Chapter 24

Chapter

Twenty-Four

P ersephone

I wipe the sweat from my brow as I stand, stretching my hands high above my head as I straighten my spine. Beside me, Willa groans as she does the same. “Girl, no one told me this would be so exhausting.” Her back pops, and she moans loudly. “Ahh, so good.” Her eyes slide to me when I chuckle. “How are things with you and the sexy billionaire?”

I shrug. “He’s been tense. I think something is happening with work.”

“Why do you think that?”

“He hasn’t been home in almost a week.”

“So, you’re just staying there…” She lets her words drift, eyes widening. “Without him?”

I shrug. “I don’t know what to do. I keep waiting for him to come back. I’ve made dinner every night this week, but he’s no-showed.”

Her brows draw together. “Do you have a number for him?”

I nod. “I’ve texted him a few times.” I’ve texted him more than a few times. I’ve called, too. I’ve gotten nothing but silence.

“And?”

I shrug again, feeling foolish for no reason at all. But this feels personal, his absence. I push flyaway hair behind my ear and mumble, “Nothing.”

“Dick move.” Willa scoffs. “You should come back to the house. Stay with us.”

I’d had the same thought last night as I tossed his plate into a container for the freezer for the fourth time. I can’t allow myself to waste the food by tossing it. Still, I say, “I don’t know.” I sigh. “Maybe I will.”

“Do it. Seriously, if he wants to be a prick about whatever is going on, just quit. You deserve better than to be ghosted.”

My eyes snap to hers. A clammy layer of uncertainty and fear coats my skin. “You think he’s ghosting me?”

“Sounds like it,” Willa says as Minthe appears, her eyes shifting between us. She looks tense .

“Who is ghosting who?”

“Hades,” Willa tells her. “He left Annie at his place with no explanation of where he was going or for how long, and he’s not returning her texts or calls.”

My face is on fire by the time Minthe slides her eyes to me. She says with confidence, “He’s not ghosting you.”

Willa makes a noise of disbelief. “Sounds an awful lot like ghosting to me.” She smiles wide and mischievously. “You know what you should do?”

I shake my head, something like discomfort blooming inside my chest. I know enough about Willa to know that when she gets that grin, nothing good can come of it. Still, I hear myself asking curiously, “What?”

“You should let Addison take you out on a date.” She lifts a shoulder. “At least test your options, you know?”

“My options?” Why does the thought grate like sandpaper in my mind?

“Yeah. Hades is, like, way too old for you. And he’s so serious.” Her nose scrunches. “Addison is your age, and he’s head-over-heels for you, Annie. Seriously, the way he looks at you—it’s like you crush his soul every time you fail to notice.”

“Willa, stop,” Minthe says sharply, surprising us both. The note of tension is so out of place for Minthe, for a moment, I’m speechless. I’m pretty sure Willa is choking on her tongue. Firmly, Minthe declares, “Hades is serious about Persephone.”

Willa frowns. “How do you know?”

“Because he’s one of my closest friends.”

Willa’s brows lift to the center of her forehead. “ You’re friends with Hades?”

Minthe nods. “Yes. And my girlfriend works closely with him. Very closely. I know for a fact that Hades has very serious intentions with Persephone.”

“He can’t even be bothered to reply to her texts.”

“Hades isn’t in a place right now where he can text.” Minthe’s eyes drift to mine. “Persephone, Hades is very, very tied up right now.”

“There’s nowhere the guy could be where he couldn’t take a minute to send a text to the girl he supposedly cares about,” Willa replies just as sharp. “I think Addison is the better choice.”

Minthe goes toe-to-toe with Willa. “You’re wrong.”

“Whoa!” I slide between my friends. “Who I date isn’t anyone’s choice or concern, but mine.” I honestly can’t believe this is happening right now. “And besides, me and Hades aren’t serious. I’ve made that clear to him. What we’re doing, is having fun.” The words feel sour as they settle heavy on my tongue, heavier still around my heart. The next words knot around the organ like a weight, threatening to sink it into the depths of my being. “We end in September. I’ve told him this, and he's accepted it. So, if he doesn’t want to text me, he doesn’t have to. That’s not the relationship we have. And it’s not the relationship I want.”

The words are a lie I know they both see through. But even as it is a lie, I must make it truth. Because I am leaving come September. I’m leaving, and I won’t look back. I can’t.

I can’t, because there is obviously something very, very wrong with me. Something that, considering the clear scan I had with Herman, can’t be healed.

It’s crazy, but as frightening as the possibility had been, I’d been hoping he would find something growing in my brain. Something to explain all the insanity I’d been experiencing. Because then, there was a chance—even a small chance—that whatever it was could have been cut out.

The fact he found nothing at all had been devastating. I’d spent the entire night sobbing, wishing with a desperation that Hades would return—or at the very least, that he hadn’t taken the dogs with him when he left to wherever he went.

In the days following, as I lingered alone in his home, I’d come to the conclusion that no matter how serious Hades thought he felt about me, no matter how intense or true our relationship became, I would never let myself stay with him. Never admit that I was falling in love with him. Because I refused to burden his beautiful life with my chaotic, ill mind .

“Persephone…” Minthe breathes my name, her brows furrowed and her eyes wide.

I hold up my hand. “I’m serious. I don’t want a relationship that means anything—with anybody.”