Page 21 of Taming the Beasts (Crooked Point #3)

Friday

Zoey

“What do we do?” I whispered.

“No need to whisper,” Ace said. “Vampires have really good hearing.”

Really? Crap. I wondered how many times Callum had overheard something he shouldn’t have.

No wonder Kebe was so good at spying. And no wonder she got along well with Callum and hated my boyfriends.

Vampires and werecats really seemed to hate each other.

I remembered all those choice words Kebe had used to describe my boyfriends.

Dirty and crass. Weren’t vampires super old?

You’d think they’d have better manners at this point in their lives.

“Let’s just act normal,” Huxley said. “Convince her to come back to the bank with us. We’ll figure out what to do with her once she’s secured.”

By that, I knew he meant locked up in one of their vaults.

They were planning on killing Kebe. I didn’t like the girl, but still.

Murder wasn’t exactly my thing. Despite the fact that I’d tried to hit Callum with garlic on several occasions.

Also, Callum would never let them hurt Kebe.

Their weird connection kind of made sense now .

We’d figure out what to do with Kebe later though. Right now, I was just happy to get Kebe out of my house.

“Okay, just be cool guys.” I took a deep breath, walked up to my front door, and unlocked it. The door creaked open. I didn’t remember my door being so creaky. The creepiness made it feel like midnight instead of the middle of the day.

I shivered. The air was almost as chilly in here as it was outside.

I felt like such an idiot. My thermostat wasn’t on the fritz.

It just felt colder when Kebe was around because Kebe was a freaking vampire!

Callum was always so cold too. He didn’t necessarily make a whole house cold.

But then again, he wasn’t a “really powerful” vampire.

Or at least, I didn’t think he was. He seemed like a normal enough vampire. What am I even thinking right now?

A floorboard creaked behind me and I jumped.

“It’s just me, Zoey,” Ace said and put his hand on my back. “What happened to being cool?”

“I’m too cold to be cool.”

Huxley laughed. “It really is cold in here.”

“I thought my thermostat was broken but…it’s definitely her.” I stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

“Do you think she’s upstairs?” Ace asked.

“Yeah, she’s in my bedroom.”

“What is she doing in your bedroom? I thought you didn’t trust her?”

“I don’t.” Hopefully Grudge was still entertaining Kebe, or else there was no way she wasn’t hearing us talking about her. “But I asked her to take over my MyFanatics account.”

“Interesting,” Huxley said .

I turned to look up at him. “Make sure you flirt with her a little so she feels comfortable.”

He raised his eyebrow at me.

“Come on.” I walked up the stairs. My bedroom door was closed, which was a good sign. I knocked and opened it without waiting for a reply.

Kebe was sitting on my bed in just a bra and thong, deepthroating a banana.

She screamed around the banana, pulled it out of her mouth, and chucked it against the wall. And then she screamed again and threw her arms over her chest.

“Hey,” Huxley said with a smile.

This was coming a little too easy for him. What happened to him hating vampires?

“Hey, Zoey,” Grudge said from the screen. “We’re a little busy here. Mind coming back later?”

“Yes I do mind.” He had no idea that he was having internet sex with a vampire right now. If he knew, he wouldn’t be doing it! I grabbed my remote to ex out of the feed.

“Wait, is this one of the guys you talk to on here?” Ace asked and stepped in front of the cameras. “What’s up? I’m Ace. Zoey’s boyfriend. So how exactly does all this work?”

This really wasn’t the time for this.

“Nice to meet you,” Grudge said. “If you could move a little to the left, I can show you with Kebe.”

Grudge! I exed out of the feed and quickly logged off instead of entering the livestream.

“What is going on?” Kebe asked as she started pulling on her clothes.

“I like the bunny mask,” Huxley said.

Well he’d like it more on me.. .

Kebe tore it off. I expected her face to be red from embarrassment because she was acting like she was mortified. But she wasn’t blushing. And she smiled up at Huxley so flirtatiously that it was tempting to grab a carrot and mollywhop her across the face with it.

“So you’re a fan of naughty little bunnies?” Kebe asked.

Okay, that was enough. “Kebe, we wanted to know if you wanted to join us for lunch at the bank. So you can meet the rest of my boyfriends.” It was the quickest lie I could think of.

