Page 46 of Resurrection (Daemons & Lumens #2)

CHAPTER FORTY

Seraphina

I was so fucking annoyed with that daemon prince. He went and did something ridiculously sweet, and I was seconds away from crying, but then he went and made it about himself. He was so fucking obsessed with this mate thing.

Michaela followed me, saying nothing, just holding my hand.

I instantly felt like a jackass for ruining the moment, but that was Phenex’s fault too.

We got to my rooms, and I flopped face down on my bed.

The weight of Michaela’s body next to mine eased some of my unhappiness.

I was still so fucking relieved she was here with me.

“You’re really hard on that guy.” Michaela laughed.

“He’s annoying,” I snapped back, my voice muffled in the blankets.

She scoffed. “So are you.”

I turned my head to her, mouth open. “What the hell!”

She grinned at me. “Well, you are. You’ve got five sexy-as-hell monsters vying for your attention, ready to worship you.”

“I can hear you, mate,” Morax hissed from outside the room. He’d followed us back but closed the door to give us some alone time.

Michaela giggled. “It’s fun to rile him up.”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t want the dirty details, little sister.”

She grinned again, lying back on the bed. We lay there, eye to eye.

“As I was saying, what are you so afraid of? Go get those men and make them bow to you.”

I sighed. That sounded unbelievably appealing. And I couldn’t figure out exactly why it was so hard for me to accept.

“I guess I’m scared. We’ve lost so many people. I nearly lost them. And now I’m meant to be something big, or whatever Belfegor said. And add another person to my life I could lose. I don’t think I could stand it.”

Michaela propped her hand against her blonde hair. “We haven’t had it easy, that’s for damn sure. But what I’ve gained, where we are right now, I can’t say it hasn’t been worth it. If I never met Morax, I think my life would’ve always been a shadow of what it could be.”

I flopped over on my back. It was almost annoying how smart and enlightening Kaela was. “I’ve built so many walls around myself. It’s hard to take them down.”

Michaela poked me and grinned like the devil was on her shoulder. “Well, that’s why you have five muscular, hot men with big—”

“ MICHAELA , do not finish that sentence,” Morax snarled as he ripped open the door.

She rolled her eyes. “With big hearts ready to break those walls down. Gosh, Mor, you’re so sensitive.”

I laughed out loud, watching the daemon before us glowing with unfiltered jealousy. The predatory gaze he now had aimed at my sister was hot as fuck, and I could totally see why she enjoyed taunting the guy.

Morax stalked over to the bed with a snarl and flipped my sister over his shoulder. “Excuse me. My mate needs to be taught a lesson.”

He turned around, and Michaela’s face was flushed with wicked glee. “Now get ready, because we will be going down to the party in like twenty minutes. And you’re going to sing!”

Morax spanked her ass, and she yelped. He murmured something I couldn’t hear, but the flush of my sister’s face told me I really didn’t want to know. I highly doubted they’d be ready in twenty minutes.

An hour or so later, I skipped through the halls with my sister and her grumpy daemon mate.

Amidst the preparations for the party, Michaela snagged us a bunch of clothing options too.

She was wearing a neon-blue leather bodycon dress and white platform sneakers.

Her blonde hair hung straight down her back, and glitter paint covered her skin.

Morax couldn’t keep his eyes off her, and it made me smile. I was so fucking happy for her.

I went with something a bit more risque, because I too enjoyed taunting devils.

I wore a neon-pink bikini with a mesh mini dress over it.

The dress was white, and the mesh design stretched over my skin, leaving very little to the imagination.

I paired it with white chunky platform heels.

My red hair was a kinky, wavy mess brushing over my shoulders.

And my skin was coated in glitter, just like Michaela’s.

I added a pair of hot-pink devil horns to my ensemble as well, because, obviously.

When we arrived, several daemons were waiting by the doors to the basement. They passed out glow bracelets and necklaces, and a few had body paint. I got a wicked idea.

“You two go on in, I’ll be right behind you,” I said to Michaela with an evil grin.

She laughed, watching me hike my dress up and roll the bikini down.

I whispered the details of my design to the girl with the paint brushes, and she winked at me.

Yes, this was going to be fun. I waited a few minutes for the paint to dry and mulled over what song I wanted to sing tonight.

