Somewhere

Chapter Thirteen

"This is crazy," I said again, still reeling from the fact Marybeth Nightingale was a werewolf too. That would mean Christopher Nightingale was one. Him, I understood, but Marybeth? That sounded far-fetched. She was more like a were-poodle or were-kitten. She was not a thing of night, of sharp teeth, and claws.

"You've already made that perfectly clear," Lucinda grumbled, locking her car behind her shoulder. Lucinda and Cooper strutted towards the Endless Coffee shop side by side like they just stepped out of Hell, ready to claim their next soul. People on the street avoided them, keeping their heads bowed and yet, I still piped up.

They could hear me, but they weren't listening.

"It's Marybeth!" I whispered as loud as possible. "She's like a terrified little bunny! She jumps when you call her name! You can't honestly think she'd be capable of murder-"

"It's always the quiet ones," Lucinda rationalized, but she'd argue with me about the color of grass just so we wouldn't see eye to eye.

"By that logic, Bash is also a serial killer."

Lucinda made a full stop and whipped around, slapping me with her curls. Her dark eyes flashed red and I seized up, ready for a slap or a punch or for her eyes to incinerate me. Appearing between us, Cooper pulled Lucinda away, behind him. He declared, scolding both of us, "no one said Marybeth was guilty but-"

"I knew there was a 'but'," I frowned.

"You have to admit it's suspicious." Cooper sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I just want her to answer a few questions."

I peered around him at Marybeth sitting stiff as a statue. Her eyes flickered up at Bash, the giant for just a moment before she looked down at her lap. She was rubbing her fingers raw. They were outside the coffee shop at the tables, alone. With the threat of rain, no one was outside but us.

"Okay," I said like there was any possible way I'd tell them not to interrogate her. Still, my stomach wouldn't settle down. I swallowed and gripped Cooper's arm. I said, "just be nice."

Cooper kissed my head and slipped out of my hand. He slid back into Lucinda's stride towards the tables. I clenched my fist. That man didn't promise me anything. Afraid of being left behind, I quickly caught up, but I didn't sit like Cooper or Lucinda.

With a smile, Cooper said, "hello, Marybeth. Are you well?"

"I- I don't know what I did," Marybeth whispered. She looked behind her shoulder, her eyes jumping from place to place as if she thought she was being watched. Marybeth's coloring was paler than usual.

Lucinda raised her brow. "What makes you think you did anything?"

"It's just..." She glanced up at Bash, shrinking. "Sebastian said you wanted to speak with me and we're- we're not friends, exactly so..." The more she spoke, the quieter her voice became and the deeper her blush burned. "So, I knew it was Pack related but I don't..." she sucked in her lips, holding back tears. My heart squeezed and I crossed my arms to keep myself at bay.

"One month ago," Cooper said, getting straight to the point, "you took out a book from the library, didn't you?"

"I... I check out books all the time."

"But there's one book in particular that I care about."

"It's a book of first accounts," Bash interjected. "Called the Somewhere Chronicles. Volume One."

If Marybeth was red before, her face was now on fire. I needed to call the fire department before the shops caught fire too.

"Inside," Bash went on, "there were accounts of people using the Claw from the myths, which oddly has a lot of similarities to what's happening in Somewhere today."