to ask about his wife—the one who he’d … the one who died. I wanted to know if he’d ever found love again. “Thank you for welcoming me. This is not at all what I expected.” He didn’t need to know that I’d thought that old creepy guy and his tongues were going to eat me alive.
Tyler’s eyes brightened slightly. “I’ll do my best to see to your comfort and safety. Enjoy your evening.” Tyler nodded once more and walked away. Mid-step, a buoyant girl with vibrant orange, blue, and yellow butterfly wings grabbed him into a passionate hug. Where his hand grazed her wings, the delicate material fell to the ground like ash. Almost instantly after, a new and equally stunning wing materialized, like rice paper, in its place.
Toward the back of the room was an expansive DJ booth with four DJs spinning and a bar complete with tiny flying bartenders who flitted back and forth serving whatever was in those frosted glasses. One DJ had super pointy ears and eerily thin lips framed by mutton chops. He held his short arms in the air and waved to the crowd who eagerly waved back. After a minute, a girl DJ, who had to be like twelve feet tall, took over. She removed her jacket and flung it into the crowd. Everyone cheered as she turned the music up even louder. My whole body reverberated with the bass.
Shirtless dark-winged angels, male and female, danced so seductively, I wasn’t sure if I should look away or gawk. Their fluid movements were made even more seductive by the reflection of the disco balls onto their dark wings.
The circular room was highly styled and decorated all in white, with ice-blue accents and pink fluorescent lighting under the booths. Floor-to-ceiling cages held humans wearing nothing more than fish net stockings and obscenely high heels—even the men. In the far left corner of the dance floor was a group of people with horse bodies from the waist down looking like they were deep in conversation.
One of the DJs put on that song by those guys who are always apologizing for party rocking. Before I could blink, the dance floor filled with various species of beings doing the electric slide, forcing the answer to the age-old question as to whether the need to perform the dance transcends worlds. Led by Caius, of all angels, about twenty otherworldlies ran, flew, or galloped to the dance floor to embarrass themselves as much as possible.
The Fallen angels I’d met were far different from what I had expected. I wondered why Mom had gotten so worked up over them. When I was hungry, someone found me something to eat; if I needed a drink, one was placed quickly in my hand. The sprites and elves were especially attentive.
A few songs later, I found Caius and Arcturus making the rounds.
“Everything OK?” I asked Arcturus, who was sure to give me a straight answer.
“Grace, we’re having a good time. It’s a fun party and everyone is asking about you, what you’re like. I think we’re gonna like it here.”
Caius seemed more interested in chatting up garden sprites than talking to me.
I decided not to worry about it for the moment. I felt at home for the time listening to all my favorite music with these creepy, happy, Fallen, angelic, damned souls and all of their friends. They were beautiful in a cursed and sad way. I found myself drawn to one in particular. Big, brown, wavy, thick hair hung like heavy bricks around her oval head. “Oh I love this song; let’s dance!” she whined to another Fallen, who looked like he had stepped out of the pages of a L’uomo Vogue. He seemed enchanted by the beauty standing before him in a light blue gown, and he obliged. He spun her around to the middle of the dance floor. Then he dipped and spun and tossed and caught her, to the delight of the crowd. It garnered a smile from Gavin, who’d just entered the room.
Then the girl did something that took my breath away. She dropped his hand, hiked up her dress, pulled a short knife from a sheath on her right thigh, and rushed me. My legs became lead pipes, heavy and still.
The room fell silent, music stopped.
Tyler landed between us in the nick of time with wings outstretched. He had his back to her, so certain she wouldn’t use the knife on him.