Kyle chuffed when Andrew and Lucas had returned from the forest, hair mussed and faces flushed. He muttered to himself, “I guess for some people, five minutes is enough.”
Silence gave him the half-serious, scolding look. It was a glare she’d give him while her steely eyes twinkled with humor. Kyle loved it.
Speaking of fast…
Things were moving way too much of it. One minute, Kyle was enjoying the hot springs with Silence, the next he was sitting at the crowded premiere of Rayne’s Verse.
In formal-wear.
Damn it, between the girls, Lucas, and Korac, the Shadow had wrangled Kyle into a black three-piece with a fucking cumberbund. A waistcoat he could manage. But why did they saddle him with this hideous non-combat accessory across his midsection? Who cared that it matched Silence’s outfit?
Okay, Kyle cared a little. She seemed to dig the getup. But for real, they were about to take on the multi-verse. Why was everyone so snazzy? Where did these outfits even come from? It was like Lucas had been planning this from the beginning.
Silence reveled in it. Her clandestine Ancient bestie had dressed her in a sheer crimson two-piece harem ensemble, complete with black bangles on her biceps. It was so transparent, Lucas had asked Kyle to adhere pasties under the bra-top. His G.I.L.F. glowed in it as Silence’s grandsons tried their best not to complain. Kyle felt extra smug with her on his arm.
The red theme continued with the next couple. Sagan’s vermillion Qipao minidress with black flames embroidered into the silk matched Korac’s modernized martial arts coat and loose linens pants. Same pattern, inverted colors, yada yada.
And yeah, Tameka, Xelan, and Pax wearing matching gear tugged at Kyle’s heartstrings. The little boy was the spitting image of his father in their matte black and red-accented three-piece tuxes and waistcoats perfectly complimented Tameka’s hair and the bright skater dress she wore to showoff the hard-earned definition of her quads.
Lucas had popped his perception filter back on for the public affair. He dressed in a classic black James Bond tuxedo with a cardinal bow tie. Andrew looked happy sitting beside his cradle-robbing boyfriend, wearing a flaming—no pun intended—tunic over black slacks. They were so adorable they’d activated Kyle’s gag reflex with how much they were all over each other next to him.
The rest of the Shadow were present for Iuo’s premiere. That should go without saying. And although they all matched, there was only one other couple whose gear was worthy of Kyle’s notice.
Rayne knocked it out of the park in that scarlet dress. Thin straps, sweetheart neckline, and a long skirt with gaping slits down her legs for ass-kicking. She always looked like an Amazon when she wore heels, and for once, they weren’t chunky combat boots. Slinky stilettos gave her an additional four-inches of height. Not at all practical, but fortunately, she could switch to something else in a pinch.
Unfortunately, Kyle wasn’t the only one admiring her. Nox had ADRD. Attention Directed at Rayne Disorder. And as much as Kyle liked Lucas and was happy for him and Andrew, he didn’t agree with the tailor’s choice to dress Nox in a black kilt with a scarlet tartan pattern and no shirt. The entire Shadow were forced to sit around the treeloft and watch Rayne paint a Verse in red ink all over the bastard’s chest and back. They’d both mooned at each other, and Kyle had finally gagged.
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Secretly.
He didn’t complain about Nox around Silence. It seemed to hurt her, and Kyle was a better man than that. Besides, if they survived this, Xelan’s plans guaranteed Kyle a front-row seat to Nox’s punishment. He could tolerate the motherfucker for one final battle.
And here they were.
The end.
How much had the Shadow endured together? Invasion, battles, infiltration, sacrifice, loss, and so much pain. Yet Kyle could never discount the happy times which shone like beacons in everyone’s memories tonight. They were lighthouses in the dead of night.
This was for them.
Front row in the Palatial Grounds amphitheater could seat an army, and it was a good thing, too, seeing as the Shadow brought one to the premiere. In order from left to right:
Tumu’s suspicious ass and Lamassau sat on the end, open to the aisle and ready for action.
Twenty-One and Miy took a break from space training to join in the festivities. The emo princess had complained initially that red clashed with the orange streaks in her black feathers, but after Lucas finished transforming her into a sexy fireball, she’d perked up.
Pablo hated to leave Lynn with Qas again, but the good doctor couldn’t leave the Shadow to a rowdy battle without his bedside manner.
The annihilation squad accounted for the next four seats: Yito, Puk, Matt, and Lucy. Bethany had asked to sit with her family. She’d said something about them needing her help more. Regardless, they all coordinated not only in clothes but in the disappointed look on their faces. Apparently, they took umbrage with the no-kill order.
Pehton’s red feathers blended right into the theme. Meanwhile, Kyle resented Caedes because apparently he got special privileges not to coordinate. Dude was in black from bald head to combat-booted toe.
Korac and Sagan had asked Legir and X, more healer and trapper than fighters, to watch baby Echo. Meaning, if the Shadow didn’t return from the premiere, they and The Brethren were trusted to raise her. Galactic god parents.
Tameka, Pax, and Xelan sat in the royal box front and center, with Aria and Torch flanking them like fiery columns.
Rayne sat as close to Xelan as possible, which was real awkward considering this was a film about her life before any of them knew it so heavily involved the giant piece of shit sitting next to her. She kept shifting in her seat to buffer Xelan from Nox.
Silence and Kyle carried the exhausting burden of being the hottest couple in this amphitheater filled with millions. And they did it with style and grace.
Andrew and Lucas were still all over each other, like this wasn’t a public event or something.
Smith sat on the other side of Lucas, grinning like an eager kid let loose in a candy store.
Devis took the news that Nox was alive about as well as Kyle. Likewise, the man sulked between his sister and brother. T.a.o. and Andrius wore ceremonial clothes from an age gone by. But dyed red and black to match the rest of them. They both looked ready to end it.
Jack simply refused to acknowledge Nox’s existence. He was beyond elated Rayne had come out of hiding finally, but he’d slipped into Atramentous at the mere mention of the former King of Cinder. Ross ran interference, reminding him of how happy they should be with all the family together. Made all the easier to say with Bethany sitting beside them. She looked like a grown woman dressed in the slender red gown with black full-length gloves. Kyle was not happy about it. His baby sister kept leaning forward in her seat to wave down the row at Matt and Lucy. And they encouraged it.
Karter sat between Chris and Para, another proud G.I.L.F. Bones joined them as the outlier to their poly and Para’s date for the evening. The women looked radiant while the men looked eager to get their girls home at the end of the night.
This was a freaking fashion show on steroids. Even so, Kyle couldn’t imagine ending the multi-verse with a finer bunch of fighters, lovers, and friends.
The stage lit up, and the curtain raised to reveal Iuo in the most ridiculous outfit of them all. His black jacket and slacks were bedazzled with rubies. The Lamian King-Elect twinkled, looking like he stole it out of Razor’s closet.
“Welcome guests to my finest production.”
Iuo winked at the living breathing Rayne during the premiere of her posthumous biopic.
What was more Shadow than that?