Ghosted (Team Zero #3) by Rina Kent

Her movements are diligent, professional even. Me, on the other hand? My legs are jiggling and I’m dying of damn boredom. If only this was a boxing match. I miss my morning routines. Running for two hours. Punching the bag for an hour. Strengthening workouts for another hour.

This place is the exact opposite of my comfort zone. I feel like I will explode from pent-up energy.

Scar swats my leg to stop it from moving.

Geez. She’s like a makeup dictator.

I remain still until she’s finished. I try to, anyway.

“Tada!” She whirls me around towards the mirror.

My mouth hangs open. Smoky eyes stare at me. They bring out the blue of my eyes to remarkable brightness. My lips are rosy and fuller than I remember. I look like I could be on a magazine cover.

“You’re welcome!” Scar says with a high-pitched squeal.

“Thanks.” I stand, face her and can’t help the sarcasm. “It must be satisfying to have a hopeless roommate like me.”

“Of course it is!” She turns towards her dress. “The last roommate was good at dolling up, so I had no chance to play around with her. It was boring.”

My breath hitches. Zoe was good at makeup. I always made fun of the amount of money she spent on beauty products. Scar’s roommate seems so awfully similar to Zoe. I fiddle with a bottle of perfume and ask in a nonchalant tone, “What happened to her?”

“Got involved with the wrong people.” Scarlett pauses. “Or more like, the wrong person.”

A rush of adrenaline pushes through me, and I sit down, trying to camouflage it.

What wrong people? Ghost is one of them and the other one is obviously Mist.

Is Julian also involved in this?

My head goes dizzy. I would rather not think about Julian. I’ve been doing my best to avoid him and that dark gaze that seems to capture me whenever he’s in the room.

Scar steps into her dress, head moving to the music. “Did you know Oasis is a legend?”

There she goes, flipping between subjects again. But I need to catch her this time.

“Of course it is. Liam is the best vocalist in the world.” I smile when she bobs her head up and down in agreement.

I play nonchalance as I ask, “So, about your roommate, how did she get involved with the wrong people?”

She zips her dress and faces me. Lace and tulle decorate the lower half, making her appear like a real-life doll. Her expression, however, turns cold, like she isn’t the same bubbly Scarlett from a few minutes ago. “Why are you asking?”

“Um, hello?” I play it cool. “So I can stay as far away as possible from those people?”

She jogs my way and half-hugs my shoulder. It takes everything in me not to push her away. “You don’t have to worry. You’re under Kylie’s and my protection. No one would hurt you.”

I meet her now-warm gaze through the mirror and struggle to maintain a polite tone. “With all due respect, you didn’t help her.”

“Who says I didn’t?” A nostalgic look crosses Scarlett’s features, and it’s like she genuinely misses her roommate. “I told her to stay away, but she wouldn’t listen. The fool.”

I swallow, fingers clenching in the material of my dress. “Is she... dead?”

Scar’s eyes drop to the floor. “Who knows?” Then she meets my stare. “Just stay by Kylie’s and my side and nothing will happen to you. Promise.”

But what about Zoe? I want to scream. If nothing will happen to me, that could mean something has happened to her.

Scar has influential clients, but she wouldn’t be able to help me or anyone if the ruler of this district, the invisible Ghost, gives elimination orders.

Kyle wouldn’t help either. He’s of rank, but he isn’t above Mist. Perhaps, he’s the same rank as Julian. I’ve seen the henchmen pay respect to him when he was sitting alone with Mist in a back table and accepting a drink from her.

A strange feeling of loathing lodges inside me. Just like when I saw them together during Kyle’s birthday party. And then they stormed out together.

They’re none of my damn business. Julian and those dark, destabilising eyes have no place in my plan.

I’m only here for Zoe.

The door swings open without as much as a knock. Mist saunters inside with elegance and haughtiness like she owns the place.

Only, well... she does.

She’s wearing a long-sleeved, tight dress that flatters her slim silhouette to perfection. Nude pumps give her more height than she needs, and her crimson hair is tied in a French twist.

Her gaze falls on how Scar is half-hugging me before she stands in the middle of the room. She crosses her arms under her chest and says, “Out, Scar.”

Scarlett’s hold tightens around my shoulders. The cold merciless stare she gave me earlier returns. It’s like a lethal animal is trapped behind those seemingly docile French-doll eyes. “No.”

Mist taps her red-painted nails on her arm as she repeats in a slow, but more non-negotiable tone. “I said. Out, Scar.”

I face Scarlett. “It’s okay.”

No idea why she’s being aggressive to Mist. They don’t seem to communicate a lot, but I would have thought that they got along considering their positions in Le Salon.

Scarlett releases me and stomps towards the door. She stops near Mist and whispers something in her ear. The only change in Mist’s demeanour is that she stops tapping her fingers.