Aelin had always been conscious about her appearance. Ever since she was a small child and had learned about colors and how to coordinate and accent them she'd made sure her clothes were the best and never clashed-even if she couldn't technically see for herself. Since she hadn't yet made physical contact with her soul mate she could only see in black and white and the varying shades of gray in between. That didn't stop her from making sure her clothes never clashed, though. She color coordinated her closet-with dividers separating the colors-there were small words inside on the tags, specifying the color, just in case an article was misplaces, too. Notes were scrawled inside fashion magazines-evidence of her studying them like a hawk. Aelin made sure that no matter who was looking at her, she looked amazing. Her cousin, Aedion, who also couldn't yet see in color, thought she was ridiculous for putting so much effort into her clothes when only the lucky few could actually see the difference, but she didn't care. She saw how people did double takes of him-people who could see-and could only imagine what fashion faux pas he'd committed.

Humming, she stared at herself in the mirror. She was trying on a skin tight, short red dress she'd just bought the other day. It fit her like a glove and the neckline made her cleavage look amazing. Tilting her head, she wondered if she should leave her neck bare or add a necklace and risk distracting from her boobs. Deciding a necklace was definitely needed, she grabbed one from the gold-based half of her jewelry box, checked that the small stone hanging from it matched the dress, and put it on. Brushing her hair out of her face, Aelin slipped into her heels-golden, to match her accessories-and grabbed her purse before heading out of her apartment. She checked the time on her phone just as she stepped off her front stoop and was pleased to see she was right on time to meet up with her friends at the new rooftop bar a few blocks away.

It was a girl's night out-a much needed one, according to Lysandra-and Nesryn had won some promotional raffle sponsored by the bar, giving her and her party two free drinks each. It was a pretty good deal, one none of them were going to pass up. So when Aelin approached the bar, she wasn't too surprised to find Manon, Asterin, and Elide already waiting by its entrance. Aelin couldn't say for certain what any of them looked like. Elide had dark hair, Manon had light hair, and Asterin was somewhere in the middle. She knew Manon was the most striking of the three though, considering how many heads she turned her way. Aelin wished she'd meet her soul mate already, if only to see what, exactly, was so striking.

"Aelin!" Elide greeted when she saw her, a wide smile stretching over her cheeks. "How are you?"

"Good, thanks! You?" Her eyes flashed down to her leg, then back up before Manon or Asterin could notice. Aelin had known Elide the longest, but the dark haired girl was closer to the Blackbeak cousins, and the two taller women were ferociously protective of her, especially when it came to her leg.

"I'm great! So's the leg," she stuck out her left leg and turned her foot this way and that. "What do you think? Barely noticeable, right?" Aelin looked down at the extended limb. It looked like an ordinary leg. The calf was covered in skinny denim jeans and the foot covered in a laced up boot. To any casual glancer, it looked like any normal, healthy leg. If Aelin didn't know any better, she'd suspect nothing. It was only her history with Elide, and a keen eye, that gave her insight-right at the top of the boot, the fabric of the pant bulged just so. Aelin remembered when Elide lost the bottom third of her leg. They were twelve or so, and she'd lost it in a terrible car accident-along with her parents. Her uncle had taken her in, and hadn't allowed for any prosthetic. He claimed they were too expensive, but everyone really knew he just wanted Elide dependent on him. It didn't work, though, thanks mainly to Manon and Asterin. When she turned eighteen-just shy of a year ago-the Blackbeak cousins had all but adopted the girl and gotten her set up with a prosthetic specialist. It had taken a while, but Elide was finally free of her crutches.

"Yeah, I can't tell a thing," Aelin told Elide. Manon and Asterin's shoulders dropped as tension flooded out of them. Barely holding back an eye roll, she asked, "How long have you guys been waiting here?"

"Not long," Manon told her, smirking over Aelin's shoulder as a man tripped after trying to take a second look at her. "Nesryn and the others are just around the corner."

"They're coming together?"

"Yup," Asterin nodded, her thumbs flying over the touch screen of her phone. She was the one of the only two of their group who had found their soul mate. Aelin didn't know much about him, just that he'd died several years ago. Elide had told her so, but his death had happened before the two women had met and Elide was too polite to ever ask such personal questions. Aelin, who wasn't nearly as polite, but did have a strong sense of self-preservation, curbed her questions. The light gray haired woman's gray and black flecked eyes flashed up and a knowing, almost baiting glint flashed behind them. "Nehemia stopped by Dorian's earlier and found Nesryn hanging out with him and Chaol. Lysandra lives nearby," Asterin shrugged, "so she picked them up." Her eyes flashed back down to her phone as it buzzed. "Oh good, they've parked." Putting her phone away, Asterin ran her fingers through her hair, giving it a sexy, tussled look. "They want us to head up and find a table."

