by L J Branch
“Which it is,” Diamond said before she turned to face Dominique fully. “The secret is faith,” Diamond said simply. “When you fill them with your presence, don’t be scared. You won’t hurt them, be firm and take over. You have to drown them out and trust yourself with their lives as much as they trust you with them. Our band runs as one unit, one being if you will. I’m the mind, I make our decisions. Katarina is the heart, we leave the burden of dealing with our emotions to her. Jack is the body, the face that represents us both on and off the battlefield. We fit together, which makes it easier for us to use shadow synch.”
“I see,” Dominique said to herself. “And it has nothing to do with your…connection to Frost?” Dominique questioned as she gestured toward the opposite side of the club where Jack, Akira, and Michael talked to a group of women. From what they could see it looked as though Jack and Akira had managed to get Michael a date for the evening, much to the shy man’s embarrassment.
“That has nothing to do with it,” Diamond said coldly making Dominique frown. “And you will do well to keep such thoughts to yourself.”
“Jack is a marvelous actor, I could almost believe he is half as promiscuous as he lets on.”
“You don’t?”
“I did,” Dominique admitted. “Then I learned the truth when I made it clear that the hearts of those that I care for were not toys.”
“You threatened my band?” Diamond asked dryly though she didn’t seem surprised.
“We came to an understanding,” Dominique corrected. “Frosts fear nothing, to threaten them is a fool’s errand.”
“So is not minding your own business,” Diamond said pointedly, her voice tight.
“It’s a new time, Diamond, the only ones that even care about the old rules will be gone in three years,” Dominique said with an eye-roll, her own annoyance clear as she spotted Rose drinking alone at the bar. Rose looked irritated as the boys continued to flirt with the women. “And it’s my business as the boss of Band 12. Stopping Rose from pinning after Jack will be a plus for both my band and yours.”
“Drop it.”
“As you wish, Your Highness. Just know that I’m in your corner whenever you get your head out of your ass, ma chérie,” Dominique said dryly. “So, how does our civilian friend fit in this?” Dominique asked as she changed the subject. “I’m guessing she’s the reason you were able to bypass the bank’s security system, yes? How long will she be bearing your mark?”
“Indefinitely.”
“A mark isn’t supposed to be held that long,” Dominique reminded Diamond who just glanced at her. Diamond’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly and Dominque suppressed a shudder before she decided not to push the issue. “Your actions affect more people in more ways than you know. I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“So, do I,” Diamond said before cheers could be heard at the entrance. Diamond stretched a bit as she stood up and glanced down at Dominique. “I still have some work to do, enjoy yourself.”
“I will,” Dominique said as Diamond left. Dominique glanced around the club and her eyes landed on the sight of Kat, Abbie, and Eric. Dominique’s eyes seemed to twinkle a bit as she looked at them, or more specifically at Eric. “I will indeed.”
* * *
“You and I are going to have a long talk about full-disclosure,” Eric said seriously as Abbie laughed at him. “Seriously? You’re working for Diamond of all people? And you didn’t tell me? That’s messed up.”
“It’s about to get worse too,” Kat mused as she nodded toward the club entrance. Eric felt his jaw drop as he saw all three members of the group Hindsight enter the building.
“Seriously!?” Eric asked as Abbie raised her hands defensively.
“Hey, I’m just as lost as you,” Abbie said as she gave Kat a pointed look. Kat only laughed nervously in response before she pointed to the bar.
“Get yourself something to drink, I’ll be over there in a few,” Kat said as Abbie figured this more than likely had something to do with the Guild. “Sorry,” Kat continued. “I know what I said but I think I should be there for this.”
“It’s fine, just know that you’re mine for the rest of the night,” Abbie said and Kat pecked Abbie on her lips before she went off to see the newcomers. From the corner of her eye, Abbie could see that both Diamond and Jack had made their way there as well. Diamond talked to them for a moment before she gestured for them to follow her into the V.I.P. room.
