Afterwards Pre walked with Brissa to the valet and waited with her for the car. It felt strangely exposed to be outside. No blaring music, no press of strangers. Only the open air, neon lights, and the occasional whine of a siren in the distance.

“It was interesting to meet you Pre,” Brissa said as the valet pulled up in a sleek, scarlet sports car. “Maybe a little too interesting.”

“Still fun though,” Pre said. "Well, for me anyways."

Brissa smiled for the first time in a while. “Was fun for me too,” she agreed. As she got into the driver’s seat, she added, “let’s do it again sometime. It was nice being your wingwoman.”

“It was an honor to be wingwomanned by you.”.

Then she was gone, her car roaring off into the night. Not that it was her car anymore. Connext would probably be there in the morning to repo it and everything else she and Angeli owned. No ranking, no rewards.

Which reminded Pre that she still needed to find a match. Otherwise, Connext would be there in the morning for her too.

They’re coming for you. Run.

She rubbed her arms, trying to warm herself from the cold thoughts. As a distraction, she swiped open her com. Still no reply from Jawn and Xinder. Where were they?

The same bouncer was still at the door. She approached them. “Hi there,” she said. “Um, hope you’re having a good night. I was just wondering if you happened to see if Xinder came in after me? You see, I’m his-“

“Plus one,” the bouncer finished for her. “I know. One moment.” They didn’t move. Their face stayed expressionless behind their dark sunglasses. A moment later they announced, “Mr. Avasila is inside. He’s currently in the Diamond lounge.”

Pre blinked. “I didn’t even know there was a Diamond lounge.”

“That is the point of an exclusive lounge.”

Touché. “Well can you at least tell me where it is? I don’t have to go inside but I am Mr. Avasila’s plus one. I think that merits at least knowing where the Diamond lounge is.”

The bouncer was silent for a beat. Pre suspected they were somehow checking this request with a higher authority.

“Second floor, end of the hallway. Stamp your foot twice on the flower panel.”

That was easier than Pre expected. “Great,” she beamed. “Thanks for your help!”

She squeezed her way back through the party and up the stairs. The initial testing frenzy was over. There were grunts and moans from a few rooms, but people weren't lined up down the hallway anymore.

Now that the corridor wasn't packed with people, Pre spotted the thin, floor-length mirror at the end of the hall. To the left of the mirror was a vase of vivid stained glass flowers.

Pre moved in front of the vase and looked down. Yup, the floor was tiled. It was a weird way to get into a secret area but who was she to judge? She raised a foot and stomped it down.

Nothing happened.

She frowned at herself in the mirror. Did she stamp hard enough? Stomping was perilous to do in stilettos. Maybe the heel was too thin to activate the mechanism?

Then a head burst through her reflection. Ah, she thought. Must be a holo screen disguised to look like a mirror. Clever.

“Preah Devisana?” the floating head asked. They had spiky blonde hair and wore the same sunglasses as the bouncer outside.

“Yes that’s me.”

“You have been cleared to wait here in the staging area, if you’d like to.”

Pre was definitely interested. “Staging area? Yeah sure let’s see it.”

They nodded and disappeared back behind the holo screen. Pre followed them through.

Static electricity crackled over her skin as she passed through. On the other side, the hallway actually did extend further, matching the reflection on the holo. The "staging area" had a sparse feel to it. Nothing but doors, some worn armchairs, and a couple of cups carelessly littering the ground. It was quieter here, maybe from the lack of people or soundproofing tech or both. The muffled music and derelict corridor made the rest of the party feel like it was miles away.

The security person tapped a button on the wall and a partition slid up from the floor to the ceiling. “Can’t have some drunk fool falling through the mirror,” they explained when they saw Pre looking.

They motioned to one of the armchairs. “You can wait here until Mr. Avasila comes out.”

As she dropped into a chair, Pre surveyed all the nondescript doors. “Is the Diamond lounge in one of these rooms?”

“Maybe,” the security person replied helpfully. They double-checked the partition then walked past Pre and opened a door to her right.

"Stay here," they repeated, holding up a warning finger. Pre nodded in agreement. The security person held her gaze a moment longer. Then they nodded once, and stepped through the door.

As soon as she heard the door latch, Pre was on her feet. The stilettos on the tiled floor would be a dead giveaway. She slipped them off and placed them in the armchair.

Pre was good at sneaking. Once they turned 15, she and Xin rarely spent a night actually inside the Collective's walls. They would run out to the fields or the forests, exploring and occasionally bumping into another misguided youth who snuck out.

The first door she slinked to was the one the security person went into. Pressing an ear to it, she could hear laughter and raucous banter. This was followed by the sound of clinking chips. She could distinctly make out the rough burr of the security person's voice as they called someone out for cheating. Probably a staff break room, or a separate staff party entirely.

She crept away from that door and moved onto the next, listening at each one. Most of them sounded empty, or at least like nothing interesting was happening in them. But near the end of the hallway, she found another room with the purr of conversation spilling out of it. It was more subdued than the staff party. More dignified, elegant. Like a Diamond.

Holding her breath, she put a hand on the doorknob and cracked it open. Inside, thr Diamonds  of Toran were glittering in a lounge. Silvery-blue light shone from a mirrored ball on the ceiling, simultaneously illuminating and shadowing each person there. The only one absent was Vian themselves, presumably due to their party host duties.

Xinder and Jawn were in the far corner, talking with their heads close and voices low. Even from this distance, Pre could make out the distress on Xinder's face, the rigidity of Jawn's shoulders. Arguing again, she thought.

The other Diamonds were arrayed around the room. There was Zenyth and Crissandra Cox cuddling on a couch. Shain Jaxon, Vian's partner, was chatting up Qin Li and her partner Noëmie Langa near the bar. Gracia Pirez, Kono, Rhysalyn Giorge, and Tyce Tocoma were nearby battling it out on an old-school dance machine, laughing and pushing each other.

None of them seemed to notice Jawn and Xinder's discourse, nor did they see Pre. They were all too busy being fabulous, wonderful, ethereal beings.

It was Pre's first time being so close to all the Diamonds before. It was intoxicating. Watching them interact, seeing how fluidly they molded, not just to their ranked partner, but to every other Diamond. Something about their behaviors, the way they talked, even the way they sipped their drinks, it all exuded greatness.

Pre was an insect compared to them.

She had no idea what she'd say if one of them spotted her or, hex forbid, Xinder saw her seeing him argue with Jawn again. But she couldn't stop staring into the room, her mothy eyes transfixed on these Diamond flames.

Engrossed as she was, she didn't notice anyone coming up behind her until they tapped her on the shoulder.

Pre jumped, eyes widening as she took in the biggest, most glittering Diamond of them all.

"What are you doing?" Vian asked.