Divinity: Transcendence: Book Two (The Divinity Saga) (38 page)

“Try on the shirt. Do you like it?”

I fingered the material. “Kind of skimpy. What if it’s cold where we are?”

Lorelei rolled her eyes and giggled. “You’ll work up a sweat dancing, silly.”

That was true.

“So
anyway. Where do we get cash? I mean, how did you pay for all of this?” I asked her.

“Cash is easily acquired. We all get stipends from the council once we’ve completed training and decide to live in the human realm. It’s a gift.
The only stipulation is that any and all homes must be away from any general or major population, which is one of the reasons I chose this place. Oh, and your home must be marked with protective glyphs to keep the dark ones out. We’re putting ourselves in danger outside the realm of the divine hall, in order to protect humans, so they take care of all of that.” Lorelei explained.

That made sense, though it was yet another depressing though
t. Living in seclusion. Where would I make my home? I guess I could research a few places or ask around.

“A stipend? How much?” I asked.

“Not that much, but enough. It depends on where you want to live I guess. Too much will draw attention and we have to stay low key. Of course, you can always get a job for the time being too if your tastes are extravagant.” Lorelei smiled, pulling the sequined top that she obviously didn’t like, up and over her head.

I smirked and shook my head
, returning my attention to examining the gems. “So, I can break the white ones anywhere?” I then asked her.

“Well, I’d try and find an inconspicuous location if you can,
so that you avoid human eyes. They won’t be able to see the portal, but they will be able to see you disappear into thin air.” She told me.

I nodded.

I was lying stretched out across her comfortable, king- sized bed on my stomach. I finally began placing all of my portal gems back into the small, suede carrying sack that I was given to keep them secure. I pulled the drawstring closed.

“What made you want to decide on a place in France?” I asked her.

She smiled, pulling out a short mini skirt, and holding it against herself in the mirror.

“I don’t know. I was drawn to this area I guess.” She shrugged.

I was curious.

“So, I know we aren’t supposed to reme
mber anything from our human lives. Durien told me how he came to find out about his death. What about you?” I asked, shifting to sit up Indian style now.

I slipped out of the simple loose fitting top I wore
, and slipped the camisole over my head. Lifting my hair out of the inside of the back, I looked down at myself. It was a cute top and it looked really good on me.

“Now that looks sexy
! Let me find some black jeans or leggings to go with it.” Lorelei nodded in approval.

             
              She pulled out a glamorous pair of black jeans, with bling stitching, and then began searching for something else.

“Anyway,
there’s no telling. I mean, like everyone else, I was curious and I decided to do my research. I found some articles in the local paper of where I’m guessing my hometown was, back in Denton, Texas. According to what I found; I modeled some in high school and did the whole pageant circuit thing. I won many ribbons too. But that’s it. Nothing spectacular. I really didn’t want to know too much. I certainly don’t want to know when and how I died. Some things are better off not knowing, I think.” She said.

I nodded. Part of me wanted to know about my life
when I was alive, and the other felt the same way that Lorelei did. However, I couldn’t help but feel as if the flashes of memories were going to reveal everything to me sooner or later, whether I liked it or not.

“Here, try these on.
They’re size fives and they look like they’d fit you perfectly. I think we should definitely stick with pants, leggings, or jeans. Not jinxing anything, but it’s really hard to run or fight in a skirt, or a dress…just in case.” Lorelei said.

Smart thinking
, I thought.

                                                                      ~~~*****~~~

The appeal of the club instantly sparked another series of memories randomly flickering in my mind. In it, I saw a tall, lean white girl with short, auburn red hair and green eyes. We were standing in a long line to see a show. Though it wasn’t at this particular club from what I was seeing, it still provoked a stunning sense of me belonging here.

Durien said
that we were in Indianapolis, Indiana. I don’t know why things seemed so familiar to me here, but I was beginning to think it was maybe because…this was where I lived before. At least, that’s what it felt like.

Club Dubz, was a dub step music
inspired club. The crowd was hyped, the bass line was deep and reverberating, and the atmosphere was filled with energy. The music was extra loud to my sensitive ears. I wanted to dance and temporarily forget about being in the spirit realm, and what lie ahead of me now.

I made sure that
Lira stayed close to me, especially since it was my idea that she come with us. She was so happy and excited at the opportunity to get out and get away from the hall, that she jumped at the invitation, being that she loved to dance too.

The place was packed. Most of the people were on the
dance floor, which made it hard to find a clear path through the crowd, let alone find a table.

“Why don’t you guys
canvass the place first? Me and Crystal will try and find an available booth to sit.” Scarlet had to shout to Gabe and Anthony.

I doubted Anthony would leave without Lorelei, but to my surprise, he did.

“Hey, stay with them, I’m gonna have a look around too real quick.” Durien turned around to shout at Spencer.

“
There are shadows lurking around in here. Pay attention Starling, you’ll be able to smell and differentiate between them, and actual humans.” Spencer leaned down, having to speak loudly near my ear.

I was about to protest that we didn’t need his helicopter protection, but when I scanned the crowd with f
ocus and concentration, I began to see all the red and orange auras.

There
were demons here too. They were dancing and posing like normal club patrons, as if it was normal for them. That alarmed me. There was no doubt that they could see and sense us too, but so far, they weren’t attacking or running.

Spencer followed behind me, Lira
, and Lorelei while scanning the crowd, as we all weaved our way through.

