing Orfeo’s shirt, thankfully. And, no doubt, his blood coursing through me is also keeping me warm—despite the fact that my dress has been reduced to a literal rag.
I can’t see anything. The forest is nothing but shades of black and gray. Overhead, the stars and moon provide feeble light. The only thing that I have to guide me is the smell of smoke. So, I follow it—limping and grunting—until finally the trees break and I see it.
A fire.An enormous, roaring fire that’s engulfed all of Paquet Manor.
Hundreds of people gather around in the fields that surround the house—firetrucks flying in one after another, their sirens like a nail gun to my temples.
Holy fucking fuck.
What happened?
I need to get to Orfeo. I need to get to Hades House. But there’s no way I’m strong enough.
I hug the tree line, obscured by the darkness of night, taking one wobbling step after another. It’s going to take me ages to get off campus. Then what? Am I supposed to run down Main Street looking like I just survived hell?
I need to decouple my body and spirit again. Just like I did when I pulled Alfo into the catacombs. But that took so much energy, energy I no longer have.
Transporting myself to Hades House is out of the question—the energetic forces there are too strong and I’m afraid of what might happen to me.
But Pandora’s Cup is close by. And Evie’s apartment is right upstairs. She can help me, maybe. Maybe she has some healing herbs or…or a simple spell that can at least close the leaking gash on the top of my left foot.
I hobble into the forest and find a wide-trunked tree to hide behind. It takes more core strength than I currently have to carefully lower myself to the wet ground. Once I’m settled, I try my best to block out the throbbing pain echoing through my body, all the noise spilling over as firetrucks head toward the mansion at full speed, and—worst of all—the worry that maybe Orfeo didn’t make it back with me.
I focus the last vestiges of my energy on Evie’s apartment. I dig down deep until I find that well inside of me. The memory of her home dances to life in my mind. It’s easier, I realize, to picture things.
Her cozy couch. The throw pillows on her bed. Her tiny galley kitchen…
The pain in my ribcage sears like someone’s pressed a hot knife into me, forcing a yelp from me as my body snaps out of the forest.
And when I crash land onto Evie’s couch, another lurch of pain quivers through me and I roll off the couch, gagging and gasping as my throat constricts.
“Evie,” I shout, my voice hoarse and broken. “Evie, please!”
But there’s no sound around me. No stirring. No padding of socked feet across the floor.
I throw my eyes open.
Her apartment is completely dark.
The shades are drawn.
And the lamp on the end table by her couch—it’s smashed into a million pieces on the floor.
