Page 21 of Marked by the Pack (Crooked Point #2)

Tuesday

Zoey

Seriously, if Bennett’s secret wasn’t the robbery thing or the sex thing…what the hell was it?

My mind wouldn’t stop racing all day. All I wanted to do was storm over to the bank right now and demand answers.

Or log in to MyFanatics and brainstorm possibilities with Grudge.

Actually, I really needed to talk to Grudge.

I’d asked him to look into Elias for me, but that was no longer necessary.

Elias had filled me in, and he was on the run from a different vampire.

Shit.

Was it possible…that Bennett and his friends were vampires too? They seemed awfully keen to kill Callum the other night. Maybe they didn’t want more competition in this town for blood.

Gah. Where was Emma? She was never late.

I ate another big bite of garlic bread. I’d chosen the Italian restaurant today for a reason.

If any vampires tried to kiss me tonight they’d die.

Not that I wanted to kill Otto. Or Ace or Huxley.

Or Bennett even though he’d been a little rude this morning.

Or even Titan. Sure, Titan seemed to hate me, but that didn’t mean such a beautiful man should be killed by garlic.

But I kept eating garlic bread anyway. Better for Titan to die than me. The waitress had given me a weird look when I’d ordered a bottle of wine for the table. If she knew what was running around this town, she’d be drinking in the afternoon too.

“Italian? Really?” Emma said from behind me. “And it’s barely noon.” She walked around my chair and lifted the bottle of wine.

A random woman next to her laughed. “What’s wrong with Italian? I love garlic bread. And day drinking.”

“See?” I said. “She gets it.” Whoever you are.

I thought she’d walk off, but she sat down in the other chair at my table. And Emma grabbed another and sat down too. What the fuck is happening right now?

“I hope you don’t mind if my new friend joins us for lunch,” Emma said. “Zoey this is…” she gestured to her apparent new friend. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t catch your name. And I’m Emma,” Emma said with a smile.

Yeah…these two were not friends. They didn’t even know each other’s names. Why had Emma invited this stranger to our lunch? I desperately needed to talk to her!

The girl laughed. “Hi. My name is Kebe.”

What kind of name was Kebe? How did you even spell that?

Like…key and then bee? But honestly, it suited her.

The name was badass and she looked badass.

And she had an accent I couldn’t quite place.

I’d kill to borrow her leather jacket. And I thought I was good at doing a cat eye, but her makeup skills were next level.

“Thanks for letting me join you,” Kebe said. “And I love your necklace, Zoey.”

I touched my choker. She clearly had good taste. “Thanks. ”

“I’m new to town and know virtually no one. Unless you count the barista at the coffee shop down the street. But that girl seems to hate me.”

I laughed. “She’s so sassy, right?!”

“She’s the worst.”

We both laughed.

“I knew the two of you would get along,” Emma said. “Kebe was just telling me she’s looking to buy a place. I was going to ask Callum to help her out.”

“Oh, you should take her to one of those places that I took you.”

“Wait,” Kebe said. “Are you new to town too, Emma?”

Emma smiled. “Yeah, I was supposed to just be visiting Zoey for a few weeks. But I ran into this guy I used to know back in the day. Callum. The real estate agent I was telling you about. And we kind of rekindled our spark. We’re actually moving in together.

We’re fixing up a place. Hence the paint on my face. ”

“Oh, I just thought that was your vibe,” Kebe said.

“Paint on my face?”

“I figured you were a painter. You have a very artsy aura about you.”

Emma smiled. “Thanks. I’m a photographer. Although I’ve exclusively been taking pictures of houses recently. I’m not sure that really counts as art.”

The last time I’d brought up auras to Emma she’d made fun of me. Why was she being so nice to this Kebe person?

“But yeah,” Emma continued. “I’ve been staying with Zoey.”

“Ugh, that’s so nice,” Kebe said. “I wish I had a friend in town that would let me crash with them. The bed and breakfast is okay…but it doesn’t feel like home, you know?” She sighed.

