by Abbie Lyons
Oh well. Might as well put a hold on investigating until I got my blood sugar back up. It wasn’t like my brother was going to get any less dead.
“Quinn!”
I jolted out of my depressing reverie to see Lucy waving at me from the end of one of the banquet tables. I felt a knot untie in my stomach—it was a surprising relief to see a friendly face. She was sitting alone, which suited me just fine, so I wound my way to her table.
“Sit with me?” she offered.
“You’re literally the only person I know,” I said. “Besides my roommate, anyway. But that’s a whole nother story.” Then, realizing how harsh that sounded, I backtracked. “I mean, I’d love to.”
Lucy grinned. “Sweet deal. I’ll be here.”
I headed for the buffet tables that encircled the dining area and loaded up indiscriminately on whatever I could find—avocado and orange quinoa salad, salmon crepes with soy-ginger dressing, cucumber sandwiches with watercress and lemon, and like three servings of rhubarb-raspberry crumble. By the time I tottered my way back to the table, I felt like I’d need a second go-round just to refuel from the effort of carrying the tray.
“Dang,” Lucy said, eyeing my bounty. “Aren’t you worried about the freshman fifteen?” She literally clapped a hand over her mouth, looking horrified that she’d said that out loud.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” she said. “Force of habit. My sisters and I always rag on each other. I just didn’t even—”
“It’s fine,” I said, not insulted in the slightest and already halfway through one of my crepes. Goddamn, it was heaven. “You’re hardly the rudest person I’ve talked to today.”
Lucy cocked her head in a tell me more kind of way, and, with a little food back in my stomach, I obliged.
“Well, there there was this guy—”
I stopped myself short. I knew that technically Marius not only thought my name was Meladryne, but especially now that I’d seen him shirtless and with his hands up my roommate’s blouse, his veiled threat still stuck in my mind.
“A guy?” Lucy prompted. I took a giant bite of quinoa to stall.
“Yeah,” I said, an idea finally popping into my mind. “Short, gray hair, super grumpy? I almost ran him over on the way here.”
“Oh! That’s probably Professor Silvestri,” Lucy said. “Was he a cupid?”
“A what now?”
“A...cupid,” Lucy said. “You know, like a shorter version of one of us?” She narrowed her big brown eyes at me. “Where did you say you were from?”
I steeled myself. Lucy was clearly a much nicer person than Violet, but if being human was going to be a mark against me in guardian society, maybe it’d be enough for even my tentative new friend to cast me aside. “San Francisco.”
“So you’re...oh, are you like”—she lowered her voice—“part demon? You can tell me, I swear I’m not a weird snobby purist. I’m way more liberal minded than a lot of guardians.”
Part demon? How would I even end up here if I were part demon? Never mind. No time to wonder about that. “No. Human.”
“You mean part human, right? Dad’s side or mom’s?”
“Both. I’m all human.”
Lucy snort-laughed. “No, you’re not. You wouldn’t be here if you were!”
“Well, I don’t know what to tell you,” I said, a bit defensively.
“But you have to have some kind of powers, right?”
I opened my mouth again, ready to say no, and then I remembered my little going-invisible moment back in the temple, when I thought Marius and whoever else was in there was going to kill me. “Well...yeah.”
“So there ya go.” Lucy tipped her head to the side, her pale ponytail swinging. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll figure it out. I mean, that’s why we’re all here, right? To learn how to use our powers?”
That wasn’t at all why I was here. I was here because my apartment burned down, and also because the mysterious guy from my dead brother’s funeral was skulking somewhere on this campus. But I didn’t say any of that out loud.
“Yeah, guess you’re right,” I said, turning to chow down on my dessert. “Sorry. My roommate was sort of weird when I mentioned it.”
Lucy wrinkled her nose. “Ugh, is she mean?”
“More...standoffish, I guess?” I shrugged, swallowing and going for crepe number two. “I kinda walked in on her hooking up with her boyfriend.”
“No way!” Lucy gasped, but looked utterly delighted. “I would have died.”
