Page 67 of PET

Me and Christian share another glance, and even though this started with being his fault, I can’t point a finger at him without three pointing back at me.

As we approach what I now see is a doorway, I’m not at all expecting to find a whole ass bat cave behind it. My eyes bounce all over the massive, high-ceiling cave turned…

“What the hell is this place?” I ask.

“This is a secret location of the soci—” she pauses, throwing up her arms. “Fuck it. You’re going to find out, anyway. The secret society that has run Reaper and all the other elite towns across the country used this space as a meeting place. And would be used for protection if needed, but you can tell it never came to that. And as far as I’ve noticed in the past six months, nobody even knows of its existence. I thought it would be smart to stay here right under their noses.”

Yeah, itlookslike nobody’s been here in years. Dust and cobwebs cover nearly every surface, and all the furniture looks to be three centuries old. I like all the cool old books on massive shelves and antique candlesticks holding half melted red candles.

“The bedrooms are through there. I’ve sent someone out to clean and prepare them for our stay, but the rest of the place needs some TLC,” she says, pointing around the common area.

I also love how the walls are the mountain itself. There’s not a smooth surface in sight, save for the furniture, of course. Stringed lights adjourn the mountain walls, providing us with the golden glow. It’s creepy and magical all at once.

Billie moves out of the corner of my eyes toward the bedrooms.

“Wait, Billie. We should talk about—”

A heavy door slams, blocking me out completely.

Dana lets out a breath. “You guys are all safe here. Get a good night’s rest and we’ll tackle this in the morning.”

I glance at Christian with a shrug. “She’s right, man. We should crash out and come back at it with a clear head.”

He nods, scratching the back of his neck. His biceps bulge as he does so, and I can’t take my eyes from them. Shaking my head, I turn and look at Dana, who’s watching me with a curious eye and a smirk on her lips.

“What?”

She shakes her head. “Nothing. Oh, but you two are sharing a bedroom. There’s only three back there… Unless one of you wants to share with me.”

Ew.

“Nah, we’re good,” Christian answers. “Ya nasty bitch,” he adds under his breath.

Moving toward the hallway the size of a phone booth, we take the bedroom in the middle closest to Billie’s. It’s nice in here—a queen size bed, two nightstands, clean linens, and the same rock slab walls. The string lights do little for lighting the space, but bedrooms are meant for sleeping, anyway.

I move into the room, claiming my preferred side of the bed, and plop down on the edge. Christian lets out a groan, kicking the door shut.

“No funny business,” he cracks with a smirk.

Chuckling, I throw my legs onto the bed, lean back with my fingers laced together behind my head, and grin up at the prick.

Chapter 27

CHRISTIAN VERADIN

It’snicetoseethat grin again, even though I want to punch his lights out for nearly fucking everything up. Brushing my wild hair from my face, I sit on the opposite side of the bed and kick off my boots. I’m still wearing the denim overalls that I bought for my costume, wishing I had something else to wear now.

“Do you think she’ll ever forgive us?” I ask, breaking the silence in the room when I refer to Billie.

“Yeah, dude, I do. But I don’t think she will until we’ve worked out our shit.”

Looking over my shoulder at him, I ask another question, “What secrets was Dana talking about?”

He doesn’t answer right away, turning his gaze to the ceiling as he clearly mulls it through his head. I know I have my own secrets to tell him, and I plan to, but I need to hear his first.

After a beat of silence, he finally speaks and I’m not prepared for what I hear. “I recorded your dad fucking the Barretts sister in his office late one night—the night I passed out at your place after we teased Billie and she ran out…?”

I nod, recalling the very night he’s referring to. My fists tighten as the vein on each side of my neck starts to throb. I’m not sure what pisses me off more—that my dad cheated on my mom or that my dad fucked a Barrett. The guy is a piece of shit, but I never thought he’d go this low. Clearly, I don’t know shit about my father. He only ever does anything to benefit himself, but I can’t even guess what he’d want from Felicia. I think that’s what her name is, anyway.

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