“Oh yeah, I get that.” Emma looked at me and then back at Kebe. “You know what? I have an idea. I can definitely just start spending my nights at Callum’s place until the renovations are done. Zoey, you should let Kebe have my room.”

What? I knew nothing about this girl! For all I knew, she was the serial killer from the hay maze. Although…she didn’t look like she could rip someone’s hand off.

“Oh, I don’t want to put you out,” Kebe said. “I’m fine at the bed and breakfast.”

“Yeah,” I said. “And Emma. You can’t spend every night at Callum’s place. Because of that thing .”

“What thing?” She tried to hide her coy smile behind her sip of wine.

“The thing we were talking about the other day.”

“Does your boyfriend have a small dick or something?” Kebe said.

Emma spit out her wine.

I laughed. Okay, fine. This girl was awesome.

“His dick is actually huge,” Emma said.

Kebe lifted her hand to cover her mouth from Emma. And whispered really loudly to me: “Over compensating.”

I laughed. So she wasn’t a murderous serial killer loose on the town. She was just someone that was good at sick burns. Besides, she’d only just arrived. I think. “When did you get to town?” I asked.

“Early this morning. I’ve been looking for the perfect place to settle down. I was on a road trip of sorts. Hopping around towns I’d looked up online. And Crooked Point is so quaint. And peaceful. And safe.”

Well, she was wrong about that last part. She was right about the rest though. Those were the exact reasons I’d been drawn to this town. And I wondered if she was hiding from something too.

The waitress came by and took our orders.

“I need to get this paint off my face,” Emma said. “I’ll be right back.” She left Kebe and me at the table.

I was great at small talk. But I did not need this right now. “Actually,” I said. “I need to use the restroom too. I’ll be back.” I hurried after Emma.

I opened the bathroom door. Emma was scrubbing the side of her face with a paper towel.

“What the hell?” I said.

“What?”

“Why would you bring some rando to our lunch?”

“I thought the two of you would get along.”

“Emma! I’ve been dying to talk to you alone all morning. I ran into Bennett and he told me that the sex thing isn’t his secret. And I’m freaking the fuck out.”

“Yeah.” Emma kept trying to scrub off the paint. “I know.”

“You know and you still brought someone to lunch so we couldn’t talk about this?”

“There’s nothing to talk about. You know I can’t tell you.

But…” she finally turned away from the mirror to look at me.

“I do owe you a huge apology. Because when I was going on and on about the guys being dangerous and unhuman, I thought you knew their real secret. And I realize now that you thought I was judging you for sleeping with them all at once. And I wasn’t.

At al l. I’m so sorry if you thought that.

I was surprised of course, but I think this is actually perfect for you. ”

“Can we circle back to that dangerous and unhuman thing real quick?”

Emma shook her head. “I can’t. I wish I could, but I can’t talk about it. Besides, I thought you loved dangerous men?”

“Maybe I was wrong,” I said.

Emma pulled her eyebrows together. “I’m sorry if I freaked you out. I shouldn’t have. Maybe you can handle it better than I could.”

“Handle what?!”

“I can’t say. Bennett said he was going to show you tonight. Be careful though, okay?” She reached out and grabbed my hand. “It would kill me if something ever happened to you.”

“You’re really freaking me out, Emma. Wait! Is Bennett’s penis actually just way bigger than you said it was?”

Emma laughed. “That’s not the secret.”

Gah, why not?!

“It’s going to be fine.” She nodded, like she was trying to convince herself. “And sorry about the stranger surprise. But if I’m moving out, it really would make me feel better if you had a roommate. Just in case.”

“Just in case… what ?”

Emma laughed.

“Stop it, this isn’t funny.”

“It’s a little funny.” But the smile faded from her face. “But also not funny at all. And I don’t know how Callum is ever going to get along with them and vice versa. It’s all so messy. ”

“Because of the Bennett thing? Do you feel weird about the fact that I’m dating him?” If that was even happening? Because I was super confused. And it really seemed like Bennett wasn’t into me. If he was the one that decided who they all dated…it wasn’t looking good.

