The Devil is Marvelous

Chapter 26

Rylee and I pushed our way around Oblivion in search of Daphne. There was an insane amount of people squeezed into this only moderately sized club, making it really stuffy and hot.

I spotted Payton talking to the DJ, so I shoved my way through the crowd as fast as I could before Payton could get away.

"Hey Payton! Have you seen Daphne anywhere?"

Her eyes fluttered over to me, sighing heavily "How am I supposed to keep track of one person. Do you see how many guests I have?" she crossed her arms "And besides, you need to calm down, she doesn't need you hounding her all night. If you're going to be a buzz kill then get out of my party."

With that, she spun on her heels and clickity clacked away from me. The DJ started blasting music, creating a flood of people to the dance floor.

"We're never going to find her" Rylee groaned behind me.

"She's got to be around here somewhere. Lets split up, we'll cover more ground that way"

"Split up?" Rylee croaked "What the hell you mean split up? You think I want to go off alone in this crowd?"

"I know, but do we have any other choice? I'm getting really worried about her. We can meet by the front door in ten minutes, okay?"

Rylee sighed but nodded, heading off towards the washrooms. I decided i'd check the most obvious place I could think of: the bar.

Unfortunately for me, no Daphne. Even more unfortunately for me, Jaxon was there with his giggling bimbo, giving each other shots. This chick was flirting up a goddamn storm, placing her hands all over him, laughing at everything he said. I mentally rolled my eyes, keeping my head down as I passed by them. I prayed they wouldn't see me, that's the last thing I needed to happen.

"YO AVA, IS THAT YOU?"

Oh that's fantastic. Real great. Who now?

I glanced up, and it wasn't Jaxon or Alix who had called my name, even though I could feel their eyes on me. It was the other Marvel a few seats over, beer in hand, waving me over.

"Syler?" I asked, approaching him without so much as a glance towards Jaxon.

"The one and only" he winked, "I'm surprised to see you here"

"As am I" I lied. I heard him and Jaxon talking in the basement the other day.

"I'm DD tonight. Jaxon just had to go to this party even though I thought we were having a dude night"

"Uh huh" I said, raising my eyebrow "You're DD, yet you're drinking a beer?"

He cocked his head back, his crazy laugh filling the area. "Darlin it would take at least a few of these to get me buzzed. I'm just having one. Anyway what's up with you? I didn't know you were friends with Jax's ex"

"I'm not" I scoffed, "I'm a little offended you think I could be friends with such a bitch."

He chuckled, holding up his hands "My bad, my bad. I get it though, between you and me, I never liked her"

"At least it seems like he's moved on" I muttered, gesturing to him and Alix. She was leaning into him now, looking up into his eyes in a fit of laughter. I cringed, happy to see that Syler's face was also scrunched up.

"I'd much rather be someplace else but hey, if this is what the guy needs to wind down from our parents being home then so be it." Syler chugged the rest of his beer, setting the empty bottle on the counter. I took the opportunity to ask him if he'd seen Daphne anywhere.