Violet Eden Chapters 04 - Endless

– and on Monday, my official graduation.
    I can’t say I was expecting great things from my graduation. There was no doubt my exam performance had been substandard. But I was at least proud I’d made it through to the end of high school. Plus, Steph’s speech would be a guaranteed highlight. She was valedictorian – and not afraid of saying, well … whatever came to mind.
    It was the Fenton course that I was really looking forward to. I hoped those six weeks would be my stepping stone into the arts community and, all dramas aside, a chance for me to be normal.
    Steph had bought me an incredible leather portfolio so large it would fit full canvases and all of my supplies. I knew that walking down the street with it would fill me with pride.
    AsI entered Hades with my dress – in protective carrier – slung over my shoulder, I smiled at the thought of trading it in for my portfolio the next day.
    I made my way to Dapper’s apartment through the bar. I knocked on the heavy door and called out so they knew it was me. Dapper had been attacked by Phoenix’s exiles a month ago, when we were trying to set up an exchange. Phoenix had double-crossed us. Dapper, Onyx, and most of all, Steph, had paid the price.
    I felt the same twinge of guilt every time I went to his place now and saw the steel reinforced door and listened to the various locks being undone. Dapper had once prided himself on his position of neutrality, but Phoenix hadn’t cared; his exiles came anyway. Dapper almost died that night and it had taken something from him that I wasn’t sure he would ever get back.
    ‘Remind me again why it is I don’t seem to be able to get rid of you?’ he mumbled in greeting before looking over his shoulder to Steph, adding, ‘Or her.’
    The truth? Both of us were currently avoiding our homes like the plague. The last I’d heard, Steph’s mother had been ‘entertaining’ a particularly crude, wealthy and handsy businessman whom Steph could barely tolerate.
    ‘Because you’d be lost without us and as much as it annoys you, you get satisfaction out of knowing our presence annoys Onyx even more.’
    ‘I heard that,’ Onyx’s voice rang out from inside. ‘And it is entirely true. It’s some form of twisted punishment.’ His tone held no bite.
    Dapper grunted, but I saw the corners of his mouth lift to an almost-smile.
    Ipatted him on the shoulder as I walked in to find Steph right at home; dress hanging on the edge of the stand-up lamp, shoes off, hair wet and dripping on the carpet where she sat cross-legged, snacking on biscuits and flipping through Vogue .
    She glanced up at me. ‘If you want food, eat now. Nothing permitted in the two-hour lead-up.’ She patted her stomach. ‘Otherwise it’ll show.’
    I rolled my eyes. ‘Are you planning on not eating all night?’
    She fixed a serious look on me. ‘Violet,’ was all she said.
    I took that as a yes, dropped my bag and slung my dress over the sofa before sitting beside her on the floor and grabbing a biscuit. I didn’t bother explaining I wouldn’t be sticking to the no-food rule. No dress was worth that.
    It wasn’t like I had anyone to impress.
    We were going as a group: Steph and Salvatore, Zoe and Spence – who’d somehow managed to qualify for graduation too – and Jase with me. I’d felt uncomfortable about going with Steph’s brother, but Zoe assured me she would be doing everything to command his attention for the evening.
    Jase, apparently, had developed a small interest in me. It was flattering, since I used to drool over him in the pre-Lincoln days. But even though I couldn’t be with Lincoln there was no way I could consider anything else with anyone else and … My heart just couldn’t take another male complication.
    I looked over at Onyx, who was sitting at the minibar, with a large glass of something mind-numbing, I assumed, and an open laptop in front of him.
    ‘What are you doing?’ I asked.
    ‘Trying to track down some old exile chat sites.’
    My eyes widened. ‘You’re kidding, right?’
    ‘Absolutelynot,’ he grinned.
    ‘Why?’ I asked suspiciously. The last thing we needed was Onyx getting back in touch with his old followers and leaking information to them.
    ‘Don’t panic, rainbow. I’m just seeing if the threads are still active. Thought one might mention a Phoenix or Lilith sighting. They’re quite the celebrities these days. The “first exile”, returned from the pits of Hell and her exile