It was the day of the masquerade ball and everything seemed to be going smoothly. I went to dinner with Sebastian last night and I had to admit it was pleasant as always...which was weird. There was no mention of the day he came to my hotel room, my relationship with Syn, or the call he made to my mother.

It was strange.

At least strange enough for an eerie feeling to rise in the pit of my stomach whenever he smiled at me. It made me wonder if any of it happened at all. My mind was already playing tricks with me and for sake of not ruining the plan tonight, I pushed away my feelings of worry. As we'd hoped, Sebastian had agreed to accompany me to the ball so as far as I knew, we were all set to go.

So why do I feel so uneasy?

I sat on the bed and sighed as Genesis and Jess threw around dresses to wear tonight. They both already had custom-made dresses, but they kept changing their minds every ten minutes.

"Queen?" Genesis called.

I looked up at her with a smile. "Yes?"

"Can I see your dress for tonight?" She asked as she looked at the black cover bag for my dress. I nodded and she unzipped the bag to reveal a long black dress. Her mouth dropped as she looked at it and I laughed softly at her reaction.

"Where. The. Hell...did you get this?" She asked in astonishment.

"Cleo and I went shopping remember? If you hadn't turned down our invite you could've been matching with me." I said as I crossed my arms.

Cleo and Caspian had been staying in Xavier's room for the past couple of days to get ready for the ball. I didn't mind it at all, I loved having them so close. It helped to have them here especially when I didn't have Syn. He left after the night James came to our room and he hadn't been back.

We both agreed that to make this work, it needed to be believable. Meaning we wouldn't talk for a week until our trip to Earth.

"I'm sorry, but I wasn't allowed..." Genesis pouted as she looked at Jess who rolled her eyes at her.

"I can't tell you what to do, Gen," she said passively with a shrug.

"See?" Genesis gestured at her. "That's what she did."

"Anyways, I'm going to stick with the original blue dress. That way I can match with Nate tonight."

"Nate is coming?"

"Why wouldn't he?" She retorted defensively. I muttered a "sorry" and brought my attention back to Genesis who was typing angrily on her phone.

"What's wrong?"

"Lucifer. He won't leave me alone."

I frowned. "Aren't you guys together?"

"No, I broke up with him after that Lilith bullshit. I don't like feeling like second place," she admitted with a huff as she sat beside me.

"You're not second place, Gen. Lucifer loves you," I said as I took her hand into mine. "Don't think about Lilith."

She sighed. "I'll try. But still, I'm going to let him suffer a bit because that's so embarrassing. This entire time I believed my son was created out of love, but no. He was created because Lilith broke his heart. Like, what the fuck!" She ranted angrily.

"Gennie, calm down," Jess said as she observed herself in the mirror. "Lilith can't compare to you, okay?"

"Really?" Gen asked.

"Not at all," Jess laughed. "She's a mess."

I didn't know what it was, but a part of me didn't like how they were speaking about Lilith. I get that they didn't like her but she was still my mother at the end of the day. I wasn't even sure if I liked her after the stunt she tried to pull with Syn and me, but that didn't mean I wanted to hear people down-talk her.

Knock! Knock!

Gen scurried to the door and screamed in excitement. I peeked to see what was going on and saw Cleo completely dressed up with her hair and make-up done.

"Cleo!" Gen yelled as she wrapped her arms around her. Cleo hugged her back with a smile and Gen pulled her into the room. "You look amazing!" There were no lies. She was wearing a pastel pink ball-gown dress that went out past her hips with her blue hair in a slicked-back bun. She looked like a princess straight out of some fairy tale.

"Thank you," she replied, fiddling with her fingers. Cleo looked around at the mess inside the room and spotted Jess who was trying to completely ignore her existence. "I didn't mean to barge in. Caspian and Xavier are just...being annoying."

"No worries," Gen said with a laugh. "You can stay with us."

"Are you sure?" She asked hesitantly.

"Positive."

Cleo smiled at her, rushed to my side, and sat down next to me. Genesis went back to trying on different dresses and Jess stayed quiet.

"Are you okay?" Cleo whispered.

"As okay as I can be...considering..." I trailed off. Cleo, Caspian, and Xavier were the only ones who knew about the plan tonight. It was comforting that I wasn't in it alone, but I was still nervous. They knew the risks if tonight didn't go off without a hitch.

She took my hand in hers and sighed. "Everything will be okay."

A few moments later Jess cleared her throat and faced Cleo. "You look great."

Cleo squeezed my hand and I bit my lip to keep from screaming. "Thanks," she replied sweetly. I rolled my eyes as I recognized the voice she used with Anna. Jess was being nice though, so I couldn't understand why she was being like this.

Jess stood up and walked to the bathroom and while Gen was distracted on her phone I turned to Cleo. "Stop it. She's being nice to you," I whispered.

Cleo scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Queen, you forget how intuitive I am. I can spot a fake bitch from a million miles away."

"Or you're wrong," I argued.

"Girl, come on now," she said as she raised a brow at me. I laughed and shook my head at her.

Jess came back into the room and took her seat again. "So who's everyone's date tonight?" She asked cheerfully.

"Julius," Gen said unenthusiastically.

"Are you serious?" I asked.

"This is a public event so we still need to represent a United front. Besides, at least he's not as horrible as he used to be."

Jess raised her brows in disbelief but didn't reply to Gen's comment. She sat back in her spot and swung her head in my direction. "I heard Syn isn't coming."

"Yeah, I'm going with my friend Sebastian."

Jess nodded with a look I couldn't get a grip on but it made Cleo squeeze my hand.

"And you, Cleo?" She finally asked. "Who's your date?"

"Tsk, my dates," she corrected. "Which are none other than Caspian and Xavier."

