Page 33 of The Dinner Party

“Okay,” he says, “let’s go.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Now I am.”

You’re not quite sure what that means, but you still don’t think you’re up for a drive, so you let him take the lead. Sure enough, after you get on the road, he seems a lot better. You sit together, listening to the sounds of the pop station on the radio while you try to figure out what the hell you’re going to tell Blair about her car.

“Did you know?” you ask him. “I mean, that they were…?”

“Cannibals?” Carson finishes for you.

You try to smile, but your lips feel like rubber. “Yeah. That.”

“I didn’t know for sure,” he says. “Not until tonight. But I did know that…”

“Know what?”

“I knew they were bad people. Really bad people.”

“So if you knew that,” you say, “why did you take a job as their butler?”

Carson glances at you out of the corner of his eye, as if deciding whether or not to trust you. “Something had to be done.”

You don’t quite know what he means by that. Was he somehow responsible for the carnage that took place this evening? In some ways, he seems just as frazzled as you are. But in other ways, he was so calm at the house and knew exactly what to do.

But he couldn’t have been responsible for all that. You can’t imagine Carson letting a wolf loose in the house. After all, if he had done that, the wolf could have easily killed you both, in addition to the Adventurous Eaters Club. You’re sure he wouldn’t have taken that chance.

But are you actually sure? The truth is, you hardly know this man at all.

Turn to Chapter 57 (page 141)

57

You don’t talk much during the two-hour drive back home. When Carson pulls over in front of your building, you are overcome with relief. It suddenly hits you that you escaped death tonight. If things had unfolded differently, who knows what would have happened? The night barely feels real.

“Well, here we are,” Carson announces.

“Thank you for driving me,” you say, “and for getting me out of there in one piece.”

“Of course,” he says.

You sit there together in the car for about sixty seconds, staring at each other. Despite everything, you almost wish he would kiss you. After all you’ve been through tonight, you have a connection to this man. Also, he’s hot.

“I’ll check on you tomorrow,” he promises. “Make sure you’re okay.”

“You swear?”

“I swear.”

His words give you a warm feeling in your stomach. He’s going to check on you. That sounds promising. Except how will he check on you? He doesn’t have your phone number. You open your mouth to offer him your digits, but before you can, he gets out of the car and races down the street, disappearing down the alley next to your building.

What a strange man. What a strange, strange, sexy man.

He left the keys in the ignition, so you pull them out to return them to Blair. You get out of the car, wincing at the damage from the claw marks. Unfortunately, you didn’t get the money you needed tonight, but almost dying puts things in perspective. One way or another, you’ll figure things out. There’s always that website where you can learn about fans and A/C units.

You shiver in the frigid night air. The mist in the sky has cleared, and the full moon shines brightly overhead, illuminating your path to the door. You feel safe right now. You might have been in danger earlier tonight, but that danger is over.

And then, just as you are entering the building, the howl of what sounds like a wolf cuts through the air. You shiver, remembering the carnage back at the dinner party, and then slip inside, locking the door behind you. It’s probably a stray dog, but better safe than sorry.