Page 86 of The Devil and His Goddess

“Why?” I asked in disbelief. “A-Are you allowed to just tell people?”

He shrugged. “It’s advised against but notnotallowed.”

“He had to tell me the truth when I started demanding we call the cops to hunt that monster down,” Aiysha grumbled, sloshing some soup onto the counter in a rather violent scoop. “They’re taking care of himtheirway.”

“They?” I repeated, recalling she’d said the same thing in the bedroom.

She tipped her chin in Perseus’s direction. “Them. He and his demon friends.”

“I currently have him locked up somewhere,” Perseus clarified. “Zagan is going to New York this weekend for Iyla’s birthday, and Coldin is gone for some personal work. When they’re both back, we’re going to deal with him as Aiysha said.Ourway.”

Before I could determine if I wanted to know what that meant, Aiysha leaned closer to me. “I’m obviously furious that I had no idea this prick had attacked you before. Now knowing what Perseus is and his involvement in stopping that first attack, I see why you didn’t tell me. I just …” Her nose scrunched like she was fighting tears while staring into her soup bowl. “I wish I had known. I wish I had skipped class that night. I wish—”

“Class?” Perseus suddenly cut in, his brow slamming down in confusion. “W-Wasn’t your class canceled?”

Aiysha’s own brow rose with equal perplexion. “No?”

My eyes burned. I dropped my spoon, the loud clang ringing in my ears as I croaked, “It’s my fault.” I couldn’t meet either of their gazes as tears slipped past my eyelids. “It’s all my fault. I-I lied.”

I confessed about the deal I’d agreed to for Mandi’s sake, letting her come over in secret so I could help her with the White Swan. “She and I were working on the piece when—”

I stopped as the air rushed out of me. With everything that had happened, I never stopped to wonder what happened to Mandi. She’d gone to the bathroom and never came back. It was not long after she’d gone to the restroom that he’d shown up. Could she have run into him in the house and gotten attacked, too?

“Did Mandi show up for work yesterday or today?” I questioned frantically, staring at Perseus.

His mouth opened, and he stared at me for a moment like the question had thrown him off. “I-I think so. I don’t remember hearing she was out yesterday, but I didn’t go in today since …”

“Can you make sure she did? Please?”

He frowned but nodded. After calling his staff at Silverlight and confirming that Mandi was there and perfectly fine, I let out a sigh of relief.

But then what happened to her after she went to the bathroom?

I reached for my drink, needing to ease the dry sourness from my mouth. The second I grabbed the water bottle to bring it to my lips, a chill zipped up my arm like an electric shock. I hadn’t just been raped that night. I’d been in a delirious state, incapable of moving, fighting, or screaming, because I’d been drugged. The only thing I’d had was the water Mandi had given me.

Ice encrusted my veins. I slapped my hand over my mouth to fight the rush of vomit that tried climbing my throat, and I shoved away from the counter, knocking my chair and soup over in the process. Aiysha gasped and leapt back from the spilt hot soup while Perseus appeared at my side in an instant to steady me with a gentle hand on my back and arm.

“What’s wrong?” Perseus asked in alarm, searching my face.

I couldn’t get my thoughts to slow down, but there was no way my suspicion could be true. No matter how nasty Mandi was, no matter how petty she’d been in the past, she’d never drug my drink to aid in an assault.

“Harper?” Aiysha called, coming to my other side.

I shook my head hard. “Nothing. Nothing.”

Aiysha and Perseus shared a look like they wanted to press me since theyknewit wasn’t nothing, but I guessed they didn’t want to force me. Aiysha walked me to the couch to sit while Perseus cleaned up the soup I’d spilt before making me another bowl. He gave it to me before settling on the adjacent section of the couch. After what had just happened, the two decided to keep the conversation light while I ate. The soup was delicious, but I only managed about half before I couldn’t stomach any more.

I was shaken all over again, thinking that the entire thing with Mandi had been a farce, a ploy to give Drake what he wanted while allowing Mandi to enact her most grotesque scheme yet. The request for my help, the thoughtful water, the small ice I thought we’d been chiseling away between us had all been alie.

Tears gathered in my eyes. I didn’t know how I still had any left, yet they fell all the same. I wondered if I’d ever stop crying again.

Chapter 31

Harper

NOTHING FELT RIGHT ANYMORE. EVERYTHING had been altered, and navigating it all was challenging. Aiysha offered to bring me home that evening, but the thought of going back to that house, to the place wherehe’dinvaded, made me puke up the little food I’d managed to eat.

Perseus offered to let me stay there as long as I wanted. I agreed because I was at a loss for what else to do, and trying to figure it out when I couldn’t even make coherent thoughts was impossible.

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