Chapter 22

ACHILLES. ‘I don’t want to be entertained,’ I sign to Hyperion, but he’s no longer looking at me. He’s staring at the entrance, his face split into a big grin as though he’s expecting treats. I sense some vibrations on the ground, different from the music playing, signaling the footsteps coming from the other side of the wall. I brace myself for whatever he has in store, but I can barely get up from my seat. The first thing that hits me is the strong smell of perfume. It’s masking all the smells in the air. I shake my head, trying to get rid of the sickly sweet stench in the air around me. However, just as I turn my head, I catch something that looks oddly familiar. There’s a flash of gold. Then a hint of red. I look up, and there I see Claudia. At first, I’m not sure if it’s really her. I blink a couple of times, trying to make sure that it really is her and not just the product of my imagination amplified by the spiked drink that Hyperion gave me. But she doesn’t disappear. Her