Page 44

Levi

“She’s here,” I whisper as Della, beautiful in a dark green velvet dress, sprints from the room.

I tell myself it can’t be her, but an excited energy pulses in my chest.

I wouldn’t be having a reaction like this to anyone else.

“Who’s here?” Xavier, in a custom black suit, yawns into his glass.

Two days ago, we watched Della climb into the back of Kylian Sutton’s Audi, and he drove her away.

Nothing has felt the same since Della left.

“Della.” I pass off my untouched glass of champagne flute to a passing server. “I’m going after her.”

“Levi.” Xavier grips my arm and pulls me back, frowning. “Della is with her sister. You’re seeing things.” He shakes his head. “It’s just wishful thinking. It isn’t like I haven’t wished that…”

I yank on my arm. “It was her.”

We’ve stuck to the shadows on the hunt for Ms. Huffman, with the invitations that Vincent secured for tonight.

As I scanned the room for the fifth time since we arrived thirty minutes ago, I did not expect my gaze to clash with Della’s large, dark blue eyes.

I scowl at the crowded dance floor as I work out how to get around the dancing alphas and omegas. When a couple spins past, I step forward.

Xavier starts to follow, then twists around, frowning. “Where the hell is Vince?”

Good question.

Then I see him pushing through the dancers, shoving people out of his way. Taking advantage of the path he’s carving through the crowds, Xavier and I follow him out.

By the time we venture outside the ballroom to reach the moonlit quad, Della and Vincent are nowhere to be seen.

“Are you sure it was her?” Xavier asks as I scan the shadows.

A couple kiss against a wall. A blond woman in a pink dress. Definitely not Della. Everyone else is inside. “It was her.”

“What was she doing here?”

“Probably here to blow up the school,” I mutter as I check down the side of the ballroom.

Nothing.

Where the fuck did Vincent disappear to?

Xavier’s expression is thoughtful. After months of him having a thick, dark beard, seeing him without it takes some getting used to.

“She was being weird that morning. I know we checked if she was still sleeping when we were talking in the kitchen, and it looked like she was, but maybe she wasn’t,” he says.

A thought suddenly occurs to me. “You think she ditched us to come here?”

“I think she thought we were ditching her, so she ditched us first,” Xavier mutters, narrowing his eyes at a figure in the distance.

“We weren’t ditching her,” I mutter. “Should we go back inside? Maybe they went out of a side room instead of the front?”

Vincent is out of breath as he steps out of the shadows. “Did you see where she went?”

“Where the fuck did you go?” I glare at him.

“I saw a woman running toward the parking lot,” he says, frustrated.

“ Della ?” I demand.

He shakes his head. “A girl had forgotten her bag and was going to get it. Of course, I didn’t learn that until I’d scared her half to death by chasing her across the quad.”

If Della slipped out of the ball, she’s here to cause mischief. Before I can suggest that we split up and check all the buildings, Kylian emerges from the ballroom’s double doors with a grin.

“Hey. Fancy seeing you guys here.”

“What are you doing here?” Xavier asks, frowning at him.

Yes, why is Della’s sister’s mate at an event intended to match unmated alphas and omegas?

His smile is lazy as he lifts his shoulder in a careless shrug. “Never came to one of these things before, and we kept getting invitations all the time. Nancy has a drawer full of them at home. I figured it might be time to see what it was all about.”

“You have an omega. Everleigh,” Xavier reminds him.

He grins. “I do, don’t I? Anyway, did you guys see the refreshment table? It’s a joke. I’m sure the champagne was flat before they poured it.”

“You’re distracting us,” Vincent says, his eyes sharpening. “Della is here to do something. She knows that we know she’s here, and you’re here to distract us long enough for her to do it.”

Kylian scratches his jaw. “Interesting theory. One I’d like to follow up with what exactly you’re doing here.”

A light is on in the wellness center. At nearly nine, it’s too late for anyone to be there. What is Ms. Huffman doing? Getting rid of evidence? Packing so she can slip away because she suspects we’re on to her?

“This is serious, Kylian. None of us wanted her in danger,” Vincent says. “Did she tell you what she was doing here?”

Kylian drops the lazy act. Suddenly, he’s serious. “Finding a friend. She doesn’t want any omega to be trapped with an alpha like Lawrence Wentworth. I’m here to help. So is Cian.”

Cian Barnes, another of Everleigh’s scent matches.

Xavier steps forward. “Where is she?”

“She said she was headed to the science building,” Kylian says.

Vincent and Xavier take off across the quad toward it.

I hang back, keeping them in my sight. Our priorities have shifted, but I haven’t forgotten the reason we’re here tonight. It’s not just about getting justice for Aly. It’s about stopping a killer from hurting anyone else. “Do me a favor.”

Kylian cocks his head, curious. “That is?”

I step closer, lowering my voice when a laughing couple emerges from the ballroom. “It’s not safe for her here. We’re hunting an omega killer. Next time you see her, sit on her. She can’t be running around tonight.”

I move to follow Vincent and Xavier when Kylian grabs my wrist. I get a chill being this close to him when I remember what happened to Lawrence Wentworth.

“Who?” One word, quiet and intense.

“The wellness instructor. Ms. Huffman. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. About five feet five. Fifty, but doesn’t look it. A student said she was wearing a silver dress.” Not that any of us have seen her tonight.

He lets me go, and I run off, leaving him in the shadows as he raises a phone to his ear.