by Tegan Maher
Bob grinned. “Just think—this time tomorrow, you’re gonna be in a giant palace, getting ready to rub elbows with of some of the most powerful beings in existence.”
I raised a brow at him as I poured a couple shots of honey whiskey for two bear shifters sitting at the bar. “Gee, Bob. You really know how to put a girl at ease.”
“Shoot,” he said, flapping a hairy hand at me. “You got nothin’ to worry about. They love you.”
“Diana doesn’t love me,” I pointed out. She was an angel who’d been part of a big ruckus when my former boss had been poisoned.
A dismissive snort sounded from behind me. I turned to find Stephanie, a drop-dead gorgeous brunette, standing at the end of the bar, empty glass in hand. Though she looked like a swimsuit model in her gold bikini and fashionable straw hat, there was no missing the dangerous aura that surrounded her.
“Don’t worry about Diana. She’s just a blowhard and a diva,” she said, flipping her movie-star sunglasses up onto her head with a catty grin and a wink. “If she gives you any hassle, tell her I said hello. We had a ... difference of opinion a couple centuries ago. I’m sure she remembers me.”
“Thanks, Steph,” I said, wondering what a Valkyrie and an angel might have disagreed over. Whatever it was, I’d have paid money to see it. Talk about clash of the titans.
Stephanie frowned. “I don’t think I like the idea of you going up there by yourself. Maybe I should escort you. Even the playing field, so to speak.”
“I’m not going by myself,” I said, mixing her another rumrunner. “Colin’s going, and Ari will be there too, along with his wife and friends.” Ari was the angel I mentioned earlier—he was one of the founders of the resort.
She paused for a minute, her delicate brows drawn, then took off a gold filigree bracelet worth more than I made in a decade and handed it to me. “Take this. If you run into any problems you can’t get out of, hold it and think my name.”
I took the bracelet, and the raw power running through it stunned me. “Wow,” I said, slipping it around my wrist. “That thing has some juice.” I pulled in a deep breath and tried to equalize the flood of magic coursing through me before I fell down from the head rush.
She gave me her best duh look as she took her drink and turned from the bar. “Hello. Valkyrie here. Like I said, call if you need me. I haven’t had a good scrap in years, and I wouldn’t mind giving that one a refresher. Just be careful with it. You’ll put your eye out if you’re not careful.”
With that, she slid her sunglasses back down and sashayed back to her favorite table. I smiled at the movie reference. I was slowly but surely bringing her into the twenty-first century.
It wasn’t ten seconds before a man I’d seen a couple other times that week tried to chat her up. He was good looking enough, but seemed to be the type who knew it. Tool. It would be fun watching her chew him up and spit him out.
“Can I get another beer, Des?” a chubby blond guy in a loincloth called from the other side of the bar.
“Sure, Stan,” I said, smiling as I took in his rosy complexion and shiny curls. “You’re lookin’ great. The new job path seems to be workin’ for you.”
Stan was a cupid who’d recently suffered an existential crisis brought about by modern divorce rates. He’d just been working in the wrong environments, though, and once he’d made the course correction I’d suggested and targeted an older demographic, he’d gotten his mojo back in a hurry.
“It is. Thanks to you, my success rate is back up to 87 percent. That’s almost twice what it was when I was cruising bars and dating websites for clients. I haven’t seen those sort of numbers for over a century.”
I slid his beer in front of him. “Glad I could help. Who’s your friend?” I asked, turning to the girl he was sitting with. She was young and had that girl-next-door look, complete with freckles that matched her copper hair.
“Oh, this is Cynthia. I’m training her. Cyn, this is Destiny, the witch I told you about.”
She held out a hand and gave me an open, friendly smile, and I couldn’t help but notice the puppy-dog way Stan looked at her. Interesting. Either Stan had stabbed himself with one of his own arrows, or he had a major crush on this one.
