Page 17

CHAPTER

SEVENTEEN

Kade smiled the whole way to first-period gym on Monday.

Listening to everyone bitch about Theo losing the game was the best for two reasons: one, it was always a good time when the rich jocks got dunked on. Two: only Kade knew the truth. The important part, anyway. The part everyone was groaning about in Homeroom, trading gossip while the teacher ignored them: diet pills, overtraining, food poisoning, actual poisoning courtesy of the Westside Hawks. That it wasn’t sickness at all, it was a panic attack. That someone from Westside bribed Theo to throw the game.

It’s way worse , Kade wanted to tell them. He ran off the court because it was either bite me in the bathrooms or sink his big ol’ vampire fangs into the other team in front of the school and his parents and God and everyone. And the coach is a hunter! But he didn’t kill Theo! The story keeps unfolding!

He wanted to yell it in their faces. But he also wanted to hold it close to his chest—he was one of a select few chosen to be in this weird, dark story. Kade had always been an outsider, but this was the first time it felt good. Properly good, not good like scratching an itch and looking down to realize you’ve torn through your skin.

Kade was still smiling as he walked through the swinging gym doors. Then he heard a low gasp from Delilah Emmerson, the student body president who had promised better water fountains and never delivered.

“Oh wow,” Delilah murmured. “Golden boy looks bad. I guess he was sick.”

Kade followed her gaze as casually as he could and had to hold back a swear.

Gone were the shiny curls of Friday night. Gone was the healthy skin and alert eyes. Theo looked like he’d spent the whole weekend curled miserably over a toilet bowl, and he was not a good enough actor to fake it.

Kade sighed. He considered waiting it out and texting him later. Then he watched Theo push a lank curl behind his ear, fumbling it with weak fingers.

Kade sighed louder. He turned toward the gym hallway and whispered: “Meet me in the disabled bathroom, blood boy.”

He didn’t check if Theo had heard him. He didn’t have to .

When Theo showed up a minute later, Kade was balancing on top of the lidless toilet, holding his lit cigarette out the window.

Theo wrinkled his nose. “Come on, man.”

“You don’t even breathe ,” Kade sneered. He took another drag, taking in Theo’s pitiful appearance. “When did this happen?”

Theo shrugged with tired shoulders. “Dinner party, remember? I had to eat.”

“So?”

“So I don’t just throw up the food ,” Theo said, like Kade was being an idiot.

Kade cocked his head. “Thought you were trying to be less of an asshole.”

He mostly said it to piss him off, but that got a reaction: Theo’s shoulders hunched, head ducking like he was actually ashamed. He still scowled while he did it, but there was genuine guilt there.

Kade tapped ash on the windowsill. “Why didn’t you call me?”

Theo shrugged again. This one was slower, like he had something to say but didn’t want to say it. He looked Kade up and down: a black tee with a red heart sewn into the middle; tight black pants, combat boots.

“Why do you never bring your gym gear?”

Kade snorted. “Screw uniforms.”

“It’s not a uniform, it’s gym clothes ,” Theo said, flat and exhausted. “Though I guess you don’t have to worry about sweating. What’s your excuse today, acute foot-hurt-itis?”

“Maybe I’ll join in for once.” Kade sucked hard, blowing a plume of smoke into Theo’s face. “Seen the coach yet?”

“No.” Theo folded his arms over his wide chest. “Not like I can ask him anything during class. I gotta corner him after. Or something.”

Just the idea of it made him look even more tired.

Kade stubbed the cigarette out on the windowsill. “We should break into his house. See what else that guy’s hiding.”

“What? No!”

“What, we can break into a dead guy’s house but not your coach’s?” Kade snorted. “Did you find out anything at Aaron’s place?”

“Not really.”

“Did you ask ?”

“ Yes . God. I even broke into their mysterious greenhouse, okay?”

Kade blinked. “Their what?”

“It’s a locked greenhouse out back that no one’s allowed into, me and Aaron always joked there were bodies in there. I broke in, and guess what? It’s just dirt! And Aaron’s parents found out and bitched him out because they think he did it, so I got him in trouble for nothing.” Theo folded his arms tightly over his chest. “I still think you’re wrong. Maybe Aaron’s family is involved—and that’s a big maybe—but I don’t think Aaron is.”

Kade scoffed. “He’s going to stab you in the back, and you’ll just walk into the knife! Oops, what’s that pain in my spine? Oh, shit, hi Aaron! What’re you doing back there ? You know what? Not my problem.”

