The Underworld Crown (Series)

Chapter 6

I walked all of twenty metres from the Throne Room before I was sprinting back to my room, locking the door behind me, and running to the bathroom sink before I was sick. My body heaved with exhaustion and stress, but I let it pass through me, glad that I had managed to hold it in long enough that I could be vulnerable within the privacy of my bedroom. When I was done, I cleaned it up, grabbed a rag to wipe away some of the blood on my arm, and stared at my open wound.

Hades had said that Persephone was able to heal a wound of this size in less than five seconds. Well, five minutes had passed, and it was still slowly healing itself. But I wanted to speed it up. I wanted to prove to myself that I could heal it.

Instead of closing my eyes and holding a hand over the wound, I let myself examine it and tried to push past the nausea that it brought. I dug deep down inside me, looking for that tendril of power that I could bring forth to help heal. I found it at the bottom of what could best be described as a well, and eagerly clambered for it. Sweat formed on my brow, but I took a deep breath and pulled that power towards me, directing it to where I wanted it to go.

The healing accelerated. One minute I had an exit and an entry wound in my wrist, and the next minute, the only indication that I had been stabbed was from the remaining blood, slick on my arm.

I let myself feel triumph before rinsing my arm under the sink, discarding my dress, and preparing a bath.

*****

According to Erica, the servants' quarters was located underground, beneath the East Wing. I hurried down a staircase, feeling the walls close in on me. I knew my claustrophobia had nothing to do with the actual design of the building–which remained spacious–and had everything to do with the guilt I felt about Kadyn being captured.

As I reached the base of the steps, I couldn't push out the image of Kadyn, bruised and battered between two guards, from my mind.

God, I wouldn't blame him if he hated me.

He'd detested working in the mines in Sloth City, but surely that experience was a luxury spa to the torture he'd been put through in recent weeks. He must've been captured soon after our escape, when I'd believed he could feign enough innocence to get away unscathed. I'd been wrong. Very wrong. His cheeks had been so sunken that it was like he hadn't eaten anything for days. Even when Alek and I had been on the move, we'd always had some kind of sustenance. At least, Alek had always offered me food even if he hadn't eaten anything himself.

My hands formed fists at my sides, and I pushed Alek from my mind.

The servants' quarters were located down a long hallway, lined with at least fifty bedrooms on each side. Some doors were labelled with the names of its occupants, but quite a few doors remained blank. About halfway down the hallway, the sound of a doorknob turning caught my attention, and two of the guards I'd recognised from in the Throne Room stepped outside, closing the door behind them. As they stalked past me towards the staircase, recognition flickered in their eyes, in addition to a hint of arrogance. I scowled and pushed past them, focusing on the room they'd just left.

I raised a hand to knock on the door but found myself hesitating. I'd come here on the assumption that Kadyn would want to see me, but I had no idea whether that would be the case or not. I started to turn around, deciding it had been rude of me to show up unannounced and with the intent of settling my own guilt, when the sound of a bolt shifting indicated the door was being opened.

"Serena," Kadyn breathed, looking even more injured than when I'd last seen him. He held a bloody tissue to his nose. A fresh cut also shone red on his cheek. It hit me that during my oath to Hades I hadn't explicitly specified that no one touch him. He gestured to his door, where a small peep hole hovered in the middle of the frame. "I thought the guards were coming back."