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Since my staircase vision of the wolf, I learned many things, such as how my psychic powers had intensified. Each time I closed my eyes, the visions replayed. Now, I was using K-drama for its best purpose: distraction. A late-night bubble bath and binge-watchingPsychopath Diarywas the perfect therapy for a psychic like me.
I didn’t put my laptop down until three in the morning.
Wednesday morning, Mom dragged me out of bed early to stop at her go-to fast food restaurant, The Crow’s Burger. Oblivious to the line of people already sweating in the morning sun, she waltzed to the front of the line and plunked down a twenty-dollar tip—money well spent to maintain her VIP status.
“Good morning, Madam Song!” the blond female cashier greeted her, already keying in the usual taro shakes, grilled burgers, and hotcakes order.
I remained at the sticky soda dispenser, keeping my distance and my eyes away from strangers. I feared if I looked at anyone, I’d envision their future deaths.
It didn’t take long for the food. When the hot cook resembling Thor, with his long blond hair and muscles looking as strong as steel, passed Mom the paper bag, she placed a manicured hand on his bicep and giggled as if she were still twenty-something and innocent. They chatted about who knows what.The Avengers,perhaps?
I crossed my arms and inhaled deeply, manifesting my patience from Heaven. I waited and waited and waited, but Mom took their conversation to the next level by exchanging phone numbers. Putting on my sunglasses, I looked away and aimed for the entrance, feeling slightly embarrassed as she snagged herself yet another boyfriend.
I reached for the door handle, and a bald man bumped into me. Just as I was about to scold him, a very familiar pink cap and stylish black denim jacket with a bulldog head on it caught my eye.
“Keith?” I muttered.
The bald guy moved into my line of vision. “My apologies.”
“Are you blind? It’s fine, just—” I spat, stopping abruptly as my eyes met his. “Gray.” I shook my head. Not Gray Yoo. Just very, very,verygray eyes reminding me of how important it was for me to avoid the death-shadowed Gray Yoo.
“Pardon me?” The man rubbed his head, blinking and speaking like someone from before the turn of the century.
My mind went blank for about five seconds. “Oh, nothing, sir. Just … sorry,” I said, walking away with a conscience-stricken mind.
On my way to the last table in the corner, I grabbed a menu from the holder. Before taking the empty maroon seat behind Keith, I recognized the beefy boy on his opposite side: Rainer de Luca, one of Gray’s shady friends. His deep-set ocean blue eyes gave off this insidiously cunning, yet murderous vibe, making me shiver like a fox who just had its first human encounter.
Rainer was admittedly sexy, especially with his facial hair, broad shoulders, and those well-defined abs beneath his sapphire shirt. I didn’t need to have an x-ray vision—anyone with eyes could tell he had them. He was a hottie seeping with bastard charisma, but so was every other broody guy in the whole damn world.
To avoid looking like a total creeper, I pretended to read through the silver-foil edged menu, trying hard not to bite my fingernails. Questions swarmed my brain, and since Keith and Rainer seemed to know more about the people I was lamentably curious about—Cole and Gray—I thought they’d have the answers. That said, I reserved my energy and discarded my decency to eavesdrop. It wasn’t easy to stoop so low in the name of whatever, but sometimes, spying was necessary.
“So, what do you think about Cole?” Rainer asked. “Are you guys a thing?”
I knew it!
“Listen, pal,” Keith huffed, “I don’t care what your issue is. You can do whatever you want, but you have to keep your promise and hurry the fuck up. What do you know about what happened to my mom?”
“Aren’t you scared of me?” Rainer’s voice held a distinct note of sadism.
“Why would I be?” Keith gave him a contemptuous laugh, but as he spoke, his voice trembled mid-sentence, proving he had doubts. “I’m a trained hunter. I’m not afraid of anyone … or anything.”
“I’m a psychopath,” Rainer said proudly.
Do people usually just announce that?
“Wow! Do you, like, write in your diary about how you kill ants?”
Ooh, I like his dark sense of humor.
Rainer remained unbothered as he continued, “Roeske, I know why you decided to be a hunter, and I know about your mother’s murder. I know how brutal it was, and I also know what was behind it. The government covered it up as a mere animal attack, but we both know it was a werewolf. Do you want me to say more?”
I straightened my back against the booth and tried to make sense of what I just learned. First and foremost, Rainer sure had a profound knowledge about Keith’s history. Stalker alert, for real. But awerewolfmurder?
Though I was obsessed with werewolf lore, hearing about the real murder of a classmate’s parent launched an entirely new level of realism. I had heard stories, met supposed werewolf hunters (though, I’d never actually seenthewerewolf itself), and read all about the supernatural history of Old Corvine. I even saw a 4-D vision of a feral wolf, but this news felt bizarre. As much as I wanted to believe the lore, a part of me never thought it was real. I didn’t know whether I should act like Nancy Drew and investigate further or feel bad about Keith’s poor mama bear.
I made a mental note to myself: google the Roeske family and look up Keith’s mother’s murder.
“De Luca, I could kick your ass right now if this room wasn’t crowded with hungry people who would probably throw up if they saw me painting the floor with your blood. If you don’t get to the point,” Keith growled quietly, “I swear to my mother in Heaven, I will gouge your eyes out with my fork.”
