The bar glittered like liquid starlight, casting fractured light across my dress and Malvor's suit as we returned, still laughing from our last escape. The androgynous bartender caught our approach with a wink, already stirring up something suspicious and glowing.
"This one is called Moon in the Undertow," they purred, sliding me a glass that shifted from icy silver to midnight blue with every breath I took. "Flavored like memories you almost forgot."
I sniffed cautiously. "It smells like sugar and secrets."
"Perfect," Malvor approved, then pointed at his own drink, an ominous swirl of black with a blue flame dancing on top. "And this?"
The bartender's smirk curved sharp. "Depth Charge. Do not sip unless you want to hear the stars scream."
"I absolutely do," Malvor declared, lifting his glass like he was about to make a toast to destruction. "To bad decisions and dancing with gods."
We clinked glasses and drank. My knees immediately went weak. "I think my knees are laughing," I whispered.
Malvor swayed a little himself, smiling like a man who had just remembered every wicked thought he'd ever had. "Perfect timing, my little shipwreck. Shall we dance?"
I didn't have a chance to answer. He tugged me gently onto the dance floor. The music was a living thing, oceanic bass and shimmering waves of sound that rippled through the crowd. The floor shifted beneath us like starlight on water, every step bending to the rhythm. I started off hesitant, the drink still swirling through my blood, loosening something in me. By the second spin, I was laughing into his chest, my body falling into rhythm with his like I'd been waiting for it.
"I think gravity is drunk," I murmured.
"No, no," he grinned, resting his forehead against mine, "that's just me, Sea Glass."
We moved closer, bodies pressed, hands curling into fabric, breaths tangling. The rest of the club blurred into heat and color. His whisper was velvet against my lips. "You are stunning. Devastating."
"You already told me that," I whispered back, voice husky. "But I wouldn't mind hearing it again."
His hand slid to my waist, pulling me flush against him. "Devastating. Irresistible. The reason I'm considering misbehaving in a room full of gods."
I laughed, low and dangerous. "Then you'd better behave, Chaos."
"Unlikely."
I had one more second to smirk before his mouth was on mine, slow and deep and drowning. The kiss made the rest of the world flicker like an illusion. Nothing existed but his hands, my heartbeat, and the way we moved together, offbeat with everyone else, yet somehow perfectly in tune. When we finally pulled apart, I was breathless and dazed. "Remind me what was in that drink again?"
Malvor licked his lips, eyes hazy. "Poor decisions."
I laughed, pulling him back into the music. We became a tangle of limbs and fire, a mixing of souls, riding the beat like waves on open water. The magic pulsed, rising, everything was going amazing.
Until Yara. She erupted onto the dance floor like a crashing tide. Her dress clung and sparkled like it had been poured onto her skin, seashells and pearls catching every glimmer of light. Her hips swayed as if the ocean itself obeyed her. She didn't hesitate. She never did. She slipped between us like she owned the space, curling her arms around Malvor's neck with a silky purr. "It is the day of my birth, darling."
Malvor laughed softly. "Of course it is."
Just like that, she pulled him into her rhythm. Fluid. Showy. Every movement a performance. Malvor matched her beat for beat, his grin wicked, their chemistry explosive under the spotlight. I moved to the bar, sipping something cool and fizzy. I didn't feel jealousy. Not even bitterness. I was too old for that. Too tired. Too sure of myself. Instead, I smiled faintly, nursing my glass, watching as the god of chaos and the goddess of oceans turned the floor into a tempest. He was laughing, really laughing, and gods, he looked younger when he did. Lighter. Freer.
So I let myself enjoy it. Let them burn bright together, if only for a moment. Let the crowd worship them. Let the waves crash. I leaned back on my stool, one leg crossed over the other, swirling my drink while the music washed over me like the tide. Because I knew. He would find me again. He always did. When he did, I'd be right here. Smiling, steady, untouched by the chaos. The one he always came home to.