Siena and I sat in the living room in silence, the only sound coming from the old clock hanging crookedly on the wall. It was a comfortable silence, albeit slightly tense because Allison was on hour two of getting ready. We were supposed to have left by now. With every passing minute, Siena would narrow her eyes at me as if to ask what the hell was taking her so long.
Although the room was silent, my mind was far from it. I couldn't shake the anxiety blooming in the pit of my stomach. I was anxious about the Hellfire, having my soul suppressed yet again to keep it from exposing my true power to Lucifer and his minions. But more than that, I was anxious about seeing Grey again. I knew he would likely be there tonight, as Michael had requested that we all come. I didn't want to see him. I don't know what that would do to me.
Part of me thought that my soul might try to push through the cracks of my willpower, lashing out at him in vengeance and exposing me in the process. Part of me thought it might do nothing at all, which would break my heart even more. If my soul didn't lash out, maybe Grey truly did break me. I don't know which thought disturbed me more.
"You guys ready?" Allison sighed as she finally strode into the room.
Her silvery locks were curled to perfection in little ringlets that fell down just below her shoulders. Her deep blue eyes were lined with kohl, making them stand out even more against her pale hair and warm complexion. The pastel floral dress she had purchased earlier fell elegantly to the floor at her feet. She looked like the goddess of spring.
"We've been ready for about an hour now," Siena grumbled, rising to her feet.
Siena's hair had been slightly curled into romantic waves that swept elegantly down to her waist. She had fierce winged eyeliner, making her already slanted eyes appear even more feline and predatory. Her black gown exposed her shoulders and hugged her body the entire way to the floor. If looks could kill, Siena might murder all of Paris tonight.
"I don't need your sass," Allison rolled her eyes at Siena, who snorted.
"You're gonna get it anyway," she retorted.
"Can we just get this over with, please?" I eyed both of them and they nodded with a heavy sigh.
"Are you- do you think he'll be there?" Allison shifted her gaze from mine uncomfortably and shuffled her feet a little.
"Probably," I frowned.
"Are you going to be okay?" Siena asked softly, pursing her lips a little.
"Probably," I shrugged.
Without a second thought, Siena hooked her arm through mine, nodding to Allison that we could head out.
"Well, we got your back. If you need to leave, we'll explain everything to Michael and see if there's some other place and time we can do this," Siena offered.
"I'll be okay. Really," I pulled my lips into a less than convincing smile.
Siena huffed and rolled her eyes, leading me out of the apartment. We slowly made our way downstairs to the courtyard, which we struggled on because of these death trap heels Allison and Siena insisted I wear. They did look nice though.
Allison had arranged for a car so we didn't have to figure out how to fly and land in heels, which I greatly appreciated. We clambered into the black vehicle and drove off towards the Louvre. She must've already told the driver where we were headed, because he didn't ask, nor did he say a single word the entire ride (which was quite awkward, actually).
When we finally arrived, we were dropped off in front of the Louvre in a massive cobblestone courtyard. The sun had set and the sky was a midnight blue, partially illuminated by the massive glowing set of glass pyramids laid out before us. I finally understood what all the hype was about. The Louvre looked incredible, and we weren't even inside yet.
"You ready for this?" I felt a gentle nudge to my left and glanced to Allison.
"As I'll ever be," I swallowed the anxiety bubbling in the back of my throat and began walking towards the main building.
If I had to see Grey at some point following the incident, I'm glad it was tonight. I wanted to show off what he lost, and I knew that I could do that tonight. Siena and Allison had both helped me get ready earlier, not necessarily because I needed it, but because they were trying to be supportive. I had really appreciated that. Siena had done my makeup for me, a sultry winged liner with shimmery eyeshadow, and Allison had straightened my hair for me. I felt beautiful. In this dress, with the entire length of my legs showing and feeling like I was in some form of battle armor- I knew I was beautiful.
There were two huge men positioned at the entrance, glaring down everyone who approached. When we did, they carefully eyed each of us.
"Prenom?" One of them asked.
"Vous n'en avez pas besoin," I tilted my head up slightly, feeling my soul seep through my eyes as I forced my angelic Suggestion on them.
One of them clenched their jaw slightly and turned to the other, who shrugged slightly and nodded.
"D'accord. Bienvenue, mesdames," one of them smiled gruffly, opening the glass doors for us to enter.
