Page 74 of Gatsby's Starlet
“Before it got dark,” he said after a second, and I held his gaze a beat longer before asking, “You see who she was with?”
He shook his head. “Nah. Just saw her get on.”
I looked past him again, back at the house, quiet, still, unchanged, like none of this touched it, and for a second I thought about finishing what I started anyway, going around back, finding a way in just to be sure, but the pieces almost fit, close enough to make me hesitate even if they didn’t settle clean.
“Anyone else been around?” I asked.
He shrugged again. “Don’t think so.”
Didn’t think so wasn’t good enough, but it was something, and it lined up just enough if I let it, Evie leaving, not answering, maybe with Roxy, maybe… I exhaled slow, dragging a hand over my jaw, forcing the edge down even though it didn’t go away completely.
“Alright,” I said finally.
The kid nodded like that was the end of it, pushing his bike upright and heading off without another word, leaving me standing there with the house still too quiet behind me and thatfeeling still sitting wrong in my gut no matter how I tried to settle it.
I pulled my phone out again instead, dialing Ruby this time as I stepped back toward the front, listening while it rang once before cutting off, my frown deepening as I checked the screen and tried again, getting nothing this time.
That was when it shifted, because Evie not answering was one thing, but Ruby not answering didn’t track, not after last night, not after the way Evie had looked, too quiet, too watchful, like she was already waiting for something to go wrong.
“Yeah,” I muttered under my breath, low and rough. “Something isn’t right.”
I didn’t go back around the house, didn’t knock again, but I didn’t linger either, standing there just long enough to look at the door one more time like I could see through it if I stared hard enough, before I finally turned and headed back to the bike, the engine kicking over beneath me as my mind worked through pieces that still didn’t fit no matter how I turned them.
Something was off.
***
BY THE TIMEI pulled up, the place was lit the way it always was, bikes lined out front and noise spilling from inside, nothing out of place and everything exactly the same, except it didn’t sit right anymore, not with that same tight feeling still riding under my skin from her place, like I’d already missed something and was only just catching up to it now.
The second I stepped through the door, it hit again, quieter this time but sharper for it, settling in low and steady, like something had already shifted and I was walking into it late.
“Gatsby.”
Devil stood near the hall, his expression set in a way that said this wasn’t casual, not even close, his eyes already on me like he’d been waiting.
“In my office.”
I didn’t ask questions, didn’t slow down, just moved, my boots hitting heavier than usual as I headed down the hall, that warning tightening with every step until it stopped feeling like a warning and started feeling like pressure, something already in motion whether I wanted it to be or not.
The door was open, Mystic and Chain already inside and already watching, and I knew before anyone said a word that whatever this was, it wasn’t small, not something you brushed off or handled later.
The door clicked shut behind me, sealing it in.
“What’s going on?” I asked, my voice even, controlled, like I hadn’t already felt it building.
Nobody answered right away, their attention shifting toward Mystic, and yeah—if this was coming from anyone, it was him.
“I had someone follow the girls,” he said, no lead-in, no hesitation, like he didn’t need either.
My eyes narrowed slightly. “What girls?”
His gaze settled on me.
“Evie and Ruby.”
Everything in me went still, not outward, not where anyone could see it, but inside, like something locked into place before it had the chance to move.
“Why,” I said, flat, not a question so much as a demand for something that made sense.