And I wanted to keep mentioning the fact that these guys were off limits.

Because she was looking at Huxley like he was very much available.

What was her deal? She was supposed to hate werecats.

“That sounds like fun.” Kebe put her hand out for Huxley to help her off the bed.

He immediately obliged.

“Such a gentleman,” she said. “You are so full of surprises, Huxley.”

He smiled. One of his cocky smiles that I thought was reserved just for me.

I’d told Huxley to flirt with her so she’d feel comfortable. I didn’t tell him to flirt with her obsessively.

Kebe dropped his hand and zipped up her black leather boots.

I would have taken a moment to change out of my high school uniform. But I was actually really happy I was wearing it right now. I wanted my boyfriends’ eyes on me, not Kebe. I wasn’t usually a jealous person, but I was really feeling it right now.

“Callum is coming to lunch too,” I said. I immediately felt guilty. I didn’t want Kebe to flirt with my men. But I also didn’t want her to flirt with Callum .

“Really?” she asked. “At the bank? With them?” She pointed toward Huxley and Ace.

I understood why she was surprised. Since she was as vampire and she knew Callum was one.

But...had the two of them talked about Callum hating my boyfriends?

I really hated that thought. I wanted us to all get along.

“Yup. It’s really important that my boyfriends are friends with Callum. Since Emma is my best friend.”

Kebe laughed. “Okay.”

Which part was she laughing at? I shook away the thought. It didn’t matter. Her opinion meant nothing to me. “So...shall we?”

“Sure, this will be fun.” She looped her arm through Huxley’s and pulled him to the door. “So tell me, did you really choose the finishes at the bank?”

I glared at the back of her head.

“Weird,” Ace whispered.

I looked up at him.

“Shouldn’t she hate him? If she really is what we think she is?”

“She does,” I said as we followed them down the stairs.

Huxley and Kebe started laughing about something.

“It doesn’t look like it,” Ace said.

Yeah. “Trust me, she does. She’s said terrible things about you guys.” She’d just called them little furballs earlier today.

“Huh.”

I grabbed Ace’s hand. I didn’t want him to be lured into whatever weird thing Kebe was up to.

He squeezed my hand back .

The action was so reassuring. Especially since his brother seemed to be having the time of his life talking to Kebe about different types of marble.

This time when we walked down Main Street we didn’t get any weird looks. Because it looked like I was dating Ace and Kebe was dating Huxley. I tried to ignore the uneasy feeling in my stomach.

We walked back into the bank.

“Oh my,” Kebe said. “What happened here?” She dropped Huxley’s arm as she stared at the broken column.

“Earthquake,” Huxley said.

“The foundation was settling,” Ace said at the exact same time. He cleared his throat. “How many times do I have to tell you, Huxley? It wasn’t an earthquake.” He slapped him on the back. “He’s so dramatic sometimes.”

Kebe nodded. “It’s the keen senses, I think. Or maybe the natural fearfulness. Or neuroticism.”

Huxley frowned.

See! She is rude to you guys!

“So what’s for lunch?” she asked. “I’m guessing fish? Wait, no. Some kind of meat. Fish is just an occasional treat, right?”

What the fuck?

Ace cleared his throat. “We know that Zoey told you about our secret.”

“Oh good.” Kebe laughed. “It was hard pretending I didn’t know.”

Was it? Because all she seemed capable of was comparing them to cats .

“And now I can joke around about it. I’ve been dying to say at least you’re all litter trained. Wait, you are, right?”

Huxley and Ace both looked very offended.

But Otto laughed as he walked over. “I’ve been known to pee on the side of a building when I’m drunk. Hi. I’m Otto.”

Kebe stared at his hand like she thought he’d just peed on the side of the building. But she finally shook it.

Otto looked down at their joined hands. And I wondered if he could feel the coldness of her skin.

“Um...so where is Callum?” Kebe asked.

“In the bathroom with Bennett and Emma.”

“Why?”

I didn’t want her to know there’d been a fight. If she was a really powerful vampire, I didn’t want her to get any idea of fighting my boyfriends. “Is Titan not with them?” I asked.

Otto shook his head. “He’s in his office.”

