Page 14

CHAPTER

FOURTEEN

But Coach Cheech didn’t talk.

He surveyed them both with that weary expression.

“Huh,” he grunted.

Then he headed down the hall and stepped through the gaping hole where the living room door had been, slinging the crossbow over his shoulder.

Theo stared after him. “Coach?”

No reply. Theo turned to Kade, listening to his heart race as the adrenaline wore off.

“Mate, I have no idea,” Kade whispered.

They followed Coach Cheech into the living room to find the man crouched down in front of the bookcase. At least, where the bookcase used to be. It had been shoved aside to reveal a set of stairs.

Kade gasped.

“Don’t,” Theo warned as Coach Cheech started down the mysterious steps .

But it was too late: Kade made a high-pitched noise that genuinely hurt Theo’s ears.

“Secret room,” Kade chanted. “Secret room. Secret room !”

“Stop,” Theo sighed. “Just follow Coach.”

Kade darted down the stairs after Coach Cheech.

Theo followed, telling himself he wasn’t endeared even a little bit by Kade’s enthusiasm.

At the bottom of the stairs was a small dark room, its contents absolutely destroyed: books shredded on the floor, chairs in pieces, glass smashed against the wall. Whatever was in here, the creature hadn’t wanted anyone to see it. Claws marks scored the wood, flecks of thick white skin mixing with the shredded paper.

Theo’s gaze fell on a fleck of white skin stuck to Kade’s leather jacket.

Theo picked it off. “Monster skin,” he explained when Kade and Coach Cheech gave him a curious look.

“ Monster skin . Need to put that on a T-shirt,” Kade said, dazed, staring around the room. He bent down to pick up a shredded book, sifting carefully through the ruined pages.

Coach Cheech sucked on his mustache. The crossbow hung near his hip, gleaming silver. Theo eyed it, only tearing his gaze away when Kade motioned in his direction.

Theo walked over. “What?”

Kade flicked the tattered book. The pages were half ribbons—but only half. There was still writing, scribbles so messy that Theo couldn’t tell whether it was English. Every few pages the scribbles were interrupted by a sketch of a woman’s face. A shard of a chin, an arched neck, a curved eyebrow.

“This is the only one I can find with her full face,” Kade whispered, turning to a page that was almost intact.

A chill ran up Theo’s spine. Sharp cheekbones, red plait tied tight around her head, much like a crown. Her eyes were dark and shrewd. She was snarling, her full lips parted to reveal a mouth full of fangs.

Kade whispered, “Cyth?”

Theo shrugged.

Kade rubbed the woman’s razor cheekbone. “Maybe Lemmings was her lover. Like Hawthorn talked about. Still trying to free her after all this time.”

Coach Cheech sighed. “You know I can hear you, right?”

“Sorry,” Theo said, automatic. He turned, but not before he spotted Kade ripping the paper out of the book and stuffing it into his back pocket.

Coach Cheech watched them warily. For a second Theo thought he would finally explain what was going on. Then Coach Cheech sighed and dug a pack of cigarettes out of his jacket.

“ Coach ,” said Theo, scandalized.

Coach Cheech ignored him and lit up. He paused, then tilted the pack toward Kade.

Kade took one eagerly .

Theo asked, “Coach, what the hell is going on? What was that?”

Coach Cheech blew a plume of smoke through his nostrils, surveying the cramped room around them. Theo looked at his thick necklace, the end of it hidden in his shirt. Who was this man Theo had known his whole life?

“You first,” Coach Cheech told them, muffled around the cigarette. “What the hell were you two doing in this house? What do you know about Cyth? Since when does Lock’s golden boy hang out with Monster?”

“Drug deal,” Kade said instantly, meeting Theo’s gaze in badly disguised panic. How much are we telling this guy?

Coach Cheech snorted. “Theo Fairgood doesn’t do drugs. Lie better, jackass.”

“Uhhh…” Kade gave Theo another despairing look.

Coach Cheech scratched his hairy neck. The handkerchief was bunched under it, still tied. His clothes were dark; he was wearing cargo pants. Theo had never not seen him in shorts before, even in the dead of winter.

“Lemmings only ate animals. Only reason we didn’t stake him decades ago. But he’s dead, and we’re still finding drained deer in the woods. Funny, huh?” Coach Cheech took another drag from his cigarette and turned to face them. He was blocking the staircase .

“You jumped stupid high in the game today, kid. Stupid high.”

