Page 59 of Scattered Glitter

“Come on, Glitter, where’s it gone now?” Levi whines, but I’m sure it irks him to know that she’s playing him that much. He’s not patient.

She casually shrugs and tilts her head. “Maybe you should check your pants pocket.”

Levi pats himself down quickly, his expression shifting from confident to confused as he checks every pocket. “There’s nothing. I—”

“Oh, right, sorry,” she cuts him off with a roll of her eyes. “I must’ve mixed up the twins.” She turns to me, her grin widening. “Koen, could you check your pockets for me?”

I raise a skeptical eyebrow, but I humor her and reach into my pocket. I freeze when I touch the plastic card hidden there. Then I pull it out slowly as my eyes flick up to meet hers again.

Holy fucking shit.

Levi’s jaw drops, then he lets out a burst of laughter. “No fucking way! How did you—” I toss the card back to Levi, who catches it, shaking his head in disbelief. “I’m gonna have to start keeping my hands on everything when you’re around.”

She flashes him a mischievous grin. “Maybe you should. Or maybe you should accept that what’s yours is mine now too.”

“All right,” Levi admits, still grinning. “You’re not bad.”

No, she isn’t.

However, I’m not convinced.

Not yet.

Card tricks are one thing, but we’re talking about a life-or-death situation here, and I can’t ignore how pliable she was earlier.

She crosses her arms, and I can read in her face that she still feels the thrill of outsmarting us. “So, am I good enough to know more now?” Her gaze shifts between Levi and me, her tone and posture all demanding.

“You’re good, Little Bird.” Levi glances at me long enough for me to see the hesitation in his eyes. “Real good. As for knowing more…”

We can’t know for sure until we have Alaric’sgo.

She glares at him. “You’re seriously still keeping me in the dar—”

“We’re not done yet,” I cut her angry rambling off before she can pick up steam.

“Yeah.” Levi flashes another grin. “Give me your number, Little Bird, and I’ll let you know where and when to meet us tomorrow.”

She studies us, and I clock the moment she decides not to push back. “Fine.” She’s biding her time. She knows we’re still stringing her along, but she’s hooked now.

And that works for me because we’re doing the same. We need to know how much we can trust her and if we can involve her in something so important.

If we can trust her at all.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Sylus

Blood sprays and digital bodies drop, but my sight is hazy. I take out another enemy on the screen, and my controller vibrates, but my hands might as well be numb for how much it registers. Thekill-confirmedsound pings in my headphones, but it falls on deaf ears.

Picking up the blunt from the ashtray beside me, I take a slow drag. My head is somewhere else entirely—somewhere glittery and impossible to shake off.

The smoke curls through my lungs, trying its best to force some chill into me, but there’s none to be found. The room around me is dim, lit mostly by the blue glow of my monitor. My bed is unmade, sheets tangled like I’ve been fighting with them. The desk is cluttered with energy drink cans and ashtrays overflowing with roaches. Everything feels too familiar, too damn quiet.

Like everything is still while I’m spinning.

Three months. Three fucking months of obsessing over her. Over that glitter-covered, gorgeous mess of a woman who’s got me twisted up in ways I didn’t even think were possible. I can’t explain it. Hell, I can’t even fullyunderstand it. But from the moment I laid eyes on her, something clicked in me that had been lying dormant for years and woke up.

She didn’t just wake me up. She set me on fire.

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