The laughter carried on, silken and bright, the limousine gliding through the cold brilliance of Hell's Paradise Island while Phei endured the slow public burning of his dignity in a private vehicle. And yet, no matter how they mocked him, no matter how thoroughly they roasted him into dry, seasoned ash, his excitement did not diminish.
It remained there, luminous and stubborn, burning under every insult like a boyhood star that refused to be embarrassed out of shining.
Because what did they know?
'What do any of them truly know about the first-car excitement?'
Phei looked around at them, at their amused faces and jewel-bright eyes, at the women who teased him from within a world they had always belonged to, and for once he felt the distance between their childhoods and his with unusual clarity:
