54. The Hits
The Hits
Dylan
Most of the people dancing, drinking, and posting on StreetSocial in this crowded venue were clueless to how close the city had come to being under the control of one very entrepreneurial, very greedy tech CEO.
The Twin DJs were only playing the hits tonight at Aftershock. The crowd on the dance floor was letting loose, celebrating being alive for one more day.
“Cheers, guys!” Sacha said, raising his plastic cup of beer.
“To Astrid fucking off forever!” Talia shouted.
Everyone touched their cups together.
Talia looked stunning, like she always did, in a tight red dress. Sacha was wearing something other than a handyman’s outfit for once, and with a smile to boot, looking quite dashing in a white shirt and blue jeans.
Isaak was wearing the white London Lazarus t-shirt from when they first met, right in this nightclub. Her boy.
He was gorgeous. She still got butterflies in her tummy when he so much as looked at her. She couldn’t believe that he’d chosen her, and that they’d survived Astrid’s schemes… together.
For the first time in a long while, Dylan felt grateful and useful.
The dozens of sleptigrade victims had been slowly released.
Elodie arranged cover stories for the dead of Cardinal Row – accidents, robberies gone wrong, riotous violence.
Most of the living couldn’t remember what had happened.
And those that could were paid not to talk.
It was a good arrangement for both sides, as they didn’t want to remember it either.
Jewel had joined Elodie at the Royal Car Wash. She knew too much to go elsewhere, but after she’d helped them defeat Astrid, they wanted to give her a chance to serve someone better than her previous boss.
To the rest of the Kingdom, Astrid Fern-Lock had simply disappeared one day, victim of the pressures that came with being a CEO under the boot of the Kings.
Crypterra carried on without her, her ex-husband taking over as CEO.
Elodie had so far kept her mouth shut about whether Astrid’s ex-husband knew anything about what had been going on…
Isaak wrapped his arm around Dylan’s waist and pulled her towards him after taking a celebratory sip of his drink. He kissed her, his smell bringing her comfort, making her feel at home. It felt so right.
“I wish this night could go on forever,” she told him, fighting the volume of the music.
Talia interjected. “Ahh, if only… It’s back to Jab on Monday morning for me. Not looking forward to it.”
Dylan grinned. Everyone was fine, by some sort of miracle.
But there was a looming sense of dread tugging at her joy.
As Talia and Sacha danced, she walked away. Isaak followed suit, sensing her desire to talk just to him.
“Are you okay?”
“I can’t stop thinking about what Astrid said. The Second Revivalists. Eltarc. And the Third King. What are they all planning?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. But if we need to go back into the Tapeworld, we’ll go back in. If I avoid using Gunky, perhaps the Third King will leave us alone. And we can check in on Miss Kitty!”
His brown-pink lips curved in a soft smile, the brown of his eyes beautiful under the club’s neon lights.
She stared into his eyes, his smile filling her with confidence.
Whatever awaited them, they’d face it.
Together.