Page 72 of Stardusted

I hesitated. There it was again—that naggingI’m-missing-somethingfeeling.

I started for the porch. My boots scuffed across the sidewalk, too loud in the silence. At the door, I paused and looked back, scanning the house across the street.

There.

Something moved.A slinking shape, aliquidshadow pulling away from the rest of the dark beneath the trees.

Heart in my throat, I squinted, trying to make sense of what I was seeing.

But nothing else moved. No one stepped out. No robots from outer space. No tall, suspiciously present bartender with too-perfect cheekbones.

Just wind and shadows and silence.

Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling of wrongness.I’d seensomething. Unless I hadn’t, and this week had turned me into a full-blown paranoid mess.

Who could blame me? There were aliens,real aliens, walking around. Smashing things. Trying to smash people.

Was I ever going to feel normal again?

Probably not. But for now…there was nothing out there but shadows and stars.

I forced a shaky breath and turned back to my apartment entrance, fumbling the key. I shoved it home with more force than necessary. Inside, I slammed the door shut and turned both locks, deadbolt and all.

This wasn’t sustainable. I was going to lose my mind if I didn’t get control of my nerves soon. The night out with Amelia had been a nice dose of normalcy while it lasted, but it was time to face real life again. The whole, weird mess that it’d become.

I flipped the stairwell switch. Warm light spilled over the small landing, chasing off the shadows. I kicked off my boots and climbed.

And maybe, just maybe…it was time to confront Sky Acosta, too.

Chapter 20

FRIENDS OF THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL RACES

Asluck would have it—if you could call it that—I’d get my chance to do both the next day.

A few minutes into my dinner shift, I stood by the employee lockers and listened to the familiar song of Oasis’s kitchen. Clanging metal, shouted orders, and the hiss of fryers rebounded around me as I twirled a lock of hair escaping my loose French braid and squinted at the schedule on the wall.

When I found what I was looking for, the ball of nerves in my stomach bounced. I rocked back on my heels, lowering my arm and rubbing my sweaty palm on my apron.

Sky was here somewhere, according to the bartender calendar scrawled in red Sharpie.

I’d decided during the sleepless hours last night that today was the day. If he was working, I’d find a way to corner him. Sky may know how to turn on the charm, but his weird obsession with recent events seemed easier to crack than solving the mystery of an alien infiltration solo.

The thought pulled a dry snort from me. I turned toward the kitchen and nearly plowed into Kelly.

“Whoa—sorry!” she said, stumbling back. When she saw it was me, she put her hands on her hips and scowled. “I was wondering if you’d be in today. Are you okay?”

“Okay?” I blinked, confused for a second…then I remembered I’d called off because of the university explosion. So much had happened in the last few days, everything was blurring together. “Oh. Yeah. I’m good. Just shaken up.”

By alien robots, I didn’t add.

She swept her blue eyes over me like she was checking for herself, then rested her pink-manicured hand on her hip. “What’s up with you today? You look different.”

“Different?” I glanced down at myself. Same hideous neon-green, patterned dress. Slightly dirty white canvas shoes. The mud from the car wreck hadn’t come out. Aside from the glowing palm glyph and robot hand-shaped bruise hidden under my sleeve, there was nothing new.

“You’re wearing makeup,” she said, snapping her fingers. “Eyeshadow.”

Oh. That. I flushed. She was right. I was. Just a little. Some smoky shadow and a swipe of lip gloss, but it had made me feel a little more in control before facing a certain bartender.