Karina: Fire & Ice

Name: Karina

Day/Time: Sunday, 3:18 AM

Current state of mind: Tired

What are you wearing? Silver ballgown and Nick’s suit coat

What are you listening to? Radioactive by Imagine Dragons and Kendrick Lamar

What are you drinking? Vodka-soda with lime

Where are you? Living room

Hey, I’m Karina, but you can call me Kari if you want. I’m back doing this whole blog thing. It wasn’t supposed to be my month, but surprise. To be honest, I just want to get this shit done and over with. And since Nick’s working on his version of events, I figured I’d share mine. It turned out to be one wild night, and not in a good way.

I guess I should start from the beginning. So we all decided to attend the Fire and Ice Gala, which is a charity event for our underprivileged families. I was both nervous and excited about it. Nervous because a) I hate being the center of attention and b) the last ball we attended ended up being a nightmare. The last thing I wanted was a replay of that shit show. But I was trying to remain optimistic.

I just love getting all dressed up, and I was eager to go out. February is the worst month, and it’s not because of Valentine’s Day—which is my most hated holiday, BTW. February is just so dreary, cold, and miserable. I’ve had a serious case of cabin fever and I’ve been itching to get out of the house. I think we all have. The charity gala was the perfect remedy for our winter blues.

Ash, Marissa, Holly, and I were all getting ready together. The four of us got some much-needed bonding time in. We had the music cranked up, and the champagne was flowing. The bubbly helped settle my nerves a bit; plus, it helped dull the pain of hundreds of bobby pins being jammed against my skull. That shit hurts and I’m still yanking them out. I’ve counted thirty-two of those little suckers so far.

Anyway, we finished up, took some pictures, and headed downstairs. The guys were all having a drink by the bar. You know there’s something about a guy in a suit—well, tux in Nick’s case. And holy wow, can he pull off formal wear. I couldn’t help but stare at him. There’s handsome and then there’s Nick. He’s just in a class of his own.

Now, I couldn’t really tell you what happened next. One minute we were all heading out, and the next, I was transported to Flashback City. The events of that hellish December night started replaying themselves in my head like a bad movie on repeat.

Nick pulled me aside and snapped me out of it. His eyes were filled with concern and I knew he was going to suggest I stay home. And that’s exactly what he did. As much as I didn’t want to relive that shit storm of a night, I wasn’t going to hide under the covers of my bed like some scared little girl. I was going. There would be no debate, and Nick knew it. So we made a compromise. I would stay close by his side and he would be my dance date for the night. I was content with our arrangement and judging by the look on Nick’s face, I would say he was too.

Now, I’m not going to lie; I had braced myself for the worst. But it turned out the worst was us listening to a bunch of blowhards with swelled heads talk all about themselves. They were acting like they’d made some grand sacrifice by donating their money to the less fortunate. Those arrogant asshats were fishing for recognition. They assumed that by bragging about the amount of money they’d donated—which honestly wasn’t impressive—that it would earn them good favor with Nick.

You need to do a lot more than donate money and show up to a gala to get into Nick’s good graces. Into either of our good graces for that matter. When he wouldn’t pat their heads for being good little boys and girls, they turned to me. Like I was going to convince him to do otherwise. I might be more benevolent than Nick, but even I have my limits. And I had reached them by that point. We both had. Just as I was about to lose my shit, Nick grabbed my hand and led me onto the dancefloor.

I was pleasantly surprised, and utterly elated at the same time. He spun me around and pulled me close, his palm resting on the small of my back as he took my free hand in his own. All the tension seeped out of me and for the first time that night, I felt at ease. The world faded around me. I got swept up in the moment. I got swept up in him.

We swayed to the music as our eyes locked. Nick’s breath warmed my skin, his mouth so close to mine that I could practically taste the sweet bourbon on his lips. I thought he was going to kiss me. I wanted him to kiss me, but nothing happened. The moment was lost when Ash came barreling towards us like a freight train of doom. Her grave expression said it all. Someone was hurt or dead. Nick and I wasted no time following Ash up the stairs. As soon as we hit the upper level, I could smell the coppery blood through the magic-saturated air.

It was like a scene out of some horror movie come to life with charred and cracked walls, broken strobing lights, and blood-stained marble floor. Marissa had some guy magically superglued to the ceiling, but I wasn’t too concerned about him. Nick would handle Ceiling Boy. I was more concerned about the bartender bleeding out all over the floor. Holly was working her healing magic, but it didn’t seem to be doing much good. I rushed over to help her. Maybe between the two of us, we could heal her or at least get her stabilized.

The two of us worked together to mend those wounds and stop some of the bleeding, but something was blocking us. It was like there was something inside of her resisting our healing energy. Then Holly mentioned the bartender, Adeline, had been cursed by Ceiling Boy. That explained why our powers were only sustaining her life, not saving it. Basically, we were the magical version of a medical life support system. Unfortunately, Holly and I weren’t machines. Eventually our own magical batteries would drain. And given the severity of those injuries, it wouldn’t take long. We needed to break that fucking curse.

We continued channeling our power into Adeline, determined to keep her alive, even as ungodly screams pierced the air and our ears. Even as powerful magic surged through the entire second floor, shaking the walls, shattering the remaining lights, and cloaking us in darkness, we never broke our concentration. I trusted Nick. I knew he would remedy the situation. And he did not disappoint.

The screams and chaos had died almost as quickly as they’d started, shrouding us in silence. Ceiling Boy was dead, and Nick had broken the curse. Adeline’s injuries started to mend, and Holly and I were able to stabilize her. Adeline’s at the medical center where our doctors have informed us she should survive. We’ll check in on her later, after we all get some much-needed rest.

As for Ceiling Boy, he suffered an agonizing death at Nick’s hands. That asshole earned a one-way trip to the Underworld. I’m positive Hades is going to enjoy torturing that sick and twisted piece of shit. He hates curses as much as we do.

We’re back home, unwinding, and having some drinks while I’m sitting here trying to pull these stupid pins out of my hair. Thankfully, Nick just offered to help me so I’m going to take him up on it. If you have any questions or comments, drop them below.

Until next time,

Karina