“It’s nice to finally meet you,” she said, her tone refreshingly genuine. “Stan’s told me so much about you. It was really nice of you to help him out like that.”
“It was nothin’,” I said, waving her off. “I’m glad I was able to help.”
“So are you heading up the Halloween party this year?” Stan asked. “I haven’t heard you talk about it, and it’s usually your big event for the year.”
I sighed. “No, I’ll be gone for it. That’s when Ari’s ball is. Bob’s gonna head it up.”
“That’s too bad,” he said. “You always have the best costumes.”
“Yeah,” I replied. “It’ll be the first one I’ve missed since I started here.”
“Well we’ll save you some candy corn. I know that’s your favorite.”
“Thanks, Stan,” I said, smiling. I had the best friends.
Before I could say anything else, a group of faeries caught my eye from the pool area. Morgan, a regular with spiky blue hair, waved and held up an empty glass. I nodded and smiled back to let her know I’d seen her, then cast a glance toward the beach. Sunshine glinted off several fins in a rainbow of colors as a group of merpeople swam toward the sunken water bar. Time to get to work.
“It was nice to meet you,” I told Cynthia, “but I need to go before the natives get restless. Stan, good to see you again.”
I grabbed my drink tray, then hustled back out from behind the bar and toward the zero-entry pool to make my rounds. The sunshine felt good on my shoulders and the tropical breeze that rustled through the palm fronds cooled the sweat trickling down my back. I smiled as I skipped up the steps toward the pool. Waitressing wasn’t always awesome, but if I had to do it, I couldn’t think of a better place.
CHAPTER THREE
“Wow,” Mila said the next morning as I pulled on my elbow-length gloves, then did a pirouette in front of her. “Lucy, you knocked it out of the park.”
The fairy godmother twirled her finger, indicating I should turn again, then examined me from all angles with a critical eye.
“Not bad for something I whipped up in three days. Technically, I’m happy with it, but something’s missing.” She pressed her lips together and furrowed her brow.
After a few seconds, she pulled her wand from her back pocket and swept it over me. I’m not sure what she did, but the peach fabric of the sleeveless bodice and full skirt took on a sheen that almost glowed, and the off-white lace and gloves sparkled as if she’d sprinkled fine glitter over it.
I wouldn’t usually be caught dead in anything that glittered, but I had to admit—the gown was tasteful and classy.
She flicked the wand at me one more time and I gasped as confidence surged through me. Between that and the power still radiating from Stephanie’s bracelet, I felt six feet tall and bulletproof.
“Thanks,” I said, pulling in a deep breath. “I needed that.”
“I know,” she said. “Just don’t let it get you in trouble.”
She handed me a silver mask adorned with glittering jewels that I suspected were real. It was probably worth more than I’d make in a lifetime.
In addition to the stones, she’d added a couple of sassy feathers that matched the peach in my dress.
“Don’t just stand there!” Mila said when I just stared at it. “Put it on. I’m dying to see what it looks like.”
I examined the mask, still in awe of the sheer beauty of it. There was no string or band to slip over my head. “Well, I would, but there’s no way to hold it onto my face.”
Lucy rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh. “Sometimes you exhaust me, girl. Where do you think it came from? A human party store? No. We’re magic, and one of the benefits is that we don’t need crutches like bands and strings to make
things work. Just put it on your face.”
I did as she asked. As soon as it touched my skin, I felt the oddest sensation, and when I reached up to touch my face, the mask had fitted itself to me like a second layer of skin. It even covered my eyelids, though I couldn’t feel it when I blinked.
I turned to examine it in the mirror. It looked like it had been painted on, but even the most skilled makeup artist couldn’t have duplicated it. One side of the mask curved down and came to a point at my jawline so that it covered better than half of the left side of my face, and the other curved gently upward, following my hairline.
“Wow,” I said, touching it. I half expected it to feel like skin, but it didn’t. “That’s really taking it up a notch or twelve.”
