Page 35 of Marked By the Pack
I laughed. “Salt things such as…”
“I put it around my bed last night. To make sure I was safe.”
“Safe from what exactly?” I asked.
“Vampires?”
The way she said it made me pause. “I’m pretty sure the salt thing is for witches.”
Zoey shrugged. “Fair. But a few days ago we didn’t think vampires existed. And…enter Callum back into our lives. You never know what might come to town next.”
I laughed. If only she knew… I cleared my throat. “So last night was interesting.”
“In what way?” Zoey asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee.
“I know you said that Otto wasn’t interested in dating you. But…he was definitely looking at you like he wanted to devour you.” I frowned at my choice of words. I really didn’t want him to devour Zoey. I really didn’t want Zoey interacting with Otto at all. Of all the guys at the bank…Otto was the most dangerous. Titan had told me as much. That since Otto was the youngest, he had the least control.
But the more I told Zoey how dangerous Otto was, the more she seemed to want to be with him. At least I’d already convinced Callum to let Bennett keep the mind control pocket watch. Honestly though, it didn’t seem all that helpful. And Otto wasn’t always with Bennett.
“Yeah. I think we can come to some sort of arrangement.”
“An arrangement?”
Zoey laughed. “I meant I think we’ll end up dating.”
I pressed my lips together. “Zoey…” I let my voice trail off. I didn’t want to push her toward Otto anymore by saying he was a bad boy. But I didn’t know what else to do. She could not, under any circumstances, date Otto. I tried to think of how I could word this differently. “Zoey, I’m worried about you. I told you several times that he’s not a good person.” That seemed better. Being a bad person wasn’t sexy.
“You’reworried aboutme?I’mworried aboutyou, Emma.”
“Why?”
She gestured to the side of my neck.
I looked down at the strap for my camera. I knew she thought it was foolish to hold on to it for so long. But it had all worked out. “I like the memory,” I said.
“Of him biting you?” Zoey stepped forward and pushed my hair away from my neck. “What happened to him only drinking animal blood?”
Oh.She wasn’t talking about my camera cord. She was talking about the bruises and tiny cuts on my neck. I put my hand over the dark spots. “He only did that because I asked him to. I told you. I wanted him to prove that he could stop once he started. That he wouldn’t hurt me.”
“Why would you ask a vampire with very little control to start feasting on you?”
“Callum has control. This is proof.”
“If he had control he would have told you he doesn’t drink human blood anymore.”
“He doesn’t…”
“He clearly does,” Zoey said. “And fine, maybe you asked him to. But if you did, he should have only done it once. There is more than one bruise on your neck, Emma. And no amount of makeup can cover that up.”
I swallowed hard.Fine.I’d asked Callum to do it more than once. But he’d never asked me. I…I liked it. I liked the way he looked at me when he did it. I liked the way it made me feel. Like I was giving him something he desperately wanted. Desperately needed. “I have it under control,” I said.
“But what if he doesn’t?”
“He does. And this isn’t about me. We were talking about you.”
Zoey sighed. “Right, because anyone I date could possibly be worse than a vampire.”
“Ottoisworse than Callum. He…” I started choking.Damn it!The blood oath I’d taken to find out Otto’s secret was the worst thing I’d ever done. I didn’t want to know their secret. It felt like it was literally killing me. And I couldn’t warn Zoey because I physically couldn’t. But I knew someone who could warn her. Callum. He hadn’t taken the blood oath. I needed him to warn Zoey for real. To protect her. Because there were things worse than vampires walking among us.
