Theea
baby put on heart shaped sunglasses—
I spot the party before I hear it—bright colors flashing like bait between the palm fronds, sunlight glinting off water, laughter pitched just too high to be easy. My sandals crunch against the stone path as I step out of the shadows and into Torchline’s version of paradise, which is apparently half poolside glamour, half predator's den.
The blue bikini feels tighter now that I’m surrounded by people. The wrapped skirt gives me the illusion of modesty, even if the dagger strapped to my thigh underneath it is the only thing making me feel remotely dressed. Sunglasses help. I can pretend I’m just here for the sun, not the sheer thrum of tension that hums under the music like a second heartbeat.
I know who threw this party. Pierce. Family Pierce. I avoid looking at them altogether, and I feel like the biggest fucking idiot sandwich. I could have stayed away. Should have. Hindsight and all that.
A breeze tugs at the loose fishtail braid down my back, catching strands of my hair and dragging them across my cheek. I tuck one behind my ear, scanning the crowd from behind tinted lenses. There’s Flora , radiant as ever. Koa, Sohalia talking to Kaisel, Calypso, and others. Remi and Ronin stand out like twin sun gods no matter what they’re doing, and Deimos looms like a storm cloud you only realize is overhead after you’ve already heard the thunder. Elizabeth’s here too, and I almost try to catch her eye to smile.
Everyone looks like they’re pretending to be more relaxed than they are. No one’s smiling quite right. They’re all waiting.
I hover near the edge, letting the pulse of conversation and splashes roll past me like wind over glass. A server offers me a drink from a tray—tropical and obnoxiously pink. I nod my thanks, take a sip, and nearly choke. It’s stronger than it looks. Of course it is.
My mother would kill me if she knew I was here. Not kill, maybe. Lecture me into oblivion. But she’s not here, and I am, and I have no idea what I’m waiting for either.
So I lean against a post in the shade, drink in hand, and watch my family swirl around in the light like stars circling a black hole.
The blue bikini feels tighter now that I’m surrounded by people. The wrapped skirt gives me the illusion of modesty, even if the dagger strapped to my thigh underneath it is the only thing making me feel remotely dressed. Sunglasses help. I can pretend I’m just here for the sun, not the sheer thrum of tension that hums under the music like a second heartbeat.
I know who threw this party. Pierce. Family Pierce. I avoid looking at them altogether, and I feel like the biggest fucking idiot sandwich. I could have stayed away. Should have. Hindsight and all that.
A breeze tugs at the loose fishtail braid down my back, catching strands of my hair and dragging them across my cheek. I tuck one behind my ear, scanning the crowd from behind tinted lenses. There’s Flora , radiant as ever. Koa, Sohalia talking to Kaisel, Calypso, and others. Remi and Ronin stand out like twin sun gods no matter what they’re doing, and Deimos looms like a storm cloud you only realize is overhead after you’ve already heard the thunder. Elizabeth’s here too, and I almost try to catch her eye to smile.
Everyone looks like they’re pretending to be more relaxed than they are. No one’s smiling quite right. They’re all waiting.
I hover near the edge, letting the pulse of conversation and splashes roll past me like wind over glass. A server offers me a drink from a tray—tropical and obnoxiously pink. I nod my thanks, take a sip, and nearly choke. It’s stronger than it looks. Of course it is.
My mother would kill me if she knew I was here. Not kill, maybe. Lecture me into oblivion. But she’s not here, and I am, and I have no idea what I’m waiting for either.
So I lean against a post in the shade, drink in hand, and watch my family swirl around in the light like stars circling a black hole.
—cause we're gonna take a ride
