Page 166 of Taming the Beasts

“Serpents? Hot.”

Is it?“And her dad is King,” I said.

“Well that’s a very weird coincidence,” Grudge said.

It was like he could see no evil in his new goddess crush. “No, it wasn’t a coincidence. King is literally the Egyptian god of the dead. Anubis. They were working together the whole time trying to get the Anubis coin back that my boyfriends stole. And they were trying to kill my boyfriends because they’re werecats. And apparently they love vampires and hate werecats or something. But Kebe finally woke up from Anubis’ commands and saw that my boyfriends are actually amazing.”

Grudge laughed.

“Why are you laughing? My boyfriends are amazing.”

“I’m not laughing about that. I just think it’s hilarious that King wore an Anubis mask whenever you spoke to him. He wasn’t even trying to hide his identity. And it went over all our heads.”

Yeah, I didn’t find the whole thing as humorous. I felt ridiculous for not doing more research. Especially after I found out that supernatural creatures actually existed. And I’d known that all that stuff Kebe had said about her father was odd. He’d been a professor, a curator, and an anthropologist depending on when you asked Kebe about him. The whole thing had been sus as hell. I just hadn’t combined it all. But of course Anubis knew about all those professions. He was thousands of years old.

“Well I’m glad Kebe turned out to be good,” Grudge said. “I told you she was too hot to be evil.”

I just shook my head.

Emma’s phone started buzzing. “It’s Callum!”

The door burst open. But not the one I’d been staring at while I waited for a doctor to come out. Bennett ran through the entrance.

“Bennett!” I jumped to my feet and ran over to him, leaping into his arms.

He caught me, holding me tight against him.

“You’re okay?”

“I’m okay.”

“You’re sure?” I grabbed both sides of his face. He looked good. He looked like him.

“I’m as good as new,” he confirmed as he set me down on my feet.

God, I was so relieved.

Bennett unzipped his hoodie and wrapped it around my shoulders.

“How are Otto, Ace, and Huxley?”

“They’re all fine too. Once my body healed I listened to the music first to make sure it cured me okay. They’re all listening to it now. But I didn’t want to wait to come to you.”

“Wait, you took the cure? You’re...you...”

“I’m just me,” he said. And then a smile slowly spread across his face. “I’m me.”

I threw my arms around him again. He was okay. Otto, Ace, and Huxley were all going to be okay too. And freaking cured!

“And are you alright?” Bennett asked.

I pulled back. “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” He was inspecting me, and I remembered that I had a lot of blood on me.

“None of this blood is mine. I’m shaken up, but I promise I’m notinjured.”

He exhaled slowly like he’d been terrified I was hurt. I had no idea why he’d been worried about me. He was the one that had almost died.