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Midnight Blue

EMILIA

D ays passed but I couldn’t shake the visual of my sister naked in between those fucking psychos. Nor could I forget what Michael had said.

A fantasy of hers or a fear of mine.

Which was it?

Both. My guess was it was both.

Suddenly I was more than keen to believe that what the High Lord had said was true. We couldn’t trust dreams. You couldn’t trust the aftermath of them, either. I had clearly hallucinated the scratches on my shoulder because when I’d woken up the next morning, they were gone, and there was no blood on my nightdress.

It didn’t stop me from getting a sickening feeling in the pit of my gut every time I crossed paths with Destiny, though.

Standing in my walk-in closet, spending another morning getting ready alone, my chest welled with emotion so ugly I wanted to puke it out. But it was stuck in my esophagus, preventing me from taking a full breath. Suffocating me slowly. I wasn’t dying fast enough.

I stared at all my stupid fucking clothes while my vision blurred.

Next thing I knew, I was standing outside of Venus St Claire’s dorm room door. She opened it before I even got a chance to knock.

Her gaze swept me up and down skeptically. “Emilia? What’s wrong?”

“I have nothing to wear.”

She regarded me in silence. Heard everything I didn’t say. Then she stepped aside, a wordless invitation. “Do you want to borrow something?”

I sniffed. “No. No, I need my own fucking clothes! Everything I have is so plain . I can’t stand any of it anymore. And I don’t know where to start. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do!”

“Hey,” she murmured, grabbing my wrist. She pulled me into her room and closed the door. I stared at her blurry floor, trying to swallow the disgusting thing clogging my throat. “It’s going to be okay, Emilia.”

“It’s not,” I insisted. “It’s never going to be okay again.”

“Something happened. What is it? You can tell me.”

“No. No, it’s just everything. I can’t do this shit anymore. I feel like I’m drowning. I feel like everything about me is just useless. Like I’m nothing. No—worse than nothing. I am a joke . I’ve spent the last two months worrying about my sister, trying to figure out how to get her back. What if it’s all for nothing? What if she doesn’t want to be found? What if she’s exactly where she’s always fucking belonged and I’m just an idiot ! A stupid, naive idiot who never believed the truth in front of my eyes. Nyx is…She’s…”

Warmness engulfed me.

Cherry incense filled my senses and extinguished the words that were about to blaze off my tongue. Venus held me tightly and—it caught me off guard. Tilted my world even more off its axis.

My arms hung limp at my side for a moment before I finally caved and hugged her back. Her embrace was genuine—a normal response to someone in despair. This is what normal people did. But I’d never been raised in a normal environment where physical affection was a casual, every day thing. I felt like I was falling as sobbed into her hair.

When we pulled apart, my heart was in my throat. My brain had tipped over in my skull and leaked its irrationality through the rest of my body. I was hot and swollen with shame. “I’m sorry,” I rasped. “I’m sorry. I’m fine. I just—”

“Don’t do that,” Venus scorned, though her voice was soft. “Don’t apologize. You’re valid, Emilia. So fucking valid.”

I scoffed. “I’m weak. I’m breaking down over clothes .”

Her expression morphed with offense which had me confused. “ Weak ? How could you say that? You’re the strongest person I know. You need to give yourself more credit, Little Morningstar.”

I was about to spout more self-deprecating shit but she didn’t give me the chance. She stepped closer, erasing the space between us. Her eyes shone with something that had my mouth clipping shut. “You aren’t breaking down over clothes. But, I think you’re on to something. Listen, we can’t skip class again. Tonight, though, we’ll ditch dinner and hit up Moonrise Blvd instead. I know exactly what you need. We’ll go shopping then grab dinner and drinks and you can take a night off from all your burdens, okay? It’ll be about you. Not about your sister.”

I released a shuttering breath, a little stunned about how wonderful that sounded.

After a moment, I nodded. “Okay.”

Venus gave me a Cheshire grin. “Perfect. It’s a date.”

“Please don’t tell me your plan is grand theft auto again.”

She chuckled. “Fear not, Little Morningstar. We won’t be breaking any mortal laws this time.”

I released a breath.

“Don’t look so relieved! What, you don’t trust my driving?”

“Not at all.”

“Rude.”

“We got pulled over twice because you were speeding and swerving like a madwoman!”

“I know. It was so much fun. On second thought, maybe we should steal another car. Oh! A Lamborghini this time.”

I gaped at Venus in disbelief. She broke into a fit of laughter because apparently, the horror on my face was just hilarious.

“I’m joking. This time.” She winked at me and then turned back to her reflection in her vanity mirror.

