Page 23 of The Curse of Eternity
Olivia’s wide blue-gray eyes anxiously glanced my way, not for the first time since I asked if she’d wanted to ‘come with’ tonight. Maybe I shouldn’t have bothered. At least Ethan seemed excited, straightening out hisGojiraT-shirt, its black-and-white design pairing nicely with the silver chain around his neck.
Olivia’s ensemble was her usual, looking put-together in a frilly pink skirt and matching blouse. Personally, I was glad to be back in my jeans and tank top. Since my cotton jacket was ruined, having used it to wrap up the vampire’s head for easytransport last night, and my denim one was ripped along the forearm, I chose to forgo any outer layer in case it was an omen.
It wasn’t that cold tonight anyway.
Springtime was like that here, chilling one day then gorgeous the next. On our walk down 5th Street toward Central Avenue, I kept quiet while Olivia and Ethan bantered.
“Yeah, because it’ssocomplicated to play the same four notes for an entire song.” Ethan’s eyes rolled, and Olivia bristled.
“And what do you expect they’ll play inside the club? I doubt they’ve got anything heavier thanSkrillex.” She glanced at his shirt, and her lips pursed.
“That’s different, I won’t be sober enough to hear it anyway.” Ethan grinned, and Olivia’s shoulders slumped, huffing but not bothering to dignify his words with a response.
When we reached the crosswalk, the line for The Belphegor wrapping around the block came into view. Distracted by the masses, it took a few seconds to realize Olivia had started staring at me. As our gazes met, she opened her mouth.
“Are you sure about this?” she asked, not bothering to whisper. Ethan walked ahead, obviously uninterested to hear how this conversation turned out. Icouldignore her, but knowing my cousin, she’d keep pestering until I answered.
“Yes, Liv. Iwantto come out and have a good time with friends.” Traffic thinned, and I hurried along several paces behind Ethan. Olivia quickly caught up, sighing.
“But what about the temptation? You know we could all hang out doing something else. Even if Everly is busy here tonight, we could plan something together next weekend. There’s a great bowling alley my coworker told me about—”
“Liv,” I cut across, seething, and had to take a deep breath while I stared down at her.She meant well, I kept telling myself so I wouldn’t lose it. “Can we not? Just for tonight, can you please just stop?” I was pleading, obvious by the desperationscrunching up my face. Olivia seemed to recognize it, because she let out a long exhale, deflating like a stubborn balloon.
“Oi! You coming? Caleb’s saved us a spot,” Ethan called, waving his arm at us once with a disgruntled expression, a contrast to Caleb’s genial smile beside him.
Today, Caleb’s black hair was braided down his back, courtesy of his older sister Linda, probably. A white T-shirt hugged his muscular frame, pairing well with light-washed jeans and cowboy boots that peeked out beneath the bootleg hem. It suddenly struck me how much he was starting to look like his dad, from the broad shoulders and impressive height to his enviably manageable wavy hair texture.
All the Tsosie ‘kids’ had a darker complexion thanks to their mother, and though Laura seemed to resemble her the most in appearance, Linda was the one that had inherited Rosa Tsosie’s nurturing demeanor. I’d never once heard her complain about stepping up to help take care of her younger siblings when Rosa passed. Thinking about it, maybe that’s all Olivia was trying to do for me—help watch my back.
A group of women nearby kept glancing at Caleb while he beckoned us over. I didn’t blame them, he was hard to miss. Before things got awkward, I figured I should apologize to Olivia. Except, when I turned to her, the words died in my throat at the sight of her flush.
The red staining her cheeks was a stark difference from her white-faced worry moments before. My gaze followed hers, straight to Caleb, and my eyebrows rose curiously as we met up with the guys.
Caleb whistled low, his tone playful. “You look nice, Liv,” he said, but his gaze slid to me before nodding, like his comment was an inside joke about how I’d been dressed last night.
I rolled my eyes, biting my lip to keep from being obvious with a smile. Then I remembered what Drake had said, aboutpreferring my ‘scrappy’ appearance. A laugh almost burst through my lips, but the pang that accompanied the memory dampened it back down into my chest.
“Thanks,” Olivia replied, oblivious to my inner turmoil while straightening out her skirt.
“I don’t mean to be a party pooper, but…” Caleb’s voice lowered to a whisper. “Will they let me and Ethan in? I think they check ID at the door.” His eyebrows rose.Right,his twenty-first birthday wasn’t until August, nearly a full year younger than me.
“Oh well,” Olivia piped up, unconcerned but sparking my annoyance when she shrugged, clearly having thought this whole night was going to implode before it started. “I won’t be too disappointed if we have to find something else to do—”
“Everly gave me a code word to get us in fast,” I said, restraining my ire, and I forced a smile in the face of Olivia’s doubt. “Come on, let’s test it out.”
Not waiting for anyone, I strode ahead, around the crowd peering over each other’s heads on tiptoes to check how long the line was to the front. Before the black entrance door, painted over in red that resembled blood dripping down its surface, a bouncer stood guard. Bald, but young, the Black man was about as big as Caleb, but with a sureness in the stiff set to his built shoulders that gave off the ‘don’t even try it’ vibes.
His brown eyes focused on me when I approached, my confidence and straight back proving myself even before I sidled closer to whisper, “Kali, goddess of destruction.” Thin eyebrows high, he silently counted all four of our heads before stepping aside. Thrilled, I grabbed Ethan’s hand and towed him inside, both of us laughing while I overheard Caleb jauntily cajoling Olivia onward.
Part of me didn’t care if she came in or not. Music thrummed underfoot while strobe lights flashed through the hallwaypainted black on all sides, including the ceiling. At the end, past figures gyrating on each other against the walls, we emerged into the main room of the club. Bodies swayed to and fro, moving in and out of sync with the rhythm pumping through the place.
A lone DJ head-banged to the beat, electronic-sounding but strangely dark for club music. Then her short black hair and facial piercings came into view. Addison raised both hands into the air, spurring the crowd on while jumping up and down as bass shook the midnight floors. So many colors flashed before my eyes, I was nearly blinded, but still managed to glimpse a petite figure with long curly red hair by the stretch of a bar.
I turned to get the others’ attention, everyone’s eyes glazed over by the strobing kaleidoscope. My hand found Olivia’s, and she jolted until I squeezed in reassurance. Through the din, I managed to mouth my words while pointing toward the bar. She nodded, and Caleb tore his gaze away from the sea of swaying bodies to glean our muted conversation.
Ethan, on the other hand, looked about to waltz off into the crowd until Olivia and I grabbed his shoulders to steer him toward the bar. His grin diminished with our pushing, only to return with vigor when he realized where we were headed. Rows of bottles lined the wall behind the bartop, illuminated by a neon pink and green backdrop which obscured the color of the alcohol inside.
Everly’s head turned on our approach, her freckles stark against her flushed skin. Her smile was luminous, love-struck—which made sense when I noticed the woman beside her.
