The chandelier flickered again.
I was halfway through telling Luceris to stop with whatever game he was playing when the lights stuttered, dimmed, then went back to their usual cold glow. Almost no one noticed—except me.
There was something wrong.
Luceris's eyes snapped up to the ceiling, sharp and calculating. "You feel that, right?"
I nodded, swirling the punch in my glass like it suddenly tasted bitter. "Yeah. Like something's… off."
The music stumbled for a split second, a skipped heartbeat that sent a ripple through the dancers. Whispers started spreading through the ballroom, low and urgent. I caught a flicker of unease behind the painted smiles.
Raelissa appeared beside me, breathless in her shimmering gown. Her vampire boyfriend wasn't far behind, his jaw clenched tight.
"Rael, something's happening," she said, voice low but urgent. "I don't know what, but… it's bad."
Luceris's smirk vanished—replaced by a shadow I hadn't seen before.
"This isn't just some royal drama," he muttered. "Whatever this is… it's old. Dangerous."
My skin prickled. I wanted to scoff. I wanted to tell them all to stop with their cryptic warnings and enjoy the damned party like normal people.
But deep down, I knew better.
The ballroom doors creaked open, slow and deliberate.
Everyone turned.
A cloaked figure slipped inside, moving with a silence that didn't belong. No guards stopped them. No one seemed to recognize the presence—but I could feel it like a knife slicing through the thick air.
Luceris stepped in front of me, voice low and tense.
"Stay close."
"Why? Who is that?" I asked, heart pounding.
Raelissa's eyes darted toward the figure, then back at me. "That's not a who."
It was a what.
Something dark. Something ancient.
I clenched my fists, crown digging into my scalp.
And just like that, the ball—the stupid, pompous ball—was over.
Because whatever had just walked in was about to change everything.