“Kebe, you should go meet him,” I said. “He’s really good at answering questions about all this supernatural stuff.”

Otto gave me a weird look.

I’d been worried about Titan killing Kebe earlier. But surely he wouldn’t do it right this second. And we needed to catch as many people up as possible about our vampire theory.

I lightly pushed Kebe in the direction of Titan’s office.

She walked over and knocked on Titan’s door.

“Come on,” I said. “We need to tell Bennett, Emma, and Callum about our theory.”

“What theory?” Otto asked .

I ignored him and opened up the door to the men’s room.

Bennett was washing a needle in the sink as Emma wrapped fresh bandages around Callum’s torso.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

Callum nodded stiffly at me.

“Great. So...um...Kebe is a vampire.”

“Wait, what?” Bennett asked.

Callum just stared at me. “No she’s not.”

“Pretty sure she is,” I said.

Callum laughed and then winced. “She’s not. Trust me.”

“Would you stay still?” Emma scolded as she finished securing the bandage.

“We’ve all noticed the shift in the air,” Huxley said. “And Zoey’s house was freezing.”

“And she hates you guys,” I added. “Not you, Callum. She loves you. She hates the rest of you because she’s a vampire and you’re werecats. Are you like mortal enemies or something?”

Bennett shrugged. “Something like that. You guys really think she’s a vampire?”

“No,” Callum said.

“Yes,” I countered.

“That actually makes so much sense,” Emma said as she handed Callum a freshly pressed shirt.

I wondered if that was one of my boyfriends’ shirts. They probably all kept a change of clothes here.

“She’s not a vampire,” Callum said.

“But she says she thinks of you like a brother,” Emma said. “And you always go on and on about how easy she is to talk to because she’s an old soul . ”

“I’ve been all over the world,” Callum said. “I’ve never run into another vampire.”

“So how do you know she isn’t one?” I asked.

“I...” His voice trailed off. “I just assume she isn’t. If she was, why wouldn’t she have told me when she found out I was one? We’ve been getting pretty close the past couple of days.”

Emma just stared at him.

“Kebe probably didn’t tell you the truth because she didn’t want us to find out and to hate her,” Huxley said. “I’m pretty sure she has a crush on me.”

I shook my head. I was starting to worry that he had a crush on her .

“It all makes sense though. She knew all about the coin. She came to Crooked Point to steal it and cure herself. But as soon as she got it, she panicked a bit. Since if she used it, she’d suddenly only have 60 years left of her life instead of 600.

She just needed a night to calm down. She’s ready to use it now. ”

Callum still didn’t look convinced. He finished buttoning his shirt.

“Well, there’s one way to find out,” Emma said. “Why don’t we just ask her if she is one?”

That did seem like the best option. “Agreed.”

“I think it would be best if I spoke to her in private,” Callum said. “This is a very sensitive subject. And you guys being around isn’t exactly conducive to her telling the truth.”

I didn’t think Kebe needed any more alone time with Callum. And I was done with all the secrets and lies. “Nah, I’ve got this.” I pushed on the door and walked out of the restroom.

“Zoey, wait,” Bennett said. “I really think we need a better plan than this. ”

My feet stopped as soon as I walked out of the restroom. But not because of Bennett’s protest.

Titan was standing in the middle of the bank laughing about something with Kebe. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him laugh before. All he ever did was glare at me.

Kebe pushed on his arm and kept laughing.

Seriously, what was this girl’s deal? Enough was enough with the flirtations. I stormed up to them. “I know your secret, Kebe.”

Callum sighed behind me.

“My secret?” Kebe looked confused. “Whatever do you mean?”

Oh cut the act. “We know that you’re a vampire like Callum.”

Kebe glanced at Callum over my shoulder and then back at me. “And why would you think that?”

“Because of all that mean stuff you said about werecats.”

Kebe laughed.

Titan frowned.

“And you know so much about the coin and the cure. And you’re an old soul. And the bank dropped ten degrees ever since you set foot into it.”

“Oh,” Kebe said. She looked around at everyone. “Okay. Right.” And then she nodded. “Oh, rats. You caught me red handed. I’m a vampire.”

Why did everything she say sound so insincere?