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No matter how many times Alex kept checking his phone, Jun hadn’t said a thing. Even during their drive to the mansion, Kana took his phone away so he didn’t text and drive. Now that it was finally back in his hands, Alex checked every half second with the same disappointment.

“Hey.”

Alex shoved the phone into his pocket and was greeted by the frowns of two former child stars. They might as well play their part well now that they were both back in their sparkly personas, both donning matching gold and silver glitter slip dresses.

Snowy planted her hands on the curve of her hips. “You good or what?” she asked grumpily.

“Yeah.” Alex sucked in his teeth and glanced at the concrete and glass toy blocks that had the audacity to call itself a mansion. “Just didn’t want to look at this ugly ass house.”

Snowy snorted and glanced at Kana with wide eyes, grimacing. She marched ahead of them, heels clacking on the marble driveway as Kana held out her arm to him, her shiny lips pressed to a line. He tucked her arm underneath his, and they walked across the reflective driveway towards the lit marble stairs of the house.

They passed by several parked cars on the parkway. A dolled-up couple emerged from their Bugatti, staring at them for a hot second. Alex smirked at them until Kana stumbled into the Vanquish. He caught her by the waist and steadied her on the first step.

“You alright?” He leaned in towards her ear.

Kana nodded quickly and pulled free, smoothing her dress. Alex dropped his hand, the ghost of her warmth still on his palm.

She glanced back at the Vanquish, the setting winter sun tracing the soft curve of her jaw. “So, he is here,” she muttered, pulling her wool coat tighter around her.

Looking at her now—worried, brave, lit up by the last of the sun—Alex had to physically stop himself from doing something stupid. “I know,” was all he could manage.

Kana turned towards the dying light over the trees. Loose baby hair brushed against her bare neck in the evening breeze. They climbed the last steps in silence. Kana spoke as they walked, “Connor would let us know. Right?”

As if on cue, Alex’s phone buzzed when they reached the landing. Alex pulled his phone out, but his pounding heart sank to the pits of his stomach.

Hal: We just pulled up

Hal: tell us when you’re in the back

Alex typed out a thumbs up emoji.

Kana glanced up, clutching her small cross bag. “Is it him?”

Alex shook his head as he shoved the phone back into his jogger pants. “Just Hal,” he replied sadly.

An obnoxious prissy throat clearing interrupted them. Snowy batted her eyelashes at them with a withering frown. “You guys took forever.” She walked on ahead with her curled hair swaying behind her.

Kana didn’t even bother arguing back. Alex commended Kana for dealing with this bullshit for years. He would have smacked her the moment she opened her mouth.

They joined Snowy at the front door, where a thick, bald man in a too-tight black tank top blocked the entrance. Silver chains caught the light from inside the house. Alex couldn’t pinpoint it, but he had seen this guy before.

“Name?” he grunted.

Snowy waved nervously. “I’m Snowy! And—” She wound her arm around Kana’s and pulled her close.

“Sammy!” said Kana, in her high-pitched celebrity voice. She glanced back at Alex and motioned for him to come forward. “He’s the plus one.”

The man glared at Alex with a slight grunt. His crooked smile revealed a silver tooth that caught the glow from the house’s interior. Alex wasn’t about to make any assumptions until his eyes landed on the ink sprawled across his left pec and onto his bicep. The claw mark of a talon. Garra.

The man scrolled through his phone until he responded with another grunt and stepped aside, opening the door for them.

Alex followed the girls inside and squinted. White marble floors and walls threw the light back like a mirror, harsh after the dimness outside. Bass-heavy pop music swallowed every other sound. He squeezed past clusters of intoxicated guests, nearly cursing at a lanky Christmas tree, before losing sight of both girls.

The next room was worse—wall-to-wall bodies, the music louder, the air thicker. The stench of alcohol and weed mixed with too many bodies assaulted Alex’s nose. He hadn’t been at a house party like this in years. The fact that these rich ass pigs did the same shit they did was both infuriating and pathetic.

Alex wasn’t even sure where to start searching, especially in a sea of sweaty and delirious bodies. He reached out to grab Kana’s wrist before losing her again when—

“Oh my God? Snowy?” A man’s voice boomed.