Daphne's POV
"Go to hell," I said.
Then I dropped into the chair without permission.
The collective intake of breath that followed sounded like wind through a broken window. Three sharp gasps, three sets of lips parted in perfect synchronized shock. One girl actually pressed her palm against her mouth as if my words might somehow contaminate her. Another stared at me with the same expression she might wear watching someone desecrate a grave.
"Did no one explain the protocols to you?" the composed sister asked.
She spoke like she was witnessing something impossible. As if I had just walked into a sanctuary and spat on sacred ground.
My body went rigid.
Not from fear. The realization of what I had done crashed over me like ice water finding its way through cracked leather. Slow at first, then flooding every nerve at once.
