A/N: Sorry for the shortness of this chapter. It's mostly just angst, and a bridge to the next one. I'd just like to remind everyone (to stave off any trolls who may have comments after reading) that the endgame is still Bella/Edward. Hope you like it anyway! XOXOX!


Night Four

Edward frowned into his glass of mulled wine, dissatisfied with more than just the saccharine taste.

A sea of intricate, false faces, and none of them were what he were looking for. There was nothing exceptional about these masks, nothing unique, nothing otherworldly. None made of glass.

"Where is she, your kitchen girl?"

Jasper came to Edward's side with the intention of irritating him - of that, Edward was convinced.

"She told me she would consider my invitation."

The answer was terse, and not even Edward himself could mark that as a convincing lie.

Truth be told, Edward was giving up hope that Alice would appear. It was nearly an hour until midnight, and she had yet to make an entrance. Edward had spent most of the night wondering if she was keeping him on his toes, bating him with her fashionably late arrival. Now that the night was closer to its end than conception, Edward had to swallow the bitter truth that Alice simply was not coming at all.

She had promised to consider, that is all, Edward reminded himself, trying to remain unaffected. But that was far harder when he had entangled his own investment in her presence.

"Consider? Why, I thought you told me you had her falling at your every word. That she was abashedly smitten with you. Do not tell me you have lost your charm," Jasper goaded, blatantly mocking Edward. Those were words Edward had said when he did not yet know just how intriguing and kind Alice really was. Now, those words felt dirty. He was ashamed of himself, and it was hard to believe that was only four nights ago.

"A gentleman never forces a matter upon a lady, though I thought I had been more persuasive. Apparently I was wrong."

"Yes, well you are not exactly a gentleman, now are you?" Jasper reminded unkindly, his mouth upturned in a sneer of a smile. Edward braced himself for the lecture to come. "Consideration will not suffice. We need more information Edward. The bit she divulged before turned out to be a success - In the garden, I had the queen eating out of the palm of my hand."

"Not literally, I hope," Edward grimaced, not needing any suggestive thoughts of Jasper to ever infiltrate his mind.

"You forget the point," Jasper said tersely, not in the mood for excuses. "This girl is a means to and end. If she cannot fulfill that end, then she needs to be cut off. We have no time to waste on pretty harlots and heiresses."

"I understand, believe me," Edward said sharply, shutting down any further conversation before he tackled Jasper into a chokehold and snuffed the air right out of his lungs. It was a tempting thought, one that took every fiber in his being not to indulge. "Now, go back to your queen. The sooner you win her heart, the sooner I can cut it out."

Jasper displayed another thin-lipped smile, this one more amused than anything. "You are starting to sound like me."

Edward's eyes flashed something dangerous, but Jasper had already turned to go before any other words could be exchanged. It was for the best that he left. Edward was at his wit's end. Between being abandoned by Alice and then scolded like a child by his partner, he was ready to drink himself into a hole. Embarrassment at such a juvenile response rushed through his veins like a poison.

He had never been left waiting before. He had done the leaving, and the wooing, but never had he been in the position of waiting. No one had ever stood him up before. It was an unwelcome and unpleasant feeling, the sense of dread that knotted in his stomach, that played games with his head and made him question everything he thought he knew.

He was supposed to be the expert spy. He was supposed to be the master manipulator. Not some lowly kitchen girl.

Grumbling, Edward cut through the crowd, eager to put distance between himself and the happy couples spinning in circles on the dance floor. His seat the king's table remained available, the bitter lord who once occupied that position of honor only casting a nasty glance Edward's way as he threw himself down into it, now somewhat buzzed from the alcohol. He needed to get drunker in order to escape this very unwelcome, very painful hell. Edward waved over a serving boy, ordering him to fill his glass, only to steal the entire pitcher of wine for himself. The drink may have been disgustingly sweet, but it was worth rotting his teeth out if he could just stop feeling so damn miserable.

"You seem quite vexed," Tanya Denali noted, stepping into Edward's personal space, a hand placed just above his breastbone as she sat down in the empty space next to him. "Perhaps there is something I can do to ease the pain."

Her lips were too close to the shell of his ear, her mask scratching against his cheek, her perfume even more overwhelmingly sweet than the wine, and all Edward wanted to do was push her far away from him.

"I am not in the mood tonight," he grumbled, tilting his head so that her lips missed his own, glancing his jaw instead where her sticky rouge left streaks on his exposed skin.

Any other night, and he would have felt proud for conquering such an unconquerable woman. The woman who could never be pleased, the pissy heiress who looked down upon the rest of the world, was falling into his lap, begging for him. It was a victory for sure. But Edward's heart was cold and hurting from the rejection of another woman. Another woman who lacked all Tanya Denali had but yet possessed more than the heiress ever would.

"Are you sure? You seemed wound tight, like a spring ready to snap."

Fingers traced heated patterns down the lapels of his jackets, roving over the bunching of fabric where his white shirt was tucked into the band of his black trousers.

Edward hissed, yanking her hands away, no longer caring if he was visibly rude. "Yes, and your nagging will only vex me further."

Tanya frowned, eyes narrowing into suspicious slits through the glittering gold of her mask. "Relax, love, I am only trying to help."

"And what if I indulge you, love?" Edward spat the endearment back, his tone cruel and callous as he surged forward and cornered Tanya back against her chair like some kind of predator. "What if I hiked up your petticoat and fucked you hard right here, against this table? Would you still want me then? I remember you seemed to like it rough behind closed doors."

A sharp sting blossomed across his cheek in the next moment, his head swiveling to the side due to the force.

"I do not know what has possessed you this night, but I do not like it, and I will not stand for it," Tanya said shrilly, trying not to look as frazzled as she was. Her hands were trembling from the slap. Her chest was heaving out of her corset, bosom rising and falling rapidly with each breath. Moments ago she was a seductress, now she played the victim. What an astounding actress she could be. "You are not welcome by my side until you regain your propriety, and a sense of human decency!"

Propriety. Human decency. Two things Edward had abandoned long ago as a child when his two choices were kill or be killed.

Tanya pushed her hair back and scrambled up, trying to regain her composure before slipping back into the crowd, more than likely headed towards her sisters to gossip about this latest development. Edward sneered into his glass, taking a large gulp before cringing and washing it down. He could not help but think that it would have tasted better if Alice were allowed in the kitchen.

But was she not the reason Edward was drinking in the first place?

You are not exactly a gentleman, now are you? Jasper's words rung in his brain, making it hard to think. The monster that lived under his skin was clamoring to be let loose, anger barely contained.

He had to get out of this room full of too many bittersweet possibilities and broken promises.

The powder room seemed as good as any, a brief distance from the ballroom so that the music and laughter were muted through walls covered in thick wallpaper.

What the hell is wrong with you? Edward scolded himself, splashing water across his cheeks in a desperate bid to calm himself. Look at how weak you have become, because of some woman.