She gave me a smug smile. “I couldn’t use my godmother magic to make the dress, but there’s nothing in the rules about using my faery magic to put a shine on it! And the mask was easy. We’ve been using them in celebrations for eons. The colors really bring out the green in your eyes.”
An unexpected lump formed in my throat and I did something I rarely did—I spun around and hugged her. I had the best friends ever.
“All right already,” she grumbled, but gave me just the quickest squeeze back. “Don’t go gettin’ all girly on me. We couldn’t have you representing us in anything less than the best.”
“Well there’s no doubt you hit that standard,” Mila said, reaching up to touch the mask in awe. “Are those real jewels?”
“Of course they are,” Lucy scoffed, her nose curled. “I don’t use fake crap. How would it look if she showed up to a freakin’ angels ball wearing paste? No way. Not if my name’s on it. Our girl is goin’ in style.”
I smiled with a confidence boosted by both her magic and her skill. And maybe a little bit of my own mojo, too. After all, that wasn’t something I generally lacked. “You’re the best, Lucy. There’s no way any angel is gonna outshine me at that ball.”
“Knock ’em dead, sweetheart.”
Stephanie’s bracelet pulsed with what almost felt like excitement, and I couldn’t help but wonder if that should worry me.
CHAPTER FOUR
Colin arrived shortly before noon, a full hour before Arariel was due to pick us up. Since entrance to the Celestial Palace required an angel escort, Ari had agreed to come fetch us.
While we waited, I couldn’t help but wonder how we were gonna get there. Was there some sort of secret path? Would he teleport us there or would we each ride a Pegasus? That’s how Stephanie traveled back and forth between worlds. I hoped that wasn’t it because my experience with horses was limited to one pony ride at the carnival when I was five.
Or, maybe I was overcomplicating it and there was some sort of UFO-type beam that would just suck us up when he said so. He’d instructed us not to get dressed until we got there, so I doubted that was it. With my luck, it would be the Pegasus. I thought about that and decided it wouldn’t be terrible. It might even be fun. I mean, as magical beasts, I’m sure they had some sort of magic that kept their rider astride.
Regardless of the method, I was nervous about going to a place that didn’t have a defined exit path for non-angels. It wasn’t so much that I planned to use it, but it was always good to know your options.
Colin examined me with amusement as we sat in the shade on my porch swing. “Why don’t we go down to the tiki and have a drink? You look like you’re gonna throw up. Do you not wanna go? We don’t have to, you know.”
“Oh yes, she does,” Lucy said. She pushed off the porch with her toe, setting her chair to rocking. “I worked my tail feathers off makin’ that gown, and she’s gonna go show it off.”
“I wanna go,” I said, pushing up from the swing and dusting off the back of my jean shorts. “I’m not gonna lie and say I’m not nervous, but I’ve had a weird feeling about the whole shebang for a couple of days now. It’s probably just nerves. A shot of courage would help, I’m sure.”
Lucy scowled. “Only one. You can’t go showin’ up sloshed.” She took a deep breath, then exhaled it. “And what kind of feeling? The kind that says you shouldn’t go? Because if that’s the case, you know better than to ignore your gut.”
Colin tilted his head at me. He knew my ‘feelings’ were more than just your average, run-of-the-mill intuition and had come to trust it. “If you have even the slightest sense that things are gonna go sideways, we’re making our excuses and staying here. I don’t want to end up in the middle of some angel uprising or anything.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s not that sort of feeling. I can’t put my finger on it. It’s not exactly dread. More like a sense that something’s going to happen. Not anything bad, necessarily. But something.”
“If you’re sure,” he said, uncertainty tinging his voice.
“I’m sure,” I said. “Now, about that drink.”
Other than a table of vampires drinking Bloody Marys, the tiki was quiet when we got there. It was a little too late for lunch, and most people were either down on the beach or at one of the several pools situated throughout the resort. It was hot and the sky was a deep blue dotted with a handful of fluffy white clouds.
