Chapter 74

KATHERINE.

“Kath, what’s up?” Zac said as I walked up to the CMES members at the meeting point and I gave him two thumbs-up while heading to where Josie stood.

My gaze caught Poppy’s the next moment and we both frowned at each other before I looked away, only for my gaze to land on Theo and Lenore having a conversation in a UTV. Embarrassed by my assumption of them which only got cleared up recently, I quickly averted my gaze and cleared my throat just before I got to where Josie was sitting.

“You packed a bag?” she asked, a line between her brows, when she lifted my gaze to mine and I glanced around her to see that there was no bag there.

“You didn’t?”

“I didn’t know we were meant to,” she replied as she glanced around to see if anyone else had a bag. Some had and some didn’t.

“Oh, we weren’t told to. I just chose to,” I said and the expression on her face relaxed as she muttered an ‘oh’ before waggling her brows at me.

“Did you pack snacks?”

“Yeah. And I’m not sharing,” I stated and her smile slipped off before she pouted and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Meanie,” she muttered. I stuck my tongue out at her and she did the same before I laughed at our behavior. Then she glanced past me and I followed her line of sight to Lenore who was gesturing something at her before she shook her head in response. She slid to the side on the bench and patted the space next to her, gesturing for me to sit, and I did so before sighing.

“I think Lenore is upset with me.”

Josie immediately turned to face me, raising a brow. “Because of the ‘keeping it in the family’ thing?” she asked and I sucked in a breath, my eyes widening at her. “No, she isn’t.”

“Please tell me you haven’t been saying that to her.”

“Saying what? Keeping it in the family?”

“Yes, that!” I said in a rush and her eyes twinkled as she let out a laugh.

“Maybe once or twice,” she replied and I groaned. “Actually six times. Lenore!”

I jolted before jerking my head in the direction Lenore was and saw her staring at us. She raised her brows before gesturing at Josie, asking her if she wanted her to come over, and Josie must have nodded because Lenore got out of the UTV and began to head towards us. That made Theo glance in our direction and I stiffened when his gaze met mine. Then he blinked once and looked away.

“What’s up?” Lenore asked as she came to a stop in front of us and I pressed my lips together as I looked up at her.

“Kath thinks you’re pissed at her because she thought you guys were keeping it in the family,” Josie replied and the urge to smack her pricked at me while Lenore frowned at her. “Do you prefer the Targaryen thing?”

“I prefer neither.” Lenore gave her a once-over which was followed by a dirty look before her gaze slid to me.

“I’m sorry,” I said and the corner of her mouth turned up a bit.

“I’m not pissed.” She looked like she meant it and I dropped my gaze to the ground.

“Sorry,” I repeated and she suddenly reached out before playfully pulling my ear, making me return my gaze to her.

“That’s enough now. You don’t have to keep apologizing.”

“You guys are so unserious,” a familiar voice said while Lenore let go of my ear and we glanced in the direction it had come from to see Priyanka and Dave walking past. She shook her head at us before glancing at the other members and I understood that she was referring to the fact that we’d be doing ghost-related activities which she considered dangerous. “Stay safe though.”

“Join us. It’s going to be fun,” Josie said and one of Priyanka’s brows quirked up.

“Hard pass.”

“Okay. Listen up,” Theo announced as Priyanka and Dave walked away and we focused our attention on him before Lenore walked back to the UTV she’d been sitting in. “You all know where we’re going and what we’re going to do so I won’t repeat it.”

We were going to Blackwood’s old clinic and we were going there so the new members could get familiar with the activities of the club – it was a teaching opportunity for us to learn how to deal with ghosts. Theo had told us that the reason why he chose the old clinic was because it was the ‘most’ haunted place in Blackwood, and it was that way due to a sickness that spread through the werewolf community in the early 1920s. Most of the sick people were brought to the clinic in Blackwood and a huge number of them died there. Some of the ghosts there were violent but they’d either already been trapped in absorbers or in rooms surrounded with salt, so we didn’t have to worry about them.

“Now everyone is going to be in groups of two. An old member and a new member, so pick your partners.” Theo turned to face us. “Josie, you’re with me.”

“Aww,” Josie cooed as she got to her feet and began to walk over to him. “You wanna hang out with me that bad?”

“You’re reckless,” Theo replied firmly, making me snort.

“Preach,” Zac cut in, and from the way Josie’s head jerked in his direction, I assumed she shot him a withering glare.

When she got to Theo, I got to my feet before glancing around to search for who I was going to pair with and I saw that people were painting up fast. Blake had already arrived and he was talking to Lenore who was in the UTV so I assumed he’d paired with her, and Keith was talking to Zac. As I kept searching for who was going to be my partner, Hunter arrived and before I could react, some girls rushed over to him, asking him to pair with them. He had a slightly surprised and unsure look as his gaze bounced between their faces and since I didn’t want to butt in, I decided to search for another senior.

I looked away from him to see Poppy approaching me with a syrupy sweet smile on her face and my brows snapped together. ‘Ugh. What does she want?’

“Let’s pair up,” she stated when she got to me and I blinked at her once, twice.

“No, thank you.” I walked past her and she spoke again.

“Everyone else is taken.”

“I’m sure there’s someone left.”

“There’s not.” She was walking after me now.

“I’ll be fine on my own then.”

“Theo said groups of two.”

I gritted my teeth at her persistence and the evil intent she radiated despite the smile on her face before I noticed Theo watching us with narrowed eyes and I walked over to him and Josie who was going through a backpack on the floor. He raised a brow when I came to a stop. “Do we all have to be in pairs?”

“Yes.”

“What about a threesome?”

“If that’s what you want, hun,” Zac called out and I rolled my eyes while he and his friends began to holler.

“Okay, I walked right into that one, but I don’t have a partner. Everyone’s paired up.”

“...Poppy’s not.”