“You know, you’re tall,” Eric said suddenly.
“Uh…thanks?” Abbie said, obviously confused by the random statement. Seeing her confusion, Eric decided to explain.
“No, I mean, you’ve always been slouched over, keeping to yourself, so I never noticed. Your posture has changed recently, looks good on you,” Eric said with a small smile.
“You know? I think so too. Hey, want somethin’ to drink?”
“Nah, I’ll grab something when the time is right but I’m still in the zone,” Eric answered as he focused on his current task.
“Suit yourself,” Abbie said as she headed for the bar.
“What can I get you?” the bartender asked as Abbie sat down. The bartender was a kind looking young woman with dark skin, hazel eyes, and black hair that had blonde highlights. The glitter on her face seemed to shine from the lights in the club. Abbie gave her order and was about to check her phone when, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the bartender pull out an all too familiar flask before she poured a splash of the golden liquid into her drink. Stirring it quickly, the bartender placed the drink in front of Abbie with a wink.
“Here you go, made it special for those in the know, you know?” the bartender’s words shocked Abbie to her core.
“What?”
“It’s fine, you don’t have to pretend if you have a mark. Not like I care one way or the other, we’re here to have fun tonight,” the bartender said with a grin. “Look, you don’t become the best bartender in the world and not learn how to read people. Diamond’s an old friend and she hired me so I’m going to do my job, alright? Here, it’s on the house.”
“Uh…thanks, Crystal?” Abbie said hesitantly as she read the nametag.
“It’s fine, just tell your boss to find me whenever she needs a drink, alright?” Crystal said before she walked away to tend to the other people at the bar.
“Miss me?” Kat said as she eventually reappeared at Abbie’s side.
“Didn’t get a chance to, that was quick,” Abbie said as she raised an eyebrow at her.
“They couldn’t stay for long, they just wanted to congratulate us and show their support for Diamond,” Kat explained. “They’re triplets from the Song family, Areum, Ha-Neul, and Seul-ki. They actually helped us out with the information needed.”
“They’re the ‘upperclassmen’ you talked about?”
“Yup. Hey come with me, there’s something I need to tell you. You need to hear this if we want to take whatever it is that we have any further,” Kat said softly. This made Abbie frown a bit as she had never seen Kat look even remotely as nervous as she did at that moment.
“Lead the way.”
* * *
“Should we be out here?”
“Why not? It’s our roof,” Kat pointed out and Abbie realized that she had a point. “I wanted to show you something, look around,” Kat said as she gestured around them. Doing as instructed, Abbie’s eyes widened as she found herself surrounded by a sea of lights that came from the illuminated city. “Pretty right? I love sights like these, beautiful cities at night. I want to see every beautiful city and their lights and I want to see them with you. Before that can happen though you need to understand your importance to not just me but also the band,” Kat said as she looked up at Abbie, gazing right into her eyes. “You remember what I said about why I chose to ask you out?”
“You said something about my eyes?” Abbie answered. “That you never saw someone with gray eyes before?”
“Yeah, and t
hat was true, but what I didn’t tell you was the real reason why I was looking for a date,” Kat said quietly. Kat had claimed she was lonely in a new city, but that was clearly just a cover story when Abbie thought about it. Something Kat said to hide her life as a thief. “Tell me, what do you think about Jack and Diamond?”
“They’re good people, good friends.
“Yeah, but what do you think about them together? Like as a couple?”
“Wait, you mean they’re together?” Abbie asked, caught off guard by the information. “I mean I had my suspicions but…” Abbie trailed off awkwardly. Suddenly the irony of Jack’s treasure made sense to her.
“No, they aren’t. You see, the Guild...is an old group, we’ve been around for centuries. As a result, you have some old rules in place. One of which the Guild is most adamant against is the idea of intra-band relationships. There is a belief that they can only lead to misfortune for the band, no exceptions,” Kat revealed with a frown. “In fact, it’s because of this that Diamond’s dad’s band is broken with Jack’s mother missing. Roderick and Vivi are trying to make it work but it’s hard for two people to do the work of three especially with them being unable to use shadow synch with her gone.”