"Merci," I acknowledged them with a slight nod of my head.
We entered the main building, which went far deeper into the ground than I had thought it would. The atrium was bathed in a warm yellow glow, which radiated off of the white marble floor and made it appear as though the entire room was alight. There was an escalator to our right, which had been closed off, so the only way down was descending a large spiral staircase to our right. Before we descended, I glanced briefly over the glass railing down to the floor below. There were probably a few hundred people, all dressed in elegant gowns or expensive suits, chattering below us.
I glanced back at Allison and Siena, who eyed me warily. I sucked in a deep breath and pressed my lips together anxiously, heading towards the staircase. We descended almost the entire way down, Allison to my left and Siena to my right, before I'd heard it.
A steady thud thud that echoed in my head, ringing in my ears until I could barely hear my own thoughts.
I raised my gaze to the source of the heartbeat, meeting those glacial eyes with my own frosty glare.
Thud thud. Thud thud. Thud- the beat paused, as if stuttering for a moment. Thud thud.
I couldn't tear my eyes away, as badly as I wanted to. They bore into me, anchoring me to the spot.
"Holy shit," I heard a breath of a whisper from his lips.
"Jordan?" I heard Siena whisper next to me, snapping me out of the trance.
I shook my head a little and let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. As if acting of it's own accord, I felt my hearing narrow in again on Grey.
"Dude. You're so fucked," a voice next to him chuckled and I heard a warning growl rumble from deep within Grey's chest.
I knew that voice. It was Suriel. He must've just gotten back from the Archangels.
"Hey! I'm not saying that I'm not as well, I mean-," Suriel paused and let out a deep sigh.
My gaze flicked to him and watched his bronze eyes graze over Allison, soaking up every inch of her as if she were sunshine and he'd lived in darkness his entire life. She hadn't even seen him yet.
"Suriel's here," I whispered to Allison, whose brows furrowed slightly as she peered around the room.
Her eyes finally landed on him and I watched as they eyed each other, as unable to tear their eyes away as I had been with Grey. However, her eyes slightly flicked to his left and she clenched her jaw, now focusing on none other but my cheating ex.
"Go say hi to Suriel. What's between Grey and I remains between Grey and I, not Grey and you. Go say hi," I urged with a little smile.
She frowned a little, glancing back and forth between Suriel and I. "Are you sure?"
"Positive," I nodded.
With that, she gleefully strode over to Suriel and Grey. She gave Grey a cool glare and dismissive nod before grinning wildly at Suriel. I didn't listen to their conversation, but she seemed happy. I was happy for her. I was worried when she'd said she didn't want Jack to know she was still alive, that she was being too selfless and it would end up in her loneliness- but I was obviously wrong. Suriel made her smile like Jack once had.
"I saw that," Siena's voice broke the comfortable silence and I turned to her, raising an eyebrow.
"What?" I asked.
"That stare down with Grey. Are you okay? Do we need to leave? I can-," she began, but I cut her off.
"Sie. I'm fine. It'll take a lot more than a broken heart to scare me off," I huffed, pressing my lips together and scanning over the crowd.
Everyone seemed to be staring at us. I thought I'd just maybe gotten a weird moment or something when everyone happened to be looking our way, but they didn't look away. They all stared at Siena and I like we had grown extra heads. Their gaze shifted back and forth between the two groups of us Angels, as if struggling to decide which group of us was more interesting.
"Why is everyone staring?" I asked Siena out of the corner of my mouth.
"Because they can't decide if we're human like they are, or if we are something else entirely," Siena replied with a subtle smirk.
"What's making them suspect we're different?" I frowned.
"I'm not sure. I think it's probably just that we're actually, you know, like trying to look good now and it's making us look even more inhuman than normal. But that's just a guess. I have no idea," she chuckled, flicking her hair over her shoulder and gazing across the crowd as if she were a queen and they, peasants.
Even though I was partially occupied by Siena, I felt my eyes drifting back over towards Allison and Suriel, but more particularly the man standing with them. Whenever I looked over at them, he was already watching me. I could feel his eyes, even when I turned away. I felt my skin crawling on my spine whenever I looked back at Siena, as if begging me to turn back around and face him- face the very thing that had ripped me apart.
If the night was to continue on like this, I needed a drink.