CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Calista
“This is ridiculous.” I grabbed the embroidered silk skirt of the ball gown and shook it, the hem brushing against my shins. “And these shoes are stupid.”
Jessandra side-eyed me from her post at the window, where she had kept a silent vigil since I dragged her back to my room. Those flying pigs better not be circling again.
“Do I really have to wear this monstrosity?” I huffed and tugged the puffy, droopy sleeves back onto my shoulders only to have them immediately slide back down.
“Yes.”
I stopped fidgeting in the mirror and studied her reflection. All I could see was Astaroth strangling the life from her. She refused to talk about the incident, and I wasn’t about to push the issue after she nearly drowned me. Once again, I felt at fault. None ofthis would’ve happened had I just taken the damn bath on my own and not pissed him off. Jessandra shouldn’t take the brunt of his anger toward me. But she wouldn’t speak more than a single syllable or grunt, and it was driving me insane.
“Can we please talk about earlier?”
“No.”
Frustrated, I went to the closet and grabbed my go-to gear. “Since you are wearing that, I think it would be fine for me to wear jeans and a t-shirt.”
“No.”
Gritting my teeth, I threw them onto the bed. If I had to wear this godawful dress while she wore her normal tunic top, leather pants, and boots, at least my feet could be comfortable, too. I toed off the sorry excuse for shoes, which were only silk slippers with no cushion or soles, and shoved my feet into my black Chuck’s. The dress would hide them anyway.
The gong-like sound began.
“It is time.”
Her ominous tone and the baritone of the bells made me feel the green mile was ahead and that I needed to start praying. This was the beginning of the end. After witnessing Astaroth’s anger, that might be an accurate assumption.
Jessandra led the way. The stairwell was a death trap disguised as a beautiful, tapestried passageway. One misstep, and I would careen down them like a bowling ball on the loose, aiming at a single pin who continued to get farther and farther away from me. My short stride would be my downfall. Literally.
I gathered the weight of the skirt higher so I could see the steps below me and puffed, “Slow down.”
“Speed up.”
“Your single word responses are pissing me off.”
“There were two.”
“I just want you to talk to me.”
I paused when Jessandra stopped, then caught up to her as quickly as I could. Sweat beaded my face and the palms of my hands. The moment I stopped behind her, she continued. I dropped my head back and groaned. It bounced off the stone walls, making me sound like one of the monsters in the labyrinth.
“I tire of your constant complaints.”
“Oh, a full sentence!” I quipped, nearly missing a step and righting myself. “I think I’m entitled to complain.”
She squinted at me over her shoulder. “Do you?”
“Uh, yeah. I do.”
“And what makes your situation worse than anyone else’s?”
I stopped, gripping my skirt tighter. “You’re joking, right? You know I don’t belong here.”
“Don’t you, though?”
Upset, I ran down the steps separating us and grabbed her arm. Jessandra jerked away and snarled at me.
