The Underworld Crown (Series)

Chapter 27

The clinking of glasses, loud music and hum of chatter all died down as I made my way through the corridors and found myself breathing a sigh of relief. It didn't take me long to reach my bedroom, and when I entered, I found Erica sitting in front of the dresser and rearranging the perfumes. She squeaked and stood abruptly.

"Sorry," I said quickly. "I didn't mean to surprise you, I thought you might be in the ballroom."

She laughed softly. "No, not me. Some of the other maids will be working there tonight but I have the night off."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "You have a free night but you're still working? Erica, you have to give yourself some time off," I chastised. "I order you to go have some fun."

She grinned ear to ear and laughed as I shooed her towards the door.

"Wait, wait!" she exclaimed. "I'll just draw you a bath and then go. How does that sound?"

She was doing well to dodge my efforts to get her out of the room, so I conceded. "That's fine, but make it quick."

Erica nodded and then ducked into the bathroom for a moment before returning, the sound of running water filling the air. "Did you enjoy yourself?" she asked.

"It was fantastic," I lied with a smile. "Hades really did go above and beyond with the decorations. There were enough candles to light up all of Earth."

Erica's eyes turned dreamy, and she got a faraway look.

"You should definitely go check it out," I suggested.

Her jaw slackened. "What? I couldn't."

"Of course, you can! You don't need to go for a long time. You can just take a peek at the ballroom to see what it looks like. You can even wear this dress that you made."

I gently undid the clasp behind my neck and the material cascaded downwards. I stepped out of the dress and held it up for Erica, who was silent and utterly dumbstruck. She'd probably never worn anything as expensive as this material, even though she made dresses all the time. I could see the excitement spark in her eyes and I held out the dress even closer.

"It's all yours," I said.

She bit her lip, contemplating. "I shouldn't..." she murmured off, "oh screw it! I'll try on the dress and take a little look at the ballroom." She was bouncing on the balls of her heels in excitement. I'd never seen Erica move so quickly as she finished up filling the bathtub in the bathroom and then nabbed the dress. I laughed as she all but waltzed to the front door.

"Have fun," I told her seriously.

She grinned like a Cheshire cat and practically floated out the door, promising to have a good time and return the dress. When she was gone, I locked the door and threw my undergarments onto the bed, excited to also have some alone time. The water was a little hot as I eased into the bath, but once I was in it felt like I was suspended in heaven as the warm water lessened the pain in my muscles. I leaned my head back against the edge of the bath and closed my eyes, letting out a breath I didn't realise I'd been holding.

A knock sounded at the door.

I groaned and opened my eyes. The last thing I wanted to do was get out of the bath, but I knew it would be Erica at the door either having forgotten something or trying to back out of her promise, so I pulled myself from the tub. I stopped only to wrap a towel around my wet body before padding my way over to the door.

As I pulled it open, I told her, "When you said a 'little look' I thought you meant–oh!"

It wasn't Erica standing at the door.