Page 34 of Taming the Beasts (Crooked Point #3)

And supernatural creatures were? “Well Callum was telling me the other day that when vampires move quickly, it’s not that quick. And that humans can see a blur. Is that true for you too?”

“Everything Callum says is true. He is so smart. And lovely.”

That was not an answer! Gah! I was getting very agitated right now. I needed to go back and look at the security footage myself. But Grudge never mentioned a blur when she “disappeared.” So I was taking his word for it.

“Back to the other supernatural creatures,” I said. “What kind? Like...dragons?”

“And now you’ve gone way too fantasy.” Kebe laughed. “Although dragons did exist at one point. No longer though. It’s such a shame.”

“So what other creatures were there?”

“Any you could possibly think of. Goblins, ghosts, demons, mermaids, leprechauns, elves. Werewolves of course. They’re all extinct though. Oh, there are still a few genies out there. But they’re sneaky and good at hiding. You’d be lucky to find one that didn’t want to be found.”

“Can genies teleport?”

“You’ll have to ask a genie.”

“I’m asking you.”

“But I’m not a genie. I’m a vampire. You know, this burger is good, but I don’t think it’s appropriate for a wedding. And it could use a bit of blood instead of ketchup.”

Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit! Except for the burger not being an appropriate wedding meal. I agreed with that. I’d just gotten a few burgers because I knew the guys liked them.

Bennett cleared his throat.

I turned to look at him.

He was giving me a very strange look.

I knew I was coming off rude. Or weird. But I was trying to make a point. Going about it in a roundabout way wasn’t working though. It was time to be direct. I turned to Kebe. “Look, I’m just going to state the obvious. Titan and I don’t believe anything you’re saying. ”

Titan shrugged.

Was that a shrug of agreeance? I couldn’t tell.

“Whatever do you mean?” Kebe asked.

“You’re literally eating human food without much complaint. And I’m sure you did meet King on a session, but I don’t think you were talking to him into the wee hours on Friday night. And I don’t think you’re a vampire because you’re disappearing, not making a blur on the video footage.”

“Did you see the footage from your house yourself? Or is this something Grudge told you? Because you know he’s mainly focused on seeing us both naked.”

Oh fuck! Grudge! I’d forgotten to tell the guys about him.

“Who is Grudge?” Bennett asked.

“One of Zoey’s best clients,” Kebe said. “They were practically dating before I showed up in town. He is such a cutie pie. I’m not sure why they ever broke it off.”

Kebe!

“Ace and Huxley met him briefly the other night when they stopped by. They even spoke to him.”

“The guy with blue hair?” Ace asked.

“Yeah, him. He really has the hots for your girlfriend.”

“He doesn’t,” I quickly said. “And we were never practically dating. He’s just my friend.”

“But he’s seen you naked like a ton of times,” Kebe said. “I may be old-fashioned, but that seems more like boyfriend material to me.”

Gah!

“And you still talk to him all the time, don’t you? Does he even know you have boyfriends? ”

I shook my head. “No. I mean yes.” Ugh! “Guys, don’t listen to her. She’s trying to distract you because of all the real stuff I just accused her of.”

“So you’re not still talking to this Grudge person?” Bennett asked.

“I am. But that’s beside the point.”

“I’m not sure it is. You told me you were done with all of that.”

“I am. Grudge is my friend.”

“Your friend who’s seen you naked.”

“They would also do sex acts,” Kebe said. “Like any other client. And they pretty much did it every night.”

That wasn’t even true! We mostly talked!

“Oh no, I think I may have said something I shouldn’t have. Did Zoey never mention him to you guys? Oopsies.”

“I’m going to murder you before you get a chance to murder anyone else, you lying, manipulative, non-vampire!” I yelled.

Titan chuckled.

“What are all these strange threats, Zoey?” Kebe said. “It really seems like you’re trying to change the subject. And you and your boyfriends really need to talk about your relationship with Grudge...”

“No, stop it! You’re the one trying to change the subject. And Grudge has a thing for you , not me. Titan, chain her up. It’s time to torture her.”

“I’m quite enjoying this, doll.”

“Titan,” I hissed. “You wanted to do this the other day.”

“I wouldn’t mind you chaining me up,” Kebe said and winked at him .

I swear Titan’s cheeks turned a bit red. Was he blushing?

“Stop flirting with my boyfriends!” I yelled.

“Why? You flirt with other people like Grudge even though you have boyfriends.”

“I do not. I swear I don’t, guys. Kebe is a freaking liar!”

“But I...”

“Would you please stop talking for five seconds!” I wanted to leap across the table and strangle her.

“But you’re trashing my character. I have every right to defend my honor.”

“Your honor? What honor? You’re a murderer!”

“You’ve said that a couple of times.” She put her hands up like she was the most innocent person in the world. And looked around at my boyfriends for validation. “Who exactly have I murdered?”

“All of Bennett’s contacts!”

“Wait, what?” Bennett said.

