Onyx is a city ruled by the Ophidian Cartel . But to 19 year old Adalie Riva , Onyx is the land of opportunity as she leaves home to become a sultry jazz performer . Adalie is quickly enraptured with the vibrant city from its music , it's food and...
It was exhausting . All the unending possibilities had plagued Adalie well past dawn. As the hours had passed, the events of last night had tangled through her mind, leaving behind an eerie mélange of memory .
What struck Adalie most was the contrast of coldness and warmth. Of darkness and light. The way the air had felt in the mansion, thick and heavy. The remembrance of Niko threatening her . The way Adalie's nerves had iced at any potential threat, her bones pulling taut as if she’d stepped into a bracing winter’s night.
She hasn't seen or heard anything from Luca for weeks until there arrived a boutique of dove white roses at the door with a note
' Meet me Tonight at Roi-De-France at 9 ' —L
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She clutched the silly note tighter in her palm. The one handed to her in passing by a stone-faced Priscilla
It shouldn’t have mattered to Adalie that Luca had thought of her . But it did . The note she held in her palm proved they were not simply “acquaintances” . They were beyond such inanities. Perhaps it mattered to someone somewhere that Adalie was not a proper match for Luca , nor was he at all the proper suitor she’d envisioned for herself. But it no longer mattered to them.
Beside her feet, the rays of sunlight stretched long and lean as dusk began to descend on Onyx, the sky catching fire along the horizon. Adalie huffed, the echo unspooling into the plaster ceilings.
Hooking an errant curl behind an ear, Adalie strode toward her bedroom as her thoughts drift on to last night yet again . Again she struggled to understand what had made Niko shift his attentions to her. Had his hatred for his brother driven him to murder that poor girl , Ophelia . Whether everything was connected and, if so, what Niko's next step might be if she doesn't stay away from Luca .
_
Adalie stood naked in the center of her bedroom , cold dread coursing through her at the thought of what today would bring. Her skin was damp, the air around her perfumed by the lavender castile soap she’d used in her recent bath. It was a Breathing deeply of the soothing lavender fragrance, Adalie donned a clean pair of drawers and laced the ties of her chemise below her collarbone. Then she secured the front of her stays across her midriff and made a face before pulling the ties tightly behind her until her waist appeared outlandishly small in comparison to her bust and hips.
Adalie smoothed the front of her dress, the vibrant white stripes flattening beneath her palms. It was scarcely 9 o’clock, but the day sweltered like a bathhouse in summertime. The thick heat of Onyx never ceased to amaze her. This city in late January felt like Paris in July .
As she began making her way toward the location Luca gave , A balmy breeze riffled through a magnolia tree to her left, its downy white blossoms swaying in the sultry wind. The breeze coiled closer, carrying with it the sweet perfume of honeysuckle and lavender . Somewhere in the distance, an unseen man with a beautiful voice began to sing, his words a mixture of French and something Adalie could not quite discern. In only a few short weeks, Adalie had learned to appreciate how the city seemed to come alive the moment the sun dipped below the horizon. Not a normal kind of alive, like sunshine and laughter. But a sinister, sensual kind of alive. A warm caress and a cool whisper. Despite everything, Adalie found herself falling a little bit in love.
