It’s delicate, but it isn’t pretty.
My skin crawls. Just having been in Descend for less than an hour is enough to give me a grimy feeling. I fill my pockets with transportable food and the paper from the envelope, then hurry out of the dining hall.
My apartment is a short trek away, and I’ve never been so grateful to lock the door behind me.
I unload my pockets and drop the keys on the counter, slinking into the bathroom. Once my shower is complete, I smear antiseptic on my wrist and wrap it in gauze. I can’t look at it for more than a few seconds without that skin-crawling sensation returning.
I was taken advantage of—again. But I let it happen this time. My past wasn’t my fault, but Kronos? It was my own stubbornness that put me in that room.
So… I have the rest of the month to get the mask. I’ll do my research. See if he leaves it somewhere when he isn’t wearing it… if he doesn’t sleep in it. The asshole might have welded it to his face if it would give him more of an edge. At that thought, I snicker.
I’ve already decided that I’m going to do it, and my success will depend on preparation. I’ve been living in my own version of hell all summer because of him, and I need to remember that. I need to let it fuel me for just a little longer.
It’s been three months… and don’t they say revenge is best served cold?
I can only hope that they don’t see me coming.
Chapter Two
My door opens, and my best friend enters without knocking. “Guess what?”
I shake my head from my position on the couch. It’s Friday night at the beginning of the semester, so I suppose anything is possible. She found a new boyfriend? She discovered a new bar for us to try? Not on my budget. “No idea.”
“You don’t even want to guess?” Marley shoots me a dramatic frown and stops in front of me. We’ve been friends forever, and her antics don’t faze me in the slightest.
“No.” My mood has been foul for the last week while I put off the inevitable. I took that piece of paper from Kronos and threw it away. I don’t need the constant reminder. I should be scheming, but instead I’ve thrown myself into school. I kept envisioning Kronos carving into her skin, and the nightmares were enough to make me wish I could skip sleep altogether.
Homework, however, has proven a noble adversary. I love school, but even I’m getting sick of how much reading I’m doing to stay ahead.
At least my semester is paid for. I don’t have to worry about that until December. Then I’ll either have figured something out, or I’ll be on my way back to Emerald Cove with my tail between my legs. Or will I?
I guess it depends on my debt. And what Kronos decides to do with me.
Just steal the freaking mask, Kora, and get home.
My parents might forgive me for the sudden abandonment of my education, but I know I won’t forgive myself.
December is a far way off, at any rate.
Marley clears her throat.
I close my book and give her my full attention, ignoring her stink eye. She wears a bold, dark-pink halter-top dress that accentuates her curves, dark eye makeup, and light-pink lip gloss. Her blonde hair is loose and falling around her shoulders in waves.
Bombshell status, basically.
She keeps her hands behind her back, which is a bit strange. But I’m distracted by the freaking dress. It’s so out of the ordinary—she’s a blouse and leggings kind of girl most of the time—that I can only gawk for a minute.
“You look stunning. Why?”
She rolls her eyes. “Seriously?”
“Why are you hiding your hands behind your back?”
She frowns. “You’ve been here for three months, Kora. Have you had any fun?”
I glance down at my arm. I found wide, light tan leather bracelets on a street vendor’s cart that cover the bandage. My skin still carries an echo of pain if I think about it, or if I roll my wrist wrong. But I’ve managed to avoid questions—and seeing my mutilated flesh—altogether.
“Are you saying you think I’m boring?” I force my voice to be teasing, but she’s right: I’ve been a stick-in-the-mud. It’s hard to be fun when you’re worried to death. I can’t let her be hurt by Kronos.
And I have no idea how I’m going to steal Hades’ mask.
Kronos said it was going to get back at Hades, but I have no idea how stealing his mask will accomplish that. Add it to the list of things I’m freaking clueless about.
“Yes.” She laughs, then reveals what she was hiding: two masks.
I jerk back, suppressing the hollow sensation in my gut. “What are those?”
She glances down. “Masks.” The duh is evident.
Shit. Shit. I never told her about my first trip to Olympus. It didn’t exactly end so well… and besides, she wasn’t even in Sterling Falls. She’s a year ahead of me, even though we’re the same age. I spent a year at community college. And up until I got the scholarship to SFU, I thought I’d remain there, getting an associate’s degree in business.
Now it seems I might end up right back there if I can get out of Sterling Falls.
Marley ignores my hesitation and holds the seashell mask up. It covers the top half of her face. Silk straps hang down, meant to tie it on in two places.
It fits her easygoing vibe.
“And, um, this one is mine?” I gesture to the second one.
It’s a striking mask, one side covered in pink and white pressed flowers and the other in lace and silvery beads. I take it from her and run my finger over one, and I’m almost disappointed that they’re made of cloth and glue. It’s a lot prettier than the cheap gold one.
“So, is that a yes?”
“Where are we wearing these?” I ask because she expects it, but I can already see the outside of Olympus. The boar masked man smoking against the column. Hades. Apollo. The red-masked man.
She bounces up and down. “It’s a surprise. Let’s find you an outfit!”
An hour later, my dark-red hair is curled, my lips are painted in a similar color, and I’ve managed to find a white, flowing dress that stops mid-thigh. After Hades took my ID, I decided I was letting my past control me. So I switched back to my natural hair color—which was a brighter red when I was a kid, and since darkened into a deep auburn over time. Once it was back to normal, it made me feel better.
I had already lost so many pieces of myself, at least I could recognize myself in the mirror. Oh—and I pierced my nose. The silver ring sits snugly in my septum. It was on a whim. I was passing the shop and just walked in. Marley freaked out when she saw it, then demanded to know why I didn’t take her with me.
The whole time I do my makeup, Marley just smiles to herself. She thinks she’s doing me some good, ducking in and out of the bathroom to mark my progress. While I’m preoccupied, she finds the strappy gold heels—the same ones I wore three months ago.
A lump forms in my throat. It took me forever to find my way out of the woods and locate my heels, and longer still to get home. I threw them in my closet and haven’t touched them since.
“Ready?” Marley straightens my dress and flips my hair forward. She analyzes my expression and tilts her head. “What aren’t you telling me?”