Chapter 11. Nobody

Ally's POV

With a scornful laugh, she turns on her heel and saunters away, leaving a trail of unsettled whispers in her wake. As she exits, I allow myself a small, victorious smile.

"Who was that?" Nathan's voice comes from behind me, close enough to send shivers down my spine.

"Nobody," I reply, turning to him with renewed confidence. "Nobody important at all."

I glide through the crowd until I am interrupted. 

"Ally?" Poppy's voice slithers into my ear, a chilling reminder that serpents lurk even in paradise.

My heart stutters, but I refuse to let her presence derail my night. I turn, poised and graceful, ready to dismiss her once more. "Poppy, I thought I made myself clear."

"Oh, you did," Poppy says, her lips curling into a smirk that doesn't reach her cold eyes. She leans closer, and I steel myself against the scent of her perfume, a mix of nightshade and de