MIDNIGHT DIVINE (The Helio Trilogy Book 1) (38 page)

Alice
leaps out of bed
beside me, “Oh
,
crap! Eric was supposed to bring our costumes
last night!”

“Shh!” I shush her harshly,
half hanging off the bed with my hair in my face.

Her form blurs with angelic
speed as she searches the chaos of my bedroom for her cellphone. Throwing a
jacket off of an
open
empty pizza box in the floor, Alice snatches her
phone
from
inside of it
. Her fingers fly over its screen with rapid
tapping. “Oh, good,” she says in relief. “He dropped them off on the porch
after we passed out.”

I grumble, “Awesome. What
time is it?”

She glances at her phone.
“Crap!” Her wide eyes zero in on me, “It’s three o’clock.”

“What! We only have three
hours to be out the door!” I jump out of bed and grab my towel. “You make
coffee while I take a shower. Then, we’ll switch
,
and I'll make
breakfast.” Wildly, we charge off in different directions and spend the next
three hours showering, eating, putting on make-up, styling our hair, and
squeezing into our costumes.

When she told me at the beginning of the semester that
her costume was a surprise, she had said,
“It’s
very… me.”
I laughed at the irony when she came out of her room in a purple
dress, fake white angel wings strapped to her back, and a fuzzy white halo on
top of her head.

By six o’clock, we're in my
car, and I'm driving towards Red Meadow University’s campus. Alice sends a text
message to Becky and Regan that we're on our way to the colosseum, and Regan
lets us know she and Becky have all the gear packed into her Xterra. Alice
sends another text to Eric to let everyone know we'll meet them at the
Masquerade Ball and relays his response, “Ok. Everyone's standing by and will
head out right as we're taking the stage. They decided to come in together as a
group... at the same time.”

“Why are they changing the
plan?”
I ask, giving her a sidelong glance, trying to ignore the bouncing halo
attached to her head.

“I’m not sure, but it makes
sense if you think about it. If they come in as a group, Lucian will still be
looking for you in this,” she gestures to the racy ringmaster costume I'm
wearing, save for its top hat and matching gold masquerade mask
—which Alice talked
me into getting because it matched her purple one
.
My
costume’s
white, spaghetti strap top has a thick gold
outline accentuating my cleavage. The red velvet tailcoat has black cuffs lined
with gold lace
,
matching the bow tie around my neck
,
while gold tassels hang off the shoulders and
beautiful rhinestones accent the lapels. My black high-waist shorts appear
straight out of the seventies, and accompanied with my black suede Steve Madden
ankle boot stilettos, my bare legs go on for miles. Alice continues, “This way,
Lucian will see you on stage as a ringmaster at the same time our guys walk in
together. Once we change into our armor after the gig, he'll still be looking
for the ringmaster, not the warrior.”

“Ok. I agree. That does
sound better. It'll give me a chance to scope him out. Maybe we can lure him
out of the colosseum and away from the humans.” I find it odd that I'm starting
to recognize myself as
unhuman
.

“And how do you expect to
lure him out?”

“I’m not sure yet. I’m just
flying by the seat of my nonexistent pants here,” I mumble as I pull around the
back parking lot of the colosseum.

The sun is setting behind
the colorful foliage lining the campus, painting the sky orange and pink. I
shut the engine off and stare into the distance in contemplation. I find it
difficult to get into the right mindset. On one hand, I need to be ready to
release my emotions on stage through the music. On the other, I need to prepare
myself for battle. I want to catch Lucian off guard, entice him into following
me away from the party, and attack him when he least expects it. This night, I
need to be a rock goddess and a lethal warrior all in the same.
Shouldn't be
too far of a reach—I've got this.

Alice interrupts my
reverie, “One thing at a time, Ivy. Roll with the punches.” I glance to her
with an crooked grin. “Come on. Let’s get the party started,” she urges with a
small smile.