“It wasn’t that bad. Barely PG-13.”
Lucy’s brows furrowed.
“Do...you not watch movies?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah, no, of course!” she said. “I mean, some guardians are strict about human art and media, but I’m, like, very worldly. Yep. Actually, I’ve even seen PG-14.”
I didn’t have the heart to correct her, and bit my lip so I wouldn’t laugh. There was something incredibly wholesome about this girl, especially in comparison to Ice Queen Violet.
“So yeah,” I finished up. “She’s kind of distant, but not the worst.”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, my roommate is a real piece of work,” Lucy said, poking at the scraps of food on her plate. “Real retributive vibes from her, you know? And like, I realize we haven’t officially been typed yet, but I’m 99% sure I’m restorative, and my energy is super sensitive to grumpy people. Like, she yelled at me for having my stuff on her side of the room, and I was like dude, I just walked in the room! The stuff was like that when I came in!” Lucy rolled her eyes. “And then she was blasting this music—I mean, again, I’m not a snob, but this was like weird human rock and roll!”
Violet was starting to seem not so bad in comparison. I didn’t want to paint a bad picture. “That sucks. I mean, mine’s not that bad. She even let me know she’d be coming back late from a party tonight.”
“A party?” Lucy perked up. “Oh my gosh, wait!” She slammed her palms on the table. “Does she mean the O of E party? I mean, it’s not officially officially held by them, of course”—she gave me a massive wink—“but everyone knows that’s who’s in charge of the party on the first night back. Wait, does your roommate know an Edenite? Holy crap, that’s so cool. Do you think she could get us in? I would literally die to go to that kind of party, you know?”
Of all the things I’d been willing to die for in the past few days, a party was not one of them. But Lucy looked hopeful in a way that was so pure that even my heartless time-bomb of a self was a tiny bit moved.
“I guess I can find out?” I said after a pause.
“Excellent!” Lucy squealed and clapped her hands. “Oh wow, what am I going to wear? Should I do something more interesting with my hair?” She raked her fingers through the long strawberry-blonde strands, chattering a mile a minute, but my mind was on something she’d said earlier. What the hell had she said?
“What’s...Ovie?” I asked, interrupting.
“What now?” Lucy dropped her ponytail.
“The thing throwing the party,” I said. “Ovie?”
“Oh!” Lucy laughed. “O of E. The Order of Eden. They’re...I mean, technically, if you ask anyone, they don’t exist. Like if you’re an Edenite, and someone mentions the Order in a conversation, you’re supposed to get up and leave without saying anything else. No explanation—just get the heck out.”
“Okay,” I said, still not getting it. “So it’s like...a fraternity?”
Lucy thought a moment. “More like a secret society. Or”—she giggled—“a cult.”
Something about this sparked my attention. I even stopped eating dessert. “So what do they do?”
“That’s the thing!” Lucy said. “Nobody knows. Some people think it’s super shady like, you know, mind control, or resurrecting people from the dead or something.”
An electric crackle shot down my spine.
“But the bottom line is that basically every powerful guardian ever has been a member. And
they’re sworn to secrecy.”
My ears were ringing, the din of the refectory fuzzing out to a dull hum. The face of Funeral Guy swam in front of me, my heart pounding. If he was powerful, if he really did know something about Scott’s death that he wasn’t letting on, then it sounded like he was more than likely going to be a member of the Order of Eden.
“So do you think your roommate can get us in?” Lucy said, snapping me back to reality. “To the party, I mean?”
I swallowed. “I’ll see what I can do.”
Chapter Eight
I had literally no idea how to broach the subject of going to this party with Violet, but seeing as I had pretty much nothing to lose, I decided to just up and ask her.
“Hey, so, is it cool if I tag along to this party tonight?”
I was sitting on the edge of my bed, trying to be unobtrusive, while Violet was doing her hair and makeup on the other side of the room at her vanity. She gave me a quixotic look and blinked.
