Narine
I couldn’t move.
Not even to shift my weight or lift my trembling fingers from where they were clenched against the silk folds of my gown.
I just stood there, half in the shadows, half in the light, watching her.
The Alphamaja.
She glided across the ballroom floor like even gravity bowed to her. Her dress shimmered with every step, silver threading catching the candlelight and throwing it back at the onlookers like tiny, taunting stars.
The music continued, soft and elegant and deceptively calming, but it couldn’t soothe the storm pounding through my chest. Every note sounded like a countdown, and every beat was a reminder that she was getting closer.
She started from the far right of the ballroom, pausing before a girl in a fierce crimson ball gown and a jeweled ruby mask. T