Theo went still. He didn’t dare look down at the crossbow dangling from Coach Cheech’s hand, the next arrow already loaded. He didn’t look past Coach Cheech, the narrow stairs waiting behind him.

Next to Theo, Kade’s breath hitched. His nervous sweat overpowered the smell of smoke. Theo could probably shove Coach Cheech out of the way and make a break for it, but what about Kade? He’d meant what he said in the car—Kade was a good guy when he wasn’t barking at people. He was weird and guarded and annoying, but he was also smart and—if Theo was honest with himself—kind of sweet. Theo couldn’t let him get hurt.

“I’m sorry I walked out of the game,” Theo tried. “I…there’s no excuse?—”

“I don’t know, I think we should all be pretty glad you didn’t stick around and start biting.” Coach Cheech let out a mouthful of smoke. “Relax. I’m not gonna kill you.”

Kade let out a smoky breath.

Theo tried to think of an appropriate response. “Thank you.”

Kade gave him an incredulous look. Theo glared back, then asked, “Did you, uh, kill Lemmings?”

Coach Cheech coughed. He thumped on his chest, smoke jolting out of him. “What? No! Like I said, as long as he kept his fangs out of people, we left him alone. Some of us weren’t happy with it, but we put up with it.”

“Who put up with it?” Kade asked, fast and excited. “Who are the other hunters? Which families?”

His cigarette vibrated between his slender fingers, jumping on the balls of his feet. Theo had to stop himself from reaching out and stilling him.

Coach Cheech rubbed his lined forehead. “I shouldn’t be telling you this shit.”

“Why? We’re involved!” Kade slapped Theo’s shoulder, lost in excitement, then flinched like he’d forgotten the whole No Touching thing. Luckily his hand had only come into contact with Theo’s shirt.

“Was that a vampire?” Kade continued. “Did it turn Theo? Is Theo gonna turn into that big spindly thing?”

“Yes, it’s a vamp. No clue if it turned Theo. No, Theo won’t turn into that. Probably.”

“Probably,” Theo repeated. “Wait, who else in town is a vampire?”

“Lemmings was the only one we confirmed. The others are in hiding. Could be goddamned anybody.” Coach Cheech kicked at the mess on the floor, shoe catching on paper, dust, shed skin. “Ugh. Don’t pull that super jump shit again, Fairgood. No super speed, no showing off your new vamp strength. Keep that shit under lock and key. Whoever turned you did it for a reason .” He twisted toward Kade. “You still haven’t told me why the town freak is here.”

“I’ve kind of been…feeding off of him.” Theo said re luctantly. “It was an accident, the first time. Then he had a bad reaction after we stopped, so I figured we better keep doing it.”

“What, like…” Coach Cheech made a face. “Jesus, Fairgood, how often did you bite the kid? Can’t go into venom withdrawal that fast. Any case I’ve heard of takes months of consistent biting.”

“Great,” Kade said flatly. “Nice to know I’m special. That’s not the only weird thing, look.”

He reached out a hand, looking toward Theo expectantly. No nail polish today, Theo noticed. Just short nails, bitten ragged.

Theo hesitated. Then he reached out, pressing the tip of his thumb into the back of Kade’s hand. Kade winced, the sound of sizzling flesh filling the small room.

Coach Cheech jumped, ash spilling down his shirt. “Jesus shit!”

Kade pulled his hand away, waggling his slender fingers. “ Weird , right? And look, watch?—”

He tilted his hand toward Theo again. Theo pressed his thumb back into place and concentrated, ignoring Kade’s gasp and the resumed sizzle. His thumb tingled, the blister shrinking underneath it. As he pulled back, the burn turned to smooth skin.

“So I’m guessing that’s not typical,” Kade said, shaking his newly healed hand. “Like, he doesn’t burn anyone else. Just me. So what’s the deal with Cyth, is…”

He trailed off. Coach Cheech was staring at them like Theo had just buried a knife in Kade’s chest. His cigarette burned dangerously close to his fingers, forgotten.

“Uh,” Theo said. “Coach?”

“Christ,” Coach Cheech muttered. He gave the cigarette one last suck and dropped it on the floor. Then he turned, heading up the stairs toward the living room.

Theo looked at Kade. Kade looked back cluelessly.

“Coach,” Theo repeated.

Coach Cheech stumbled on the rickety steps and swore, grabbing at the peeling walls. “I…shit. I need to make some calls. Get out of here and shove the bookcase back before you leave, alright?”