“I mean...” she said at last. “Look, I'm not trying to be a snob. You seem really nice, but it's just going to be kind of exclusive. So it's fine with me if you come with, but they might not let you in. It’s not exactly an open invite, you know?”
I was grateful that I had some background knowledge from Lucy, but figured that it would probably be better if I didn't let on to Violet that I knew anything about the Order of Eden.
“That's fine,” I said. “I'd rather get out of the room and try to attend a party than just sit here and be sad all night.”
Violet smiled. “Hey, that's legit. I mean if it were up to me, I'd say you could go in, but—"
“Don't sweat it,” I said. “I can get ready really quick if I can tag along.”
She nodded. “Sure thing. Maybe 10 minutes.”
I'd never taken more than five minutes to get ready for anything in my entire life.
“Totally.”
I slipped out of our room and headed down to the second floor, where Lucy had told me her room was. I had to use the counting method once again to figure out which room was hers, but four doors down was pretty easy to discover. I tentatively knocked.
“Hey Lucy? It’s Quinn.”
The door flew open and I was faced with the scowling appearance of a black-pigtailed, nose-ring-wearing, eyeliner-encrusted bad girl.
“You...are not Lucy,” I said, just to state the obvious.
The girl jerked a look over her shoulder. “Someone's here for you,” she said
“Coming, coming!” Lucy chirped. She rushed to the door, slipped out, and shut it behind her so we were in the hallway together.
“You see what I mean?” she said in a whispered, urgent voice. “That's what I'm going to have to live with all year.”
“She doesn't look very angelic,” I admitted.
“Tell me about it,” Lucy said. “I swear, she probably is like three-quarters demon. I don't know why they let her in here.”
She breathed out a sigh. “Anyway, what's up?”
I explained to her about the party and how we could attempt to get in, but with no guarantees.
“Oh my gosh!” Lucy exclaimed. “This is the most exciting thing ever. I need to get ready. What should I wear? What are you wearing? What should I do with my hair?”
“I was just going to go like this,” I said. “Isn't that the point of uniforms?”
“Not for parties, you dingdong,” Lucy said, laughing. “We have to wear something cool, especially if we're going to have to get past some kind of bouncer. Oh my God, what do I even own?” She put her hands to her cheeks, smashing her face in desperation. “Okay, when's the party start? We have like a few hours right?”
I winced. “Ten minutes.”
“Oh my gosh, you're kidding!”
“Actually, it's probably more like eight, now that I've come down to get you.”
“Ohmygosh!” Lucy wailed. “Okay, well, there's no time to waste. Maybe we should coordinate. What are you planning on wearing?”
“Like I said, no clue.”
Lucy breathed out, spreading her hands in the air. “Okay, calm down, we can do this.” She looked up at me quickly, eyes narrow. “You're tall, you've got that angular thing going on. Definitely a dramatic type. Have you ever worn a jumpsuit? Great, perfect. I brought one, but it's way too long for me. I was thinking I would hem it or something, but I'll never have time and you'll look better in it anyway.”
Before I could resist, she ran back inside and returned, throwing something glittering and sleek into my arms. “That looks good. Then just do something with your hair. I mean, it looks pretty good. Not that it looks bad. I think you look great. Do you have any earrings? No, never mind. I can lend you some. I'm going to wear...” She tapped a finger against her chin. “I'm thinking maybe red? Or is that to show-offy?”
“Red seems good,” I said hesitantly, not really having a strong opinion on the matter. Time was ticking away and the only reason I wanted to get to this party was to see if I could find Funeral Guy. But of course I couldn't tell Lucy that.
“Are you sure? You don't sound sure,” Lucy said
“I'm sure,” I said “I'm definitely sure. You’ll look great. Just meet me up at my room in...” I guessed. “Five minutes? Then we'll head over together.”
“Oh my gosh!” Lucy jumped up and down and clapped a little. Then she took a deep breath. “No, calm. Dressing. Makeup. Hair. Got it. Five minutes. Room 306. See you!”
