The Crystal in the Chasm

chapter 17

I awoke in the clouds. Literally. Onyx lived in a castle floating in the sky. Everything was pristine, smelling of freshness and life. The white walls were glowing all around me as my eyes flitted open. A beam of sunlight was shining through the open window, a calm breeze flowing through the room. I groaned and realized where I was.

Wedged between Onyx and a faerie I had never met before, I tried to wiggle my way from their naked limbs draped over me. A large white wing was tucked over my lower half. Flashes of the night before returned to my memory, the drugs and alcohol fusing together only snippets of my drunken hookup.

Four women. Flashes of curves and soft edges, smooth skin, and entangled limbs. Last night was only hazy memories of skin and teeth and lips and tongues. It faintly seemed dreamlike, as if I were too intoxicated to even recount the entirety of it. I had never done anything like that before. My hands ran over my face as my encounter with Death Bringer flashed through my mind. I had done all this just to distract myself from that? It didn't change anything.

Onyx woke up soon after, rolling over Marigold and smothering her in kisses. We all began to dress, all of us groaning from hangovers. I was still feeling exhausted as Onyx flew me back to Death Bringer's. The sight was to die for. I convinced her to let me dangle from one of her hands and swing through the air for a while. It was exhilarating to just hang deadweight over a vast landscape as I drifted down from the clouds, confident that Onyx would continue to hold my hand without effort. The white puffs looked so soft and thick that I was almost convinced they'd catch me if I fell. It was only when my arm began to ache that I made her lift me back up to her. There was really a castle in the clouds. I still wasn't convinced last night even really happened.

Onyx dropped me off on Death Bringer's front lawn. My hair was a mess and one of my heels had broken. I was groggily dragging myself up the steps, my dress skirt in hand along with my shoes, when the door clicked open. Death Bringer raised a curious brow as he looked at me head to toe. "Fun night?"

"Can't remember," I shrugged and breezed past him swiftly. I vanished into the bedroom before he could get out another word.

I was rifling through the little bit of clothes I had accumulated when he strolled past the door, "Do us all a favor and take a bath before we head out for the day, love."

I flipped him off through the door. I swore I could hear him laugh faintly as he strolled away. Then I did exactly that. I scrubbed the previous night away. All of it. Every last detail. Not that I regretted all of it, but it still needed to be left in the past. I wasn't sure I would be up for something like that again for a long time. I had gotten whatever it was out of my system, I hoped. I just needed to keep a friendly distance from Death Bringer at all times. Things would stay normal.

Once I was clean and anew, I did all the pampering one could do. I shaved and moisturized and plucked and exfoliated. Then I french-braided my hair into two sections atop my head, leaving small pigtails at my neck. Today I would need a more durable outfit. I decided upon a loose white long-sleeve under a tight brown leather bodice and some loose black pirate breeches. I stored away the matching necklace and earrings, switching them out for daintier things to keep the gifts safe. After lacing up my boots, I was out the door. As I strolled to the living room, Sea Legs and Death Bringer greeted me with suspicious glances.

"What?" I groaned and rolled out my shoulders.

Death Bringer frowned, his jaw clenching in the morning glow. "I looked for you last night."

I flashed him a lazy grin and strolled past him, clicking open the front door. He was hot on my trail as I stepped back outside. A cool breeze sent a few dandelion puffs floating through the air around us, dancing around him a I glanced over. My eyes narrowed as he shut the door between us and Sea Legs. My hands couldn't figure out what to grab or play with so I stuffed them in my pockets and fiddled with the lint inside, careful to keep five large steps between him and I.