“No, I’m not talking about Bennett. But…yeah that doesn’t help I guess.” Emma shrugged. “We’ll figure it out, okay? I promise. We can talk all about it tonight after they show you. And we’ll come up with a plan for everything. You don’t have to go through it alone. You have me.”

I had no idea what I was walking into tonight. But I was glad that she would be there for me this time. I wished I’d told her about my sex tape getting leaked back in college. I’d needed her then too. “Wait. But you just asked Kebe to take your room.”

“Oh. Yeah. Just come by Callum’s place after.”

I groaned. “Why would you do this to me? I don’t want a random roommate.”

“I think she seems really cool. Come on, tell me you’re not dying to borrow her jacket. And she kind of looks like you when you’re camming.”

“We look nothing alike. She’s way tanner than me.”

“I meant because of your black wig.”

“Oh.” I pressed my lips together. “Yeah, I kind of see it. I guess.”

“And you don’t have to say yes,” Emma said.

“Of course I do. You put me in a really awkward position.” I sighed. But also…I was a little relieved that I’d still have a roommate. It did make me feel safer. Especially because Kebe wouldn’t be sneaking a vampire into the house every night. This could be a good thing .

“I’m sorry,” Emma said. “I can tell her it’s a no…”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll get used to her. I guess.”

Emma smiled. “Great. We should get back out there though. Because we’ve been in here a really long time and she probably knows we’re talking about her.” Emma looped her arm through mine and pulled me out of the bathroom.

Kebe was pouring herself a second glass of wine and the garlic bread bowl was empty.

Yeah, she was pretty cool.

“I really can just stay at the bed and breakfast,” she said. “Seriously, no pressure. The doilies and aroma of moth balls is actually super pleasing.”

I laughed. “It’s fine. You can stay with me until you find a place.”

“Oh, thank God. I don’t think I could sleep there. It would give me nightmares. And there’s a doll in my room. With eyes that follow you.” She pointed to her own eyes which weren’t scary at all.

“Yeah, that sounds terrifying. It’ll be nice to have a roommate. I got used to having one around.”

Emma smiled at me.

“So, tell me more about this real estate agent with the little dick you’re dating,” Kebe said.

Emma’s smile vanished. “Not funny.”

“It’s a little funny,” I said.

Kebe nodded.

Emma groaned at Kebe. “Ugh, I did not bring you so that you two could gang up on me.”

“I thought that was exactly why you brought her to lunch,” I said .

Kebe laughed. “Really though. I have a feeling the three of us are going to be hanging out a lot. Catch me up. What does Callum look like?”

“Tall, dark, and handsome. And he has the most enchanting golden eyes.”

“Golden? Interesting. You mean like brown but you’re smitten with him so you see them as golden?”

“No,” I said. “They’re actually gold. Except when he wears brown colored contacts to cover up their true color.”

Kebe gave me a weird look. “Why would he do that?” she asked.

“It’s a long story,” Emma said.

“We’re probably going to need another bottle of wine then.” Kebe waved over the waitress.

Emma started the story at the beginning. The very beginning. When we were driving toward that frat party but got a flat. “I swerved off the side of the road when a huge cat ran across the path.”

“I thought it was a big fox,” I said.

“No, it was definitely a cat,” Emma said.

“How big was it exactly?” Kebe asked. “Are you talking like the size of a tiger? Or just like the size of a big dog or something?”

“It all happened so fast,” I said. “I really thought it was a fox.”

“Definitely a cat,” Emma said.

“Maybe.”

Kebe took a sip of her drink as Emma continued the story. Emma left off the bit about Callum being a vampire. Which was good. I doubted Callum would appreciate a virtual stranger knowing his secret .

My mind started to wander to what Emma had said in the bathroom. Unhuman. Dangerous. What the hell were Otto and his friends hiding from me?

Callum was unhuman.

Callum was dangerous.

I swallowed hard.

The food came and went. Kebe had finished her third glass of wine and didn’t act any differently. It was almost like it had no effect on her.

And here I thought I was a champ at holding my liquor.

I took another sip and shivered. It was strange. Usually I got warmer when I drank. But it felt like the restaurant had dropped ten degrees since we’d started drinking.