I sat on the edge of her bed as she finished getting ready. She looked like a—well, she was a movie star. And she looked every bit the part. Her body was draped in a crimson dress that hugged her curves yet spilled loosely in the right places. The plunging neckline was adorned with silver jewels that matched her dangling earrings. Her makeup was effortless perfection. Light on the eyes but bold with her cherry-red lips.

Classes had gone by in a blur because I’d been thinking about her all day. Fixating on Venus had been strangely easy. All day I’d been swamped with this giddy, sickening anticipation about tonight.

Plus… Fixating on Venus was better than wallowing in memories of what I’d seen in the Dream Realm, or acknowledging the fact that my friends were no longer talking to me. Destiny had been dodging me for days, not even looking my way when we crossed paths. Faye had talked to me about it and she was super upset and apologetic. But I knew making her choose between us would kill her. So, I’d insisted that I was fine and that Destiny and I would make up eventually.

I hoped that was true.

Or did I?

Truthfully… I was pissed. How could she just drop me like that?

Venus doused herself in perfume and then gave a definitive sigh, tugging me from my dreamy cloud. “Okay. I’m ready.”

“Me too,” I muttered, feeling completely underdressed because I was. My little black dresses had long passed their expiry date. My face was as plain as my outfit with my one coat of mascara and clear lip gloss.

Venus turned to me, her expression pensive as if she were thinking the exact same thing. “Come here, Little Morningstar.”

I did. She coaxed me to sit on her fluffy vanity stool while she stood beside it, sifting through a drawer of lipsticks. She had about ten thousand of them, in every shade of red imaginable.

“Red is not your color, though, is it?” she mused.

“Not really.”

“Ah! Here.” She plucked out a silver bullet tube, popping it open and rolling the product up to reveal the startling color. “Blue-black. I stole this from the set of a thriller movie I did last year. Not because I liked the color for myself but I have a tradition of stealing a little something from every set. Gives me a rush.”

Damn. Venus had a thing for stealing. How…endearing.

“Oh. Well, I don’t know if—”

“Relax your lips. Pout them a little, but keep them the way they naturally sit.”

Her instructions were contradicting but I’d seen Nyx do her lipstick enough times to know what she meant. She tipped my chin up with her fingers, her eyes fixed on my mouth. My heart started to thump harder as she applied the dark color. Her skin was warm against mine, her focus one hundred percent on me. I could feel the heat pooling in my cheeks, but she was oblivious.

“There. Holy shit.” She stepped back, admiring her work.

My racing heart stuttered and crashed when I looked in the mirror.

Had my lips always been so full? Coated in the dark, satiny color, they seemed bigger. My eyes popped against the midnight blue. With my short, blunt hair and dark lips, I looked…

“Stunning,” Venus whispered. Her fingers brushed absently through my hair. “Oh, I’m excited now. By the end of the night, you’re going to be a whole new woman. Your hair was just the beginning.”

I gave a nervous laugh, hoping she didn’t notice the red stains on my cheeks.

She dropped her hand from my hair and moved to the other side of the room to grab her bag. An expensive-looking bag that completed her whole look once she put it on her arm. “Let’s go.”

“Do you have a means to portal?”

She quirked a brow at me. “What’s with you and portals?”

“Oh. Uh. I don’t know. I just thought that’s how everyone gets around…”

She scoffed. “It’s reckless. Honestly, I don’t like portalling unless I have to. It’s not good, you know, for the particles of your body to disband and disperse like that. No, I have a car service.” She pulled her blackmirror from her bag and typed viciously for a moment before tucking it away again. “Is that okay with you, Little Morningstar?” she quipped, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

Still fucking blushing, I nodded.

The car dropped us off at Sunset and Vine. Venus took the lead, strutting right up to the street sign, not even bothering to look around to make sure we weren’t being watched. She grabbed my hand, electricity zapping up my arm before the world quivered and changed.

This kind of magic never ceased to take my breath away.

Moonrise Blvd was as outrageous as I remembered. A carnival in street form. The giant floating Ferris wheel, the elemental street dancers, the music, the bright and scantily dressed crowds… It took me back to the night Nyx had dragged me down here to that club. What had it been called? Devil’s Playtime? I didn’t want to remember even if I could.

Venus treated the sidewalk like a runway. I tried to keep up with her effortless strides without looking like a toddler wobbling after their mother.

Every freaky, colorful Celestial with their body glitter, living tattoos, and ethereal clothing stared at us as we passed by. I heard some of them whisper my name. I stared right back, refusing to let my eyes obsess over the pavement. I studied each striking face, wondering if this was all there was to life after you graduated from your academy. I’d never given it much thought, what adult Celestials did. The ones that didn’t ascend to Priestess or High Magician level—was this what their lives entailed? Partying?