Manon pushed off against the wall she was leaning on and led the way through the hotel lobby towards the elevators that would take them up to the bar. They were lucky, and a group coming down was just stepping off one, allowing them to step on. Asterin hit the button for the roof and stretched her arm above her head, making the already cropped hem of her shirt ride up even higher and show more of her flat stomach. Quirking a brow at her cousin, Asterin cooed, "Wanna bet I can get ten numbers before we leave tonight?"

Crossing her arms over her chest, Manon smirked. "Ten? That's not even a challenge."

Shrugging nonchalantly, Asterin replied, "Twenty, then."

Lips stretching to show pearly white teeth, Manon struck out her hand. "Twenty for twenty?"

"Deal." Asterin shook her cousin's hand and preened.

Aelin watched the exchange silently, making sure her face betrayed nothing. Plenty of people fooled around before finding their soul mate. It was expected, almost. Especially since there were no assurances that you'd find your soul mate. Some people never did, so saving yourself-pining after this imaginary person-wasn't advised. A person's happiness wasn't dependent on their soulmate. Aelin knew that well, she'd had several happy years with Sam, back before he'd found his soul mate. When he did, though, Aelin stepped aside and happily stood beside him at his wedding. She did the same with Choal and Nesryn-though minus the wedding. Aelin had never heard of a person finding their soul mate and still fooling around. Asterin was a special case, though, having lost her soul mate so young, so maybe that had something to do with it. Aelin didn't understand it, but then again, she figured she didn't really have to.

The elevator dinged and the doors slowly opened. A crowd was waiting on the other side. A rough, slightly tipsy crowd that started forcing their way onto the elevator before the four women even had a chance to step off. So with elbows out and jaws set, Aelin and the others muscled their way through the hot, lightly sweaty throng of people. Heels were not the best shoes for this sort of thing, however, and soon Aelin's balance was lost thanks to a pushy drunk and she had to reach out to stop herself from slamming into the elevator doors that kept trying to close only to be pushed back open again. Her hand skimmed past warm skin and a dizziness that had nothing to do with her shoes overcame Aelin. Groaning, Aelin closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. Swallowing dryly, she opened her eyes and blinked. Then blinked again. Twice. Thrice.

Color. Color was all around her. It was everywhere. It was all encompassing and breath taking, but also glaring. Rubbing the heels of her palms into her eyes, Aelin sucked in a sharp breath. She pulled her hands away and stared down at them, then down at the fabric of her dress. Red. This was red. It was amazing. She could stare at it all day.

The elevator dinged again as the doors finally closed and Aelin's head snapped up and her eyes widened in horror. "No, no, no, no, no," she muttered over and over as she hit the elevator button again and again. "No, no, no-this can't-this can't be rutting happening!"

"Aelin?" Elide called from behind her. "What's wrong? Did you forget something?"

"And can it wait?" Asterin asked, winking and waving flirtatiously at a man across the roof top.

"No, it cannot wait!" Aelin all but yelled. She continued pressing the button, wishing she could summon the elevator with magic. "I met my soul mate!" She barked over her shoulder.

"You what?" Manon choked, her light eyes going wide and her jaw dropping.

Aelin didn't repeat herself, though, because the elevator had finally arrived. Nehemia, Nesryn, and Lysandra were on it and Aelin didn't hesitate-didn't stop to give an explanation-just stepped on and pressed the button for the lobby.

Her friends tried to ask what was going on, and she tried to answer them, but her responses were all curt and short and so most of the elevator ride was spent in tense silence. Bolting as soon as the doors opened, Aelin ran out into the middle of the lobby and began looking around, trying to find her soul mate. She looked for anyone-anyone at all-looking as frantic and as excited as she. But after her third sweep of the lobby, Aelin noticed it. No one looked like she did. There were no wide eyes, or short breaths, no wild turned of the head or spins of the body. No one else was looking for their soul mate. No one was searching. No one was looking for her.

Shoulders deflating, Aelin choked on a sob as realization dawned on her. There was only one elevator up to the roof top. No one besides her friends had been on it just a few moments ago. No one was down here waiting for her-looking for her. Fire began to burn behind Aelin's eyes and she pushed her hair out of her face, leaving her fingers entwined in her golden locks. Sucking in a shuddering breath, Aelin felt something within her crumble and give way. She'd been left behind, discarded, abandoned, and there was only one explanation.

Her soul mate didn't want her.

A/N: Part 2 will be coming soon-most likely tomorrow!