I took that as a yes, dropped my bag and slung my dress over the sofa before sitting beside her on the floor and grabbing a biscuit. I didn’t bother explaining I wouldn’t be sticking to the no-food rule. No dress was worth that.
It wasn’t like I had anyone to impress.
We were going as a group: Steph and Salvatore, Zoe and Spence – who’d somehow managed to qualify for graduation too – and Jase with me. I’d felt uncomfortable about going with Steph’s brother, but Zoe assured me she would be doing everything to command his attention for the evening.
Jase, apparently, had developed a small interest in me. It was flattering, since I used to drool over him in the pre-Lincoln days. But even though I couldn’t be with Lincoln there was no way I could consider anything else with anyone else and … My heart just couldn’t take another male complication.
I looked over at Onyx, who was sitting at the minibar, with a large glass of something mind-numbing, I assumed, and an open laptop in front of him.
‘What are you doing?’ I asked.
‘Trying to track down some old exile chat sites.’
My eyes widened. ‘You’re kidding, right?’
‘Absolutely not,’ he grinned.
‘Why?’ I asked suspiciously. The last thing we needed was Onyx getting back in touch with his old followers and leaking information to them.
‘Don’t panic, rainbow. I’m just seeing if the threads are still active. Thought one might mention a Phoenix or Lilith sighting. They’re quite the celebrities these days. The “first exile”, returned from the pits of Hell and her exile son that bested you.’
There was serious envy in his voice. ‘Jealous, much?’
‘Very much.’ He smiled at me wickedly and it sent a shiver down my spine. Reminders that Onyx had spent the majority of his existence as a force of all things corrupt and insane was never something I could afford to forget. For now, though, it seemed his humanity was taking shape and somehow, he’d earned my trust. But that didn’t mean I could be complacent. After all, he’d almost succeeded in killing both Lincoln and me in the past. That’s a hard thing to forget.
‘Have you found anything?’ Steph asked, interrupting my thoughts.
‘Some murmurs here and there around the world, a little activity in Europe and on the east coast of America. Whatever they’re doing, they’re getting around, which isn’t good.’
‘Why?’ Steph asked.
He closed the laptop. ‘Because it means they have a plan.’
He made a show of looking at his watch then back at me – up and down. ‘You only have two hours left. Do you at least plan on looking half-decent for your date?’
I gave him a tight-lipped smile. ‘It’s not a date.’
He smiled back, broadly.
‘It’s not …’ I warned.
Steph looked down, flipping through her magazine again.
‘There’s always one way to know for sure,’ Onyx offered smugly.
‘And what’s that?’
‘When he arrives to pick you up, if you’re going as a group he’ll shake hands with the guys and kiss each girl on the cheek. If he’s there for you alone, he’ll just nod at the others, before leaning in to kiss your cheek. Only you.’
I rolled my eyes and threw a cookie at him. ‘You are such a weirdo!’
Dapper walked over to a cupboard, pulled out a hand vacuum and passed it to me with a growl. ‘Every last crumb.’
‘It was his fault,’ I sulked even as I started to clean up.
When Steph and I finally emerged from the bathroom Zoe was there, dressed in a short midnight-blue dress that perfectly matched the coloured tips of her short brown hair.
Looking between her and Steph, who was wearing a beautiful vintage dress – golden silk, strapless with lace trimmings, the two could not be more opposite.
I’d opted for my uniform black. The dress was a simple halter-neck, set off by a delicate gold chain hanging low on the fabric. Hair up, I’d kept my make-up focused on the eyes, using a smoky effect – one I’d copied from Morgan – highlighted by golden edges.
‘Can you believe we’re going out for a night to have pure fun? No exiles, no angels, no Grigori strategy – just us, music, dancing and seriously spiked punch!’ Steph looked like she was about to explode with delirium.
‘And for some of us, the after party!’ Zoe added suggestively, looking at her with raised eyebrows.
Steph’s smile broadened. ‘That might have something to do with it,’ she said, slyly. But we both knew tonight was the night she was planning to take things all the way with Salvatore.
I smiled, despite the twinge in my heart.
Steph’s phone beeped.
‘The boys are here,’ she said, before almost sprinting to the door and glancing over her shoulder to add, ‘Okay, so I’m not quite up to the standard make-them-wait protocol tonight.’
Zoe and I laughed as we followed her out.
‘You know I have every intention of stealing your date from you tonight,’ Zoe said as we walked down the stairs.