I thought of my mother. Of her life. In truth, I didn’t have the slightest idea of what she did in her free time. She’d spent a lot of time out of the house when Nyx and I were little. What she’d been doing, though, was a mystery to me.

“Oh, shit.” Venus’s hushed voice pulled me from my murky train of thought.

“What?” But the second the word escaped my lips, I realized what she was talking about.

Three Silver Masks in their billowing dark green cloaks were coming this way. Stalking down the sidewalk, their energy severe like a nightmare.

I’d never seen them in the wild before.

Venus kept walking, but her pace had slowed significantly, and I followed suit. We shuffled to the side, allowing them space to pass, but they stopped when they reached us.

My heart fell before it raced.

The Silver Mask in the middle swished his staff at us in a sharp, slicing motion. A weight hit my chest and then my skin erupted with dark and light blue energy that radiated from me like fire.

My aura.

Venus’s skin lit up with soft pink and red light. Golden weaves thrummed like sun rays within the deeper shades. It was gorgeous, like a mid-summer sunset. Her face, however, was unimpressed.

The Silver Masks studied our auras. The moment stretched, my skin tingling, my brain swimming with confusion. Then the middle one jutted his staff at us again and banished the magic.

They trudged away without uttering a word. I watched them go. They didn’t summon anyone else’s aura.

“What was that about?” I whispered when they were out of sight.

Venus glared in the direction they had gone. “I have no idea.” Then she looked back at me and her expression softened. “Pretty aura.”

I scoffed, heat pricking the back of my neck. “Yours too.”

“Let’s go, Little Morningstar.”

I followed her down the street, but where she led me was not a clothing store. “What are we doing?”

She glanced back at me, a mischievous look in her eye. “First stop.”

Afterward, we ventured to the trendy, low-lit boutique called Stella’s Closet. Venus had been ranting and raving about this place. She led me to the glass door, which beamed a neon CLOSED sign in our faces. Confused, I glanced over at her, but she didn’t seem thrown off in the least. Before I could ask, a woman appeared on the other side and unlocked the door for us.

“Venus, darling!” the woman cawed. She was tall and thin, with mid-length dark hair and a voice that sounded like she’d been smoking since the day she was born. She had a beauty mark above her lips, her skin tawny and slightly weathered.

“Hi, Lucia.” They clasped hands and kissed each other’s cheeks. Then Venus glanced back at me, a sly grin pulling at her lips. “This is my friend I was telling you about. Emilia—”

“ Morningstar .” Lucia’s voice was wistful as she untangled herself from Venus to focus on me. The impassioned shine in her eyes made the back of my neck heat up. She looked me up and down, her chest rising and falling slightly. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Emilia.”

“You too,” I answered, somewhat curtly.

“Come in, come in!” Lucia urged. “I was thrilled when Venus called me this morning and told me about you. I have selected some items I think you might fancy based on the description of you that she gave me. An ice queen, I hear! How marvelous! A winter color palette, then. Different from the rest of your bloodline, no? I do love a good anomaly. Come on, darling. Don’t be shy.”

Lucia’s warm energy melted my nerves and I found myself chuckling. The boutique was gorgeous, with pale string lights and floating candles for illumination. The black and white checkerboard floor along with the purple walls which bore multiple mirrors and vintage photos gave it a nostalgic vibe. And the style spectrum? Insane! Mannequins struck their poses, showing off clothing that went from ancient and fantastical, to modern and chic, to badass fighting leathers.

It was normal to Lucia and Venus but astonishing to me. I’d only ever been shopping in mortal stores.

“This place is…incredible,” I breathed.

“Told you,” Venus quipped, checking out a rack of dresses.

“Thank you, child.” Lucia beamed. “Come to the back.”

I followed her through the meandering racks of clothing, to the back where the fitting rooms were. There, four mannequins stood in a line, each of them wearing clothes that made my jaw fall open.

“You like?” Lucia’s smile was contagious. “Venus told me you do not own a pair of leathers. I had these portalled in this afternoon. Do you see the color? It’s black but shines blue under the light. The long-sleeve style isn’t chosen much because LA is so sweltering, but I figured your magic keeps you cool. Also, the leather is charmed to stay cold, just in case. It won’t heat up, even if your body does.”

I stared at the mannequin in awe. The pants were low-rise, with stitching on the side where the skin of my thighs would be visible. The top was, as Lucia said, long-sleeved, but cropped short so my midriff would be on display. It had a modest neckline, sitting just above my bust, and thumb holes at the end of the sleeves.

The color—midnight blue, just like my lips.

“They’re perfect,” I whispered.

“Try them on!” Venus squealed from behind me.

Lucia snapped her fingers and the leathers disappeared from the mannequin. She ushered me into a fitting room and closed the black curtain behind her, leaving me alone with the clothing and a floor-length mirror. There was also a pair of boots waiting for me. Knee-high black boots with heavy platform bottoms.

