Chapter Six #6
“It’s going to be a magical affair— the best performance Ilamanthe has ever seen!” he burst. “Every song will feature dancers and performers who use their bodies to tell their stories onstage.”
Danny chugged his beer. “There’s only one kind of story I tell with my body. I’d be more than happy to play that out for you onstage.”
Marcus pushed him away. “It’s not like that. It’s a spiritual journey!”
“I promise ye my performance would be of a spiritual nature,” Danny quipped.
“If you want to participate, all you have to do is ask,” Marcus said. “I need to cast my leads soon, because I’ve already started posting flyers!”
Kallie frowned as she piled her plate high with hot wings. “Marcus, you can’t start advertising the play without a cast.”
“Sure I can!” Marcus insisted. “I need to get the public interested before I announce auditions!”
Kallie brushed back his hair. “Whatever you think is best. I’ll be in the front row.”
“Oh, no, I’ve already decided your part,” Marcus said brightly. “You’ll be in the opening act!”
Kallie’s mouth went flat. “Excuse me?”
We moved into our seats as the game began.
I was thrilled to see there was a ramp that led to the lower level of our stadium seats, along with an accessible handicap spot where I could park my chair right next to the window.
That meant I got to sit next to Kallie and would get a front row seat to the engagement once it happened.
I was holding my breath in anticipation, because it was really difficult not to drop any hints about what we were doing here.
Oberi sat near my legs, panting and smacking his tail on the ground.
Charlie noticeably hung back by the TVs.
He made it seem like he was listening to the commentary to accommodate his disability, but I’d seen him sulking around the room when we were filling our plates at the buffet.
He was acting like we were all infected with some flesh-eating bacteria he didn’t want to catch. It irritated me more than it should.
The players faced off at center ice, and the game began.
I didn’t know any of the Elvish players, but Kallie’s dad was playing left forward, and her uncle Stefan was playing right forward.
They passed the puck back and forth in a blur, until King Ethan sunk a goal into the opposing team’s net within the first thirty seconds of the game.
Hell, he was fast. The fae fans erupted, while the Elvish fans booed.
“That’s what I’m talking about!” Kallie cheered. “Way to go, Dad!”
Hockey was fast paced. My eyes had trouble keeping up as the puck was passed back and forth by supernatural players. An Elvish player used their stick to trip Ethan up, but Stefan came in from the side and slammed the Elvish player against the boards, performing a check.
“Wow. This game is violent!” Marcus peeped. I didn’t think he’d ever seen a hockey game before. I was shocked he knew what it was, honestly.
“The more blood the better,” Kallie said eagerly, and she leapt out of her seat, shaking her fist as her father got into a fight with one of the Elvish players for slashing someone.
As the game went on, Marcus became more fidgety. He wouldn’t stop bouncing his legs, and a sweat had broken out across his forehead. He kept wiping his face with the back of his hand.
“You doing okay there?” Danny asked as he leaned over to nudge Marcus.
“Yeah,” Marcus squeaked. He reached for his water bottle and tipped it back. A mess of water splashed across his face, soaking his jersey. His features had turned paper white. If he didn’t find his voice soon, he wouldn’t manage to pop the question. “I just… need some air.”
Marcus literally leapt out of his chair and jumped over the couple of stairs that led to the main room. For fuck’s sake, he better be quick.
Kallie leaned over and began rambling about a poor call the referees had made in the last period that had landed her dad in the penalty box. “That guy was totally chirping at my dad! Icing, my ass. Watch this turn into a five-on-three because the Elvish refs are biased.”
It was at that moment the kiss cam came on, zooming in on an Elvish couple who smiled and waved before exchanging a light kiss.
My heart leapt, because this was it, and Marcus had vanished.
He better hope his absence was all part of the plan, because if he didn’t get back here in one-point-two seconds to propose to my best friend, I was going to wring his neck.
“Marcus!” I shouted as loud as I could. “You’re missing the KISS CAM!”
“AH!” Marcus screamed, and I heard the sound of him crashing to the floor as he tripped, probably stumbling into the food tables.
“For fuck’s sake, man,” Charlie growled. I peered over my shoulder to see him reach out to grab Marcus, hauling him up by the collar and shoving him toward our seats.
