The midnight mix

Chapter 11

The steady, low hum of the airplane engines was the only sound cutting through the cabin at 2:00 AM. The lights were dimmed to a deep, dark blue, and almost everyone in the business class section was completely dead to the world.

Axel was snoring softly a few rows ahead, and Cassian had finally slumped over in his seat, exhausted from days of tour prep.

Cairo, however, was barely holding onto sleep. As a boxer and a light sleeper, his senses were always tuned to the slightest shift in his environment.

Beside him, a soft, fractured gasp broke the quiet air.

Cairo’s violet eyes snapped open instantly. He turned his head toward the central console.

Liora was awake, but she hadn't shifted from her curled-up position. She was completely frozen, her eyes wide and dazed with sleep, staring blankly at the dark cabin ceiling. Her breathing was shallow and uneven.

One of her pale hands had tightly gripped the fabric of her black hoodie right at her chest, while her other hand was pressed flat against the left side of her face, right where her jaw met her ear.

A sharp, muted whimper escaped Liora’s lips, a sound so fragile it made Cairo’s stomach tie itself into an immediate knot. The cabin pressure change from the long-haul flight had triggered the flare-up. Her TMJ had hit her hard, locking the joint and sending a dull, radiating ache through her face.

"Hey," Cairo murmured, his voice dropping into a rough, incredibly quiet whisper as he unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned over the console. "Princess. Look at me."

Liora’s dark blue eyes darted to Cairo, glazed over with pain and confusion. She tried to open her mouth to speak, to give her usual sharp retort, but her jaw wouldn't budge past a millimeter without a sickening, tight pressure shooting up her temple. She let out a tight hiss through her nose, her eyes instantly watering.

"Don't try to talk, you i***t," Cairo grumbled softly, his tone completely devoid of its usual mocking edge. He didn't waste a single second. Reaching into the storage compartment where Cassian had left the supplies, Cairo grabbed the small prescription bottle and the packet of cooling patches.

He popped the cap off the medicine, shaking out one pill. Then, he reached for the complimentary water bottle on the console, unscrewing it for Liora.

"Take the pill first. Don't chew it, just swallow," Cairo instructed, his large, scarred hand gently reaching behind Liora’s neck to help support her head as Liora carefully leaned forward.

Liora took the medicine, her hand shaking slightly as she guided the water to her lips, taking a small, cautious sip to get the pill down without moving her jaw too much.

Once Liora sank back into the leather seat, her eyes closed tightly against the throb, Cairo tore open the packet of the cooling patch.

"This is gonna be cold. Just hold still," Cairo whispered.

Moving with a surprising gentleness that absolutely no one in the music industry would ever believe the "Rap Monster" possessed, Cairo leaned across the space between their seats.

His large, calloused thumb gently brushed a stray lock of ink-black hair away from Liora’s face, tucking it securely behind her ear.

Liora’s eyes opened slightly, staring up at Cairo through the dim blue light. From this close, she could see the intense, focused worry in Cairo’s violet eyes. She could feel the warmth of Cairo’s breath against her forehead.

Cairo carefully pressed the soothing, gel-based cooling patch against the side of Liora’s face, smoothing it down along the sharp line of her jaw and up toward her earlobe. The icy sensation immediately started to dull the fiery ache in the joint.

Liora let out a long, shaky breath, her tense shoulders finally dropping an inch as the pain began to stabilize.

Cairo didn't pull his hand away immediately. His fingers lingered against the edge of the patch, his thumb resting gently near Liora's cheekbone for a quiet, heavy beat.

"Better?" Cairo asked, his voice a low rumble.

Liora couldn't nod fully, but her eyes softened completely, the defensive "Midnight Beauty" guard dropping away entirely in the middle of the night. She gave a tiny, barely visible blink of assent, her fingers loosely reaching up to touch the edge of the patch Cairo had just applied.

"Cassian told me about the jaw," Cairo muttered, finally drawing his hand back and settling into the space between their seats. "You’re an absolute menace, you know that? Singing in the rain, screaming at me in the studio... you're lucky your manager keeps a leash on you, or you'd lose your voice before the first stadium."

Liora’s lips twitched into the faintest hint of a small smile beneath the patch. She reached for her phone, her slim fingers typing quickly onto the notepad app before turning the screen toward Cairo.

'You are loud enough for the both of us anyway. Thank you, Cairo.'

Cairo read the screen, a sudden, burning heat rushing straight up his neck to his ears. He quickly looked away, ruffling his messy white hair with a rough scoff to hide how hard his heart had just thumped against his ribs.

"Yeah, whatever. Just go back to sleep, Princess. If you wake up crying again, Cassian is gonna think I punched you, and I don't need that headache."

Liora let out a silent, breathless huff of laughter. She pulled the heavy blanket back up to her chin, the cooling patch working its magic as the medicine started to make her eyelids heavy again. She didn't turn away this time; she kept her face tilted toward Cairo’s side, her dark blue eyes closing as she fell back into a peaceful, pain-free sleep.

Cairo sat back in his own seat, leaning his chin on his hand as he watched Liora’s chest rise and fall rhythmically. The medicine bottle sat securely between them on the console.

Cairo didn't put his headphones back on for the rest of the night, his silent, protective watch remaining completely unbroken until the morning sun finally hit the wings of the plane.

The massive wheels of the private jet touched down on the tarmac with a heavy shudder, officially signaling their arrival in the first international city of the tour. The quiet, midnight sanctuary of the cabin was instantly replaced by the high-voltage energy of the morning prep.

As the plane taxied toward the private hangar, Liora sat quietly in her seat, her dark blue eyes still a little dazed from the heavy sleep.

Cassian marched down the aisle, his sharp gaze immediately landing on the side of Liora’s face. He froze for a fraction of a second, his heterochromia eyes lingering on the neat, securely applied cooling patch running along Liora’s jawline.

Cassian slowly turned his head, his eyes meeting Cairo’s.

Cairo just leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest and letting out a casual, indifferent huff.

Cassian didn't say a word out loud, but the lethal, protective glare he usually gave Cairo was completely gone. Instead, he gave the white-haired rapper a firm, slow, and deeply genuine nod of his head a silent, unspoken 'Thank you for taking care of her.'

Then, the ultimate manager mode kicked into full gear.

"The airport terminal is completely compromised," Cassian muttered sharply, tearing open his digital tablet. "The local security team underestimated the turnout. There are thousands of fans packed behind the barricades. Liora, let me see your jaw."

Moving with practiced efficiency, Cairo carefully peeled off the midnight cooling patch and replaced it with a fresh, translucent skin-toned treatment patch that wouldn't catch the flash of the paparazzi cameras. He then leaned over, meticulously adjusting the collar of Liora's oversized black hoodie, smoothing down the fabric, and pulling a sleek, dark bucket hat low over Liora's ink-black bangs. Finally, he slid a pair of heavy, designer black sunglasses onto Liora’s nose, completely hiding the singer's tired, vulnerable eyes from the world.

Cairo sat on the opposite side of the console, a massive, highly amused smirk plastering across his face as he watched the entire display. "Geez, Cassian. You gonna tie her shoes for her too? She looks like she’s about to go on a covert military mission, not step off a flight."

"Shut up, Cairo," Cassian snapped without looking up, ensuring Liora’s mask was tucked perfectly under her chin. "Unlike you, she has a brand identity that requires her to look untouchable. Put your own gear on. We leave in two minutes."