“I also got that you called me Penelope for the first time ever.”
“Yeah, well, don’t get used to it,” she snorts as she marches me around the cafeteria and onto the path that leads to Aphrodite Hall. “Drastic times call for drastic measures.”
I think about dangling above the darkness as I tried to climb out of the Underworld. “You’ve got that right.”
We pass a bunch of people on the path, so none of us say much until we’re safely back in our room. Once we’re there, Fifi locks the door, turns to me, and says, “Go change into a tank top and shorts so I can clean up those bites while you tell us what happened.”
“I’m sure they’re fine—”
“Go!” she orders, hands on her hips and eyes narrowed. “Or I’m going straight to Dr. Dione’s office and telling her everything,”
“But you don’t know everything—”
“Do not mess with me on this, Ellie!” She marches over to my dresser and yanks out a set of clothes for me. Thenpoints me toward the bathroom and says, “Go.”
I know I should be annoyed that she’s bossing me around like this, but the truth is, I kind of like it. No one in my whole life has ever defended me so fiercely—especially from myself—and it’s kind of nice to know I’ve got someone in my corner, no matter what. Even if that someone is a little bossy.
So I do what she says, and when I come out, Arjun’s sitting in her desk chair and Fifi is sitting on my bed, waiting for me with her first aid kit. Something tells me I’m not getting out of this until I’m covered in rainbow, heart, and unicorn bandages.
The fact that they both turn pale the second they see me only reinforces that belief.
“Just how many bites are there?” Arjun asks, eyes wide with alarm. “Maybe we should go to the infirmary.”
“I’m fine. Just help me clean them, please.”
They exchange another look, but in the end Fifi says, “Fine. As long as you’re sure none of the snakes were venomous.”
“I mean, I’m still alive and I feel fine, so—”
“Oh my gods, Ellie! You’re not exactly encouraging menotto call Dr. Henning,” she shoots back.
Since that’s the last thing I want right now, I assure her, “The snakes really were all nonvenomous, I swear.”
I turn pleading eyes on Arjun. He doesn’t look any more impressed by my explanation than Fifi does, but in the end he nods reluctantly. “She’s right, Fifi. If a venomous snake bit her she’d be in way worse shape by now.”
“Okay, fine. But if you so much as blink wrong, I’m dragging you to the infirmary whether you like it or not.” She nods for me to sit, then opens the bottle of peroxide and pours a ton of it on my cheek. I hiss out a breath, but she ignores me as she starts swabbing at the bites. “Tell us everything that happened.”
“I will as soon as you stop trying to peel my skin off with a cotton ball!”
“It’s a gauze pad, thank you very much. And I’m trying to make sure they heal properly. You don’t want scratches all over you for the festival this weekend.” She opens up a tie-dyed bandage and slaps it on my newly cleaned cheek. “And whining isn’t going to get you out of this. So show me your arm and start talking.”
I’ve known Fifi long enough to figure out when she means business, so I hold my arm out to her. And then I tell my two best friends everything.
48.Book and You Shall Find
THE UNDERWORLD?” ARJUN REPEATS FORwhat has to be the tenth time. Even so, he still looks caught between shock and excitement.
“That’s what Kyrian said,” I answer, turning around so Fifi can get a scratch on the back of my shoulder.
“And Kyrian is the hot Hades boy you met on the first day of school and never told me about,” Fifi clarified.
“I wouldn’t say he was a hot Hades boy,” I answer.
But Fifi just laughs. “I can hear the lie in your voice. Plus, if he wasn’t hot, you totally would have told me about him.”
I duck my head to try and hide the fact that my cheeks have started to burn.
“The Underworld?” Arjun says again. “Really?”
