Chapter 31 The Glitter Trap
Prom night didn’t feel like prom…
It felt like a stage someone had built just to watch us bleed.
The gym looked beautiful…too beautiful. Strings of lights draped from the ceiling like a fake sky and the silver-and-black theme made everything glow, even the cheap plastic stars taped to the walls. The air smelled like perfume, hairspray, and sugar—sweet enough to make my stomach turn.
And still… I couldn’t relax.
Kai kept me close like I was something fragile and dangerous at the same time. His hand stayed at my lower back, firm, possessive, and guiding me through the crowd like he was carving a path only I was allowed to walk.
Every time someone got too close, his body shifted, subtly, and automatically. Like a warning and like a promise.
“You’re staring again,” I muttered, trying to sound normal.
Kai’s gaze flicked across the room, then returned to me. Dark, focused, and intense.
“I’m watching,” he corrected, voice low. “There’s a difference.”
My throat tightened. “Watching who?”
He didn’t answer right away. His fingers tightened slightly at my waist, and the heat of his palm burned through the thin fabric of my dress.
“Everyone,” he said finally. “But especially anyone who thinks tonight is funny.”
I tried to laugh, but it came out thin.
Because I knew exactly who he meant.
Ethan.
He stood near the refreshments table, looking like he belonged there. Like he was just another boy at prom, he was smiling, he looked charming, and relaxed.
But my instincts kept snagging on him like a thorn.
Every time I looked his way, he was already looking at me.
Not openly.
Not enough for anyone else to notice.
But enough for me.
Enough to make the fine hairs on my arms rise.
Kai’s hand moved…just slightly…brushing my knuckles. A quiet touch and a reminder. I’m here. Don’t drift.
I swallowed. “Kai…”
He leaned down, his lips near my ear. “Stay with me.”
The words shouldn’t have sounded like a plea.
But they did.
And my chest did that stupid, dangerous thing where it softened for him.
“I am,” I whispered back.
Kai’s jaw flexed like he was holding something back. His eyes dropped to my mouth for half a second before he forced himself to look away.
I pretended I didn’t notice.
But I did.
I noticed everything.
The DJ announced the first slow dance, and the lights dimmed just a little, turning the gym into something softer, and warmer. Couples started pairing off, giggling and tugging each other closer.
Kai didn’t ask.
He just pulled me in.
His arm wrapped around my waist, solid and sure, and my hands landed on his chest. I could feel his heartbeat through his shirt, it was steady, and controlled.
But when I looked up at him…
His eyes weren’t controlled at all.
They were hungry.
Not just in a physical way.
In a way that made my stomach flip, because it felt like he was trying to memorize me. Like he was afraid he’d blink and I’d disappear.
“You’re going to ruin me,” Kai murmured.
My breath caught. “What?”
His mouth twitched, like he regretted saying it. “Nothing.”
He moved us slowly, guiding me across the dance floor, keeping me angled so my back was always protected from the crowd.
Protective and possessive.
Almost… desperate.
It should’ve scared me.
But it didn’t.
It made me feel wanted.
And that was the most dangerous thing of all.
A laugh burst near the edge of the dance floor, it was too loud, and too sharp. A group of girls was whispering and staring at me like I was some kind of rumor made flesh.
I heard my name.
I heard which....I heard freak.
Kai’s grip tightened.
I felt his anger flare like a spark in dry grass.
He leaned down again, voice soft but dangerous. “Don’t listen to them.”
“I’m not,” I lied.
Kai’s eyes narrowed like he didn’t believe me.
Then he did something that made my entire brain short-circuit.
He slid his jacket off and hung it around my shoulders…slow, deliberate, and, like he was claiming me without saying a word.
Like he was shielding me from every stare in the room.
My cheeks heated. “Kai… you don’t have to…”
“I want to,” he cut in.
And the way he said it was rough, quiet, and certain, that made my heart slam against my ribs.
For a second, I forgot the tension.
Forgot the whispers and I forgot Ethan.
All I could feel was Kai’s warmth wrapped around me.
Then the music glitched.
The song stuttered for half a beat before smoothing out again.
Most people didn’t even notice.
But I did.
Because my skin prickled like the air had been sliced open.
Kai noticed too.
His gaze snapped to the DJ booth, then to the ceiling and to the corners of the gym where shadows gathered thickest.
His body went still, like a wolf hearing a twig snap in the dark.
I swallowed hard. “Kai…?”
He didn’t answer.
He stared past my shoulder.
And I knew.
Ethan was moving…not toward us and not directly.
But around us.
Like he was circling.
I forced myself to glance over Kai’s shoulder.
Ethan stood near the wall, with his hands in his pockets, smiling at someone who wasn’t even speaking to him. Like he was enjoying the music.
Like he was enjoying the night.
But his eyes weren’t on the dance floor.
They were on the lights and the wiring.
The ceiling beams.
He was watching the structure.
And when his gaze slid to me again, his smile sharpened.
Just a little and just enough.
My stomach dropped.
Something cold crawled up my spine.
Kai shifted, turning me so my body was tucked closer to his. His palm pressed into my lower back like a support.
“Don’t look at him,” he murmured.