“Got it,” Theo said slowly, stomach sinking into his sneakers.

Coach Cheech’s cigarette was still smoking, dangerously close to all that paper and old skin littering the floor. Theo stomped it out. He didn’t have to ask if Kade had the same sinking feeling he did: he could see it on Kade’s face, how he was gnawing his lower lip.

Something bad had happened. They just didn’t know what yet.

“Didn’t even ask if we wanted a ride home,” Kade bitched as he slid into the passenger seat of Theo’s Lexus. “Asshole. ”

Theo took his half-smoked cigarette and threw it out the window.

“Hey!”

“Not in my car,” Theo told him. He adjusted his letterman jacket. Lemmings’s succulent sat in his pocket, sufficiently hidden unless Kade looked too closely. He’d slipped it into his jacket after he pushed the bookcase aside. Alone, of course. Kade had offered to help, but he’d said it in that slick tone that usually meant a joke, so he’d turned Kade down before he could go psych ! or you really thought I’d help when I had a superpowered jock right here? Go on, blood boy. Or something. Imaginary Kade was never as eloquent as real life Kade, who could disarm Theo with a few well-placed words.

Kade scratched his black blouse. There were no words today, just a bleached skull and lace at the throat. He also had a spiky wristband that Theo hadn’t seen in months. Not that he kept track of Kade’s fashion sense—he just noticed that kind of thing. Kade put on such a spectacle all the time, he had to be doing it so people would notice.

“Seriously, are you hungry again?”

Theo startled. “What?”

“You’re staring,” Kade said. “I have to assume that means you’re snacky.”

“Not snacky,” Theo said, tearing his gaze away from the dull glint of Kade’s wristband and starting the car. “You shouldn’t have told him about the burning thing.”

“Excuse the hell out of me for wanting answers! We were finally talking to someone who knows stuff, firsthand , no myths or books needed. Of course I told him. It’s not my fault he freaked out.”

Kade bit at his cuticles. Theo was about to tell him to stop it before he made himself bleed when Kade spoke up again.

“Turn on your lights, blood boy. Not all of us can see in the dark.”

“Shit.” Theo clicked on his headlights.

Kade was quiet for a long moment. “Thanks, by the way.”

“For what?”

“Saving me back there.” Kade twisted his hands together. His cuticles were raw and pink, but there was no blood yet.

Theo shrugged. “You saved me back.”

“Right. Sure.” Kade reached up, hand flickering next to his ear for a moment like he’d forgotten he didn’t have hair anymore.

Theo made sure Kade wasn’t looking. Then he reached down to his pocket, reaching in to touch the succulent. It was already going wrinkly. He’d water it when he got home.

“What happens when you eat human food?”

Theo yanked his hand out of his pocket. “Huh?”

“Earlier, you said?—”

“Right,” Theo said, tone going bone-dry. “Thanks for asking, Kade. I puke, Kade. Lots of disgusting black stuff, Kade. Which I never would’ve found out if you didn’t put the idea in my head, KADE.”

Kade laughed, sharp and shrill. “When did I put any ideas in your head?”

“In the funeral home, when you were talking about puke and you asked if I could eat human food anymore!”

“Oh. I…didn’t expect you to listen to me.”

Theo frowned. “Why? I don’t have anyone else to listen to about this.”

“Right,” Kade said cautiously. “We’re…trapped together.”

“Trapped together,” Theo agreed.

The silence stretched. Theo waited for Kade to make a joke, maybe burn him with one of his silver earrings again. But nothing came. Theo looked over just in time for Kade to look away, fast, like he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t.

Kade cleared his throat. “We would’ve told Cheech about the burning thing eventually, I was just speeding up the process. Really, you should be thanking me.”

“Wow,” Theo said dryly. “Thanks—oh, shit.”

“What?”

Theo swore again. “Car’s coming our way.”

“So?”

“So duck , they can’t see you in the car with me!”

“Bloody hell and Mary too,” Kade grumbled, and ducked.

The car glided past. Theo smiled tightly at the driver, a groan leaking out of his teeth when he realized it was the Fletchers. Mrs. Fletcher powdering her nose, Aaron scowling in the backseat. Mr. Fletcher peered at him, head twisting to watch him for a moment longer before he was forced to look back at the road. The star player walking out mid-game—it would be the talk of the town.

Theo’s hands tightened around the wheel, plastic cracking under his grip.

His parents were going to be so pissed.