With that, she flew back into her room. I stood for a moment, clutching the slinky garment in my hands, and trudged my way back up to my room.
When I got back, sure enough, Violet was no longer wearing her uniform either. She’d changed into a one-shouldered top in deep green with flowing pants that made her legs look a mile long.
I hustled to my corner of the room, stripped off my blouse and tie, shoved off my skirt and sneakers, and wriggled into Lucy's jumpsuit. It took a little combobulating to get the straps sitting on my shoulders, and even though the legs were long enough, the crotch was a little bit tight. Still, I managed to get it on in record time.
“That's cute,” Violet said. I turned to face her.
“Thanks. It's not mine. I didn't really bring any party outfits. And it seems like all this stuff in there”—I jerked my head at the wardrobe—“is casualwear.”
Violet smiled. “Yeah, this is definitely something to get dressed up for. Well, this and the ball with Hades Academy, but that's not for a while.”
“Ball?” There was so much more to being an angel that I realized.
Violet’s brows puckered. “Yeah, we host them and they host us alternate years. Us getting together with the demons and you know, learning about balance or whatever.” She scoffed. “I mean, it's fun, but it's sort of perfunctory, you know?”
“Sure.” I nodded, scooping my hair out from under the straps and fluffing it around my shoulders. I hesitated a moment, then asked. “Do you think this will be OK?”
Violet thought for a minute. “I think so,” she said. “I mean, if we get there a little bit late, everyone will probably have been drinking, so maybe they'll relax the standards a bit.”
I couldn't tell if she was negging me or not, but concluded that she was probably just telling me the truth.
“Cool. Well, thanks again for letting us come.”
As if on cue, a perky knock sounded at our door. It opened it to reveal Lucy bobbing up and down on her toes and wearing a red, form-fitting bandage dress that honestly looked pretty knockout on her.
“Hi,” she said. “You must be Quinn's roommate. I'm Lucy. Thanks so much for letting us tag along. I mean, I realize that you know we might not get in any way but still!”
“Lucy's very excited,” I said, hoping to send a message to Lucy to calm down and to Violet not to judge my hyperactive tag-along.
Lucy caught on and stopped bobbing up and down. “Yep,” she said. “I love socializing.”
Violet bit her lip, maybe like she wa
s trying not to laugh, but nodded. “Cool. Well, follow me, I guess.”
“HERE, TAKE THESE.” Lucy held out a closed fist.
“What?” I stared at her. We were walking briskly across the Elysium campus, and the night had gone really chill. Above us, the sky was a velvet blue, almost black, and I was freezing. The stupidity of the plan had started to crash down around me, and I was getting decidedly pissed off.
Lucy opened her hand. Inside was a pair of gold hoop earrings.
“Oh,” I said.
“Remember, I said you could borrow some?” she said. “I think they'll look really great with your hair.” “Thanks,” I said. Good thing I had pierced ears, I guess. Although I really doubted that the difference between the two of us being admitted to some weird cult angel fraternity party and getting left on our asses by the bouncer would be this pair of gold earrings.
“Of course,” Lucy said. As I took the earrings and stabbed them into my lobes, she looked over at Violet, and I could see her performing the calculus of whether or not it would be better or worse for her to strike up a conversation. Violet, for her part, looked intent and not displeased about having us along, but not really super troubled by it either.
“So, Violet.” said Lucy, apparently having decided it was better to make conversation. “What's your deal?”
Violet gave Lucy a look that was more puzzled than anything else.
“Me, I'm from a long line of guardians” Lucy said. “Actually, I'm the seventh of seven sisters. Which, you know what they say—seventh out of seven is good luck!”
Violet smiled. “They do say that,” she said.
Do they? I thought. Not that I really cared.
“I bet this party is going to be great,” Lucy said. She was walking pretty quickly to keep up with me and Violet, who were both almost a foot taller than she was. “Seems like it'll be a great way to get to meet some people from school.”
“Yeah, you could say that,” Violet said hesitantly. She swooped a piece of hair out of her face.
