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I hung up and was out the door before Bruno even finished speaking.
I tried calling Persephone when I left my office, and I got in my car. But when it went straight to voice mail, for the first time in my life, I felt… panic.
A million things ran through my head as I weaved in and out of traffic.
Was she hurt? Was the blood hers or someone else’s? If Trevor—that fucking little asshole—hurt her again… I’d take him out to Butcher and Sons and skin him alive. Then I’d hang his corpse on a meat hook until the stench drew people in.
I shouldn’t have hurt her. I shouldn’t have left her.
Never again.
Chapter 30
Persephone
As soon as I’d come home from school, I headed straight for the bathroom.
“Are you okay?” Bruno asked from the other side of the closed door.
I braced my hands on the sink and breathed out. “I’m fine. You can go.” I needed him gone. I didn’t want to see or hear anyone else right now.
My hands shook as I turned on the faucet and let the water pour over my fingers. Although they were clean, I remembered the sight of the blood that had washed down the drain.
Trevor’s blood.
He deserved more than I gave him. He was still alive, the only consolation to what a piece of shit he was.
I shut the water off and leaned against the sink, closing my eyes and breathing a set rhythm to calm myself.
One deep breath in. One long and slow breath out.
After I felt more like myself, I dried my hands off and faced my reflection. My dark hair seemed haphazard around my face, as if the wind had kicked it up and tangled the strands. My school cardigan, with the emblem stitched into the right breast pocket, taunted me. I looked down and stared at the section of white around the edge of the crest.
It was a droplet of Trevor’s blood.
I grabbed toilet paper and ran it under the faucet, then scrubbed and scrubbed at that droplet. But all it did was smear and tinge it pink.
I closed my eyes and breathed in and out.
One long breath in. One long breath out.
Another in. Another out.
“Bruno,” I said and opened my eyes, staring at myself in the mirror. I looked… calm.
“Yeah?”
I knew he hadn’t moved from where he was at. He’d probably called Hades too, seeing me on the verge of freaking out.
“Can you get me a glass of water?” I was still looking at my reflection, knowing what I had to do. It was what I needed to do.
I could sense he hadn’t moved yet, but then he told me he’d be right back and I heard his retreating footsteps. I was as silent as I could be as I opened the door, shut it again, and headed up the stairs and down the hall. I had one destination in mind—the one place I’d been told not to go.
I felt like I was committing some cardinal sin, that I was breaking the law, and any moment I’d be caught. But I didn’t stop. I weaved around the corners, moved swiftly down the hallways.
Bruno would be heading back to the bathroom right about now, but it didn’t matter because I was already standing on the other side of the closed door with my hand gripping the handle.
I expected it to be locked, but when I turned it and the door opened, surprise flickered through me.
