I closed the door behind me and sat on the end of her unmade bed. The room was an utter disaster. She’d consumed most of her liquor cabinet, the empty bottles scattered about and forgotten. The clothing she'd worn in the ocean still hung, stiff and crusted with salt and gore, over her wardrobe. Logbooks and empty plates from the past two days littered the top of her desk. By the looks of things, even Hannah had been banned throughout this latest dark mood.

Meeting Lou’s impatient stare, I swallowed and lamely said, “Thank you for saving me.”

Her jaw tightened, and her hands curled into her lap, but she said nothing.

I took a deep breath and tried again. “I don’t know exactly what happened—I lost consciousness—but whatever you did saved my life, for which I’m very grateful.”

Her amber eyes narrowed.

I ran my hand through my hair, slicking it back with the sweat on my palm. She vexed and perplexed me in ceaseless currents. You’d think I was insulting her. My jaw clenched around an unspoken slew of curses. I closed my eyes, willing Zeus to provide me with strength. When I reopened them, I offered a final plea. “Aren’t you going to say anything? I’m trying to thank you for coming to my aid.”

She crossed her arms and scowled out her windows.

I stood, my caged fury breaking loose. “Fine. If you have nothing to say, I’ll go. But before I do, I have something to add. What you did was reckless and foolish. You never listen. You had one order. Stay put. And you couldn’t even do that. You could have been killed.”

Dead silence, as if I were talking to a corpse. Too riled to care, I continued my rant. “You had no idea whether the danger of song had passed. The sirens’ bodies could have trapped you the same as me. You could have digested their poison in the water. You could have drowned. You could have died a hundred different ways.”

Lou threw the blanket on the ground and jumped from her chair. Her chest bobbed with rasping, frantic breaths. She marched up to me, toe to boot. Though she stood a head shorter, her wrath filled the whole room. “I almost didn’t save you.”

I blinked, lips parting.

A bitter laugh bubbled from her chest. “At first, I chose to drown with you. I gave up.” Her voice cracked.