The ballroom was alive... a living, breathing thing made of laughter and perfume and polished glass. Chandeliers threw light across sequined gowns, and champagne shimmered in tall, trembling flutes.
The sound of a string quartet hummed softly beneath the buzz of conversation, and I felt the weight of two hundred pairs of eyes lift and fall, shift and settle… most of them, eventually, on me.
It was like walking into a current.... people parting instinctively as Ash and I stepped through the gilded doors. The emerald fabric of my dress caught every glint of light, and for the first time, I wasn't sure if I was shining or burning.
Then I saw him.
Kael.