"Listen, woman to woman," Jess began. "I feel like I should let you know something that happened last week since you're seeing Xavier."

Cleo grinned and nodded as she squeezed the life out of my hand. "Oh, do tell."

"We kissed in his room last week," Jess admitted. My eyes widened in surprise, I knew Xavier told her off but I didn't know they kissed. I turned to Cleo to see her still looking strangely calm.

"I appreciate you telling me that," she said with a shrug. "But he already told us...last week. Thanks anyway love, but Xavier tells us everything."

Oh shit...

I watched as Jess struggled to keep the smile on her face as she nodded. "Just wanted to make sure there was no confusion here."

"The three of us are good over here," Cleo said sweetly. "No confusion on our side. But if you'd like to do something for me...woman to woman," Cleo leaned forward to Jess. "Figure out your feelings and stop using our man to make you feel better about yourself."

Jess scoffed. "I'll do whatever I please, thank you. Soon enough he'll get bored with the two of you, just as he did with me. You and I are no different."

Gen and I must've been thinking the same thing because when we locked eyes she mouthed 'yikes' and pretended she was on her phone.

Cleo laughed. "I-...I'll be damned before I ever get compared to you, no offense."

"Oh please," Jess scoffed. "You're such a bitch."

"And I am," Cleo nodded.

"Maybe if you were a nicer person you could land a better job than being on a pole all day."

Gen and I gasped simultaneously as we glared at Jess. The only thing she did was shrug in return.

"That was uncalled for," Gen said in a disappointed voice.

Cleo took a deep breath beside me and looked at Jess intently. "I pity you, Jess, I do. Us girls are supposed to uplift one another and you're shaming me for my job. You could've come at me for anything else."

"I'm just saying. If you want respect from others, you should respect yourself," Jess replied.

Cleo sighed and turned to Gen. "Can I use your restroom?"

"Of course, babe," she replied sweetly.

I hesitantly let go of Cleo's hand and she walked away leaving the three of us alone. Jess was still sitting in her seat as if she accomplished something and I shook my head at her.

"What?" She asked with a shrug. "It's my opinion."

"Oh shut up, please," I begged and she looked taken aback by my outburst but I couldn't help it anymore. "How about you go be homeless and alone on the streets for a few years and tell me you wouldn't be a stripper."

Cleo told me about most of her life and after hearing about it, Jess's comments didn't sit right with me. At all.

I ignored Jess calling me and walked to the restroom where Cleo was and knocked. She opened it after a few seconds and I walked in and closed the door behind me. I brought my attention to her face and saw her wiping her teary eyes gently with a napkin.

"Cleo..."

She laughed it off and shrugged. "I'm good girl, but I won't be if I let that bitch fuck up my make up too."

I held my arms open for a hug and she looked at me before hesitantly stepping into it. "We can redo your makeup."

"It took me an hour though," she said with a cracked voice as she sobbed silently.

"Then we'll spend an hour on it," I rubbed her back soothingly and she sniffled as she brought a tissue to her face.

"Don't tell anyone about this please," she whispered.

"I won't. I promise," I said as I let her go.

She stood in front of me and wiped the remainder of her tears carefully as she laughed softly. "I'm sorry I shouldn't even be crying, but it gets really hard being such a bad bitch."

I laughed at her joke and shook my head. Cleo didn't seem like the type to spill her feelings. She hid well behind her luxurious clothes and witty humor. I hoped over time she wouldn't feel the need to act so unfazed around me.

"I could only imagine. You're allowed to cry though," I said.

"No, Caspian is going to have a heart attack."

"I won't tell him," I assured her.

"No, he already knows. He can feel it."

Just then we heard yelling outside of the restroom door and Cleo sighed.

"Where is she?!"

I opened the bathroom door to see Caspian looming over Jess and Genesis and I had to admit he looked terrifying.

His head moved in the direction of the bathroom and I closed the door a bit so I was the only one visible.

"Queen please move," he asked.

"Can you calm down?" I asked.

"Queen," he warned.

"Caspian..."

He rolled his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm calm as fuck."

I opened the door for him and he stormed past me and wrapped his arms around Cleo. "What happened?" He asked sincerely.

"Nothing," she muttered as she shook her head.

He sighed and turned to me as if I would tell him but I gave him an apologetic smile. If Cleo didn't want him to know it wasn't my place to say so.

Xavier came to the door next and looked down at me. "Is everything okay?"

Caspian glanced at him and Cleo looked at him with red puffy eyes that made him furrow his brows. "What happened?"

"Guys please drop it." She pleaded. "I'm just being a baby." She removed her arms from Caspian and turned to the mirror. "I look like shit now." She laughed.

"Like always," Caspian muttered.

She laughed and shoved him away from her.

Xavier pulled her into a hug as well and the three of them fell into a calm quiet as they comforted her. It was different but it was adorable to me.

"Okay, enough hugs please." She spoke up. They reluctantly moved away from her and she grabbed my hand. "We need to get Queen ready." She pointed at Caspian. "You bring my hair and make-up bag." She ordered and turned to Xavier. "Please get Queen's heels, dress, and mask."

"Why does he get a please and I don't?" Caspian asked with a grin.

"Because he's nicer than you." Cleo said in a 'duh' tone.

About 2 hours later, I stood in front of the mirror in Gen's room and looked at myself. I felt sexy I mean how could I not in this dress? The black lace dress hugged my curves but was flowy near my hips and had a slit for my leg so I wouldn't be stiff in the ballroom.

"You look hot!" Gen yelled from behind me.

Cleo nodded proudly in agreement along with Caspian and Xavier and I smiled at them. I was going to try to be positive about tonight but I wasn't excited at all.

The one person I wanted to go with, was going to be breaking up with me.

Tonight.