I hopped up on a chair in front of the fan we kept on the bar, then bellied up. Tempest curled up on a pillow in front of her own fan, and Bob slid beers in front of Colin and me.
“Aren’t you guys supposed to be at the ball?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Ari’s pickin’ us up in a little bit, but we figured we’d come down for a drink rather than sitting around.”
Bob raised a furry eyebrow and eyeballed my tank top and shorts. “You goin’ dressed like that?”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Yes, Bob. Why? Doesn’t this look like proper ball attire to you?”
He huffed out a breath. “Suits me. It’s Halloween, so I reckon if you want to attend one of the most prestigious events in creation dressed as a bartender, that’s your call.”
I held up my backpack, which I’d spelled Hermione-style to hold whatever I wanted to carry. That was creative genius on JK Rowling’s part, but then again, so was every other idea she’d come up with. “I have everything all packed nice and neat. Ari said to dress casually because he wanted to show us around first. The ball doesn’t start until nine.”
“So you’re getting a tour as well as a peek into how angels party,” he said. “Nifty. Better you than me, though. I hate wearing a tux. The buttons of the dress shirt always end up tangled in my hair and the jackets make me itch. Monkey suits just weren’t designed for my kind.”
Colin gave him a wry smile. “They weren’t designed for anyone’s kind.”
We shot the breeze for a few minutes, then a drop in pressure made my ears pop. Unless I missed my guess, our ride had arrived.
“Hey guys,” Ari said from behind us, then slid onto a stool. “I figured I’d come early and chill a little before we left. It’s been hell week up there. You have no idea of the logistics behind pulling this thing off. There’s a reason we rarely do it; the seating assignments alone are a nightmare. That’s one task I gladly delegate.”
I grinned at him as he shoved his sunglasses up onto his golden hair. Ari was the protector of water, and like all angels, he was a visual masterpiece. The guy could have any movie role he wanted, and when you added his personality to that, he was about as close to perfect as any being could get.
I’d researched him when I’d first started at the resort, and it had also listed him as the angel often invoked to cure stupidity. He’d laughed when I’d asked him about it, responding that it was just one of those things humans made up. After all, everybody knows you can’t fix stupid.
“How many people are gonna be there?”
He waggled his head back and forth. “Five hundred angels give or take, plus another fifty or so guests.”
I raised a brow. “So we won’t be the only non-angels there? Somehow, that makes me feel a little better.”
“Oh, no,” he said, raising
his brows. “Though I have no doubt you’ll be the most interesting non-angels there. I swear, I don’t know why people think they have to invite prestigious guests rather than fun ones. Last year, Shakespeare got so hammered that he fell off the stage while trying to play both Romeo and Juliet. I was about ready to drink the poison myself.”
“Wait,” I said. “Shakespeare was there last year? You mean, like his spirit was there?”
I was thoroughly confused. Not that I had anything against ghosts.
Ari took a long pull off the beer Bob had sat in front of him, then shook his head. “No, I mean Shakespeare was there.”
“But Shakespeare died in ...” I paused because I had no idea when the man had died. Not even the century. History wasn’t one of my strong points.
“1616,” Colin finished for me. I wasn’t surprised that he knew the answer. He had more useless trivia floating around in his head than five average people did.
“Eh,” Ari said, “time doesn’t work the same in Celestial City as it does everywhere else. All the times sort of converge.”
“Converge? How is that possible?” I asked.
“Converge isn’t really the right word,” he continued. “It’s more like time doesn’t exist, but that’s not right, either. Time has to exist. It’s just ... different. You’ll see. It’s easier to show you than to tell you.”
Now I was intrigued, and for the first time since I’d opened the invitation, I was looking forward to going. Before, I’d thought it was just going to be a stuffy party put on by a bunch of flakey angels. Ari was okay, but a lot of them were just arrogant jerks out of touch with reality.