I tapped her shoulder to get her attention again, mouthing, “Mel?”
She looped her arm through mine and pointed in the general direction of the patio, beginning to lead me that way. I kept an eye out for my sister as we made the short journey to that side of the house.
Passing an area with a pool-table and ridiculous amounts of game mounted on one wall, I did a quick check to make sure she wasn’t hanging with the group of people gathered around it.
I didn’t see Lamia anywhere, but someone else did catch my eye.
He was standing off to the side, a pool stick clutched in his right hand as he waited for his turn. He just so happened to look up as were passing. Our gazes collided; a curious sensation pricked at the back of my neck. He had some seriously blue eyes. And an unnervingly beautiful face--high cheekbones, perfectly accentuated jaw. Supple lips pressed firmly together.
He looked down for a moment, causing a strand of dark brown hair to fall from its resting place. When he glanced back up, my failure to pay attention to where I was going had me walking right into an angled part of the wall.
“Ow.” I rubbed where my shoulder had connected, refusing to look behind me to see if he or anyone else witnessed that.
“I told you to watch out,” Gracelyn trilled, failing to suppress a laugh.
I hadn’t heard her say anything at all, but I wasn’t going to tell her that.
“Shut up. I was checking for my sister.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t sure if she was hidden amongst those hotties or not either.”
I rolled my eyes, playfully nudging her in the side. We left the room behind and continued outside. Melantha was waiting for us in the only area of the patio that wasn’t congested with foot traffic. She was easy to spot with her navy blue and pink hair styled in two adorable sailor buns.
“Did you find her?” she asked as we approached.
“Nope.” I leaned against a portion of the stone railing that served as a decorative fence around the flagstone.
“Mm, she’s probably on a mattress somewhere, being bent into an origami.”
“That’s really the only explanation for her disappearance,” Grace agreed, nodding enthusiastically.
“Thank you two so much for that visual.”
“Well, what else would you expect her to be doing?” Mel asked.
“What’s the time?” I questioned, blatantly ignoring that.
Mel lifted her wrist and tapped the screen of her smartwatch. “Quarter past nine.”
“Shit. We need to be back by eleven,” I reminded them.
“You can’t tell your parents she went off with some friends of her own?” Gracelyn asked, fixing her hazel eyes on my face.
I stared at her with raised brows. “Are…are you being serious?”
She shrugged. “Is that so unrealistic?”
“No, but I’m not trying to earn my sister a death sentence. You know how our parents can get.”
“They would most definitely storm the movie theater we’re supposed to be at. Then they’d send their bloodhounds to track her down while we get our asses reamed raw,” Mel summarized perfectly.
I sighed and looked towards where Sainte’s backyard became overtaken by trees. Somewhere back there was a pathway that led deeper into the woods. For a brief second, I thought my sister may have ventured down it, but that would be a little extreme.
“What do you think we should do?” Grace asked.
Boisterous laughter erupted from behind the opposite side of the patio before I could answer her.
I looked to see what was causing the commotion. A few of the people we’d seen just a few minutes ago spilled outside, clearly having a good time, blue eyes amongst them.