It felt like the whole world had stopped. The whole room immediately fell silent as everyone stared in awe at the beautiful woman who had just walked into the party. The whispers of intrigue and jealousy passed around as Brynn kept her head up and stood her ground as the belle of the ball. While they all stared, Brynn was a bit taken aback by all the eyes on her but tried not to let it show or let the anxiousness kick in. "Be brave, Brynn; you owe them nothing," she whispered to herself as she looked around for her date. She heard footsteps approaching, and the whispers increased. Brynn looked up from her mask to meet the gaze of dark, familiar emerald eyes looking at her. It was Killian, with a look of surprise and dark want passing around his eyes, like he still couldn’t believe the