The leathers went on like a second skin.

I’d never worn leather before and had thought it’d be a lot harder to put on. But these were fucking made for me.

“Oh. My. Goddess.” Venus’s jaw was on the floor as I sheepishly stepped out from behind the curtain. “You… You look…”

“I’ve never seen you speechless before,” I teased.

Lucia, too, just stood back and stared.

I admired myself in the mirror on the wall. It felt like seeing myself for the first time. In a way, it was. The leathers, alongside the new shimmering tattoos on my collarbone, I finally looked like a Celestial.

The silver symbols for my big three, Virgo, Scorpio, and Cancer, glittered under the lights, swirling and pulsing to the beat of my heat. I had been thrown off when Venus brought me to the tattoo parlor before this. But looking at myself now, it felt right.

A flash of light burst in my peripheral. When I glanced over, Venus was holding her blackmirror, and now she was typing something.

“Did you just take my picture?”

“I did. And I’m posting it. Don’t argue.”

I scoffed. I wasn’t going to. Let them see me .

It was extremely difficult to force myself to change out of the leather so I could try on more clothes. A couple of dinner gowns, a few day dresses, some blouses with corsets, and trousers. Everything was glorious, ranging in different shades of cool blues, silver, white, and black. But I really just couldn’t wait to get back into the leathers. As soon as I finished trying everything on, I did just that.

“You have a favorite, I see,” Lucia said, winking at me as she rang me up at the till. “I am glad. My partner designed those months ago, and they never got a bite. She sent them away, to a boutique up North, but clearly, they were meant for you.”

“I love them,” I gushed. “I can’t wait to break them in the Sphere.”

Venus chuckled. “Something tells me you won’t be holding back in your next duel.”

“Definitely not,” I agreed, my expression hardening at the thought.

A ding alerted us that someone had come through the door. Curious because I thought they were closed, I turned to see who it was.

She was petite and striking. Bold in every way, with pale blonde hair that fell to her satin-clad hips. From her style alone, I knew she was Lucia’s partner. The designer herself.

My chest swelled with gratitude, and praises were about to flood from my lips until I saw her eyes, which were already devouring me.

Blood. Red.

I almost gasped, but the air had abandoned my lungs.

I glanced at Venus, horrified. She shook her head at me, a silent plea in her gaze.

My heart hammered against my ribs. I tried to keep my face neutral, but I could feel my features betraying me.

“Hello, Emilia Morningstar,” the she-vamp said as she rounded the front desk to kiss Lucia. Her attention stayed eerily trained on me. “I am so thrilled my night sky leathers finally found their home.”

I opened my mouth but nothing came out.

“Don’t they look incredible on her?” Venus interjected, her tone light. “Thank you so much for letting us come in after hours, Stella.”

“Of course, Venus, my love. It has been too long.”

Lucia was watching my face. Hers had been wiped of its friendly warmth, replaced with something that cast chills down my spine.

Venus and I left. The bags I was carrying felt too heavy to be clothing. She was completely nonchalant, muttering about where we were going to go for dinner. I didn’t hear a word she said.

I waited until we were a safe distance from the boutique before I erupted.

“What the actual hell, Venus?”

She stopped walking. Rolled her eyes and sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think Stella would show up.”

“She…she’s a vampire !”

“Yes, she is.”

I sputtered some unintelligible chaos, unable to form a coherent sentence.

“Listen, Emilia. They’re not all bad, okay? Do you think she’d be able to run a boutique on Moonrise Blvd if she were? I’ve known Stella since I was thirteen years old and she’s never been anything but kind. I was going to tell you but I knew you’d freak out.”

I gaped at her while treachery bloomed in my chest like a poisonous flower. They’re not all bad . Flashbacks of Hallows Eve ambushed my mind’s eye, and I could not accept her words.

She read me like an open book. “There are good and bad in everything. Celestials, mortals, vampires. Life is fucking nuanced, Emilia.”

“ Nuanced ? They fucking attacked—”

My voice was violently torn from my throat as my eyes landed on a lit-up holographic photo in the window of the trinket shop behind Venus.

WANTED

My sister’s scowling face stared at me, beaming with horrible sentience. Beside her, a close-up shot of the Darkbringer.

Under each of them were their names written in bold, as well as their sun, moon, and rising signs.

FOR TERRORISM, SEDITIOUS CONSPIRACY, AND MURDER

My head had been plunged under dark, icy water.

I stumbled back, my breath puffing out in white clouds. I could hear my ice crackling, spreading over the sidewalk, the brick walls, and the glass windows. I heard the glass shatter, and I heard Venus cry out, but I couldn’t see any of it, not through the watery mirage blurring my vision.