Page 24 of Abundance of Obsession

My head swivels toward her so fast that I hear a crack in my neck. It catches her attention, and she stops staring out the window. Her green eyes blink, her little nose wrinkles. “What now? Look where you’re going, or you’ll crash us.”

“Did you meet someone new?”

That single question carries so many hidden meanings. Did you meet someone new? Did you meet a man? Were you dancing with him? Did you let him touch you?

Don’t go there, Eli, or blood will flow down the streets.

“None of your business, but truth be told, yes. I met someone.” A small smile appears on her face, and I grind my teeth.

“Name.” My sour mood becomes even more unbearable.

“Oh, don’t play games with me. I wouldn’t tell you his name even if you tied me up in the basement and tortured me.”

“Don’t tempt me, Raven,” I say before I think. It’s becoming a habit that my brain can’t keep up with my tongue around her.

Zoe huffs. “Why do you even care who I’m dating? Don’t you have a life of your own? Someone to kill? Some secret society to run?”

How I got the brilliant idea to pick her up from that club is beyond me.

“Watch your mouth. It’s going to get you in trouble.” I stop at the intersection when the light turns red. I take a second to process what she said. “You just met some guy and you’re already dating him?”

Zoe turns to face me and stares for a whole minute. “That’s right. Do you have a problem with that?”

The line between keeping an eye on her and stepping into dangerous territory is damn thin. I take one step and cross it. “Yes, I do. You don’t know the guy. You know nothing about him. Don’t know what his intentions are. And you’re going to date him. Why?”

My breathing quickens. Zoe’s chest is rising and falling faster too, and I can see it even through the jacket covering that part of her body. And thank God it is.

“What kind of question is that?” she snaps. “Why am I dating a guy? Why not?”

“You’re fully aware of the reality you inhabit. You know what the Pact is. And you’re aware of your sister’s spouse. Grow up and look around you. The world is a swamp we’re stuck in. Don’t be like most people, who turn a blind eye to the fact that the world is nasty and pretend it isn’t.”

The sharp tone of my voice matches my anger, and after my last words, I take a deep breath.

Something changes in this girl’s eyes. They soften and glisten.

Zoe swallows. When she speaks, her voice is much fainter. “You think I’m irresponsible and childish too.”

It’s not a question but a statement. It hits me I’ve just struck a nerve.

Seeing this, I soften my voice too. “Who told you that, Zozo?”

But she just shakes her head. “Never mind. You don’t understand. None of you understand. That’s what I was trying to do tonight. Grow up.”

She’s right. I don’t understand any of this.

A car horn snaps me back to reality. The light has turned green. We pull away.

“What do you mean?” I bring up our discussion again.

“Nothing.”

“Zoe—what did you mean when you said you wanted to grow up tonight?”

Her arms wrap around her waist as if she wants to defend herself from me.

Uncalled for. I won’t hurt her. Is that what she thinks? That I might do that?

“Can we forget what I said?” she asks eventually, biting her lower lip.