all hallows eve

all hallows eve.

Chapter Two — Hopeless

Jasmina POV

The mirror reflected a girl she barely recognized. Black leather hugging curves she usually kept under soft pink skirts, cat ears perched crookedly on her head, and dark eyeliner smudged from last night’s panic. She tugged at the zipper of her Catwoman costume and flinched when it caught on her skin.

“Hopeless,” her mother muttered from the doorway, cigarette dangling from her fingers. “Why do you insist on humiliating yourself every year?”

Jasmina smiled, sharp and flawless. “It’s the theme, Mom. Catwoman.”

Sarah rolled her eyes. “Hopeless. Honestly, I don’t know why I didn’t abort you.”

Jasmina’s fingers trembled on the door handle. She didn’t respond — she didn’t need to. Her silence was sharper than any dagger.

Outside, the crisp fall air stung her cheeks as she made her way to the coffee shop to meet Karina. Pink glitter clung stubbornly to her hair and costume, sparkling like tiny stars that had survived the darkness of her bedroom.

Karina waved when she arrived, holding two steaming cups of coffee. “Princess,” she teased, “you look… murderous. Or sad. Maybe both.”

Jasmina smiled faintly. “Morning stuff.”

Karina snorted. “Yeah, sure. Morning stuff. Let’s grab the pickup from Jason, then get to school before anyone can ruin your life further.”

The walk to the Mustang was short, but every step felt heavy. She wasn’t prepared for the boy leaning against Jason’s car — hoodie up, mask covering the lower half of his face. His icy blue eyes pinned her to the pavement the second they met.

Zade POV

She walked with purpose, the glitter catching the sunlight like shards of glass. He could feel the tension in her shoulders, the subtle tremor in her fingers.

Perfect, polished, deadly — and completely unaware of how much he wanted to pull her into his arms, shield her, and break all the walls she had built.

The air shifted when she approached. He felt the electricity, that unspoken pull, but he didn’t move. Not yet. Let her underestimate him, let her guard stay up.

She glanced at him, polite but stiff. Hi.

Hi, he answered, his voice low, smooth, dangerous — like velvet wrapped around steel.

When her fingers brushed the duffle Jason handed over, he felt it — a spark, a fleeting shock, a reminder that this girl would unravel him just as surely as he would protect her.

Penguin, he whispered in his mind. The name fit. Stubborn. Sweet. Infuriating.

Jasmina POV

The walk back to school was unbearable. Every glance from the masked boy — Lucifer, as she would jokingly think later — felt like a challenge she wasn’t ready for.

Karina chattered about homework, teachers, and Homecoming Week chaos, but Jasmina could barely hear her. Her mind kept flicking to him — his eyes, his posture, the dangerous curve of his shoulders.

“You’re going to talk to him again, aren’t you?” Karina asked, nudging her.

Jasmina shook her head, trying to sound indifferent. “Maybe. Don’t see why it matters.”

But her heart betrayed her. Every time she thought of him, it skipped. Every time he lingered in her peripheral vision, she shivered. He was infuriating. Infuriatingly magnetic. And she hated it.

Because she wasn’t supposed to feel anything yet.

Not for him.

Not for Lucifer.