Page 193 of Obsidian and Frost

Velra:Sounds perfect.

Lazriel:XOXO.

Sylas:It’s going to be one for the ages.

Sylas:Kidding. Enjoy yourself at Vantiqe.

I stowed my phone away and I didn’t have to wait more than a few minutes more before Kelsana materialized in a shimmer of indigo magic.

“Hey,” she greeted me brightly.

Her long, green hair was cascading down her shoulders so beautifully and she was in casual dress like me, but with her usual elegance along for the ride with a flowy emerald wrap blouse and a pair of wide-leg trousers in a warm bronze. Vibrant green crystal earrings completed her look.

She eyed mine, a pair of long twisting purple and black dangling things.

“Where did you get those? I’ve been thinking of jazzing up my look, and those really fit the bill.” She shook her head to herself. “I know. People going through a bad breakup are knownto alter their look or do something bold like tattoo or pierce themselves. I’m a cliché.”

“Far from it,” I assured her. “It’s a completely natural thing to do. And I think it’s a really cool idea. Look at it as a time to explore and also get back to yourself, figure out yourself and everything.”

She beamed at me, emotion shining in her eyes at the understanding—and acceptance—she was getting from me. It was upsetting that it was such a staggering thing for her.

Then again, I knew all too well how that felt. From my own family, no less.

Not just my awful, fanaticized older brother, but my parents who’d disowned me when I’d been turned into a Dark Fae-Wraith hybrid after being kidnapped and experimented on by Chimera Circle.

I rarely ever allowed myself to think about them because all it brought me was bitterness and a great deal of grief.

But with what Kelsana had experienced bearing a similarity to that whole nightmare, this was one of the first times I could even reference them in my mind and see not just grief and pain, but the power in breaking from all of that, standing apart from it—and how far I’d come in carving out my own path and identity.

“As for the earrings, I made them,” I told her, veering toward that now to ease some of the heaviness.

She arched an eyebrow. “Made them?”

“Making jewelry is one of my hobbies. A creative outlet, I guess. It helps center my mind and to kind of ground me.”

“That’s really cool.”

“Well, think about what you might like and place an order.”

“Sounds amazing. Thank you.”

I chuckled and gestured at the entrance to the fusion bar. “Come on, let’s head inside.”

“So good,”Kelsana uttered as she sipped at one of the Hot Brews.

She’d ordered a Goldbark Brew, which was a spiced oat-nut latte sweetened with date syrup.

“Right there with you,” I told her, after swallowing some more of my Thornberry Tonic. It was a cranberry-blackcurrant blend with jasmine sugar pearls that tasted like the sweetest candy.

We were also sharing the first of three pastries we planned to try out while we were here, this one a Cinnamon Cloud Muffin that was an incredibly soft muffin topped with sugar glaze and a faint misting charm spelled onto it. It was seriously like eating a cloud—one wrapped in cinnamon sweetness.

She sank back against the blush-pink heavily-cushioned chair in our booth in the corner of the bar. “This is really nice, huh?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“Kind of like a safe haven in all the pain and darkness?” she mused, gazing at the fairy lights overhead and hanging low enough to cast a soft glow over everything. “I don’t just mean the venue,” she told me. “Thank you for doing this. You know, befriending me, in spite of everything.”

“You don’t need to thank me. It’s been nice getting to know you.” I took another sip of my drink, then asked her, “Do you keep in contact with any of your friends from Maven Academy? You were in a clique, right?”