𝐒𝐓𝐘𝐆𝐈𝐀𝐍

𝐨𝐧𝐞: 𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐬

Cadmonius stops to greet another High Society member and Diana comes to a stop, smoothly, reaching over to pluck a champagne flute from the tray of a passing server. It fizzes on her tongue as she feigns a look around the ballroom, trying to find a specific figure that she prays to every single magical entity in the entire Wizarding World isn't here. Her trained senses pick up nothing and she takes another sip of champagne. At least she won't have to deal with him tonight.

Cadmonius is on the move again, climbing the stairs and taking the left section when they branch. She waits till he's out of sight and then throws back the champagne, relishing in the fizz before she follows. The slit in her dress parts around one long, tan brown leg as she steps onto the first step, the dagger sheathed to her thigh pleasantly familiar. She knows she'll need to use it very soon.

"What's a gorgeous woman like you doing on your own over here?"

The voice is deep and distinctly male. Diana sighs inwardly and turns to face her suitor. He's tall and lean with jet-black hair and eyes that twinkle in the lights of the chandelier. Attractive, she thinks, but wholly not my type.

"Just heading for the restroom." She plasters a smile on her face, well-aware of the timer ticking in the back of her mind every second Cadmonius is out of her reach. "Please, don't let me disturb your evening."

"On the contrary," he muses with a slight smile, bowing at the waist and holding a hand out to her. "Alexander Cabot."

Diana forces herself not to glance at the top of the staircase where it curves into the hallway Cadmonius disappeared into and extends her hand, placing it delicately in Alexander's. His lips are a tentative brush across her knuckles. "Nyx."

He raises an eyebrow, lifting his gaze to meet hers, still bowed, one arm behind his back. "Just Nyx?"

She gives him a disarming smile. "Just Nyx."

"What a wonderful name."

He straightens and moves as if to turn and drop her hand, but then his eyes catch on it, and Diana feels his grip tighten. Instinctually, she herself tenses, her other hand slowly finding the slit in her dress to pull her dagger out at any given notice, but all he does is bring her hand up closer to his face and tilt his head at it curiously. She frowns, lips twitching, when Alexander's thumb brushes over his knuckles.

"Beautiful ring," he murmurs, glimmering eyes admiring the simple black bland, a thin golden stripe running through the center, before finding their way up to her face.

"Thank you," Diana says stiffly, the warning alarm in her head flaring up as she pulls her hand out of his grasp stiffly yet still politely, sparing him a smile. "I'm possessive over it. It holds great worth."

"I could imagine..." he murmurs, smiling softly. "I don't mean to hold you too long. Will you do me the honour of sparing me a dance? After you get back from the restroom, that is."

Diana glances over his face. "It would be my pleasure."

His smile is charming. "Then I eagerly await your return."

He backs away from her, never turning his back on her until the crowd has swallowed him up. Diana doesn't waste a heartbeat and makes her way up the staircase as fast as she can without drawing attention.

The corridor Cadmonius had vanished into is eerily quiet compared to the lively ballroom below. She can still hear the muffled music of the orchestra as she moves forward, ignoring the portraits on the walls. It's darker in here and even the colours are less vibrant — the walls are an ugly shade of brown, the small decorative pieces along them dark green, The dagger feels heavier on her thigh and she moves one hand to brush her fingers over it, something she always does when her stomach curls in a way she's learned means trouble is ahead.