He climbed off the toilet, catching his knee on a spare toilet paper roll and sending it careening off the toilet tank. He pulled his shirt down, exposing his neck.

“Because I’m nice ,” Kade told him, ignoring how Theo’s gaze followed the rolling toilet paper as it trekked across the ties, “I won’t make you beg.”

Theo gave him a look that would’ve been unimpressed if he wasn’t so obviously aching for Kade’s neck, eyes half-lidded and hungry.

Kade suppressed a shiver. This isn’t hot, he told himself. It was a losing argument. Even if Theo was an asshole, even if they were trapped together in this situation neither of them would choose—an attractive boy staring at him with such hunger would always be hot. Kade had never been needed like this. Even if the venom did nothing but hurt, there was something addicting about Theo looking at him like he was starving and Kade was the only one who could give him what he needed.

Kade tilted his head. “Come on, blood boy. You get yours, I get mine.”

Theo nodded, distracted as his fangs formed. He reached up like he was going to grip Kade’s arm, then his hand stuttered sideways to tangle in Kade’s shirt. The sewed-on heart folded dangerously in his grip.

“Careful,” Kade mumbled. “It’s, um, not sewed on right.”

Theo paused. “What?”

“The heart,” Kade said, feeling stupid. “It’s not…” He’d sewn on the heart last night, clumsy and vibrating with leftover adrenaline. He did a lot of craft when he couldn’t sleep.

Theo moved his hand down, clutching the fabric over Kade’s flat stomach. His fingers twitched, like he wanted to pull. Then he stepped in and sunk his fangs into the curve of Kade’s neck.

Kade bit his tongue to stop a pained gasp from slipping out. He was determined not to make any embarrassing noises this time. Then that sweet venom bled through his system, killing the burn and sharpness, and determination died with them. A happy moan trickled from his slack mouth as Theo fed from him, but Kade was only distantly aware of it. The venom was so powerful, Theo was so close. No one got this close to him unless they were going to hurt him.

Too soon, Theo pulled back. He brushed his fingers over the wound, still humming with venom, and Kade shivered as the bite closed up and the burns faded.

“Cool,” he croaked. He tapped Theo’s sleeve. “Good game.”

Theo stepped back, uncurling his hand from Kade’s shirt like he wasn’t sure if Kade would fall over without support. “You good?”

“I’m great .”

“You’re shaking.”

“I’m a shaky guy,” Kade rasped. He grinned loosely. “Hey, at least now I got a real excuse to get out of gym class. Not supposed to exercise after you give blood.”

“When do you ever do what you’re supposed to?” Theo said, a beat too late. He glanced at the door. “I’ll go out first. People will actually notice if I’m missing.”

Kade made a noise like he was mortally wounded, clutching his chest.

Theo scratched his mouth, hiding a smile. It straightened out fast, a strange look replacing it. The same expression from when he’d showed up to Kade’s house with knitting needles. Like he was worried someone was listening in.

“Next time this happens,” Theo asked. “Should I call you?”

Kade nodded. “Trapped together, remember?”

“Right,” Theo mumbled. His hand flexed at his side.

Kade looked down just in time to watch Theo wipe a red speck on his gym shorts. The heart patch had left a shred of glitter on Theo’s hand.

Kade gave it two minutes. He spent most of that drinking water right from the tap, peeing, and staring at himself in the mirror trying to make himself look normal. His pupils were huge, his cheeks flushed despite the blood he lost. He looked tired, but wired . Like he’d just been to a concert, spilling onto the night streets with the music still in his veins.

The bell rang.

Kade slapped his red cheeks.

“Be normal,” he told himself, and laughed. Good luck, Monster.

He strolled back into the gym, hands in his jeans pockets. They were still shaking.

Coach Cheech was dividing the class into two groups. Dodgeball, Kade guessed. Good to know he’d miss a session of people throwing things at his head as hard as they could.

“Renfield,” Coach Cheech said, not even a pause before the name. Like he didn’t save their asses from a monster and then bounce. “Team two.”

“I actually can’t do it today,” Kade said. “Sorry, Coach.”

He’d expected Coach Cheech to give him this. He had ditched them and ran off suspiciously, after all. But Coach Cheech didn’t even bat an eyelid.

