16. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Calista
“ T his 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 of this 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.
That was a horrible judgment call. I was reminded of the videos I’d watch online where people would sneak up yards away from wildlife, thinking they were in the safe zone. Wrong. I retreated against the wall. “What is with you, Jess?”
For the first time since we met years ago, her towering height intimidated me. Like a predator, she leaned into my space, caging me and giving me nowhere to run. My knees weakened, and I slid down the wall. Flashbacks of her shoving me under the water and holding me until I stopped thrashing played out in my mind.
“You,” she spat. “You are what’s with me. Again.” The silence following was loud enough to hear the remainder of my hopes shattering. I was right. It was my fault. “You did not listen. You treated this as a childish game.”
Wait. What? This had nothing to do with their argument. I shook my head, negating everything she was saying.
“You. Lost. Precisely as I said you would.”
Tears welled in my eyes.
“And now I have lost twice. Because of you.”
My gaze snapped to hers as the tears rolled down my cheeks.
“Does your puny human brain comprehend the detriment of your actions?”
I gulped down the knot in my throat. “I don’t want anything in return.”
“There is always an ulterior motive.”
I shook my head. “I just wanted to do the right thing. Stop him from hurting you.”
“Who decides what is right and wrong? Hmm, Calista?” Jessandra sighed and looked away. “This is Faery. We do not live by the same code.”
“I thought you were my friend,” I whispered.
Her face hardened again. “We are not friends.”
I winced from the blow of her words. She was the only familiar face here, the only person I knew by name. I thought we had connected on some level when I was younger and would again now that I was back.
“Expectations come with friendship. Never expect anything from me. I have but one duty and that is to fulfill my debt to him. Same as you. Now I will owe you another boon—”
“No—” I started and the glare she shot me made my mouth snap shut.
“Now I will owe you another boon and will probably have to pay him for that one, too.”
I stayed silent for fear of angering her again.
“We are late. Clean your face.”
She stormed down the stairs muttering. The only thing I made out as I scrubbed my face with the poofy sleeve was, “I will not be enslaved to a human in this Roth-forsaken prison.”