POV: Callum | Parliament Annual Ball, West EndThe invitation used the word mandatory, which was at least honest.He wore a borrowed mask and a jacket that fit well enough to pass and walked into the Parliament Ball beside Valentina, who moved through the entrance hall like she had been doing this her whole life, which in some sense she had, the half of her life that was vampire rather than hunter. She had explained the event to him on the walk over in the practical tone she used for things that made her uncomfortable: annual gathering, everyone attended, the masks were tradition rather than anonymity because everyone knew who everyone was, the point was the performance of civility rather than actual civility.The hall was extraordinary in the way that spaces built to demonstrate power were extraordinary, every surface deliberate, the light engineered to be flattering and the scale engineered to be humbling. Two hundred supernaturals in formal wear and elaborate masks moved through it
Last Updated : 2026-03-06 Read more