Chapter 1 #2
“That sounds good. Why don’t you take them to La Shena?
” I said quickly. “Order whatever you ladies want. Put it on my tab. Sky’s the limit.
” I heard her breath hitch, so I added, “And after that, go to my table at Cerc. I’ll meet you there later, and we could spend the early morning hours together. How does that sound, baby?”
She didn’t answer right away.
My gaze drifted to my desk. To the drawer. Thoughts of the small box I’d hidden beneath a stack of papers came to mind. It was crazy, impulsive, but I thought it was about time. All the planets were aligning, and she was taking this like a champ.
An idea clicked into place.
“Hey,” I said, before I could overthink it. “This weekend—just you and me. Small trip. You pick where. We can have a few days to breathe before things get even more crazy. What do you say?”
The squeal that came through the phone was instant and ear-piercing. “Really?! Anywhere I want?!”
A smile pulled at my mouth before I could stop it.
“Anywhere, baby,” I said. “No limit. You want it, you got it.”
She exploded with excitement, talking while I worked—dreaming out loud, bouncing from beaches to mountains to cities she’d only seen on Instagram.
I hummed along, tightening bolts, wiping my hands, letting her voice fill the garage.
By the time we hung up, her mood was light again and the last screw slid home with a clean, final turn.
I set my phone aside, jogged around the car, dropped into the driver’s seat, and twisted the key.
The engine snarled once.
I froze.
Then it settled—a low, smooth, perfect purr—and all that anxiety melted.
A laugh burst out of me, and I slapped the steering wheel. “Fuck yeah!” My mind was turning with all of the places I wanted to drive it. “I’m taking this out toni—”
The engine died.
Just like that.
I looked up just in time to see my keys spinning through the air and followed them until they neatly landed in Rack’s hands.
“You will not,” he said calmly, already pocketing them, “because you’re going to Doomsday to meet your sisters for Aniyah’s twenty-first birthday.”
I stared at him for a long second, picturing myself twisting his head off and taking the keys from his hands, but in the end, I knew he was right. My hands went up in surrender.
“All right. All right.” My eyes locked with his, I climbed out of the car, throwing my hand out for the keys.
He waited a beat, so I tilted my head, ready to take this to the next step if he didn't watch himself. Finally, they flew out of his hand and hovered in front of me.
Snatching my keys, I turned away. “Alright, let’s go.”
I made it three steps toward the door before he cleared his throat. I stopped, then slowly turned to see he hadn’t moved a muscle.
“What now?” I sighed, really wanting to get going.
“Calix.” His shoulders dipped as he exhaled, eyes closed like I was the only being in the world who could bother him. Two seconds was all it took for him to straighten up, his gaze sweeping over me in disgust.
“You can’t go like that.” His hand gestured lazily over my body, and I looked down at my grease-streaked shirt and rumpled jeans.
I shrugged. The words were already lining up—I’m fine. I don’t care. I show up how I show up—but I didn’t get the chance.
Tiny embers sparked to life across my shirt, bright pinpricks skating over the fabric. I looked down just as they hit a dark smear of oil.
Woosh. Flames bloomed across my chest.
“Oh, you motherf—” I slapped, beating the fire out with my own hands. “Wow,” I muttered, smoke curling up around me. “So impressive,” I mocked, “such a big scary mage.”
Just as the last ember died, I straightened, brushed myself off, and turned in a slow, triumphant circle. “See? I’m fine. Not even a scratch.”
Rack’s smile widened, and the fabric slipped from my body like it just gave up.
Charred, blackened pieces drifted to the floor in a sad, smoking pile at my feet.
“Oh no,” Rack said pleasantly. “Looks like you need to change.” He tilted his head, eyes gleaming. “Can’t go out shirtless with your sisters. That would be embarrassing.”
Knowing he won this round, I jabbed my finger at him and gave him a low, curt response. “Dick move, Rack. Dick move.”
Gazing down at the crumbling pile, I lamented. That was my favorite shirt.
Slicing a glare over my shoulder, promising retribution, I vampire sped up to my room and got dressed for the celebration. My baby sis was turning twenty-one!
God help us.
***
The second we slammed those Hellfire shots, Aniyah was tugging at someone’s arm.
“Come onnnn,” she sang, bouncing on the balls of her feet like the bass had hooked into her bloodstream. “Dance with me!”
Riot let Aniyah pull her exactly three steps from the edge of the crowd before she stopped, hovering there, stiff as a guard dog. Her eyes scanned the room like she expected something with teeth to come crawling out from behind the bar or the speakers.
