Blessed by Night

122  Glad You Could Make It!

"Holy shit!"

"Lucky bitch..."

"Lucky bastard..."

"Am I seeing things?"

When Malachi finally released Luna's lips from his, their actions had caused quite a stir within the ballroom. But he himself didn't seem to care all that much about the commotion he caused, and instead his sole focus rested on the woman in his arms. "...You could have just said hello you know?" She muttered. "Not as fun."

Luna rolled her eyes as she lightly fanned her reddened cheeks, not quite willing to admit that she had enjoyed his greeting more than anyone. "Oh...! I see now!"

Suddenly, a man stepped out from the murmuring crowd, trailed by two people Malachi knew very well. Enzo wore an expression of true shock just like the rest of the crowd, but he didn't really seem to be upset in the slightest. "So, this is the man they spoke of. I must admit, I had not taken you for a cougar, Luna."

The white haired beauty's building good mood was crushed flat in an instant.

"I am most certainly NOT a cougar, Enzo."

"Are you not dating a much younger man?"

"His age has nothing to do with my decision to be with him."

Enzo shrugged as he held out his hand for Malachi to shake and flashed him a charismatic smile. "Enzo Valentin, it's nice to finally meet you."

However, Mal wasn't smiling in the slightest. After his collision with Alex, he was wary of people like this. Those that just seemed to be overwhelmingly charismatic and happy without an ounce of darkness in their hearts. 'What...are you hiding...?'

It was really a simple passing question, but Mal's intense desire to know the truth unlocked a new ability. Suddenly, his vision darkened and the world around him became completely black. Bit by bit, the bodies of everyone inside started to light up.

Some were golden, others were an ominous violet.

Some people were consumed almost completely by the violet, and others only had a part of their body infected. And Enzo... the level of his violet stopped just below his knees, the rest was purely golden. Reassured, Malachi put aside his own skepticism and stuck out his hand. "I'm Mal." He replied calmly. He wasn't aware of it then, but he would come to realize later that he was making a huge mistake. -

"Fuck, why does bro talk so much?!" Mal cried in exhaustion. He and his group had entered a whole thirty minutes ago, and yet he was just now getting away from Enzo. The guy was super nice and had a likeable personality but he talked a lot! The only reason Malachi managed to escape was because his girlfriends had their fill of amusement and acted as his saving grace. Even though he'd just arrived, Malachi made an immediate beeline for the back of the ballroom and was now leaning against the wall as he regenerated his energy. Sei: "He got so excited when he found out that you spoke Spanish." Luna: "I couldn't even follow half of what was said." Anna: "Me neither, but I wanna hear more~"

Bianca: "I second that notion!"

Malachi chuckled as Anna and Bianca pressed their bodies up against him like they were under a spell. Who knew speaking three languages would have this sort of an effect on women?

Malachi dropped his hands to the girls' waists and prepared to oblige them, when an instinctive feeling of danger rushed into his body. Looking up, he found none of the partygoers looking at him strangely, but he was sure that he felt malicious intent just now. Discreetly, Mal expanded his senses while sniffing the air as he tried to search for the mysterious aggressor. And when he actually found them... a smile formed across his lips. 'I'm glad you made it.' -

"You are positively divine! I don't believe I've ever seen you before." "Я из России." (I'm from Russia.)

"Ah.. I'm sorry, I don't believe I understand." "в этом суть. Отъебись." (That is the point. Fuck off.) Eventually, the man gave up trying to speak to the mysterious Russian beauty and respectfully bowed before turning around and searching for other women to seduce. The blonde woman he left behind sighed before peeking at a group several feet away. Specifically, her focus was on the young woman with bold tattoos and wearing an enchanting black dress. When she smiled, she seemed to light up the space around her, and it was clear that she was loved not only by the man she was holding onto, but the other women around her as well. How could something she created be so beautiful? In the back of her mind, desires that she had long stuffed down threatened to burst free. She wanted to hug her. She wanted to apologize for leaving, and for missing all those birthday and Christmases. She wanted to beg for forgiveness, and plead for an opportunity to start over. But she was also so unbelievably scared. The thing about being enamored with something beautiful, is that you naturally want to reach out and hold it. But sometimes, a single incorrect touch is all it takes to shatter the object that you were so hopelessly captivated by. The same is true for people. What if in trying to get closer to her daughter and apologize, she did more harm than good and hurt them both in the end?

Hadn't she already caused enough harm?

How could she hope to ever look herself in the mirror again if she somehow made things worse than they already were?

