“Aye, that it is, Precious. That it is.”
CHAPTER30
Two days after burying Lenore and Fletcher, my father decided he had overstayed his welcome. I offered to drive him home, and he agreed under the condition that I would lethimdrive.
“For old times’ sake,” he said to me.
Since my truck was an older model and didn’t have a back seat, Harley rode up front by the passenger door, sandwiching me in the middle. It hadn’t snowed in days, and most of the streets were clear because of the intense afternoon sun.
“Maybe we should’ve left before dark.” I glanced at a sign as we passed it. “This isn’t the right way.”
“Sure it is.”
I looked at my father, who had on a leather coat zipped up to his neck. Wyatt had given him one of his black beanies, which knocked fifteen years off his looks. Maybe because it covered most of his grey hair and forehead lines, but he also had a twinkle in his eye.
I turned down the radio. “Dust in the Wind” was a little depressing for the drive home since I always got sad leaving him behind in that old trailer. “Okay, what gives? Is there a restaurant out here you want to eat at? You should have told me, and I would have brought my wallet.”
He turned off the highway and took a road that looped to the other side. “You can come over and pick up your truck tomorrow.”
“From where? What’s going on? You know I hate secrets.”
When he stopped, I noticed the green sign ahead with an arrow pointing left. It said:Cognito Zoo.
“You have got to be shitting me,” I said. “Are we going to the zoo?”
Crush reached the booths in the road that had the gates down. One of the arms rose, granting us entry. A man stepped out and waved. I leaned over and looked closely, noticing his Chitah eyes.
Harley sensed something was up and stuck his nose to the crack in the window. His drool smeared all over the glass.
“You’re washing this car, right?”
Crush gave a rolling belly laugh. “Girl, by the time you’re ready to pick her up, I’ll have her spit shined like you haven’t seen since the day she left my loving arms.”
“I’m just going to guess Christian is behind this.”
Crush drove through the empty parking lot since it was late at night. “Where the hell…?”
A tall man directed us farther down the road. We passed the large building on the right, which I guessed was the main entrance.
“How come you never took me here?” I asked.
“Because I ran with Shifters. We had a zoo at home for free.”
I scratched Harley’s back as we approached a dome-shaped building. There were trees all around, but it wasn’t well lit at night. When Crush pulled the truck into a parking spot, the headlights pointing inside, I spotted Christian standing on the other side of the entrance doors.
I looked at Crush, searching his face for answers.
“I’m just the delivery driver,” he said. “Your Vampire wanted to show you out on a date.”
“Is that so?” I smiled at Christian, wondering if he could hear us. “I’m guessing we get the private tour. Wanna come?”
“I got things to do. Probably dishes I left in the sink and food to throw out. Harley wants dinner, don’t ya, boy?”
“Woof,” he replied.
I shifted toward my father with a smile on my face. “Does this mean you’re warming up to the Vampire?”
Crush played with his goatee. “In a nutshell, you have my blessing.”