Alice and I grab our duffle
bags containing our armor out of my trunk and enter the back of the colosseum.
Hardcore-punk-ska music echoes off the walls of the massive auditorium and
through the outlining halls. The music’s high energy triggers my body, and my
blood begins to pump harder through my veins. A pleased smile breaks across my
face in delight. We traverse the halls backstage until we find our dressing
room door marked ‘The Red’. Alice barges in, and we find Regan slapping the
strings of her unplugged bass. “Hey!” Regan shouts as we enter and drop our
bags next to the lit up vanities.

“Where’s Becky?” I ask her.

Regan stands to put her
bass away, “She ran off to find drinks. We’ve got about an hour until set-up.
We’re up after
Killing Karma
.”

I join Alice at the vanity
and check my hair and make-up. She helps me pin my top hat in place on top of
my head so it won’t fall off during our set. Becky kicks the door open and
stumbles in with four large solo cups, two in each hand.
Fucking drummers
,
I chuckle to myself.

Becky passes spiked punch
around to each of us, “Drink up, ladies! We’ve got a hellova show to play!”

We cheer to her toast, chug
our drinks, and put
on
our masks before we join the party, which is in
full swing. Walking into the colosseum, my ears ring with guttural vocals of a
pop-punk song. There are more fraternity and sorority students than I imagined
there would be. My eyes widen upon witnessing at least two thousand co-eds
grinding, jumping, and thrashing to the beat of the music piercing our ears. My
heart rate picks up instantly with nervousness. There are so many people here I
find it hard not to feel paranoid. I anticipate every soul in the room, at any
moment, will turn on me and converge with aggressive malevolent intent. Alice
taps my arm rapidly with
the back of her hand
, “Um… Ivy?”

My head snaps to her. She
points at the front entrance. “What?” I ask, following her gaze. “What the fuck
are they doing here so early?” I growl as our a
rmor clad unit comes through the front doors
together.

“I don’t know,” she says,
worry marring her face.

“Whatever. It doesn’t
matter. They’re here already. Let’s go mingle until we’re up,” I suggest.

The band on stage begins to
play a slow song, making it easier for Alice and me to split separate ways
while trying to keep our distance from our not-so-subtle hoard of comrades
entering the party. The further I walk away, the
more gravity I feel pulling me back. I pause
with the feeling of Solas’ nearness.
I take a few more
steps, and a black gloved hand grips my arm to stop me in my tracks. For a
brief instant, I fear Lucian's found me before I realized his presence. But the
touch is warm and sends tingles down my spine. I spin around to find a tall and
broad, black clad warrior from our small army.

“I can’t do this right now,
Solas,” I grumble.

He stands unmoving, as if
he expects me to say something. His gloved hand over the thick velvet sleeve of
my tailcoat hinders my ability to feel his emotions, but I sense something
amiss. The leather enveloping his touch slowly slides down my red velvet sleeve
to entwine with my exposed fingertips. His other arm wraps around my waist and
draws me closer to him. I rest my free hand on his bicep, and he begins to
sway, leading me in an intimate and gentle waltz.

I try to search his eyes
peeking beneath his cowl. They're dark from our surroundings, and his gaze
bores into mine with intensity. Knowing he'll hear me over the chaos with his
angelic hearing, I whisper, “I don’t know what you want me to say, Solas.”

Before I can continue, his
body becomes still and tense as if there's danger. His eyes slightly widen.
It's so minute I would have missed it if I hadn't been staring. He jerks my arm
and guides me through the slow moving crowd. Barging into my bands dressing
room, we catch Alice and Eric in an intense conversation. They pause and stare
at us in shock as we stop inside the door. Without a word, my warrior escort points
to the open door, furiously gesturing for them to leave us.

As the door slams shut
behind the Reapers, I yell, “What's up with you?”

He reels on me and grabs
the tops of my arms firmly. His eyes are different. They're a beautiful,
vibrant green. I realize this warrior's
not
Solas. My hand reaches up to
the warrior’s helmet with violent tremors. When my fingertips touch the
cover
on his cheeks, I urge the solid black metal down. My
heart gives a solid thump in my throat before plummeting to my core. The black
helmet falls from the warrior's face.

