Ghosted (Team Zero #3) by Rina Kent

“Thanks for the morale boost.” I grin back. “I don’t think I’m allowed to go with you?”

I assume Scarlett is an escort and Kyle obviously has rank. I’m a waitress, so there’s a hierarchy somewhere.

“’Course, ye are!” He snaps his fingers. “I’m the birthday boy. I have a say in everything tonight.”

Parties turn me into a nervous bomb. The chaos always drives me mad, but it’s my chance to learn something. Hopefully, the other girls are as welcoming as my roommate.

Though...

My fists clench. What if something is expected of me in the lowlifes’ gathering? I know I’m just a waitress, but who knows how things go in events like these? Even if it’s for Zoe, I don’t think I can offer my body for sacrifice.

I won’t be Ma. Ever.

Scarlett changes into a stunning little black dress and does a look over at me. Apparently, she approves of the dress since she nods, but she sits me down and does a quick retouching of my makeup. After she’s done, the three of us are out of the door.

Scarlett and Kyle are laughing and clinging to each other as we walk down the hall. Perhaps they’re a couple. But judging from how Kyle is draping his other arm around my shoulder – that I’m itching to twist – I wouldn’t be so sure.

As we pass through the floor with Mist’s office, I ask, “Will everyone be at the party?”

“Of course!” Scarlett says. “Mist already gathered all the girls. All of us will party!”

“As in everyone?” I ask.

Kyle grins. “Yup. It’s me birthday after all. No one gets to skip.”

This is my chance.

I know this isn’t ideal since I just came in, but if they will all be at the party, this could be my only chance to look for security footage from the day of Zoe’s disappearance.

In exchange, I might be kicked out or worse... killed. I’ll just have to be careful. If there are any red signs, I’ll fly back to the party and pretend nothing happened.

Before we ascend the stairs, I say, “I need the toilet.”

“Down the hall.” Kyle points and touches my cheek. “Don’t be long, love.”

I resist the urge to wipe my face as I smile and walk where he directs me. As soon as they’re out of sight with Scarlett laughing and talking in her bubbly energy, I take the turn towards Mist’s office. I keep an eye on the hallways in case anyone shows up.

Sweat trickles down my back and my muscles lock. Spying is a lot harder than I thought. I can’t even breathe properly.

I finally arrive at the door, and it’s... ajar. My heartbeat thunders. Hushed voices murmur from the other side, but I can’t make them out. I lean close enough to glue my ear to the door.

That’s when I hear a man saying the name, “...Ghost...”

My pulse spikes up.

He could be here.

The man who instigated Zoe’s disappearance could be right behind this door.

A strong hand lands on my shoulder before a familiar, deep voice fills my ears. “What did I say about putting your nose where it doesn’t belong, Firefly?”





Chapter Five





Of course, this firefly would put her nose where it doesn’t belong. Not that I expected anything different. This woman is full of contradictions.

Contradictions mean suspicious.

She whirls around, filling my air with a rosy scent or some nonsense that still manages to make me dizzy.

To her credit, she conceals her surprise well. Those bright blue eyes are staring at me with the utmost innocence like she doesn’t understand what she’s doing here.

Playing daft. I like it.

She’s on a whole different level from any other spy. Someone who’s smart about their survival.

I don’t like the idea of having her here, of someone digging where they shouldn’t, but Mist did her research. The woman has no family or place to go back to.

My life prior to The Pit is mismatched patches of memories, but I remember being homeless so well. The cold. The hunger. Mist, Shadow, and I slept so closely together to warm each other. We stole to eat and were beaten by older homeless people.

No one deserves that.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” She drawls, wiggling from under my hand. “I was looking for the ladies’ room.”

What a liar.

“Of course you were.” I tilt my head to the side and point behind me. “It’s that way.”

“Okay.” She starts to brush past me, but I clutch her wrist. She screeches to a halt. Her pulse spikes underneath my thumb.

Her reaction, just like earlier, unleashes a foreign sensation within me. I don’t normally play a human lie detector, but there’s this ridiculous urge to feel her pulse and witness the stunning confusion in her gleaming eyes. The way those perfectly rosy lips part in stupefaction.

“Don’t let me catch you searching for the ladies’ room again,” I say.

She twists her hand in mine until I let her go. Her face sets in hard lines as she turns around. “I won’t.”

She wants me to believe the owner of such a lively, defiant gaze wants to work in a place like this?

Try again, Firefly.

I stare at her back, still tilting my head. The dress bunches up with her confident steps, reaching the middle of her creamy thighs.