“She was right here…” She turns toward the now empty spot, her brows curving in, confused. Pushing up from her chair, she stands and starts twisting and turning, scanning the area. “She was just here.”

I turn back around, my eyes landing on Ruby, who’s following my footsteps down. “Did you see where she went?”

She rolls her eyes and I have to fight with myself not to wrap my hands around her throat and pin her up against the tree. “She’s probably pashing someone in the house, Wicked. Stop being so fucking dramatic. She’s safe here, or have you forgotten where we are?”

I haven’t, but where we are is precisely the issue. She doesn’t know that, though, of course. The naïve little brat would never know.

I move around her, circling the smaller groups of people talking and drinking, before going back to the side of the house and to the front, where the guard stands near the front door, exactly where I left him.

I point to the house. “You seen Poppy?”

He looks from left to right, taking the steps down to meet me. “No? No one has come around the front.”

I leave him behind and push through the front door. I don’t see anything. My vision caves in around me in a single circle, as if I have tunnel vision just for her. Pulling out my phone, I hit the second floor while tapping her name on my contacts list. Her phone rings three times—

“If I haven’t answered my phone, it’s because you’ve called me off a number not in my contacts. Rude. I feel violated. Don’t call me unless you know me. K, thanks, BYE!”

I want to pin her right beside Ruby on that tree, but I shove through every bedroom, clearing each one before realizing she’s not in here either. Jogging down the stairs, I exit through the back doors, hitting her name again, only this time it goes straight to voicemail. Dread fills my veins when I realize something isn’t right. Poppy may be a headcase and the equivalent to a stray cat when it comes to keeping track of her, but she’d never purposely ignore me. She knows how much I stress and how controlling I am. She knows it’ll just be easier to answer the phone, tell me she’s fine and to stop being a dickhead, and then hang up on me. She’d never do this.