My Wolf’s Bane(53)

“I’ll wait here.” He’d already turned his attention to some family pictures on the wall. I dashed upstairs to get pretty.

When we pulled into the student parking lot twenty minutes later, I noticed Daniel right away. He sat on the wall, extremely alive — not eaten by giant wolf — where he used to wait for me. Even though I didn’t like him, not even a little bit, it was good to know Jeff had imagined things after all. Daniel’s eyes shot to mine as I jumped out of Zack’s Jeep and closed the door. Zack and I exchanged glances as we met at the bumper of his car.

“You were right,” I said. “He’s just fine.”

“Yep. Definitely not dead.” Zack squinted as he studied Daniel. “Not so sure about the fine part though.”

Yeah, there was something different about Daniel. An energy. I felt a tingling in my toes, but not the good kind. The kind that told me to steer clear. Zack’s comment made me think he sensed it too, that Daniel was even less balanced than before.

“If I walk you to class, he’ll be less likely to bother you.”

“Thanks.” I was pretty sure I could take Daniel down, but I didn’t need the hassle. Besides, no way would I refuse Zack if it meant more time with him. Being around him felt safe. And kind of like I was his girlfriend. Not a bad thing, except I knew the truth.

Zack escorted me to class and when it was over, he was waiting outside to take me to my next class. He showed up after that class too and the next one. We silently walked side-by-side, his eyes alert, body tense as he moved. How he knew my classes, I didn’t know or care.

He’d stopped making idle chitchat the moment he’d seen Daniel that morning, like he was saving his energy and attention for something bigger. As the day progressed, I became more convinced that Zack sensed the change in Daniel too. Did other people also sense it? If only Zack and I could tell, that might mean Zack was like me, maybe not-quite human.

What were the chances? My mind kept taking me back to werewolves, but I knew they didn’t exist. But what if they did? If Zack was a werewolf, was I one too? And what about Daniel? If he really had been dragged away by a wolf…

My brain nearly exploded with the impossibilities.

At lunch, Zack entered the huge cafeteria with me at his side as eyes fixed on us from all over the room. He was a master of cool, confidently guiding me through the throng of students and warily avoiding Daniel, until we sat next to Trevor and Maya.

“I owe you.” Trevor handed Zack a ten-dollar bill.

Zack stared blankly. “For what?”

“Daniel returned to school. Apparently, Jeff was delusional, like you said.” Trevor’s eyes searched the lunchroom, finding Jeff at one corner and Daniel at the other. “Not sure what’s up with Jeff’s random story, but I haven’t seen them together all day.”

“It’s definitely odd,” I said, watching Daniel out of the corner of my eye.

Zack had a bead on Daniel, too.

Maya and Trevor, on the other hand, were too absorbed in each other to notice our lack of interaction. Before lunch ended, Maya scooped up a little gift bag and ushered me out of the cafeteria and into the girl’s room.

The bathroom door closed and she thrust the bag at me with a big smile. “It’s girl stuff, so I knew the guys wouldn’t care if we did this without them. Happy birthday.”

“You remembered.” Grinning, I plucked at the decorative tissue and peered inside. “You’ve been to Mathers. Thank you.” Reaching in, I sifted through bottles and bottles of nail polish.

“Has he kissed you yet?” she asked.

“Who?” As I scrutinized each bottle, my mind was vacant as to whom she could possibly be referring to, since Zack wasn’t in the realm of possibilities. Unfortunately.

“Zack. Duh.”

I didn’t want to get into the complications of Zack, so I checked my face in the mirror to avoid Maya’s eyes. “It’s not like that with us.”

“He’s hot. You’re hot. It’s basic chemistry. Didn’t he walk you to your door the last two nights and drive you to school this morning?”

I swiveled to face her. “It’s just a work thing and it made sense to take one car. If we each take our own, then pick up my new one after school, we end up with three. Nothing else to it.”

She wagged a finger at me. “That doesn’t explain why you two are joined at the hip between classes. I know he’s walked you everywhere today. And now you’re barely talking. You two have a fight?”

“He’s very platonically looking out for me and wants Daniel to think we’re together, so he’ll stop harassing me.” I checked my face in the mirror, hoping she’d buy my lie-on-the-fly and leave it at that. After all, Zack’s disinterest in me wasn’t exactly a happy topic.