My voice comes out a mere
whisper, so soft I don’t know if I speak at all, “Jack.
”

Jack wrenches me to him
with ferocious passion, and his mouth crushes mine.
Love, regret, sadness.
His lips are soft warm honey, taking my legs out from beneath me. He doesn't
let me fall. He claims my mouth, my heart, my mind, and my body all over again
with a single kiss. I'm overcome with his emotions as they mix with my own
confusion and doubt. Jack's mouth leaves my lips pulsing and tender as he
withdraws. His beautiful and irritating shit-eating grin plasters across his
face. I'm stunned silent and feel faint. I can't seem to form a single word on
my lips.

If I had any doubt whether
he was real, his deep
,
soothing
,
velvety voice
assures me, “Fancy meeting
you
here, Sunshine.”

I croak, “Jack?” He nods,
and I jump into his arms, wrapping my arms and legs around him tight. I'm
engulfed in his embrace. Choking on the tears running down my cheeks, I chuckle
at the situation. “How are you here?” I ask without loosening my grip on him.

“Michael,” he whispers.

“I’ve missed you so much,
Jack,” I cry.

“I’ve missed you too,
Sunshine.”

Reluctantly, I peel myself
back to see his face.
It’s really you.
I kiss him again. His soft lips
press tight against my own, our tongues caress each other, and the familiar
tingle of his touch calms my rapid beating heart. Realization hits me hard, and
I retract my mouth from his. After setting me down on my feet, Jack takes my
face in his hands. “Jack, I—”

“—I know, Sunshine,” he
says as he stokes a tear from my cheek with his leather-gloved thumb.

“You do?”

He nods, and a grim
expression passes over his countenance. “Michael told me about Solas.”

I avert my eyes to the
ground while he continues to hold my face in his hands. “I’m so sorry, Jack.”

“Shh,” he hushes and kisses
my forehead before embracing me again. “Let’s not talk about it right now. I
know my return's a shock—and I should have waited. I just couldn't help myself
when I saw you—but you’ve got a show to do, and we have a Prince of Darkness to
defeat.”

With a shuddering breath, I
agree with him, “Ok.” I don’t know how much more I'll be able to handle at this
point.

gh

Entering stage right, I
lift the strap of my black electric Ibanez over my head. The DJ fills the dead
space between sets with the scratch of his records. I busy myself on stage with
the girls, plugging in and getting ready for his remix to end. Alice leans into
my ear, “You ok?” I nod in silence and kick the pedals at my feet on. “I didn’t
know he was here until right before you guys came in the dressing room. That’s
why Eric and I were arguing. I would have told you if I'd known.”

“I know, A,” I glance at
her with a forgiving smile. “Let’s forget about it for now. We’ve got shit to
do tonight.”

She nods and takes center
stage. The DJ’s music begins to die down and Alice puts the mic to her lips. Lifting
her free arm in the air, she wails into the mic, “What’s up, Red Meadow!” The
crowd cheers. “We're
The Red
,
and we’re gonna rock your asses off tonight!”
Even louder cheers resound around the massive
domed
colosseum.

I watch Alice kick off a
beat with the bob of her head. Becky, Regan, and I start in after the fourth
nod. I’m taken away from everything haunting my thoughts with the first hammer
of my guitar, the rock of my body, and the music booming all around me,
vibrating my entire being into a soothing high. In this moment, I'm a rock
goddess. I'm not the spawn of the Angel of Death and the Queen of the
Damned
. I'm not responsible for killing
a
Duke of Sheol. I don’t have wings as black as a
starless night sky. I don't have abilities unfathomable to the human
population. I'm not in love with two angels, one of the Light and one of the
Dark. I didn't watch the Angel of Light I love die in my arms. I didn't move on
uncharacteristically with another. I didn't feel the betrayal of being lied to
and finding out the Dark Angel I fell in love with actually used to be my best
friend. I don't have the Prince of Sheol after me. I didn't just witness the
Angel of Light that died in my arms come back to me. There's me, my guitar, the
music, the sting of the steel strings beneath my fingertips, and the sweat
dripping down my face and the back of my neck.