The applause from our previous turn was still ringing within the chandelier-lit ballroom. I smiled and curtsied, allowing my father to lead me off the dance floor, but my chest was burdened. A presence lingered, someone observed too intensely.
By the balcony doors, a thin figure stood off from the crowd of people. He wasn't clapping. He wasn't even grinning. His glass-cut eyes were fixed on me alone.
The moment I blinked, he moved out. He strode into a side corridor with the silent arrogance of a man who knew that he'd be followed.
And before I could know what was going on, I was.
The hallways past the ballroom were empty, lit only by golden sconces. I slowed my steps, every thud of my heels ringing too forcefully. Then his voice, soothing and controlled:
"Miss Zhang."
I turned, thudding heart. He was against the wall, half-hidden in darkness, loose-limbed but with a concentrated gaze.
"You know my name?" I asked cautiously.
"I have a particular interest in the ones that are interesting." His lips curled, almost not quite a smile. "Tonight, you were one of them."
Heat touched my cheeks. "Interesting? Because I know how to dance?"
"Because you held the room," he said suavely. "Most fail under the lights, but you didn't. You're memorable."
I was speechless for a moment. His words weren't throwaway or sweet-eyed compliments that so many tonight were. They were serious, like he didn't usually say anything without meaning every single word.
"And you are?" I said, attempting to keep my voice even.
He stepped forward, but only so the light struck him in the face. Chiseled and beautiful, but his eyes unsettled me most of all. Dark and calculating, like they could peel away every mask.
"Someone you'll be seeing again."
I wanted to press for more, but he tilted his head ever so slightly, regarding me as though he wished to sear the image in his mind. "Enjoy the rest of your evening, Miss Zhang."
And with that, he turned and was gone into the darkness of the hall as if he had never been at all.
I stood there numb, the faint sounds of music from the ballroom seeping back into my awareness. My breathing was too shallow and too hectic.
I didn't even know his name. But there was the nagging feeling inside of me that soon I would be hearing gossip about it—and about the troublemaker clan he belonged to.