Fallen 2. Torment(30)

"This is your idea of a small party?" Miles asked.

Luce was watching Roland, wondering what story he was telling. Something

about the way he was taking charge made Luce think back to Cam's room, to the first and

only real party she'd ever gone to at Sword & Cross, and it made her miss Arriane. And,

of course, Penn, who'd been nervous when she first arrived at the party but ended up

having a better time than anyone. And Daniel, who would barely speak to Luce back

then. Things were so different now.

"Well, I don't know about you guys," Shelby said, kicking off her flip-flops and

padding onto the sand in her socks, "but I'm going to get myself a drink, then a hot dog,

then maybe a lesson from one of those drum circle guys."

"Me too," Miles said. "Except for the drum circle part, in case that wasn't

obvious."

"Luce." Roland waved from his position on the boulder. "You made it."

Miles and Shelby were already way ahead of her, heading toward the hot dog

station, so Luce trekked over a dune of cool, damp sand toward Roland and the others.

"You weren't kidding when you said you wanted to make your presence known.

This is really something, Roland."

Roland nodded graciously. "Something, huh? Something good, or something

bad?"

It seemed like a loaded question, and what Luce wanted to say was that she

couldn't tell anymore. She thought about the heated conversation she'd overheard in the

teacher's office. How sharp Francesca's voice had sounded. The line between what was

good and what was bad felt incredibly blurry. Roland and Steven were fallen angels

who'd gone over. Demons, right? Did she even know what that meant? But then there

was Cam, and ... what did Roland mean by that question? She squinted at him. Maybe he

was really only asking whether Luce was having fun?

A myriad of colorful partygoers swirled around her, but Luce could feel the

endless black waves nearby. The air near the water was whipping and cold, but the

bonfire was hot on her skin. So many things seemed to be at odds right now, all shoving

up against her at once.

"Who are all these people, Roland?"

"Let's see." Roland pointed at the hippie kids in the drum circle. "Townies." To

their right, he gestured at a big group of guys trying to impress a much smaller group of

girls with a few very bad thrusting dance moves. "Those guys are marines stationed in

Fort Bragg. From the way they're partying, I hope they're on leave for the weekend."

When Jasmine and Dawn sidled up next to him, Roland put one arm around each of their

shoulders. "These two, I believe you know."

"You didn't tell us you were such big friends with the celestial social director,

Luce," Jasmine said.

"Seriously." Dawn leaned in to whisper loudly to Luce, "Only my diary knows

how many times I've wished to go to a Roland Sparks party. And my diary will never

tell."

"Oh, but I might," Roland joked.

"Is there no relish at this party?" Shelby popped up behind Luce with Miles at her

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side. She was holding two hot dogs in one hand and stuck out her free one to Roland.

"Shelby Sterris. Who are you?"

"Shelby Sterris," Roland repeated. "I'm Roland Sparks. You ever live in East

L.A.? Have we met before?"

"No."

"She has a photographic memory," Miles supplied, slipping Luce a veggie hot

dog, which was not her favorite, but a nice gesture nonetheless. "I'm Miles. Cool party,

by the way."

"Very cool," Dawn agreed, swaying with Roland to the drumbeat.

"What about Steven and Francesca?" Luce had to practically shout to Shelby.

"Won't they hear us down here?" It was one thing to sneak out under the radar. It was

another to plant a sonic boom directly on that radar.

Jasmine glanced back toward the campus. "They'll hear us, sure, but our leash is

pretty long at Shoreline. At least for the Nephilim kids. As long as we stay on campus,

under their umbrella of surveillance, we can pretty much do as we please."

"Does that include a limbo contest?" Roland grinned impishly, producing a long,

thick branch from behind him. "Miles, you going to hold the other end for me?"

Seconds later, the branch was raised, the drumbeat changed, and it seemed like

the whole party had dropped what they were doing to form one long, animated limbo

line.

"Luce," Miles called to her. "You're not just going to stand there, are you?"

She studied the crowd, feeling stiff and rooted to her spot in the sand. But Dawn

and Jasmine were making an opening for her to squeeze into line between the two of

them. Already in competition mode--probably born in competition mode--Shelby was