Mei
The night followed her.
Not in footsteps. Not in sound. It clung. Quiet. Persistent. Like the air itself refused to let go of what had happened inside those walls.
Mei stepped onto the balcony, the doors closing softly behind her. The music from the ballroom dulled instantly, swallowed into something distant, almost unreal. Out here, the silence felt different. Cleaner. Colder.
She exhaled.
The air bit lightly at her skin, sliding beneath the thin fabric at her shoulders. The emerald dress still carried the faint mark of what had happened earlier. It had been cleaned. Carefully. Quickly. But she could still feel it. The memory of it. The way it had soaked into her chest before anyone noticed.
Or maybe everyone noticed.
Her fingers lifted, brushing lightly against the fabric. Smooth now. Untouched to anyone else's eyes.
Not to her.
The bond pulsed.
Slow. Steady. But not calm.
He was close.
Closer than he had been all night.
Mei didn't turn.
She didn't need to.