“But what does that have to do with us?”
“Being a part of one of the twelve families is more than just having a name. There are certain traits…curses…that get passed down through each bloodline. For the Frost family, they are born with the inability to feel emotion, their hearts are frozen solid. For the Midas family, they feel ten times more than a regular civilian, especially when it comes to greed and pleasure. That, along with the curse that upon puberty whatever they touch with their right-hand turns to gold, makes them a danger to everyone around them.”
“Wait…so that’s why Diamond wears that glove?” Abbie asked. “The legend of King Midas was real?”
“In a way…fiction is always…”
“…based off of reality,” Abbie finished for her.
“Anyway, by sealing off their golden touch, they also seal their hearts as the curse is linked to their emotions. This doesn’t mean they don’t feel, but it means it’s hard for them to express what it is they really feel. Their emotions are so powerful, that in the time it takes the average person to make an acquaintance, they could have fallen in love or made an arch-enemy,” Kat said quietly. “We don’t like to speak of Diamond’s curse, things happened with it that you just don’t need to know. Things she can’t talk about.”
“Then should you be tellin’ me this? She made it clear she wanted it to be unknown,” Abbie said cautiously.
“She can’t talk about it but it doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to, she wants to explain it to you because it directly involves you. She wants to tell you so much it hurts, I know because I have to feel it every day,” Kat said and Abbie remembered that the band did share a pool of emotions. “Still I’ll only tell you what you need to know, not the whole thing regarding that issue,” Kat said as she gave Abbie a nervous smile. “When we became a band, to say emotions ran high would be an understatement. Jack, who until that point was an emotionless, rational, being suddenly found himself feeling things he never had before because of Diamond’s emotions. They forged a bond after that. Jack has been devoted to her and the Guild ever since because they gave him what he was missing for the first twenty years of his life, the ability to feel,” Kat said before her nervous smile turned sad. “They love each other, deeply, but they aren’t together.”
“Because of the Guild rules?”
“Exactly, it’s not just old superstition. There is science behind it that Guild researchers discovered. Think of a band as one heart, three bodies. When two members of the same band fall in love, it does something. Messes with the chemicals in their head. That love for all intents and purposes becomes like a drug. A dangerous one. A kiss alone can be addicting. Anything further? I’ll leave to your imagination. Without very strict care, moderation, their love could lead to self-destruction,” Kat said firmly as Abbie looked at her incredulously at the revelation. “The last thing Diamond needs is a scandal before she can reach the throne. People are trying to discredit her claim to it and we can’t have that...which brings us to why I asked you out,” Kat began as she bit her lip. “The plan was simple, we split our duties into three parts. Diamond’s the brains, Jack’s the body, and I deal with our emotions. Problem is, the love Diamond and Jack have is a lot to deal with and it was building up quickly. They are like a ticking time-bomb. Their feelings needed a release.”
“And that’s where I come in. You dated me so that all of that built up emotion had somewhere to go,” Abbie said with a frown, not sure how to take this revelation. “I…I don’t know how to feel about that,” Abbie said honestly. “You lied to me when I asked if you used me. It may not have been for the reason I thought but make no mistake you did use me and you lied about that.” Kat said nothing as she averted her eyes. What was worse was that Abbie didn’t sound angry, just disappointed and for some reason that hurt Kat even more. Abbie bit her lip, unsure of what to say, what she had heard hurt but what was worse was that she understood. From a logical standpoint, she could at least see why they tried such a desperate plan, but that didn’t make the taste in her mouth any less bitter. “Did it at least work?” Abbie asked and her question made Kat’s shoulders sag in relief.
