Page 116 of The Devil and His Goddess

I dropped my hand and sighed, getting into starting position for the set we’d been working on this morning—a solo of Psyche’s fromDancing in the Dark. But when the slow sound of a piano played over the speakers, I faltered. I dropped my arms and turned to face the stereo as the familiar song started to fill the room—the very song that had transformed me into the dancer I’d been up until now.

“This …” I croaked.

“Dance,” Perseus said over the music.

The lyrics of “Rise” washed over me, and with a hard breath, I faced the mirror I couldn’t see and listened to the song. My entire body zeroed in on it like a missile locked on target, and my limbs practically hummed to dance the old routine.

So I did.

I let go of the fact that I couldn’t see.

I let go of the fact that my dance abilities had changed right alongside me.

I let go and justdanced.

My body floated through the air, guided by the heart of the song, which tugged at every single emotion buried inside of me. Like stitches on a tapestry, the threads unraveled and reshaped into something new as I leapt, turned, and moved with all the feelings I’d been fighting.

Shame. Misery. Anger. Hatred.

Each one spun around me like wild strings tangling in the air around my outstretched arms, and with a hard toss of my hands, I let those go, too. I felt them. I embraced them. I released them, welcoming in a whole new series of feelings with the power of the music, lyrics, and dance.

Resolve to embrace my new self.

Joy for the things I still had, despite the pain awarded me.

Peace with the fact that I couldn’t change the past but could take control of my future.

Love for my friends, my art, Perseus, and … myself.

The song ended as my body snapped into its final pose with head held high and arms raised in victory. My chest rose and fell hard as the lingering high of all the emotions continued to fill me up with their light.

The blindfold was tugged before slipping off, and the sight I was met with nearly stole the air I was trying to take in. Perseus stood right at my back, holding my gaze in the mirror in front of us where I still stood in the powerful end pose of the piece.

“Look at you,” he said in my ear. “Fucking look at you. Look atthem.”

He pointed to the side of the room, and that was when I noticed the handful of other people standing with Aiysha in the reflection of the mirror.

Aiysha had a hand over her mouth, tears rolling down her face as she stared at me in awe. Zagan and Xander’s brows were raised in admiration and were as frozen as I was. Iyla smiled at my reflection with glistening eyes. Dante squatted on the ground with elbows braced on his bent knees and mouth in his hands, like he’d had the wind knocked out of him.

“You did that,” Perseus said, pulling my gaze back to his in the mirror. “Youas you arenow. Your dancing moved them to that state. So hear me when I say youaren’tweak. You are so much stronger than anyone in this goddamn room, and you arenotbroken.” He smiled ever so softly and whispered, “You’re a powerful, brilliant goddess.”

I stared at my reflection and the strength in the pose. I studied the strength in the body that had been abused. I saw the strength in the eyes that had witnessed horrors. I acknowledged the strength in how far this girl in the mirror had come.

Because that’s who I was now. I wasstrong.

Those pieces of myself that had been scattered and lost restitched inside of me. The effects of the dance gathered the strewn fabric, and the weight of Perseus’s words guided the needle. Finally, I had a whole tapestry again. It wasn’t perfect. The evidence of it being shredded was still there in the imperfections of the lines and shaky stitching. But it was whole again.

Iwas whole again.

Chapter 44

Perseus

“YOU CAN DO THIS,” I said, tucking the dark hair behind Harper’s ear.

She smiled nervously but nodded. “I can do this.”

“If you need anything—”

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