Slowly, I turned back to the mirror. The girl staring back at me looked beautiful if no one looked toohard or tooclose. If anyone did, the picture of perfection would start to fall apart. There wasn’t a pretty dress in Laadan’s closet that could fix that.

“Alex?”

“Look at me,” I said quietly.” You don’t see… them? I can’t go down there and have everyone stare at me.”

Laadan’s concerned face appeared above my head in the mirror. “Honey, everyone will be staring at you because you look beautiful.”

“Everyone will be staring at my scars.”

She blinked and took a step back. “No. They’re not even—”

“I know they will be.” I turned around, fingering the delicate chain around my neck. “Because it’s what I notice first on someone. And look at my arms, they’re pretty gross.”

And they were. The skin had never quite returned to the original skin tone. They’d paled, like all daimon tags did, but the tiny teeth marks left behind were uneven and red, lining my forearms, starting right above my wrist and ending along the tender skin of the inside of my elbow. The skin was just as uneven and patchy as my neck, but at least the scars on my throat had faded into a shiny color a shade or two lighter than my normal complexion. The bit of cleavage the dress showed off took away from those scars, but my arms totally made up for it.

Laadan suddenly smiled, which I found really inappropriate considering she

should be commiserating about how much of a freak I looked. She moved to her closet and pulled a large box off the top shelf. Taking it to her bed, her smile grew wider. “I have the perfect thing.”

Doubtful, but I followed her to the bed.

She flipped up the lid and pulled out two elbow-length gloves in black silk. “Problem solved.”

I took the gloves gingerly. “I’m going to look like Rogue from X-Men.”

Her nose wrinkled. “Who? It doesn’t matter. Try them on. The gloves will work now. If it were the summer, it would be a tad bit questionable.”

I slid one on and it did cover the scars quite nicely, but gloves? For real? Who wore them but old grannies? “I don’t know about this.”

Laadan sighed, shaking her head. “This is a formal ball, Alex. Have you been to one before?”

“Um, no.”

“Trust me when I say that you will not be the only girl wearing gloves. Now, come on. We don’t have much more time to stand up here and feel sorry for ourselves. You look beautiful, Alex. More so than even your mother ever did.”

I wiggled my fingers in the silk gloves, feeling excitement bubble for the first time. Half-bloods didn’t go to grand balls, and they didn’t have pure fairy godmothers, either. So I’d never really expected to attend anything like this, especially not in this killer dress.

But here I was.

A slow smile crept over my face. “Laadan?”

“Yes?” She stopped at the door.

“Thank you.”

Her hand flew to her heart. “Honey, you don’t have to thank me. I’m just glad I could do this for you.”

“You had this planned ever since Lucian mentioned something at breakfast, didn’t you? That’s why this dress fits so well.”

Laadan gave a sly smile. “Well, I always thought red would be your best color.”

The ball was in full swing by the time Laadan and I made it downstairs. The soft hum of an orchestra filled the corridors as we moved closer to the ballroom. A display of dazzling candles lit the way.

My excitement quickly turned into nerves. I’ve never worn anything like this before and attending something like this just went against everything a half-blood knew. Also, orchestra music just wasn’t my thing.

Would I be expected to waltz? The last time—and only time—had been with Seth and he’d dropped me. I couldn’t hit the ground in this kind of dress—that would be a sacrilege. And who would even dance with me? Was I going to be hugging the wall all night?

That’s when I started sweating.

Laadan grasped my hand with hers and led me forward. “You’ve fought daimons and the idea of a ball scares you?”

“Yes,” I whispered.

She laughed, the sound reminding me of wind chimes. “You’re going to do beautifully. Just remember that you belong among them. More so than any of them can even realize.”

I looked at her warily. “You really do love some half-bloods, don’t you?”

Her cheeks flushed a fierce red. “I… I just believe that all of us are equal and should be treated that way.”

I doubted that was the main reason, but I didn’t push it. She pulled me out of the soft shadows of the hallway, past the frozen furies, and right into the ballroom. I think I may’ve had a minor heart attack standing there, taking it all in.

The room was massive, the walls entirely made of glass. Crystal vases full of roses sat in every corner and on every table, and flower-covered vines hung from sparkling chandeliers in a dazzling display of light and darkness and streamed across the ceiling. At the far end of the room, a small orchestra sat—mortal musicians. Mortals were easy for both pures and halfs to pick out. It was more than just the physical attributes that set them apart. Their movements were jerky and slow, while the pures glided gracefully around them. Compared to the pures, their expressions

were bland. They were probably under compulsion to play here and not acknowledge anything weird.

Pures could get a little freaky after a few drinks.

Behind the orchestra, Thanatos rose above the mortals to loom over them like some kind of angel of death. His wingspan had to be at least eight feet and the ever-present sad expression had been carved into the marble. Someone had laid a wreath of roses on the god’s head.

Nice touch.

Two servants appeared in front of us. One held a tray of champagne flutes and the other carried a platter of finger sandwiches and what smelled like raw fish. I had a sudden mad desire for tater tots.

Laadan graciously accepted two glasses of champagne and handed me one. She caught my hand before I could down the glass. “Careful,” she warned softly. “This isn’t like mortal champagne. It’s much stronger.”

I stared down at the bubbling liquid. “How much stronger?”

She tipped her head to a table where a pure girl laughed hysterically while her companions looked on in annoyance. She had a glass of champagne in her hand. “That’s probably her second. You sip this champagne.”

“Advice taken.”

Lucian drifted out of the throng of pures and grasped my free hand. His eyes drifted over me in a mixture of shock and appraisal. “Laadan, you have outdone yourself. She looks just like Rachelle did when she attended this very ball.”

It was official. I felt creeped out on a whole new level.

“And you can’t even see her scars,” Lucian continued. There was a weird sheen to his eyes, and I wondered if he was drunk. “Utterly amazing job, Laadan.”

Straining back, I tried to maintain a polite smile. “Uh… thanks.”

Laadan looked as put off as I felt. Smoothly, she engaged Lucian’s interest. I scanned the room for friendly faces as my fingers clutched the fragile stem of the glass.

Everyone—all the pures—looked magnificent in their finery. Most of the females wore the kind of risqué dresses I’d love to, showing off expanses of perfectly smooth skin and long, graceful necks.

I didn’t belong here. No matter what Laadan said, I didn’t belong here.

Taking a deep breath, my gaze skittered over the crowd. Out of them, I recognized Minister Diana Elders. She wore a white diaphanous gown that reminded me of something a goddess would wear. Beside her, my uncle looked extremely interested in whatever she was saying. In awe, I watched as he actually smiled and when they turned toward us, those emerald eyes shone like jewels.

That is, until he saw me.

Marcus stepped back, blinking. Shock splashed across his face. He reacted like he’d seen a ghost. Recovering slowly, he and Minister Elders approached us. He nodded at Lucian and Laadan. “Alexandria, you decided to join us after all.”