I squeezed my eyes shut, frustration boiling my blood. I wasn’t surprised. What did I expect him to say when a half-naked guy sneaks into his house to kidnap his daughter?

Absolutely nothing.

I heard the door close again, and Michael spun around, descending the stairs as his body shook with laughter.

“Model father, that one.” He squeezed the back of my thigh. “I think you’ll actually be safer with me.”

We made it down the stairs, and he opened the front door, walking out.

“Listen,” I said, seeing the driveway as my hair blocked the rest of my view. “I can’t go with you. He’s already angry enough.”

“I told you, he won’t know you’re there.”

And then I was swinging back upright, my feet finding the ground.

My head swam with dizziness, but I saw him open the back door of his G-Class and all of a sudden, music and laughter poured out. I looked in, seeing the car packed with people. No one I recognized.

“Make room,” Michael told someone.

He then turned and pushed me into the seat. “Ty, do her face,” he said to someone and the door slammed behind me.

I looked around, finding people piled in the back seat, girls on laps, while the front had two bodies sharing the passenger seat. Michael moved around the front of the car, heading for the driver’s side. People glanced at me, but they were smiling and still carrying on their conversations.

Drunk already, I would assume.

Michael climbed in the car, tossing his shirt and hoodie on the people to his right, and started the car.

And then a girl was on me.

I sucked in a breath, looking up as she straddled me. She was in short shorts, but she also wore a brown leather jacket, boots, and a scarf. Her face was painted like a sugar skull. Black rimmed her eyes, and she had beautiful designs of flowers across her temple.

What was she doing?

Raising some kind of spongy wedge, she dabbed it in some white makeup and came at me.

I reared back. “What are you doing?” I yelled over the radio blaring Save Yourself in the background.

“She’s disguising you,” Michael said as he put his car in drive and pulled around the driveway, heading down toward the gate. “Cooperate.”

She smiled, her burgundy lips spreading to reveal pearly white teeth. Leaning in, she started dabbing make-up on me again.

“It’s almost midnight,” she whispered excitedly. “Dia de la Muertos.”

Day of the Dead? It lasted from Halloween until after All Saints on November first, I knew, but why…

Oh, the make-up. It hit me why she was wearing face paint and what she was doing to me.

And the candles in the cemetery, too.

I didn’t know much about the holiday other than a parade I’d seen as a child in Meridian City.

“Are you cold?” Michael asked, and the next thing I knew, a sweatshirt came flying into the back.

I snatched it up. Awesome. All I had on was the thin boxers and a T-shirt.

And then my Vans came tumbling back at me, too. He grabbed my shoes? I hurriedly pulled everything on, immediately feeling warmer.

“Where are we going?” I tucked my hair behind my ears, making it easier for Ty to work.

Her eyes gleamed. “Hide and seek.”

Bellows and cheers instantly hit my ears as Michael swung open the double doors to The Pope.

It took less than forty-five minutes to get into Meridian City, the streets all the way from our seaside village to the bustling metropolis were now dark and quiet for the evening.

At least thirty people loitered in the lobby as I looked around and instinctively pulled up my hood—or Michael’s hood—worried that the face paint wasn’t enough to disguise me. Groups of teenagers were scattered amongst black columns that stretched up to the dark, high ceiling with ornate woodwork and crystal chandeliers. A few sat on sofas and cushioned chairs or stood near the large windows boasting beautiful white drapes and tall potted plants and baby trees nearby.

I’d never been here before. Our father rarely found a reason to bring us—or Damon, anyway—to the city. I knew it was in danger of closing, though. The stadium that was supposed to have been built years ago never happened and business was suffering. It really was a shame it was so empty and unappreciated for its grandeur.

An arm hooked around my neck, and I saw Michael standing next to me. He still had his shirt off.

“You got nice legs,” he said, staring around the lobby. “You might be safe from Damon at the moment, but don’t think your safe from the rest us.”

He then looked down at me with a challenge in his eyes.

“And don’t think I don’t know how to take care of myself,” I retorted. “I don’t mind hitting a girl.”

His lips spread wide, and he laughed under his breath. Michael didn’t seem like a guy who ever gave much away, but I felt a tug of pride that he seemed to find me amusing, at least.

Everyone fanned out, the girl who’d done my make-up taking my hand and dragging me toward the elevators. Michael and a few others followed.

“The game is,” the girl stated, “a cross between Hide and Seek and Seven Minutes in Heaven.”

Seven Minutes in Heaven? I groaned inwardly. I’d already played that tonight.

“You hide, and if you’re found,” she continued, “you and him get to have a few minutes alone.”

“And if I don’t want to play?”

“Why wouldn’t you?” Michael pushed the button for the thirteenth floor and the doors started to close. “It’s fun.”

Yeah, fun. You’re telling me my brother plays this with only the hope of copping a feel in a dark closet? They were either lying or extremely sugar-coating this game for my sake. I had no interest in this.

“How many ‘seekers’ are there?” I looked back to the girl, ignoring Michael.

She shrugged. “One for each of us. Sometimes more.”

More?

The elevator ascended, but my stomach was sinking. Chills spread up my legs, and my mouth went dry.

Then Michael leaned into my ear, whispering, “You don’t want Kai to find someone else, do you?”

My lips quivered with a little snarl. “There’s no guarantee he’ll find me.”

“Then make sure he does.”

I licked my lips, immediately tasting the black cherry lipstick the girl had painted on. She released my hand as the doors opened, and I watched as everyone brushed past me, shooting out of the elevator.

But I took my steps slowly.

The hallway was dark and loud, an abrasive Fear Factory song growling over the chatter, and I clenched my fists, suddenly feeling nervous. I didn’t want to get into a situation I couldn’t get myself out of. I’d actually feel a little more comfortable with David here.

I laughed to myself at the irony.

I followed everyone as they trailed down the hallway which was littered with more people and room doors wide open like this was one big, communal space.

The wall sconces glowed with dim light, but the overhead chandeliers were off, so it gave the floor a haunting, cave-like feel. We drifted down past open doors, music coming from every room, and it seemed more like a dormitory than a hotel. They must’ve bought out the entire floor.

Masked teenagers filtered in and out of dark rooms lit only by candlelight, and I looked in one room, seeing several dancing slow and heated. Two girls were making-out, hands everywhere, and another girl straddled some guy on a chair.

If my brother saw me, I’d blame this on Michael. It was his fault I was here.

“Alright!” someone shouted, and I looked up. Will stood on top of a cooler outside a room, looking back and forth down the hallway.

A dozen or so people started to gather, and I kept my hood up and my head down. I hadn’t seen Kai yet, but Michael was still next to me, so I felt less unsafe. I smelled the room service drifting out of the room to my right and a hunger pang hit me. I hadn’t eaten since…the bread and soup this afternoon?

“To keep this workable, we’re going to limit it to rooms 1312 through 1322,” Will instructed. “Ladies, you know the drill. Find a hiding place in any of those rooms, and make it a good one. You can change hiding spots, but if you’re caught in transit, you’re caught.” His face was adorned with a knowing smile as he looked around to the guys, warning them. “And if you’re told to back off, you back off.”