Crap. I hadn’t meant for it to come out this way. “Bennett, I’m so sorry. But I have terrible news. I was talking to Grudge...”

Bennett just shook his head.

“Because he’s my friend. And I was telling him about Ray being missing. He found an article about how it’s not just Ray that’s gone missing. There’s also an archaeologist. Named Patrick...”

“Patrick Anderson?”

I nodded. There was still a small piece of me that was hoping it was a different Patrick. But that confirmed it.

Bennett’s face fell.

“That’s your other friend you reached out to, right? ”

“Yeah. Are you...are you sure Patrick is missing too?”

I could see the hurt on his face. But I couldn’t comfort him right now.

I needed him to believe me and lock Kebe up.

“I’m sure. And Kebe did it.” I pointed my finger at her.

“I know she did. She doesn’t act anything like a vampire.

She disappeared from my house early Saturday morning at 3 am.

Not in a blurry way. In an actual disappearing sort of way.

Right after Ray sent you that text saying he needed to call you.

And authorities think Patrick disappeared around the same time.

They both knew about the coin. And Kebe teleported to Egypt and murdered them to hide whatever horrible thing the coin actually does. ”

“I told you,” Kebe said calmly. “I was talking to King at that time.”

“No, you said you weren’t doing anything. And then you changed your story when I pressed it. Because you’re guilty AF.”

She just shook her head. “I’m really sorry about your friends. Truly. But even if I did go to Egypt, which I did not, how could I have done all of that so quickly?”

“Who said it was quick?” I glared at her. I hadn’t mentioned the fact that she’d only been gone for an hour and a half.

“I’ve been all over town the last few days. Everyone in Crooked Point has seen me. And I knew nothing about Bennett’s friends. I had no reason to hurt them. I want to take the cure just as badly as all of you do.”

“I don’t believe you,” I said.

“Well, there’s facts and then there’s fiction. I think all this supernatural stuff has gotten into your head a bit. We’re not living in a fantasy world. ”

She was acting like I’d lost my mind. “You guys believe me, don’t you?”

Kebe didn’t give them a chance to respond.

“Look, if I really could teleport, wouldn’t I have just gone into your vault and taken the coin, used it, and left town already?

No supernatural creature can simply disappear and reappear somewhere else.

I’m here because I’m a vampire and I want to help my fellow vampire Callum as much as I want to help myself.

And I think it’s great that it can help you guys too.

Truly. It must be so hard being cats. I can’t even imagine. ”

And now she was just back to being rude!

“And if you really don’t believe me, just log on to your MyFanatics account and talk to King.

He’ll corroborate my whereabouts on Friday night.

I promise I was just sitting in Zoey’s bedroom talking to him.

It was very innocent. Unlike what Zoey used to do with him.

He told me all about the kinky things he’d make you do in front of the screen.

” There was a smile playing at the corner of her mouth.

Yeah, this bitch wanted to be slapped.

Bennett cleared his throat. “I guess we need to talk to this King guy.”

God that was going to be so awkward.

“No need,” Huxley said. “I know she’s lying.”

“Wait, what?” I turned to him.

“She said she didn’t know anything about Bennett’s contacts. That’s not true. When she was at the bank the other day she asked me their names.”

“Did I?” Kebe said. “I don’t remember that.”

“You definitely did.”

Kebe shrugged. “Okay, maybe. But I don’t even remember them. Was it Bill something? ”

“Patrick and Ray.”

“Oh. See. I’d forgotten.”

Titan cleared his throat. “They’re hard names to remember. It could happen to anyone.”

What? Was he not paying attention at all to that whole conversation?!

“It’s late,” Titan said. “And we really need some alone time with our girl.”

I just stared at him. Since when was I “his girl”?

“Cool,” Kebe said and stood up. “I’ll catch you all later. Sorry about all that craziness.” She nodded her head in my direction. “Someone might be in need of a good night’s sleep,” she whispered loudly enough for me to hear.

Screw you too! And what did she know about a good night’s sleep if she was a vampire?! Liar, liar, liar!

“For the record, my vote is for the roast chicken for Callum’s wedding. And I know how much you guys must love a good chicken breast. Caio!” She walked out of the dining room.

“Titan, what the hell?” I hissed.

“Sh,” he said.

He did not just shush me! I went to shove his stupid beefy shoulder.

But he caught my hand. And for just a beat he held it. “Sh,” he said again.

When the front door closed, he released me from his grip.

“Titan! We can’t just let her walk away! She’s lying about being a vampire and I just know in my gut that she’s responsible for doing something to your friends.”

“I believe you, doll,” he said.

“Wait, what? ”

He cracked his neck to the side. “I see this going one of two ways. Option one is we keep a close eye on her. We already have surveillance set up in your house. One of us can watch the security feed on a rotating basis so she’s never out of our sight.”

I was so relieved that he believed me. It took every ounce of restraint I had to not leap out of my chair and hug him. “What’s the second option?”

“We lock her up in one of our vaults and torture her for information. Shall we put it to a vote?”