Damien’s lips parted again, but a soft knock on the door made him pause, and we turned our gazes to find a pair of nurses in the doorway. They’d been the ones tending to me since I’d awoken. I remembered them from the last time I’d been here after The Complex had been attacked.
“Hey, Mary. Hey Kris,” I said, quickly wiping the tears away.
Kris smiled as she approached, her black braided hair slipping over her shoulder as she dipped her head in acknowledgement of Thalia. Thalia rose, and her tail wagged in response. “Hey, Cas. We’re here to check over things. Just routine stuff.”
Routine stuff.
I nodded.
“Lord Damien, Thalia, can you give us some room?” Mary asked, pulling her stethoscope from around her shoulders.
Damien nodded, glancing at Thalia whose ears perked at the sound of her name. He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I’ll be back as soon as they’re done,mea luna. I’ll be right in the hall if you need me.”
I smiled. “Okay,mea sol.”
Damien rose from his chair and headed for the door, followed closely by Thaliam who stopped right outside and turned around to sit where she could watch me, her tail swaying side to side. I smiled at her, glad she was here, alive. Mary and Kris headed for me, and I swallowed, drawing an uneven breath.
“You cut you hair,” I said, noting how short Mary’s mahogany waves were. It had been down to her back when I’d seen her yesterday.
She smiled sheepishly. “Yesterday after my shift. How does it look?”
“I love it,” I said as Mary placed the stethoscope buds in her ears and leaned in to listen to my heart.
Kris headed for the other side. “How’re you feeling today?”
I hesitated, but answered truthfully. “It’s not been a good day. The pain’s getting worse.”
Kris paused at the bags, her smile faltering briefly but returning almost immediately. “Well, we’ll see if we can get you something more for the pain. Your stitches are still healing, and it’ll be a couple weeks before the wounds have sealed up, so some pain is to be exp—”
“It’s not the stitches.” Mary and Kris’ eyes darted to each other before falling back to me. “The pain’s getting worse here.” I raised my hand to my chest, and as if on cue, my heart took an uneven beat, the chambers expanding and contracting irregularly. I flinched as the pain shot through my chest.
“It’s getting worse.”
67
DAMIEN
Ieased down onto the bench just outside her room, resting my elbows on my knees as I settled my chin against my laced fingers. I probably should’ve grabbed the fresh clothes Ethel had brought me, used the brief time I couldn’t be at Cassie’s side to change, maybe grab a quick shower. Thalia’s gray tail swished along the floor as she sat outside the doorway in quiet observation as the nurses spoke with Cassie. There was something about the way she watched Cassie now, like a guardian, and I knew she’d die before she let anyone harm Cassie again.
My gaze settled back on the tile floor. I didn’t know what I was going to do. Selene wouldn’t help, The Fates were useless. I could try to petition Erebus, though I dreaded being in his presence and the thought of setting foot in his kingdom was enough to leave me in a cold sweat. Even if I did, what could I offer him that would be enticing enough to violate the laws of The Twelve?
The nurses spoke with Cassie in the nearby room, their words soft and kind. I knew how weary Cassie was of hospitals, and I hoped the familiarity of their presence might help make this easier for her. I’d requested them when they admitted her since Cassie remembered them from her last time here. They’d taken great care in her treatment, had brought her back to me.
I just needed a bit more time.
The fluorescent lights on the ceiling flickered, and I lifted my gaze to them, brows furrowing. I shook my head, reaching to fish my phone out of my pocket to check in with James when the temperature in the hallway dropped. A shiver ran through me and I stiffened as my eyes darted around. I jumped to my feet as the walls began to melt around me, the voices of the nurses growing slower, rippling and distant, until they halted entirely. I turned, stepping back from the bench as it melted into shadow, the lights above me flickering until they doused entirely. What the hell was happening?
“Thalia?” I called, but there was no response, no sound.
Shadow slithered up my chest, a hiss slipping through the darkness. Her cold presence was just as it had been in Selene’s temple.
“It’s a shame she suffers this way, Damien.” Eris’ body came into view as she pressed herself up to whisper, venom coating every word, her tongue like a snake as her voice slid into my ear in a hiss.
I jerked back from her touch. Black hair danced in near-weightless waves around her body, her eyes just as black as they settled on me. She tilted her head, popping a manicured hand on her hip.
“What do you want, Eris?” I said through gritted teeth as I glanced over my shoulder. I could no longer see Cassie’s room, couldn’t hear her voice. Had Eris taken me somewhere? Had she removed me from the Mortalrealm?
Eris wrapped an arm around her waist, propping her other elbow on it to inspect her long, sharp, black nails. “A little birdy told me you were searching for a means to save your precious mate.”