“Not exactly,” Kat said as though she sounded almost relieved by that. “I’m so glad you let me get this far. Yes, it worked perfectly at the beginning. They could focus more and the tension decreased a lot. But…we made a mistake. One large, and unfortunately very cliché, miscalculation,” Kat said with a smile as Abbie looked at her in confusion. “See, I never cared about romance. I just wanted to have fun and see the lights like I told you. At first, being with you was my responsibility,” Kat said before she shook her head. To say that out loud, hurt both of them and made the betrayal that much more real. Somehow Kat felt worse than she already had. “I didn’t plan on actually falling as hard for you as I did,” Kat admitted. “But I did, and now my own feelings are being added to the mix so in the end, we’re kind of back at square one. Jack sees you as a friend, Diamond sees you as a sister, and I see you as a lover. At least, that’s how it should be. There are a lot of emotions going around now so lines get a bit blurred every now and then so I apologize now for any screw-ups. That is if you’re willing to give me a chance to mess up again. I believe we can still work out because there’s a thunder inside us, a storm of emotions that threatens to consume us. However, it’s one storm I wouldn’t mind getting lost in as long as I’m with you.”
“You could have kept this all to yourself and I would have never known. You realize that, right?” Abbie asked quietly.
“Yeah, I do,” Kat answered as she reached up and gently grasped the side of Abbie’s face. “But there’s no honor in that. That’s not fair to you. You need to know what’s going on if it involves you, the others have only just now realized what I’m doing right now. They’re…scared…but they understand,” Kat revealed. “There’s just so many secrets, not just including the ones you try so hard to hide,” Kat said quietly and Abbie tensed. “I don’t want things to go back to how they were before this, I want them to be better. We all have secrets and for good reasons. The ability to lie is one of a thief’s greatest assets but in a band, lies cause more harm than good. As far as I am concerned you are part of this band until you no longer want to be.”
“You could have messed up whatever it is we had,” Abbie said pointedly.
“But did I?” Kat asked as a nervous smile grew on her lips.
“No, like you said there’s so much about me that you all don’t know,” Abbie began only to be silenced when Kat placed a finger on her lips.
“Then tell us when you’re ready like I did. I clearly took my time telling you the truth. We already felt there was more to you than you let on. You’re brilliant, Abigail, if you have secrets then it’s for a good reason.
I didn’t come clean just to make you do the same,” Kat said as she moved her finger.
“So, what do we do now?” Abbie asked and she once more felt that strange rush that filled her body whenever she was near Kat.
“We could go back to the party?”
“Or?”
“We could try something new?” Kat offered shyly. “Something a bit more intimate?’
“One more,” Abbie began as she embraced Kat. “One more chance, but this doesn’t happen again. As many secrets as you claim I have, none of them involve you like this. Please don’t do this again.”
“I won’t,” Kat swore before she kissed Abbie, who savored the apple flavored lips of the thief.
* * *
“The Song Family is on my side now since we were successful in the heist. Though they said not to risk ourselves like that again, we still have to perform well enough for them to all keep their allegiance with me,” Diamond said as she turned to face Jack. “They respect me now, but if I stagnate that faith may waver.”
“True, but I suppose we could worry about that another time,” Jack mused before he grasped Diamond’s hand. “Care for a dance? Don’t think I’ve seen you on the dance floor all night.”
“Frost,” Diamond said her voice filled with warning but he just smiled wider in response.
“Come now Diamond, no one will think twice about two friends dancing together. A good Queen knows when to both work and play,” Jack pointed out. Before Diamond could respond, both she and Jack almost stumbled when they felt a wave of emotion wash over them. The feeling nearly drowned them both with its intensity. Briefly they were confused as the wave hadn’t come from either of them. Neither of them had been prepared for this unprecedented amount of passion to come from Kat of all people. “Besides it looks like our ‘heart’ is a bit…preoccupied elsewhere.” Diamond just looked at him for a few moments and then wordlessly accepted his hand. Though what he said was true, they both still felt a spark of passion course through them when their hands touched.