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He’s shirtless, shoeless, a loose pair of track pants hugging his hips, and unlike when Sasha hardly wears anything, I don’t for a second mistake his lack of clothing for weakness.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“You forced me to come.”

“I forbid you to come.”

That makes me cackle. “And we all know how kindly I take to your demands.”

“If you’re going to cause shit⁠—”

“I’m not.” As much as I could sit here and stir Wilde up all day, it won’t get me any closer to finding Sasha. It’s a strange feeling to have something more important than messing with Wilde’s head. “Sasha’s missing.”

Concern briefly crosses Wilde’s face. “He’s with Booker.”

“You don’t think I checked there?” As smart as I am not to underestimate Wilde, he insists on doing it to me. “The place is empty.”

“Where’s Booker?”

“I was hoping you knew.”

Wilde takes a beat to think. “Maybe they went to the Cutty. Or …”

I wait him out, not wanting to fill in the lingering silence. The longer it stretches on, the more irritation builds inside of me. “Or?” I prompt, wanting him to admit he has nothing. We both know I just came from the Cutty, and if Wilde doesn’t have the solution, it means something is very wrong. And if something is wrong, I blame him.

Nothing went wrong until he started allowing outsiders into our town.

“Maybe Sasha needed some space from you.”

“He didn’t.”

“Then he’d be the only one.”

I glower at him, more put out than I usually am when we go head-to-head. “If something has happened to him,” I say, dropping my voice. “As leader of our fair town, I will hold you personally responsible.”

“That sounds like a threat. But I know you wouldn’t be reckless enough to issue me one.”

“Then I guess you don’t know me well at all.” My gaze catches on movement by the tree line, and I frown as Bob appears from the shadows. He doesn’t try to move closer, which is weird in itself, just paces a few steps one way, and then a few the other.

“You need to watch yourself.”

A warning smile crosses my face. “Have we finally reached our impasse? The point where we can no longer go forward together?”

“I don’t know.” His gaze narrows. “But we might be close.”

“I look forward to that moment.”

I leave him with that and head in Bob’s direction. As soon as he sees me and Matt coming, the feline slips into the forest, and I have to hurry to keep up.

“Where the hell are you taking me?”

He doesn’t answer. Because he’s a cat.

“Do you know where Sasha is?” I ask. Because I’m a dumbass.

But Sasha’s whimsy must be rubbing off on me because when Bob lets out a trill of a sound, I take that for confirmation.

“Is he safe?”