disco ball in the shape of a skull hung from the living room ceiling and
threw multicolored lights over the faces of the partiers. Most of them were
people I recognized, but there were groups I didn’t. Probably neighbors or
guests her friends had brought along.
Members of Keisha’s coven and members of Witches Anonymous
mingled with each other in various corners. Couples danced in the center. My
sister Emilia sat beside Mikayla at the breakfast bar, Em reading tarot cards.
As I cut through the crowd, I ran into Cephiel sharing a
glass of champagne with Marcia. Their heads were tipped toward one another and
they appeared to be sharing an intimate joke as well. When he saw me, the wide
smile on Ceph’s face disappeared. Marcia’s smile turned into a grimace.
Whatevs. Ignoring them, I moved on. Gabriel, former
archangel and present pain-in-my-ass, mixed drinks at the temporary bar along
the far wall. Two people sat across from him and I recognized the brown hair
and broad shoulders of my ex-boyfriend, Adam. Next to him was a redheaded
female whose beauty could stop traffic.
Great. Adam and Eve. I started to do an about-face and hunt
down Keisha when I noticed the way they were hunched in a serious discussion
with Gabriel. Gabe glanced up, saw me watching, and immediately pulled away
from the other two and pretended to be busy drying a couple of martini glasses.
Adam and Eve shared a look, and then, not so discreetly glanced over their
shoulders at me. Adam's face was filled with guilt. Eve’s, with satisfaction.
What were they up to?
A new song came on and two women rushed by me to get to the
center of the living room. “I love this song,” one of them said. “I love this guy ,”
her friend replied, pointing.
I didn't need to see Zayfeer to know they were talking about
him. Forgetting about Adam and Eve and whatever they were cooking up with
Gabriel, I found the angel in question doing a Travolta move center stage. A
crowd gathered around him, clapping and cheering him on. The crowd included
Liddy, her face rosy and flushed, her eyes sparkling with a mix of lust and
happiness.
Watching her, I couldn't help but smile. Rare to see such
carefree enjoyment on Liddy’s face. Had she ever been in lust before? Probably,
but as I well knew, falling for a fallen angel took lust to a whole new level.
“Thank God you’re here.” Keisha, complete in a cheesy New
Year’s Eve paper hat and laughing skull earrings, handed me a glass of bubbly. “Where's
Luc?”
Accepting the glass, but not feeling any urge to drink, I
watched Zayfeer’s performance. “He hates my hybrid. Refuses to ride in it.
He'll shimmer in if he decides to come.”
“At least you can take care of that damned angel.” Keisha
gave a toss of her head and looked down her nose at me. “And Luc better come.
My parties are legendary.”
Especially when the Devil was her guest. Voodoo
practitioners, witches (ex- or not) and humans got a rush from hanging around
him.
I felt eyes on me and glanced over at Mikayla and Emilia.
Mikayla lifted a hand and waved. I waved back, noticing for the first time how
much she favored Emilia. Especially tonight with her hair down. Funny, that. “Yeah,
well, John Travolta called. He wants his Saturday Night Fever disco ball back.”
Keisha rolled her eyes. “The disco ball was your angel's
doing.”
Zayfeer wowed the crowd with more moves. Another cheer went
up when he grabbed Liddy by the hand and twirled her around.
“Quite a show,” I said. “Liddy seems smitten.”
“You need to take out that trash. Gabriel says that angel is
trouble.”
This from the archangel who'd tried to become a god by
wiping out humanity. “All angels are trouble. Why did you invite Adam and Eve?”
The skeleton earrings swung as she turned her head to face
me. “Gabriel invited them.”
“My point exactly. Gabe is up to something.”
Keisha shot him a glance. “Probably.”
I looked around for Lucifer, hoping he’d
Joanna Mazurkiewicz
Lee Cockburn
Jess Dee
Marcus Sakey
Gaelen Foley
Susan D. Baker
Secret Narrative
Chuck Black
Duane Swierczynski
Richard Russo