Page 84 of Hero Worship

“Conor?” Daisy blinks, and Conor streaks back into view. He’s the shape that knocked me over. It was Hades’s dog, in Daisy’s dream, in this godforsaken room. “Conor, it’s okay.”

Conor barrels toward me, his barks so loud they could tear my skull apart. His teeth dig into my broken shoulder. My vision dims. I don’t know what I’m yelling at him. Takes too long to figure out that he’s not trying to bite me, he’s trying to drag me.

To Daisy.

Because—

The whole scene stutters. Conor drags me a few feet toward her, but then the gatepulls.

It’s stronger than the huge dog, stronger than me, stronger than anyone.

Andthroughthe gate, there’s Ollie. He’s on the ground how I left him, staring, dead—

Off to my left, the kitten mewls.

“Daisy. Wake up. Wake up.”

The kitten runs past, circles Daisy’s feet, and heads for the gates.

“Come here,” Daisy calls to it. “Come—oh, come here.”

“Daisy—”

Conor releases me like there’s nothing wrong, nothing happening, and turns his head toward the gates.

For a second, everything’s perfectly still.

Then Conor and the kitten both move. Daisy grabs for the kitten, but it slips through her hands. Her face is a mask of horror.

“Stop him!” she screams. “Hercules, stop him. Stop him—”

I throw my arms around Conor’s neck and hold on. He’s a huge fucking dog, and my shoulder’s broken, and there’s no way I can do this, but I do. Now the painisblinding.

But not so blinding that I don’t see the kitten.

It jumps through the gates, toward Ollie’s body, and that’s when it happens.

Just like last time.

The stone cracks first, ribbons of black slicing through like deadly acid oil. The floor shatters. Everything is screaming static, because this is what a seizure looks like from the inside of Daisy’s mind, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing.

13

DAISY

I wakeup in my dad’s lap.

Not a good sign.

An even less-good sign is that the room is pitch black, no lightat all,and there’s already a conversation in progress.

Also, Hercules is holding my hand.

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