“I’m gonna get some drinks. Starling, you want something?” Lorelei shouted.

“No, not yet.” I shouted back.

“Let’s dance!” Lira tugged at my arm excitedly.

“Wait. You two—do not split up.” Spencer warned.

Was he gonna play guardian all
night?

“You’re gonna follow us to the bathroom
too?” I asked him.

“If I have to, yeah.” He nodded. He was serious too.

I rolled my eyes.

Someone bumped into Lira, nearly
toppling her over. She gasped and crashed into me, but I caught and stopped her from falling. Spencer immediately moved to push him away.

“Hey, watch where you’re going
!” Spencer spat, quickly moving in front of us protectively.

“
Oh, my bad, sorry!” The guy shouted.

I smelled alcohol.

“Oh great! He spilled his drink on me!” Lira shouted.

“
No biggie. Let’s go clean it up before it sets in.” I told her.

“We’re going to the restrooms. He spilled his drink on Lira.” I shouted to Spencer.

He nodded and followed behind us. I craned my head to search for the restrooms. In a very tiny miniscule way, I actually did like the fact that Spencer was looking out for us.

Lorelei, Crystal and Scarlet were standing outside of the restrooms, waiting when we exited.

“Did you get it cleaned and dried?” Crystal asked, looking at Lira’s shirt.

“Majority of it.”

“Well, we got a table. Come on
, so you guys will know where it is.” Scarlet waved on.

“Later! Let’s go dance, come on guys!” Lira bounced excitedly, practically dragging me to the dance floor.

I hated crowds like this. I didn’t appreciate the free for all gropes, pokes, and strokes by unknown hands. The presence of shadows and demons became powerfully tangible, once we found a tiny opening for all of us to form our own circle and dance.

Random g
uys were taking their own liberties to freak dance with us from behind, uninvited.

Little
did these guys realize, that one wrong touch would get their asses kicked royally in a heartbeat by us girls.

I wasn’t sure where Spencer went, but I was sure he was nearby, somewhere.
Even though Gabe and Durien found some girls to dance with, I could tell it was more to take stock of and keep an eye on the dark ones that were mixed in with the people around us. Anthony danced with Lorelei, practically attached to her backside. I suppose we should be paying attention to the demons since we were out on the floor too.                                         

This was going to be
a serious hands on training exercise for me if something were to happen. I was worried though, because I still couldn’t wield my blades.

I tried not to think of the possibility of something going awry and enjoy myself.

Durien was right. I needed this. I could see myself indulging in similar outing every once in a while myself, even on my own.

The harder the music thumped, the
more I began to feel energized and —aroused. Instinctively, my eyes immediately went to the crowd beyond our circle, searching like a magnet.

I had a strong, intuitive feeling that I was being watched right now
…and it wasn’t the eyes of another human being. It was difficult to distinguish at first, until I turned up my aural sight. Several, large, red, flaring auras were moving in closer and circling the dance floor. Crystal, Scarlet, Lira, and Lorelei also reacted to the dark beings.

I reac
hed out a hand for Lira, to keep her close to me. She was so small, it would have been easy for her to be caught up and lost in the sea of dancing people.

“Hey!” She squeaked.

Initially, it felt as if she were pulling herself away from me, but I soon realized that she wasn’t. Someone was
pulling
her away.
I instantly shifted into warrior mode, firmly pulling her back towards me. People began to shift and move all around us, it was weird and confusing. I soon realized, that the direction of the crowd was being manipulated to purposefully seclude and force the both of us further to the right— off the dance floor, and away from everyone else.

What the hell was
happening? I panicked; searching the crowd but unable to see very much, since neither Lira nor I had height on our side. How we ended up against the wall and away from everyone else, was puzzling. It happened that fast.

My breath froze in my throat. Moving in like a panther
upon its trapped prey—a huge fallen, swiftly moved in and towered over us.

He reminded me of a sharp-dressed, mafia kingpin. His aura glowed powerfully
, in shades of purple and blood red. He appeared to be of Hispanic heritage, with dark hair, a perfectly cut goatee and mustache combo, and dark tanned skin. After a moment, I began to see the false façade start to ooze away like hot candle wax. Beneath the flesh was something so diabolically heinous and terrifying, I wanted to scream.

His
face was nothing more than a bare skull, with fiery blue flames deep in the hollow sockets of his eyes. Several rows of unbelievably sharp teeth, like needle pointed knives in an oversized jaw, were permanently set into a sadistically evil rictus smile.

His scent
was atrocious. The heat of his power was intoxicating and poisonously potent, making me feel woozy and spurring a gag reflex. I didn’t dare to look away or turn my back on him.

I
positioned myself in front of Lira to guard her. Surely this fallen wouldn’t do anything in here, would he? My adrenaline was rising. My body and mind prepared to defend and fight. I only hoped that my automatic physical response would follow suit and allow me to wield my blades too.

Though he had the both of us cornered,
I knew that it was me he really wanted.

“Well,
well, well, isn’t this conveniently cute and unexpected? It must be my lucky day
.
Dos guerreros divinos hermosos, for the price of stalking one. It’s a damned shame though. Female warrior meat is dulce and most tierno of all humans.” The fallen said, mixing perfect Spanish with English and a malicious smirk.

             
I glared at him, challenging his threat by pushing down my fear before he picked up on it, if he hadn’t already.