The ballroom lights flickered violently overhead while confused whispers spread through the crowded gala hall like restless smoke drifting beneath crystal chandeliers, and for one brief unsettling moment every instinct inside Elara screamed sharply beneath her skin hard enough to make her chest tighten painfully.
Something was wrong.
Not socially wrong.
Not emotionally wrong.
Dangerously wrong.
Yet standing only inches away from her beneath the golden light, Alexander looked almost calm while distant shadows moved faintly across the sharp lines of his face.
Too calm.
As though chaos never frightened him.
As though he belonged inside it.
"…did you feel that," Elara whispered softly while glancing toward the darkened ballroom ceiling now, unease threading visibly through her pale expression as nearby students muttered nervously around them beneath the temporary electrical disturbance.
Alexander studied her carefully afterward.
Not the ceiling.
Her.
