Bolt damn near choked. “Oh, shit.You.Slow?”
Mystic shook his head like he’d just witnessed a historical event. “Miracles do happen.”
Devil smirked. “Sounds like she’s got your number..”
“She don’t,” I snapped too fast. Then softer: “Not exactly.”
“All right,” Bolt said, grinning wide. “Explain to me how a woman walkin’ away has got you sittin’ here like you forgot how to breathe.”
I didn’t answer. Mostly because he wasn’t wrong. None of them were and we all knew it. I was just still so damned turned on and nothing short of havin’ her would turn it off. Made me damn cranky.
Devil watched me a long moment, the noise of the room swelling around us—music, glass clinking, brothers laughing, someone yelling over a lost hand of poker. It all blurred at the edges.
“You’ll survive the wait,” Devil said quietly. “If she’s the right woman.”
“I damn well know it’,” I muttered.
Mystic huffed. “God, this is fun to watch.”
I flipped him off.
Devil chuckled once. Then his tone shifted—subtle, but enough to tighten the air. “Put your eyes on the room, Chain.”
I did. A slow sweep. Saw Brenda wiping down tables. Saw Bolt’s old lady tossin’ him a look from across the bar. Saw a few prospects drinking too fast, laughing too hard. Saw Lark.
She was standing near the hallway now, talkin’ to Lucy and Zeynep, head tilted slightly, fingers sweepin’ hair from her cheek. Nothing about her was loud or wild anymore, but she still pulled my eyes like gravity. She felt me lookin’, too. I could tell by the way her posture changed—softened, then steadied.
I forced myself to glance away.
“There’s something in the air tonight,” Devil said. “Feels off.”
“Yeah,” Mystic agreed. “Like eyes that ain’t ours.”
Bolt lowered his feet from the chair. “I’ll take another walk ‘round the perimeter in a minute.”
“You do that,” Devil said. “And keep your head on a swivel. Something is happening.”
That cold thread slid down my spine, coiling right beside the heat Lark left behind. “You think they’re here?”
“I think they’re watching,” Devil said. “And I think they’re patient.”
Mystic cracked his knuckles. “Never liked patient enemies.”
“No such thing,” Devil muttered. “Just the ones who learned how to wait.”
For a minute, none of us spoke. The music thumped. The lights flickered over smoke. Someone shouted over a bad pool shot. The whole room pulsed with life—loud, messy, familiar.
And still… I felt eyes.
Not Lark’s. Not brothers’.
Something else.
Quiet. Out of place.
I scanned again, slower this time. Nothing stood out. No stranger lingerin’ too long. No shadow movin’ wrong. Just my pulse still stirrin’ from her and the echo of Devil’s warning sittin’heavy in my gut. The rat could be right in front of us this very minute.
“You sure you’re good to sit here and watch?” Devil asked.