Nova, bless her, didn’t even fight it. She let Aniyah drag her straight into the chaos—spinning, laughing, hair whipping—like she’d been waiting all week for the excuse.
They disappeared into the bodies, but of course, Aniyah’s voice didn’t.
“I need birthday dick!” she yelled over the music, announcing like it was last call at a charity event.
I pinched the bridge of my nose.
That was now item number one hundred and thirteen on the list of things an older brother should never have to know about his little sister.
Aniyah always treated that list like a suggestion. Her pure enjoyment from torturing her older brother superseded any thoughts to take pity on me. Brat.
She was going to live in Mom’s shoes one day. I’d bet money on it. Same mouth. Same fire. Same way of turning a room into her stage without even trying.
Whoever ended up with her was going to need patience, stamina, and a death wish, but she’d be worth it.
All of them were.
I watched my sisters move through the club like they owned the place. Beautiful. Sharp. Dangerous in that effortless way that made other people orbit them without realizing.
It was one of the reasons I never bothered keeping a lot of guy friends. They always did the same thing.
They’d meet my sisters. Their eyes would light up. Then they’d hit me with the Yo, can you set me up?
I wouldn't, but eventually they would catch one of my sister’s eyes and end up dating.
Then the relationship would crash and burn, because most men were idiots, and suddenly I’d be standing there, weighing how I was going to kill him for wasting my sister’s time.
It was all so exhausting.
A voice cut through the noise beside me.
“How’s the turbo project going?”
Ezra slid into the booth like she belonged there, calm, composed, already two steps ahead of whatever was happening. She set a shot down between us.
I took it without thinking, seeing her hand out with a shot in it.
Glass met glass, and we tossed them back like it was water.
Hellfire hit my throat, and I slowly exhaled through my nose as it burned its way down. The heat settled in my belly first before spreading though my body, the warmth easing my muscles.
“Good,” I said, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “Finished the carburetor. I just need to take it out for a test drive.”
Ezra nodded once, approval clean and simple, as her eyes scanned the club.
Aniyah and Nova flashed in and out between bodies, hands in the air, laughing. Nova’s head was thrown back while Aniyah was making eyes with every man and woman on the dance floor, loving the music and attention.
Ezra watched them like a hawk.
I did too.
It wasn’t even a choice. It was muscle memory. The oldest siblings didn’t get to relax. We got to monitor. It was our job.
There was only a year and an a half gap between Ezra and Nova, but it had never mattered. The lines were drawn a long time ago.
Me and Ezra, then the rest of them. Our little sisters.
And honestly? I liked it that way.
Out of the five of us, Ezra and I fit together like two halves of a blade. Where she was iron, I was flex. Where she was plans, I was hands. She built the map. I made it real.
It was why everyone in the family already knew she’d take the Desmond seat one day… and why I slept just fine at night at the thought of it.
A shadow slid over the table. A hand made of darkness, edges soft like smoke, picked up the bottle of Hellfire and poured two more shots with perfect control.
Sometimes I hated how useful her power was. Sometimes I envied it so hard my teeth hurt. Do you know how much more I could accomplish if I had her demon shadow power?
The shadow-hand dangled the full shot glass in front of my face, and I grabbed it. Another formed, grabbed the second glass, and floated it to Ezra.
As the glass settled in her hand, she leaned back, lifted it, and smirked over the rim. “I’m surprised you’re here.”
Holding up the shot in a lazy salute, I asked, “Why?”
“I figured you’d be out there taking it for a test run,” she said, saluting me before taking her shot. “After texting us some excuse about why you were running late.”
I snorted and tossed the drink back. The burn hit, and I welcomed it. Throwing my chin out at Aniyah and Nova chatting with two guys at the bar, I answered, “I couldn’t miss my baby sister’s twenty-first. You know this is a big one. The one.”
One brow lifted in my direction, eyes flicking to mine, her mouth curved in amusement as she set the glass down.
“Right,” she said, voice dry. “And Rack had nothing to do with you being here, almost on time, and not playing with your new ‘ready-made’ toy at home.”
I groaned, dropping my head back against the booth.
“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered. “He’s a dick.”
Then quieter, like a confession I hated giving, “And a good fucking second.”
“He is,” Ezra confirmed, throwing back another shot as I did a double take. When did she refill her glass? Her eyes stayed on the dance floor, tracking Aniyah’s wild spins and Nova’s laughter like nothing else in the world existed.