Page 93 of Taming the Beasts

“Oh my God.” I put my hand over my mouth.

“I don’t know how to tell the guys. We’re all friends with him.”

I slowly lowered my hand. “It hasn’t been that long since he went missing though. Surely he’ll turn up. Maybe he just went out for the night and slept over somewhere. Or he went on a last minute vacation or something and forgot to tell anyone.”

“But who leaves without their phone? Or wallet? Or any of their personal belongings?”

No one. That made him being missing seem significantly worse. “Bennett, I’m so sorry.” I put my arms around him.

He sighed and wrapped his arms around me. “I just wish I was there to help search for him.”

“Are you thinking about going?”

“It’s not really a good time to leave town right now. With everything going on.”

I knew he meant Kebe. And maybe he was a little worried about Elias showing up too. I hugged Bennett a little tighter. “How did you know him?”

“We took anthropology together in college. He was one of the first friends I made on campus.”

I kept my arms around him.

“I really don’t know how to tell the guys.”

All my worries and fears suddenly felt so silly. Bennett was up here trying to break devastating news to his friends. And I was worried about what-ifs. The only thing that mattered was that I was here to support them. “You don’t have to do it alone.” I slid my hand into his.

“Thanks, Zoey. We should probably get this over with.”

I nodded and let him pull me toward the exit that led downstairs.

When everyone got home, Bennett had everyone sit down as he broke the news. The guys seemed shocked. They all must have been close to the guy.

Everyone was quiet for the rest of the night. Ace still showed me my surprise, but I could tell his mind was elsewhere. He’d made me the most beautiful four-poster bed. And Huxley had designed the rest of the room. It was somehow modern and classy like Huxley,yet homey and comfortable like Ace. It was perfectly me.

But it felt weird to be in here all alone. I curled into a ball in the bed and pulled the comforter up to my chin. There was a chill in the air that wouldn’t go away.

Bennett was right. No one just walked away from their life and work without taking a single thing with them. Which meant...what? That he was taken? Or...worse?

None of the guys voiced it, but by their moods I could tell what they were all thinking. They thought their friend was dead.

The last text he’d sent was to Bennett. Could that have somehow led to this?

I tried to shake away the thought, but I couldn’t. How could us having questions about that coin lead to someone’s death? It didn’t make any sense.

I shivered under the comforter.

I wasn’t going to be able to sleep in here all alone. I pushed the comforter off of me just as my door opened.

“Are you awake?” Otto whispered.

I smiled in the darkness. “I was just coming to find you.”

Otto chuckled and closed the door. He crawled into bed beside me, tucking me into his side. The warmth from his body was almost enough to chase away the cold from my skin.

“I’m really sorry about your friend,” I said.

Otto didn’t respond. He just held me a little tighter.

I pressed my head against his chest and listened to his steady heartbeat. “Can you tell me about him?”