More than anything did I want to just get lost in the crowds and feel the music, but when Michaela suggested I sing for everyone, the idea thrilled me too.

Tonight I would sing for a crowd of people loyal to my sister and I.

People who fought like hell to get here and came together to say a collective fuck you to The Obscuritas.

But I also needed to sing something for my Princes.

And Phenex. Which, I guess he was one of my Princes too.

If I said so. I couldn’t deny the pull of my soul to his.

There was something connecting us. But I refused to leave the others just for him and our strange connection.

If he couldn’t fucking figure that out, we’d never move forward.

The basement was completely transformed for the party.

There were still prisoner cells along the one wall, but otherwise the space was completely opened up for a massive dance floor.

The ceilings were high for a basement, and disco balls hung from open rafters.

The only light came from the stage, where a DJ was mixing, keeping the growing crowd entertained.

I searched the sea of glowing and glittered bodies, but didn’t see any of my Princes.

I recognized several faces, though, including James, Ty’s gym manager, and Xavier, the firefighter from Levi’s station.

Jade, a boxer I met at Ty’s gym, was also in the crowd, her dark skin glowing with neon paint as she danced with another female I didn’t know.

My girls Josie and Lottie were dancing on a smaller stage with shining poles in sexy-as-hell corsets.

Andras informed me they were here, along with so many others.

The Umbra Noctis had been gathering people to our side over the last few years, and even in the last few weeks when we were held captive.

The lumen friend of my sister, Nuri, was here too.

She and Lo were chatting near the bar. Their outfits were a little more conservative, but I could see the inked flesh through slits of fabric down the left side of Lo’s body.

They were meant to cover her scars from the fire I caused.

But all I could see was the pain I made her endure.

And her sister. Her innocent sister, who lost her life because of me.

My chest started to burn, and my throat closed up. How could she be here? Be on my side? If I were her, I would never forgive the person who killed my sister. Fuck, I’d kill that motherfucker myself. But here she was, helping us, helping me. It wasn’t right. I didn’t deserve her help.

“Nova,” Tibby called out. Her voice pulled me from the coming panic attack.

I turned away from Lo and searched for my friend.

She came through a small group of people, a bright-pink pixie in a sea of glowing monsters.

She wore a hot-pink bodysuit that clung to her like a second skin.

She also had platform heels like mine, only hers were hot pink to match her outfit.

She wasn’t wearing a wig, but rocking her bright-blonde hair in a messy pixie cut.

Her makeup was bright and brought out the fairy vibes of her delicate features.

“Tibby!” I ran to her, stopping short of giving her a hug. “You look amazing, Zenith.” I smiled.

She smiled back, and I registered the big bad bodyguards behind her.

Gremory was dressed in jeans and a shiny purple shirt.

His blond hair was down around his shoulders and glittering with sparkly hairspray.

Delphine wore a leopard print bodysuit and her dark curly hair was piled on top of her head.

The blood-red lipstick stood out against her dark skin beautifully.

Her hazel eyes assessed me, and I stared her down in return.

She dropped her eyes first, and I smirked triumphantly before closing in on my best friend.

“How are you?” I asked tentatively. She looked so much better, even the light was returning to her eyes.

Tibby smiled. “Better. A lot better. Feeling more myself every hour, it seems like.”

I grinned back at her. “I’m so fucking happy about that.”

Tibby stepped forward and hugged me, and I wrapped her in my arms. I was close to crying as I hugged my oldest and only friend.

“You good with these two?” I whispered into her ear.

Gremory raised an eyebrow, obviously hearing my question with his heightened senses.

But she was mine first, and I could give two fucks about what he heard me say. “Do I need to hurt them?”

Tibby giggled and pulled away. Her face was flushed, and there was something more in her reserved gaze. “No. I think I’ll keep them around for now.”

Delphine chuckled. “Come, little one. Let’s go dance.” Her voice was a soft purr.

I registered the note of command, and Tibby instantly turned to the striking woman.

She waved goodbye as Gremory wrapped an arm around her waist. I was so fucking happy to see her getting the love and attention she deserved.

Maybe the seriously powerful and dominant witch wasn’t my first choice, but if she was making my only friend happy, I could accept that.