Page 34 of Insatiable

I feel my fists clenching. "Damn it, Anthura. Stop calling her a freak."

Anthura narrows her eyes, a dangerous glint flashing in them. "What? It’s not true? He’s a freak, Felix. Always has been, always will be. But you? You’re a fool for getting tangled up with him again. And now you've made a fool of me."

“Goodbye, Anthura.” I turn to leave, but she grabs my arm and spins me back around to face her.

“Don’t tell me you're going back to him.”

I push my face into hers. “Her. Stop calling her a him. It’s fucking gross, even by your standards.”

“You called him a him plenty of times so don’t come over all morally superior to me, you little shit.” Her eyes widen and her mouth cranks into a malicious grin. “You’ve fallen in love with him. Fucking Hell, Felix, I knew you were dim, but I never thought you’d lower yourself.”

My nerves are taught. “Let me go, Anthura,” I warn her.

“You tell Hades you cheated again and he’ll have you thrown in a pit with a hellbeast. And after that, I’ll throw the love of your life right in there after you.”

I hold her stare, anger filling my veins.

“You have to stay in the games. It’s the only way to save your precious freak, because I’ll be going through to the next circle with you.” She shrugs. “I can’t harm her if we’re not in the same circle, can I?”

I’d damn her all the way to Hell if we weren’t already here. “Fine. I’ll stay in the games, but get this through your fucking ugly skull. I don’t want anything to do with you ever again. I don’t want to see you or hear you and if I hear that you’ve harmed one hair on Rowena’s head, I’ll drag you down to the hell beast’s pit myself and gladly let him rip you limb from limb, even if it means sacrificing myself to do it.”

I turn and this time she doesn’t bother to stop me.

“Well, well, you do have it bad, don’t you?”

I hear her cackling all the way down to my floor.

I slam my bedroom door shut and once again, push the dresser in front of it before punching the wall, leaving a fist sized hole.

I never lost my shit when I was alive. I was well known for keeping my composure, but there’s something about this place… No, there’s something about Anthura that riles me up. Probably the fact that I hate she’s got something on me.

I sit on the bed, still hearing her last words to me. You do have it bad.

Now she thinks I’m in love with Rowena. How the fuck did I let that happen?

I pace around the room, my mind racing with thoughts of Rowena and the mess I've gotten myself into. I can't deny she’s a fucking great lay, but love? That's a foreign concept to me, especially in this godforsaken place.

I’ve done what I can to protect Rowena from Anthura even if it means that she’ll stay in this circle. That’s enough. Then I can move on to the next circle and pretend she never existed.

A knock on the door startles me out of my spiraling thoughts. I freeze, hands gripping the edge of the dresser I've just shoved against the door. Anthura's smug grin flashes through my mind. Of course, she’d come after me now. I cautiously move the dresser and crack the door open, bracing myself.

But it’s not Anthura. It’s Rowena.

Well, shit.

“What do you want?” I huff, annoyed at both the situation and myself.

She glances at the dresser still blocking half the doorway, arching a brow. “Planning on an earthquake?”

“Fuck.” I drag the dresser out of the way and when I look back, she’s already in my room.

“You’re supposed to stand in doorways during an earthquake,” I say, trying to sound casual. “Blocking them won’t help much.”

“Right,” she mutters. “Active shooters for blocking doors, earthquakes for hiding under tables.”

I roll my eyes, not in the mood for sarcasm. “Is there any particular reason you’re here, or did you just want to critique my disaster preparedness?” My voice comes out sharper than I intended, but I can’t help it. I’m on edge, and her presence only stirs things up further.

“Actually,” she says, her tone shifting to something softer, something I’m not used to from her. “I came to apologize.”

---