“I wasn’t,” I lied again.
Kai’s voice went even lower. “Luna. You’re shaking.”
I froze.
I hadn’t even realized.
But he felt it, of course he did….He always felt me.
“I’m fine,” I whispered.
Kai didn’t believe me.
He lifted my hand and held it tighter, with his thumb rubbing slow circles over my knuckles.
I felt a quiet comfort and a quiet promise.
Then the sabotage stopped being quiet.
The lights flickered…hard.
The entire gym dimmed for two full seconds, plunging everything into near-darkness.
Screams erupted instantly.
Someone bumped into me from behind, and my instincts flared like fire.
Kai moved faster than thought…he spun, pulling me behind him, with his shoulders squared like he was ready to tear someone apart.
“Everyone stay calm!” a teacher yelled.
The lights snapped back on.
But not all of them.
Half the strings were dead now.
The gym looked uneven…bright on one side, shadowed on the other.
Like a split world and like a warning.
My chest tightened, and I felt my powers stir, buzzing under my skin, and reacting to the imbalance.
The shadows on the darker side of the gym looked… wrong.
Too thick and too alive.
Kai’s eyes locked on them, his jaw clenched.
And then the speakers screamed.
A piercing screech ripped through the gym so violently that people clapped their hands over their ears.
My head throbbed instantly and my vision blurred at the edges.
The sound didn’t feel like feedback.
It felt like something digging into my skull.
Kai swore under his breath, pulling me closer.
His lips brushed my forehead, and his voice turned dangerously calm.
“Don’t move.”
“Kai, it hurts…” I gasped.
“I know,” he said, his voice rough. “I know. Just…stay with me.”
The sound cut out abruptly.
Silence crashed down so hard it made the room feel empty.
Then, as if nothing happened, the music returned.
A different song, it was faster and louder.
Like the system had reset.
The crowd tried to laugh it off. Some people clapped nervously, calling it “funny,” calling it “cool,” calling it “a prank.”
But my pulse was pounding.
Because I felt something else.
Something hidden under the noise.
Like a thread being pulled and like a trap tightening.
Kai looked at me, with his eyes dark. “We’re leaving.”
My heart jumped. “What? Kai, prom…”
“I don’t care about prom,” he snapped, then softened immediately like he hated the sharpness. “I care about you.”
I stared at him.
His expression was raw.
Barely controlled.
Like he’d been holding himself back for weeks and tonight was cracking him open.
“I don’t like this,” he whispered. “I don’t like the way the air feels. I don’t like the way you feel.”
“What do you mean?” My voice trembled.
Kai’s hand slid up to my cheek, with his thumb touching the edge of my jaw.
“You’re… too bright tonight,” he murmured. “And the world keeps trying to put you out.”
My throat tightened painfully.
“Kai…” I whispered.
His eyes flicked to my lips again.
He leaned in…just slightly.
Close enough that I could feel the heat of him.
Close enough that my body responded before my mind could.
Then….
A scream…a real one, it was not startled and not playful but it was terrified.
Everyone turned toward the stage.
A section of the ceiling décor metal frame and lights and dangling glitter, had snapped loose.
It swung down like a blade.
Straight toward the crowd, the students scattered, screaming, and tripping over dresses and shoes.
My blood went ice cold.
Because I saw it clearly.
The frame wasn’t falling randomly.
It was aimed.
And it was aimed toward….
Me.
Kai reacted instantly, shoving me hard to the side.
“LUNA!”
My body hit the floor, breath exploding out of me.
The metal frame crashed down where I’d been standing, smashing into the floor with a violent bang that shook the entire gym.
Glitter and broken lights scattered like sharp pieces.
A sharp piece of metal skidded across the floor and stopped inches from my hand.
My heart was pounding so hard I thought I’d vomit.
Kai dropped to his knees beside me, with his hands on my shoulders, and eyes wild.
“Are you hurt?” he demanded.
I shook my head, too stunned to speak.
Kai’s face twisted with something dangerous….I saw fear, rage, and love.
All of it at once.
He pulled me into his chest so tightly I could barely breathe.
And I didn’t fight it.
Because for the first time tonight, I understood.
This wasn’t a prank.
This wasn't a drama…This was an attempt.
Someone had tried to kill me.
And as the gym erupted into chaos, with teachers screaming for everyone to move back, and students crying and shaking…
I looked past Kai’s shoulder.
Ethan stood near the wall.
Still, untouched.
He didn't look panicked…not shocked.
He watched the destruction like it was art.
Then his gaze lifted, then straight to mine.
And he smiled small, cold and satisfied.
Like he’d just tested the blade and liked how sharp it was.
But when Kai turned his head, Ethan’s expression changed instantly, he looked concerned, innocent, and confused.
A perfect mask.
My stomach churned.
Because I knew.
Ethan wasn’t just suspicious.
He was the shadow behind the sabotage and prom night had just become a war zone.
Kai’s arms tightened around me, with his voice shaking with fury as he whispered into my hair…
“Whoever did this… I’m going to rip them apart.”
And Ethan, across the gym, kept smiling like he couldn’t wait.
Like this was only the beginning…