'This was a mistake... I shouldn't have come.'

Just as Joanne prepared to make a hasty and well needed exit, she suddenly paused when she felt a pair of eyes boring into her back. Looking back, she found Malachi staring back at her through dark rimmed sunglasses. 'How the hell did he find me?'

Just so that she could remain anonymous, Joanne had taken special care to wear a blonde wig and blue contacts to this event. And yet somehow, it seemed as though Malachi had seen through her disguise with no real difficulty. But just as he'd promised, he was not approaching her, nor drawing attention to her identity. Her only problem with him was that his hands were a bit too low on his daughter's waist and she was currently resisting the urge to break his arm. The two of them held eye contact for no longer than a few seconds before she ended up walking away. She was so sure about what the right thing to do was a second ago but... now she wasn't so sure. As she walked towards the exit, she pulled out her phone and scrolled towards a contact that she hadn't had the nerve to call in a long time. -

"Can I interest you all in some toast points with a nice smoked salmon mousse?" A waiter asked. Malachi, Serana, Anna, Sei, and Bianca, all looked like they had no real idea of what had just been offered.

They curiously analyzed the odd food on a silver tray in front of them, and tilted their heads at this unforeseen amalgamation. "Is it like Texas toast?" Bianca asked. "Ummm, something like that but also no..?"

"Is it made of moose? Or salmon? ...Or both..?" Sei asked worriedly. "Ma'am, it's not an actual moose but rather a thick, creamy substance that is made with salmon and other ingredients."

"""What does it taste like?""" Anna, Mal, and Serana asked in unison. The waiter fought the urge to chuckle as he tried his best to explain the flavor. "It has a fishy taste, but it's very-"

"Oh, honestly!"

Luna finally had enough and stopped the poor waiter from answering anymore unnecessary questions. "You are all adults! Why are you acting like you're so afraid to try a simple appetizer?"

""""""Cause what if it's nasty?""""""

"I can assure you that the sous chef I hired to work alongside Morgan is one of the finest in the world."

The unsure group looked at each other before shrugging and reaching out for an appetizer. Once everyone had grabbed a toast point, they said a silent prayer before taking a hesitant bite. "Well? What do you think?" Luna asked suspiciously. The group finally finished chewing, and the reactions were as exaggerated as she expected. He was rich, but he wasn't that rich. 13:52

"My mouth tastes like fish." Anna said as she pulled out a small tin of mints. "It tastes like something I can't afford to eat on a regular basis. I bet you they bought all of these ingredients from Whole Foods." Malachi said. He was rich, but he wasn't that rich. "My mouth tastes like fish." Anna said as she pulled out a small tin of mints. "I-It's not terrible but it's not... terribly delicious either?" Sei said politely. "If we were in food wars, all of my clothes would still be on." Bianca said as she accepted a mint from Anna. "Hey Mal, can you text Mr. Morgan and ask him if he can throw on some burgers for us?" Serana asked. Luna pouted cutely as she listened to the reactions of her loved ones.

"There will be no burgers at this event, Serana. This is a very upscale event so the food has to reflect-"

"He says no, but he's planning to go to Waffle House after this and he asked if we wanted to join him." Malachi said as he read the message on his phone. Serana: "Ooh! Can we go??"

Sei: "That does sound nice."

Anna: "Oh, should I start drinking then? It always tastes better with alcohol in my system."

Bianca: "I would choke a baby for a chicken hashbrown bowl right now."

The group started to buzz with excitement, and Luna merely rolled her eyes at their childish behavior. Honestly, who would choose a warm, greasy waffle over-

"You'll come with us, right Emi?" Malachi asked seductively. Maybe it was because she was weaker whenever he called her by her real name, or perhaps it was because she wasn't 100% satisfied with the food being served either. But before she could stop herself, she was agreeing to come along with them. "I guess... an all star special doesn't sound too bad..."

Malachi and the girls laughed as he gave her a small kiss on the cheek, and they excitedly started finalizing their plans. "Excuse me, could I have everyone's attention?"

Suddenly, a melodic masculine voice rang out from the center of the ball room, and Mal's blood ran cold when he saw the latest guests to enter the party. 'Arias...' n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Ik I got readers from all over the world so for those of you who don’t know what Waffle House is… it is probably the most unsafe restaurant where you can get the best food. 

It is the only restaurant where you can walk in and the floors will be greasy as shit and you’ll be like ‘Oh yea, I know this finna hit.’ 

And if the cook has been to prison and has a nicotine addiction??? I swear you’ll never want to eat anything else it’s amazing.