Forbidden Feast

Ch. 15: Okay, Nancy Drew

DANGEROUS THIRST by Ben Robinson.

Mathew smiled as he admired the sales table for vampire romance or, as the little sales sign said, "romances with a bite". Mathew wasn't sure how he felt about that, but he was happy for his brother-in-law for the good promo.

"Do you read romance?" Cain asked. Tilting his head, he leaned closer to Mathew to see what he was reading.

"Sometimes," Mathew said, pulling out his phone to take a picture. "I'm a fan of fiction. I like the escape."

Cain hummed thoughtfully. "I'm a history guy."

"Cool," Mathew teased and glanced around the store, wondering just how close Jace planned to be. He looked back and Cain was all smiles. Especially handsome, Cain dressed up a little and wore his letterman's jacket like he was the coolest guy at the soda fountain. Any second, Cain was gonna pop the question and ask Mathew to go to the sock hop with him.

"Is that why you're in the historical society?" Mathew asked, debating buying a book he had already owned just to support Ben.

"It's one reason," Cain explained. "My family has gone to this school for generations and my father was a part of the society. It's invite only and for a while, I was worried it wasn't going to happen for me."

"But why be a part of the society?" Mathew asked, picking up the book and following Cain to the nonfiction section. Cain's hands hovered over the spines. He seemed to do it without thinking, but he nabbed a book off the shelf and placed it in the correct alphabetical order. Cain didn't miss a beat or fumble his words. Everything Cain did was always as smooth as butter.

"It's good to be a part of something, something bigger than you."

"Do they ever tell you why it was shut down before?"

"Um..." Cain furrowed his brow. "Something about an accident, I think."

Mathew hummed thoughtfully to not push the subject. If Cain became too uncomfortable, he might want to change the subject. Mathew threw him a softball. "What do you guys do at meetings? Just talk about Black Hawthorne's history?"

"Um, yeah," Cain said.

Mathew chuckled. "You're really painting me a masterpiece here. Come on, I know it's a secret, but I won't tell anyone."

"It's you, Elijah, Robin, and Miranda, right? Do you hang out during the club?"

Cain's brow furrowed again, and he blinked as if he was physically trying to draw out the answer. "For sure. They're my friends. Of course we hang out."

"Doing what?"

"I..." Cain almost said, but he stopped, hitting a mental wall. He rubbed the center of his forehead. "Sorry, Matty. I just got a crazy headache."

"It's okay." Mathew touched Cain's arm, worry bubbling up inside him. All of his answers were vague, too vague. As if they were vague on purpose. "Could you... could you tell me just one thing about this club? Anything?"

Cain looked at Mathew and wavered, his face twisted like he was in pain. "Maybe something your dad told you."

"There was an old club room. In the basement. I went there hoping I could find it, but I just found-"

"Mathew!"

Racing around the aisle, Jace appeared running right for Mathew. He grabbed Mathew's arm and pulled him closer, making Mathew let go of Cain. Mathew looked up at him in pure confusion. Cain pulled himself up, trying to match Jace's height.

"Jace? What are you doing here?" Cain asked, the softness in his tone gone.

"Sorry, Cain, but I needed to talk to Matty," Jace said and showed Mathew his phone. There was a text chain from Dante, and Mathew knew he should focus on the latest message. That one was probably the reason for Jace's alarm, but Mathew couldn't help it.