Gaslight (Crossbreed #4)(45)

Voices overlapped from Wyatt’s room. It sounded like an argument brewing. As he reached the doorway, he leaned against the doorjamb and listened in.

“I’m telling you, I had it in my pocket,” Wyatt said, yanking open his desk drawer and rifling through the contents. “Someone took it.”

Blue’s hands disappeared into the sleeves of her red gown when she folded her arms. “No one stole your damn key.” She met eyes with Christian, a look of exhaustion on her face. “He can’t find the master key.” Before Christian could ask, she rapped her knuckles against the vending machine behind her. “So we’re in crisis mode.”

Blue had remarkable patience for a woman who carried an axe. Unlike some of them, she didn’t like high drama past midnight. Once she put on the long dress that must have kept her warm in a mansion without heat, she shifted into a quieter person. Christian suspected her personality was aligned with her animal. Quiet, intelligent, and fearless. Falcons didn’t live in flocks. They hunted alone. From what he’d read, they also mated for life.

Wyatt turned to Christian, straightening his T-shirt, which said: THE FUCK I GAVE WENT THAT WAY. “Did you take my key? Joke’s over. Ha ha.”

“Has anyone seen Raven?” he asked, ignoring Wyatt’s inane question.

Blue shook her head and glanced at Gem, who was snoozing on the black sofa. “Gem! Wake up.”

One eye popped open, and she sat up reflexively, hair stuck to the side of her face. A bright-green pillow tumbled to the floor. “What? Huh? Oh, my date was wonderful. Hooper took me to a bookstore.”

“Have you seen Raven?” Blue asked.

Gem shook her head and yawned. “Not since they left.” Then she glanced at Christian. “Oh, you’re back. He probably knows.”

“He’s the one asking.”

Christian’s stomach knotted. Maybe Raven was in the gym, but this wasn’t her usual hour for exercise.

“Call her,” Blue suggested.

“She left her phone behind.”

Wyatt plopped down in his chair, his thoughts consumed.

Gem rubbed her eye. “Why would she leave her phone behind?”

“She forgot her purse. It wouldn’t be the first time. I thought she took off with some wanker who was hitting on her, but now I’m not so sure.”

“She probably did,” Blue said matter-of-factly. “Raven’s got needs like everyone else, and she’s been cooped up in this house more than anyone. We shouldn’t pry into her affairs.”

“What the clusterfuck is going on in here?” Shepherd grumbled from the door. He didn’t smell like a barn, and since he also didn’t smell like soap, Christian surmised that he must have skipped his nightly workout.

Christian looked over his shoulder. “Have you seen Raven tonight?”

“No.”

With every no, a sinking feeling came over him that something had gone wrong. But with humans? Raven could handle herself just fine. Maybe Boomer had returned and knocked her unconscious.

Wyatt crawled onto the floor and poked his head under the desk.

“Jaysus wept. Raven could be lying in a trunk, and all you can think about is that fecking key.”

When Wyatt sat back, a dust bunny clung to his beanie. “First of all, most modern cars have emergency trunk releases inside them. Ask me how I know this. And secondly, I paid good money for this machine. I don’t want to have to switch out the key because one of you might be hiding it so you can get free food.”

Gem stood up and tightened the belt on her blue kimono robe. She strode over to Wyatt, her purple slippers swishing against the floor. “I wonder if I can pick that lock.”

“Just because you have a talent at picking locks doesn’t give you the right to mess with my stuff.”

“As long as you keep using air quotes to emphasize your words, I’ll mess with whatever I want.”

When she neared the machine, Wyatt pressed his index finger against her forehead and pushed her back.

Gem leaned into him and simpered, an energy ball the size of a marble rolling between her fingers.

His eyes widened, and he jolted back as if he’d just seen a rattlesnake. “That nifty little trick of yours is going to blow us all to smithereens.”

She blew the tip of her finger as if it were a smoking gun, and the light disappeared. “Just remember that the next time you put your finger where it doesn’t belong.”

Shepherd shifted everyone back on topic. “Who was Raven seen with last?” He folded his arms, which emphasized his biceps.

Christian’s jaw set. “A Billy Idol wannabe.”

Viktor suddenly appeared in the doorway in his black silk pajamas. “What’s this all about?”

Confused as to why Viktor had shown up, Christian glanced back at the crew and spotted Blue holding what looked like Wyatt’s phone. She shrugged an apology and tossed it on the couch.

“Raven’s gone AWOL,” Wyatt informed him.

Viktor pointed at the vending machine he hadn’t seen until now. “We’ll talk about that later. Who was the last person to see her?”

Christian raised a finger.

“And does this have to do with your assignment?”

“Aye. She ran into some trouble in the parking lot when we thought we had a lead. Nothing she couldn’t handle. Just a human with bad manners.”