Chapter 7

RHEA

I check myself in the mirror and smooth down my dress, rearranging my glasses. I'm a little nervous to be going out wearing them alone as my only defence against turning people into stone, but I'm out of the potion that'll do the same thing and I don't have time to get a replacement. It should be fine. My glasses have never actually fallen off while out dancing, I just prefer the potion because it's more foolproof.

Rattle appears over my shoulder, almost as if he's looking in the mirror along with me.

"What do you think?" I ask my snake.

He disappears back into my hair, causing me to roll my eyes. What good is having them attached to me if they don't give me their opinions?

A knock on my door makes me jump. "Come in."

It creaks open, and my best friend steps inside.

"Hey, Sage."

"You look amazing," she says. "Much better than I did before my birthday party."

"I made you change," I recall.

"You did, and I'm glad of that." She gets a dreamy look on her face like she does every time she thinks about Castor.

"To be fair, you didn't need to, the evening would have had the same outcome if you'd been wearing your period PJs."

"I don't have period PJs," she counters.

I raise an eyebrow. "The fluffy ones with the sheep on them?"

The witch's eyes widen. "Oh my, I do have period PJs. Does anyone else know?"

"I doubt it unless you've been complaining to them about cramps too."

"Not that I'm aware of. Well, I guess there's no need to worry about that now. We should get to the kitchen, everyone's waiting for you already."

"Is Jack here?" I ask, weirdly nervous about if he's shown up or not.

"I don't know," she responds. "I have no idea what he looks like."

"Oh, right." I forgot about that. I've been spending so much time with him that it slipped my mind that my friends haven't met him.

"I'm sure he'll be here." She gives me a curious look, but I don't say anything else.

I grab my cardigan off the back of my desk chair and slip it on so I can put my phone in the pocket. I won't wear it to the club, but for while we're still in the flat, it's the best choice. I follow Sage out of my room, already hearing the drone of chatter from the kitchen. It's louder than I expect it to be, which means a lot of people. It isn't completely unexpected, our flat is a lively bunch sometimes, and that means that parties can get a little out of hand. There'll be people here who have no idea who I am, never mind that it's my birthday.

But that's fine by me. I don't need all the attention to be on me.

I enter the room and paste a smile on my face as various people say hello to me. Sage doesn't let me linger and directs me over to where the drinks are. Which is suspiciously close to her boyfriend and his tower of cakes.

"Castor baked for you," she says brightly, picking up a butterfly bun and holding it out to me.

"Thanks, Castor," I say to the minotaur.

"You're welcome," he murmurs.

"How's your sister?" I ask, remembering him telling me that he likes baking because it's something the two of them do together.

"She's good. My grandma just took her to the circus for her birthday..." he trails off when he sees my face. "Rhea, I'm so sorry."

I shake my head. "Not your fault," I mumble, looking down at the cake in my hand. I pull off one of the wings and pop it in my mouth. "This is delicious."

"Thanks." He watches me warily, though he probably doesn't know exactly what to say now. I wish I had better control over my reactions. It's not his fault that I lost Granny, and I don't want him to feel as if he can't talk about the things that are going on with his family because of it. But I also don't know the best way to communicate any of that.

"Here," Sage says, pressing a drink into my hand. Her concern is also visible, but she doesn't say anything specifically about it.

I offer her a smile and take a swig of my drink. I start coughing as the burn of the vodka hits the back of my throat. "How strong did you make this?"

"Like normal," she responds. "I think."

"That's not normal. That's death strength."

She scoffs and takes the glass from me. "It isn't." She takes a swig and ends up making the same face herself.

I smother a laugh, the edge of the sadness taken away by the interaction.

"Okay, death strength." She lets out a dragon breath. "I'm going to put some more mixer in this." She turns back to the counter and sloshes some more coke into the drink before handing it back to me.

I take it from her and have another sip. "Much less deadly."

"Good."

I look around the room, my gaze locking on Jack's as soon as I find him. I smile and raise a hand to wave at him.

He returns it, and I feel a little lighter having him here. It's amazing how close I feel to him in only a short space of time.

"Hey, Rhea!" Shiran says.

I turn to face my fellow gorgon, forcing a smile into position. I've never liked her much but our families have been friends for years which means inviting her to things or never hearing the end of it when I get home. "Hey, I haven't seen you in ages." Mostly because she cuts class a lot.

"Oh, I know. I've had so much going on. There was a family emergency where my brother managed to get himself locked out of the family shop and we had to prove to the police that we were who we said we were. Oh it was a nightmare. But I heard your own family had a lot to deal with lately."

I open my mouth to respond but can't find the words.

"Your grandmother passed away, right? So sad. But you're still here, still studying. That's very...brave." The way she smiles feels so fake.

"It's what Granny would have wanted."

"Even so. You poor thing." She pats me on the arm in a way that I instantly hate.

Tears spring to my eyes. "Excuse me." I duck away and head towards the door, keeping my eyes down and trying not to make eye contact with anyone. I can't talk to anyone right now, not until I have my emotions under control and don't ruin the party by bursting into tears.

And if I don't get to my room right now, that's exactly what's going to happen.