He wasn’t supposed to be there. Not tonight, not ever. The air felt too heavy with perfume and sin, too full of lost souls poisoning their bodies and worshiping the flesh as if salvation had never been invented. And that name... Eden, huh? He almost laughed when he saw the sign above the entrance, the irony stinging sharper than the cold night air. A garden turned into a nightclub. It made sense, in a cruel way.
He wasn’t there as a guest, not really. The invitation had arrived days ago, and though he’d told himself it was nothing, something inside him, call it instinct, call it faith, refused to let it go. Maybe this was a sign. Maybe his ownFather was finally pointing him toward something real. He’d been chasing truth since he first set foot on Earth, and lately, it felt closer than ever — tangled somewhere between Elias Navarro’s half-answers and his own exhaustion. The last audition hadn’t helped; it had only drained him further, left him staring at the mirror wondering if the reflection still belonged to him or to the lie he’d been living.
Now, surrounded by flashing lights and fragile laughter, he moved through the crowd with that same calm control he carried everywhere. The tailored suit, deep burgundy, almost bleeding into the shadows, fit him with effortless precision. He looked expensive, dangerous even, though he didn’t even notice. His shirt, half-unbuttoned, revealed a glint of gold at his chest, and when he adjusted his cuff, it wasn’t vanity, it was just reflex.
— Eden, — he murmured to himself, the name curling like smoke on his tongue. — If this is paradise… Then God really does have a dark sense of humor.
He checked his watch, the seconds ticking too loudly, and let his gaze wander. Every face seemed blurred, every gesture rehearsed. But he was waiting. For what, he didn’t know. Maybe for the next piece of the truth to walk right into him. Maybe for Elias. Maybe for something divine, or something damned.
Either way, he stayed. Because somehow, he knew, the night was only just beginning.