Page 60 of Taming the Beasts

“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’djustpeed 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.”