Chapter 29 Diantha
Diantha
My body slams into 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.
A sign of struggle.
“Oh no,” I moan, propping myself up on shaky wrists. “Oh, fuck no.” I stumble from her living room into the kitchen. “Evie? Please, please.”
But there’s no one here. Her kitchen is tidy, but there’s a stack of dirty dishes in the sink.
A sob catches in my throat, snags on my tonsils. She’s fucking gone.
I have to find Orfeo and Leo. I have to tell them. We have to save her. I hope we can still save her.
I take off to the bathroom where I avoid my reflection and scrub the filth from my hands and arms. I’m still covered in Alfo’s foul blood, thick and black like gutter sludge.
I know it’s on every inch of me. I scrub at my face and watch big chunks of it flake off and circle the drain.
It’s in my hair too, but I don’t have time to take care of that.
I rush into her bedroom and rip off my filthy clothes, rifling through her dresser until I find leggings and a sweater.
Then, I steal socks and pray we wear a similar shoe size.
I shove my feet into a pair of sneakers, but as I’m lacing them up, I notice a pair of glowing green eyes in the doorway.
I freeze.
They’re far too close to the ground to be a demon.
Then, the shadow meows.
“It’s you,” I whisper. The black kitten Evie hadn’t found a home for yet. Poor baby. How long have they been here alone?
I stand slowly and approach the cat. They try to make a run for it between my legs, but I snag them up into my arms.
“You poor little thing.” Irrationally, tears spring to my eyes. My face aches with the need to cry. “How long has it been since you ate?”
I don’t have time to dwell. I search her pantries for the kitten food, then yank on one of Evie’s jackets and tuck the kitten into my breast pocket. I hold the cat close as I head back out into the night.
Leo lets me into Hades House through the back service door. He, too, looks like he just crawled out of hell. And didn’t we? We may not have crossed the Styx, but we fought off more demons and hellion beasts than Hades has guarding his fortress.
His face is marred by fresh gashes that chart the violence of his attacker. His neck is already starting to show signs of deep, purple bruising. When he waves me inside and starts down the basement steps, I notice the way he sways with a limp.
Halfway down, he comes to an abrupt stop and turns to me.
We’ve never been this close before.
His eyes are so green. Glassy and bloodshot, and yet still so pretty.
“He was gone, Diantha.”
I choke on my next breath. Then, I force the word out between my teeth: “Gone?”
“He’s back now, but…I can’t make any promises that he’ll be exactly as he was before.” His voice trembles, and I’m momentarily terrified I might have to find a way to comfort Leo, even as my heart actively rips apart in my chest.
“But he’s not gone?”
“No.” Leo presses his lips together into a compact, grave smile. “He survived because of your blood.”