Silencing The Siren

19. Even When Your Hope is Gone

(Life of the Party)

Calliope walked slowly until she arrived outside of the crowded nightclub on Bourbon Street. She walked inside, and she immediately turned to walk toward the bar. When she made her way over to the bar, she ordered herself the first drink she saw that she had never tried–snake tequila, which looked weird despite being popular in Mexico. She closed her eyes as she tossed the drink down her throat quickly, swallowing it without even really tasting it. As the night continued, she ended up doing many more shots of varying types of alcohol.

By the time that all of Calliope's friends made it to the packed club, they were greeted with the sight of Calliope doing a body shot off of some random hot woman. The hot woman was laying on her back on the top of the bar, and she was giggling as Calliope licked a line of salt off of her body.

Nagaveni giggled as well. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, she thought. Calli has always been able to make friends everywhere she goes.

Calliope finally noticed her friends when she was finished. She ran over to them after excusing herself from the random woman, who had just given her phone number over to Calliope.

Calliope was smiling widely as she walked up to the group. Standing in front of her friends, she asked them, "So, did you all finally decide to come to celebrate with me?"

Asmodeus stepped forward and asked Calliope, "And what exactly do you think we should be celebrating Calli?" He raised an eyebrow and continued. "The fact that you're gonna die?"

"We should be celebrating my life, buzzkill," Calliope retorted. Her voice was dripping with sarcasm, which she immediately felt bad about.

"Come on, Calli... We don't even know for sure that getting your powers taken away is gonna kill you," Nagaveni pointed out.

Calliope knew that Nagaveni was just trying to remain optimistic, but she didn't want to listen to it. She just wanted to forget about everything. "Maybe we don't, but I still just have this nagging feeling that I'm gonna die," she responded. "And besides, I thought I told you I don't want to talk about it anymore. At least... Not tonight." With that, she sighed, rubbing her face. Then, she grabbed Asmodeus' arm and pulled him toward the dance floor. "Come on... Come and dance with me, grumpy," she pleaded with him desperately.

Asmodeus reluctantly allowed Calliope to pull him to the middle of the crowded dance floor. He swayed to the rhythm of the loud music with her, growling in her ear when she began to grind against him. "Calli..." he groaned. Then, he pulled away slightly and said, "Hey, I'm really sorry about all of this... The trickster was right. I should've just stayed behind so I could monitor that piece of shit brother of mine."

"Stop," Calliope said, placing one finger against his lips. "Please... Can you just please... Let me enjoy your company for one night. We may not have gotten the chance to see what would happen between us this time around, but... I need you to know that I do love you, 'Deus. So... Fucking... Much. I just really, really want nothing more than to enjoy being here—with you—tonight," she pleaded.

'He doesn't even want to live if you're not going to be here for him to spend his life with... Even if he has to settle for just being friends, he wants you in his life. That's so sad...' Lyn whispered inside of Calliope's mind.

I know Lyn, Calliope thought in response. But, he's probably gonna have to live without me. There may not be any way around it, so he needs to learn to accept it.

"Te amo también, Calli," Asmodeus replied. He lifted Calliope's chin using his forefinger and thumb, forcing her to meet his soul-piercing gaze. The purple color in her eyes is breathtaking, he thought to himself. It made him want to kiss her more than anything. So, he leaned into her, kissing her round, full lips deeply. Your lips are so fucking soft, he said to her telepathically. You're so gods-damn perfect to me, Calli.