"Jade, you can't," Amon said through slurred words. He had a fifth glass of champaign in his hand.

She tilted her head at him, "He is my best friend and I'm going to say hello to him. What can you even do to stop me? You can hardly stand!"

Suddenly she felt two hands on either of her shoulders, "Behaving I hope?"

Drake, great now she'd never be able to speak with Erik.

Exactly.

He slid her hair away from her neck and kissed her, spinning her towards him. "Shall we dance then?"

Remember your roll, dear. You're turning red.

She regained herself quickly and took his hand. He led her to the center of the floor, were people were dancing in small groups and Jade wasn't even sure if you could call what they were doing dancing. It wasn't definitely a different culture than what she was used to. Drake put one hand on her side and with the one still holding her hand, guided them back and forth to the music.

"What happened to Petra?" She asked with a yawn. How could she already be so tired? It was only midnight. The ball lasted for the entirety of the night.

"Hmm," Drake glanced behind her, just as she entered into the room, wearing a beautiful golden gown that drew almost everyone's eye to her. All motion in the room stopped as people stared at her radiance. Then out of the dark hallway behind her came another figure, who placed both hands on her shoulders and guided her further into the room. It was Damien.

"What's he doing?" Jade asked Drake.

"He's probably made some deal with her to spend the night with her for her safety or something," Drake replied watching the mirror of himself spin Petra across the floor, letting everyone's glassy eyes twirl around watching them. He was smiling! He liked the attention. They were a stunning couple, like they were made for one another, both cruel, selfish and beautiful beyond the normal human capacity. She was a delicate shinning jewel among rocks in that room and he a dark beast to contrast with her perfectly.

It seemed as if the entire dance floor emptied for them, allowing the men to watch Petra closely and for their women to try to regain their attention and all the while that mocking smile of Damien's caught Jade's eye.

"So he can use his legs just fine then," Jade commented, realizing how intimidating that seemed, but the golden shimmer of Petra's dress drew her attention away from her own thoughts.

"Damien," Petra hissed into his ear, "everyone is watching."

"Yes," he grinned, looking down into her eyes, pushing gently on the center of her back to bring her closer to him. "Just like old times."

"You promised to keep me safe," she reminded him, gripping his hand harder, "and this is hardly what I meant!"

"Don't worry you know no one will touch you as long as you're by my side," he reassured her, "look they've already begun to dance again."

And so they had very slowly, but surely. Petra studied the evil glares the women were giving her and she was forced to look down from embarrassment.

"What?" Damien asked, reaching for her chin and tilting her face towards him.

"You should be ashamed of yourself! Why would you come to an event like this? When you most clearly belong on the street, you devious little tramp!" Spoke a middle aged woman, robed with pearls and riches of all sorts.

"Lady Olivieri," Damien addressed her kindly, taking his hand away from Petra, "you look lovely tonight. Why don't you go try some of the food over there I hear it's to die for?"

Without even realizing or meaning it she had turned around and begun walking away without another word. Damien smiled his unfathomable hate after her.

"I wish we could swap powers," Petra laughed.

"Hmm," Damien growled, spinning her so that her long dress flowed out around her, sparkling in the light.

"What?" She asked him indignantly, trying to catch his eye, but his gaze was fixed on someone much further away from her. She turned to see who it was, but there were too many people to tell. However, his intense attention to the person did not dim and he didn't seem to have even heard her question. "Damien, are you all right?"

He sighed, irritated to be interrupted and growled even angrier than before, "Yes, Petra. I'm all right!"

"What the hell is the matter with you?" She moaned breaking free from him. He laughed to himself at that question and a hot rage burned up in his eyes. "What, Damien?" She insisted.

"It's just this whole world," he groaned, running his hands through his hair, "this whole time!"

"What about it?" She asked softly, trying to recapture his hands, but failed.

"There's absolutely no good in it! And it's been seventeen long years of waiting, constant waiting!" He looked down at his feet before sighing with a smile and continuing, "And the worst part of it is that I know it can only get worse from here."

Almost completely sure what he was talking about, Petra began hesitantly, "Of course there is!"

"What?" He snapped, flashing his eyes at her, shifting them away from a couple standing together in a corner, "Tell me!"

She looked closer, realizing it was Jade and Drake, "Like, well in Jade and-"

"What's the merit in her?" He cut her short, "Honestly, the only thing keeping my attention anchored here is the gold in your dress."

"There's gold in everything Damien," she was surprised to find herself suddenly confident, "there's gold in Jade's heart beat, there's gold falling from the ceiling of this world, the things we could have heard, from the people that we've hurt, the things we could have learned and . . . and even in my heart! You are just too self centered to see any of it."

"You're saying that there's good in you and me? In what we've done to one another these past few years! What we've heard? The people we've hurt?" Damien laughed at her. "Darling, I'm sorry, but that's just ridiculous. Forgive me, I need to do something, quickly."

However, before he turned to leave, he paused, letting that single moment stretch out and it did seem to the two of them that there was in fact gold suspended in the very air with the dim light's blurred in their peripheral vision. He smiled to himself, shaking his head and then left.