A Touch of Ruin (Hades x Persephone #2)(55)

Persephone smiled a little. She sounded like Lexa.

“Aren’t you going to try anything on?” Leuce asked.

“I don’t think so. I don’t need anything.”

“It’s not about needing,” Leuce said. “It’s for fun.”

“You go ahead,” she encouraged. “I am content to sit here and drink.”

Leuce frowned a little but disappeared into the changing room.

Persephone really wished Lexa were here. This was her thing. When they’d first met in college, Lexa had taken her to this very boutique. They’d laughed and tried on dresses and drank sparkling grape juice. It was the first time she’d been told her ‘colors’ were red, gold and green, the first time someone other than her mother had told she was beautiful, the first time she felt that someone meant it.

It had been a blissful day.

Persephone’s memories were interrupted by her phone ringing. It was Jaison.

She answered, her heart racing in her chest.

“Is everything okay?” She didn’t even say hello.

“Yes, Persephone. I wanted to let you know that Lexa just came out of surgery.”

“What? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“Because everything’s fine.”

How could everything be fine when Lexa had to go into surgery? Persephone couldn’t help thinking Jaison had done this on purposes because of her inability to convince Hades to help.

“What if everything hadn’t been fine?”

“This is why I didn’t tell you earlier.” His frustration was evident in his tone. “You freak out and it makes everything worse.”

Okay, those words hurt.

“She had some internal bleeding. They caught it in time and now she’s stable and back in the ICU.”

“I freak out? Excuse me for being concerned for my best friend, Jaison.”

“Yeah, well, she’s my girlfriend.”

The line went dead, and Persephone pulled her phone away from her ear to find that Jaison had hung up on her.

What the actual fuck was happening?

Suddenly, she couldn’t breath and her heart felt like it was beating in her head, irregular and quick. She looked around, vision blurred, and the only thing she could think was that she was dying.

She rushed from the store.

She heard her name being called as she left.

“Lady Persephone!”

She ran down the sidewalk and stopped in an alleyway. She pressed herself against the brick and leaned over, taking deep breaths.

“Lady Persephone? Are you okay?”

Leuce had followed her as she’d fled. It took Persephone a moment, but she finally straightened. Her chest rising and falling. “Is it okay if we don’t shop?”

Leuce’s eyes were large—strangely innocent, and she nodded. “Of course. Whatever you want.”

“Coffee,” Persephone said.

“Sure.”

They went to The Coffee House. It was the one place Persephone felt she could still go and not be bothered. She ordered two vanilla lattes—one for her and one for Leuce, who had never had coffee before.

They sat across from each other. Persephone kept her hands cupped around her drink, watching as the foam leaf atop melted into nothing.

“How do they make this picture?” Leuce asked, inspecting the foam like a rare specimen.

“Very carefully,” Persephone responded.

The nymph took a tentative sip.

“Hmm,” she hummed, and took a bigger gulp. Persephone recalled the first time she’d had coffee. She hadn’t actually liked it all that much, but Lexa had claimed that was because she’d had black coffee.

She’d been right—add a little cream, and it was her favorite drink.

“Just wait until you try hot chocolate,” Persephone commented.

Leuce’s eyes went wide.

Silence stretched between them. Persephone kept her gaze on her drink. She wasn’t sure what to say to Leuce, and her body felt off. Her earlier panic making her insides feel shaky.

“Do you want to talk about earlier?” Leuce asked.

Persephone met the woman’s gaze and shook her head. “I’d rather not.”

The nymph nodded.

“I’m sorry your friend is sick.”

“She’s not sick,” Persephone didn’t mean to snap, but the words just spilled out of her mouth. Plus, she was still a little freaked out about earlier. “She’s hurt. She was hurt.”

“I’m sorry,” Leuce’s voice was a whisper.

Persephone’s shoulders fell. “Thank you. I’m sorry. It’s...hard.”

Leuce nodded. “I know.”

Persephone met her gaze and the nymph explained.

“I woke up a few days ago and everything I knew had changed. Most of my friends are dead,” the nymph paused. “I was angry at first. I think I still am.”

Persephone wasn’t sure what to say, but she was sincere. Now that she had distance from the situation, now that her anger toward Hades’ had lessened, she could think from Leuce’s point of view.

“I’m sorry, Leuce.”

She shrugged. “At least I am free.”

It was strange to sit across from this woman and realize how similar they really were.