Page 80 of The Devil and His Goddess

I glanced over my shoulder only enough to see Perseus hadn’t moved from the doorway of the bathroom, but I still didn’t look him in the face. Huffing, I grabbed his hand and started pulling him toward the door.

“Come on. I have to get there, Perseus.”

“Harper.”

My name cracked in his voice, and the sound sent a jolt of agony right to my chest. I bit the inside of my cheek and quickly used that pain to stomp down the one that tried surfacing inside of me.

Drake didn’t exist.

What he did to me didn’t exist.

The pain didn’t exist.

I was fine.

“I’m fine,” I bit out through gritted teeth. I stared at the floor in front of me with Perseus’s wrist held tightly behind me and begged, “Please, Perseus. Ineedto work.”

Silence was my only answer for many heartbeats. Just when I thought he was going to remain rooted in place, shadows wrapped around me. When they cleared, I found myself in Perseus’s office at Silverlight.

Grinning, I squeezed his arm without looking back at him. “Thank you.”

I barreled out of the room and raced through the halls to the changing room. Thankfully, I had spare dance and pointe shoes in there, so I pulled on my dance shoes, quickly put my hair into a ballerina bun, and raced to the schedule board to see which practice room I was supposed to be in.

According to the board, theDancing in the Darkcast were all meeting in practice room one today to begin group rehearsals. Up until this point, we’d been working on individual or small group sets, but today would be the start of those puzzle pieces coming together to slowly form the bigger picture of the ballet.

Focusing on how exciting a moment like this typically was, I sped through the hallways. When I quietly slipped into practice room one, I cringed in shame as all eyes in the mirror locked on me. Classical music played overhead as the ballerinas and danseurs warmed up with répétiteurs and dance masters stationed around the room, a few leading the class.

“Well, this is a first,” Delilah whispered to me as I found an empty spot at the back of the room to join in on warm-ups. “You’re late. Is everything okay?”

“I’m fine,” I answered quickly. Realizing what she’d asked, I shook my head and corrected, “I mean, everything’s fine. I had car trouble and had to figure out another ride. It won’t happen again.”

Delilah frowned and seemed to study me for a moment before nodding and resuming her walk around the room with the other répétiteurs.

There were a few people who glanced my way as we went through warm-ups and barre class. I didn’t pay attention to any of them. The only thing I could focus on was the instructions being called out and the movements I was doing.

By the time barre was over, there was a certain numbness that had started to coat my insides. My mind had gone eerily quiet while working, and now, my body had gone rather numb, too.

“I never thought I’d see the day where Harper Ashwood was late,” Elijah teased as he and Katerina found me against the back wall. “Especially on such an exciting day as group rehearsal. You’re usually here an hour early!”

He and Katerina shared a knowing laugh, and with great effort, I managed to crack a smile with them.

Katerina knelt down with me to change our flat shoes to pointe shoes for the rehearsal. Smiling sweetly at me, she asked, “What happened? Why were you late?

“I’m fine,” I replied flatly and finished lacing my pointe shoes.

I stood up and leaned against the wall, facing the large mirror. I stared blankly at my reflection across the room as people finished getting ready for rehearsals. I vaguely recognized Katerina and Elijah standing with me, but I couldn’t seem to hear whatever they talked about now. I wasn’t sure if they’d tried talking to me again or not. I’d gone comatose, transfixed on my distant pale reflection.

The door to the practice room opened, and I managed to catch sight of Perseus and Rupert joining the répétiteurs at the head of the room. Perseus hadn’t bothered to change out of his t-shirt and sweatpants from earlier, and the sight caused whispers to break out among the dancers. The group of directors, dance masters, and répétiteurs shook hands and greeted each other before facing all of us. The minute Perseus began to turn this way, I dropped my eyes to the ground in front of me. I still couldn’t look him in the eye for some reason.

A twinge of darkness prodded at my head, and I quickly dug my fingernails into my palm behind my back to ward it off.

Drake doesn’t exist.

What he did to me doesn’t exist.

The pain doesn’t exist.

I’m fine.

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