Somebody cared about this proposal more than I thought.
As the camera angle changed, it landed upon me and Kallie in the royal box— with Marcus’ empty seat beside her. Did I have to do everything around here? I was going to have to propose to Kallie, too, by the looks of it, and I really didn’t want to haul my ass out of this spot.
Kallie wasn’t paying attention. Her eyes were locked on me as she continued her heated rant. I grabbed her by the jersey and shook her, pointing to the Jumbotron that projected our image over the entire stadium. “Kallie, look!”
I swear, it took her a good three seconds to realize I was trying to get her attention. She followed my gaze, and when she saw herself on the screen, she shot to her feet and began waving her giant sign over her head.
“SUCK MY FAE DICK!” Kallie screamed so loud that it echoed off the walls of our suite. “I mean, puck my fae stick, you losers!”
Marcus appeared in the corner of the shot, and I watched on the Jumbotron as he tripped down the stairs and landed out of view. I tore my gaze from the screen to look at him in real-time, where he was sprawled face-first on the ground.
For the sake for the ancestors.
Kallie was so wrapped up in her cheers that she didn’t notice. She was jumping up and down, her face turning red as she screamed a chant the rest of the stadium couldn’t hear. And it was a good thing, too, because it gave Marcus a moment to compose himself and rise to his knee.
The whole stadium erupted into applause, which Kallie must’ve thought was in agreement to her chant, because she lifted her sign even higher and beamed at the camera.
“Kallie, turn around!” I demanded.
I’d never witnessed her be so oblivious. The whole stadium was yelling at her to look at Marcus, but every voice overlapped one another.
King Ethan skated to the center of the ice and waved his arms over his head, trying to get Kallie’s attention. Kallie’s eyes went to her dad, and he made a circling motion to tell her to turn around.
Kallie tilted her head, then put down her sign, turning away from the kiss cam so she could read the back of her jersey. When her eyes hit the screen above the stadium, a look of complete and utter shock overtook her face.
There, stitched on the back of her jersey, was the name Mrs. Taylor.
She finally noticed Marcus. He’d fumbled into his pocket to pull out the ring box, flipping the top open to reveal it to her.
Kallie watched it all happen on the Jumbotron.
A shimmering diamond caught the light, and only then did it occur to Kallie what was happening.
Her jaw dropped as she slowly turned to face him.
“Princess Kalina Nowak— my dear pretty girl— I love you so very much.” Marcus was already bawling.
“You are the love of my life. You always have been, and I want to spend every day I have left with you. Darkness and death don’t matter to me so long as we’re together.
I’ve been wanting to ask you this for a long time, and I’m sorry I didn’t ask you sooner, but I’m asking now. Will you marry me?”
Kallie blinked for a few seconds, stunned at the question, before she breathed, “Yes.”
She tossed her sign over her shoulder, which smacked Chancey in the face in the row behind us.
Then Kallie threw herself forward, tackling Marcus as she kissed him for the whole stadium to witness, the ring box flying out of his hand.
Their tears mingled together as his hands caressed her hair.
I nearly died with how romantic it all was.
The stadium absolutely lost its shit, thundering so loudly that the applause shook the building.
I’d never seen her so happy… which made me happy. I’d experienced this moment not too long ago, and it’d been one of the most cherished experiences of my life. I hoped she was feeling everything I’d felt, because she deserved to remember this day forever.
Just like I did. I swallowed a lump in my throat as I glanced at Charlie. He’d turned gray.
I blinked away tears, telling myself they were happy ones and running my fingers over Oberi’s fur for comfort. Those days of joy were gone now. It was time to put them behind me.
Marcus pulled Kallie closer, drawing out a long, passionate kiss. When they finally parted, he sniffed. “I hope you liked it.”
“I loved it. Everything,” Kallie promised. “I can’t believe you did all this for me.”
“I would never consider doing anything less.” He turned a bright shade of pink. “You know why I picked the number seven for your jersey, right?”
“I can’t believe you remembered!”
“How could I forget?” he said dreamily. “Cellblock 7.”
“Cellblock 7,” she confirmed, and they kissed again.