“Are there more who are sick?” Thalia asked when he still refused to speak.
“A few, but it is being handled.” Cassius tied the bandage tight, and Thalia hissed again. “What the fuck were you doing out there?”
Thalia lifted her chin, cradling her bandaged hand to her chest. “I told you before, I saw something. Since no one was inclined to tell me anything, I went to go see for myself.”
“And you didn’t think there was a reason we aren’t telling you things?” Cassius sneered.
“Fuck. You.”
She stormed out of the bathing chamber, her anger as palpable as the creature Cassius had killed.
“Oh no you don’t.” Cassius grabbed her arm, halting her in her tracks before she could leave the room. “You don’t get to storm away just because you’re pissed off.”
“Let go of me before I put my dagger through your heart. Again.”
“You mean my dagger?”
“If you want it so badly, feel free to take it,” she crooned.
Cassius smirked. “If you think I’d disarm you so readily, you mistake me greatly.”
“Mistake you?” Thalia scoffed. “I don’t think I’ve mistaken you, not for a moment.” She jerked out of his grip.
She moved to the door, but Cassius was there, hand splayed out on the wood. Damn him and his speed. “You’re not leaving this room.”
Rage bridled her tongue. “Oh no? And are you going to stop me?”
Cassius flashed a cruel smirk. “It won’t be hard.”
Thalia stormed over to him. “Move out of the way.”
“No.”
“I outrankyou. Considering how much you care about your position on the prince’s council, it would be unwise to refuse me.”
“Your rank means nothing when you put yourself in danger.”
“Danger?” she scoffed. “I decided to leave the castle, as I am free to do asprincessof this House.”
“You decided,” Cassius snarled, “to nearly get yourself killed.”
“Then you should have let that creature do it. I’m sure it would have saved you the headache.”
Cassius’s eyes darkened. “The prince will return soon, and I’d rather not be the one to get staked because you got bored.”
“Bored?” Thalia gawked. “Have you ever thought about what it’s like for me? To be here? To be surrounded by monsters who’d rather see me dead? Who no doubt picture ripping out my throat every waking moment?”
“So why did you seek one of us out?”
“So I could escape you!” Thalia screamed. “So I could get a moment’s peace away fromyou.”
Cassius’s face was stone, his fingertips digging so hard into the door the wood groaned.
“When will you accept the fact that I’m still me and not some monster you’ve conjured up?”
Thalia stared at him in shock. “Still …you?” The muscle in Cassius’s jaw flickered as she took a step closer. “You are nothing like the man I knew.”
“And the man you loved?”
