He’d been on high alert all night, but the moment the lights began to flicker, he had to try not to bristle. Outside the snow was falling, giving as good a reason as any for the electrical problems, but he was worried something else might be at hand. He was worried the oncoming storm would be the perfect disguise for something else to happen. Despite his concerns, however, he showed none of them, not wanting to add to the already thundering heartbeats he heard throughout the house. This new problem, along with the already present nerves thanks to last year’s ball, meant people needed calm, now more than ever.
Nate went about the room, helping where he could, looking for candles and flashlights to hand out, keeping a flashlight for himself as he did. Once the lights had gone from flickering to complete darkness, Nate kept his cool, made sure not to let on that he was doing head counts more and more often. It was during one of those counts that he realized he didn’t see Thalia among the crowd when he knew he saw her bustling about the room earlier. Of course the house had to be this size, where anyone could get lost if they dared to wander even a few steps away.
It was once he got closer to the dining room that he thought he heard a familiar voice let out a string of curse words, heartbeat racing like the rest. Nate walked slowly, shining his light around the room until he found Thalia pressed against the wall, panicked as ever. “Thalia,” he said calmly, inching over so he didn’t scare her. “Thalia, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
The flashlight made Thalia blink. She jumped, blushing when she recognized it was Nate. “I-I’m fine,” she gasped, cursing the way her heart still hadn’t calmed. “It’s nothing, I’m just...it’s stupid,” she shook her head. Tears gathered in her eyes, threatening to fall. Not only was she acting like an idiot, but she was doing it in front of Nathaniel Greyson! Her hand pressed against the table as she willed herself upright.
“Is-is everything all right?” she asked, looking up at him again. She wanted to know that the storm was natural, was terrified that it wasn’t. And the power outage. Anyone who shut off the power like that couldn’t be up to anything good.
The memories from last year had already been pressing upon her. Trying to drag Issy out of the fire, Cassie being kidnapped and changed, Rose dying. She still had nightmares sometimes, of the smoke filling her lungs, making it hard to breathe. She shook her head again, trying to push those memories out of her head. It was one thing to come apart in the dark. It was another to be under the Alpha of Hollow Grove’s spotlight, looking like a stupid ninny.