“Uh, thanks.” I propped myself up on the pillows as awkwardness stretched between the three of us.
Maybe he’s not so bad. Maybe they were joking about killing the doctors and I was just being dramatic?—
“You smell and look repulsive.” Patro pointed at a door on the far wall. “Use the shower and make yourself presentable. Being around you in this state is disgusting and a dishonor to our Houses. If you were an heiress, the leaders would pass out with horror if they saw how impure you are.”
Never mind. He’s definitely evil.
“Also, try not to slip and break your neck,” he said. “That would be inconvenient.”
Purposefully try to die in the shower. Got it.
Clutching my sheet closer to my chest, I waited for them to leave.
Patro narrowed his eyes. “Understood?” he asked softly.
“Crystal clear,” I whispered. For some reason, I couldn’t hold my tongue around him.
“Good.”
“Great.”
“Fantastic.”
“F-Fabulous.”
“Stupendous.”
“Superb.”
Achilles grabbed Patro by the elbow and pulled him out of the room before he could argue further. When the door shut, I sat back with a sigh.
The annoying part was Patro was right. My hair was matted with blood, and I felt disgusting. I needed a wash badly.
“Nyx,” I whispered into the quiet room.
The silk pillow on the far side of the bed shifted. “What?” Nyx asked.
“Do you want to shower?” I asked since she liked it when I threw well water on her during the hot summer months.
“Do Iwantto shower?” she scoffed. “What kind of ridiculous question is that? Of course I do.”
An hour later I stood on shaky legs under a waterfall of hot water with an invisible snake wrapped around my neck. Classical music played in my head as water blasted from the ceilingandwalls.
It was heavenly.
Tears filled my eyes as years of grime washed away.
From the happy noises Nyx was making, she agreed with me. There were multiple bottles of products, which I wasn’t sure how to use, since Charlie and I had rationed a stolen bar of soap for years.
Charlie.
My heart ached.
I wanted to demand my mentors find out if he was okay, but I’d just fought to the death and watched a stadium cheer over themurder of dozens of boys, and those were their own kind. They wouldn’t care about a human.
The risk of the Spartans hurting him was not one I was willing to take.
He was eighteen and knew how to fend for himself.