“Do you have a note?” he asked. Like this was just another day at the office and he’d never shot a winged vampire in front of a student.

“Uh,” Kade said. “No.”

“Then get the hell in your team. And take off the boots, don’t scuff my floor.”

Kade couldn’t stop himself—he glanced over at Theo, who had of course been chosen as head of team two. Theo’s face was tight and worried, more than it should be. Then Theo’s head jerked pointedly toward Aaron standing next to him, and Kade’s blood ran cold.

Aaron was staring straight at Kade. His head was cocked, suspicion clear in his sharp face. Had he seen them go into the bathroom together?

Kade kicked his shoes off, wincing as they bounced on the wall. Monster didn’t care about shoes, but Kade sure did. He’d polish them later to make up for it.

Felicity bounced from foot to foot as he came back around. Her shorts showed off a massive bruise all down her leg, and her knuckles were freshly swollen once again.

“It must suck not being able to use your teeth on the other team,” she told him “Dodgeball rules are so boring.”

Kade bared her teeth at her half-heartedly. She bared hers back, blunt and chemical-white. Then she crouched in a way that reminded him she used to be very, very fit.

He took a ball and lined up with his team, cursing silently as Aaron made an immediate beeline to stand in front of him.

“Hope you’re ready to die, Monster.”

“Back at you,” Kade snapped. Not his best work. But he was stressed and dehydrated and very annoyed at Coach Cheech for relying on old teacher-student dynamics and not people-dragged-into-a-secret-deadly- world dynamics, which would’ve meant Kade could go to the nurse’s office and maybe get filled in on what the hell was going on.

Coach Cheech blew the whistle.

Kade threw his ball. Aaron ducked as it sailed harmlessly past his head.

Kade swore, preparing for the inevitable return. But Aaron just stood there, ball in one hand, green eyes drilling into him. Someone behind Aaron aimed a ball at Kade, then immediately diverted his target once he saw Aaron marking his territory.

“Nice shirt,” Aaron said. “Is that a heart?”

“Is that a zit?” Kade replied. He went to step back.

Aaron stopped him, reaching his hand out to grab the heart sewn shoddily into Kade’s shirt.

“You gotta remember your place, you cockney shit,” Aaron whispered. He was obviously trying for his usual brand of unaffected cool, like he was going to ruin Kade’s day without breaking a sweat, then go back to his life—but there was something burning behind his green eyes.

His nail dug further into the red fabric, prying under the clumsy stitches.

Kade snarled. “Hey!”

Theo called out from the other side of the court. “Aaron! Cut it out!”

Aaron shot him a confused look and tugged. The heart stretched out from Kade’s shirt, stitches popping. One more yank and the heart snapped off, dangling from Aaron’s loathsome hand.

Kade’s head rang. Some of it was weakness from Theo’s bite. But most of it was rage , pure and simple. Righteous fury. It would feel so good to drive his fist into Aaron’s smug face. Good like putting his fist through a window during a house party. Good like stealing something in full view of the store owner, knowing he’d chase Kade down the street.

“Aaron,” Felicity called. “That no biting rule is for you, too, babe.”

Aaron ignored her, leaning forward. He tapped the heart against Kade’s nose.

“Whatcha gonna do?” he whispered. “Monster.”

Kade tackled him. Aaron hit the ground with a grunt, lifting his arms to protect his face.

A gasp went up. Shoes squeaked to a stop all around the gym.

Felicity let out a shocked laugh. “Okay, here we go.”

“ Guys ,” Theo snapped. Kade couldn’t tell who he was more annoyed with, Kade or Aaron or even Felicity for laughing along.

Blood roared in Kade’s ears. He could hardly make out Aaron’s words as he whaled on his arms, trying to get to his face. It felt great . Like scratching an itch. Like tearing a hole in your skin.

Someone started barking, a fun thing people did now when Kade started a fight.

“You’re a goddamn animal,” Aaron said through gritted teeth, as people yelled, cameras flashed, and Coach Cheech screamed for them to get the hell off each other. “Somebody should put you down.”

Kade sat back and punched him in the stomach. “Rabbit-killing shit!”

Aaron curled over protectively, breath knocked out of him. He stared up at Kade, his confused face slowly going red.

“ What ?” he wheezed.

Arms closed around his shoulders. Kade struggled, but the grip was iron. One of them, anyway. He turned to find Theo gripping one arm, Coach Cheech on the other. Kade considered headbutting Cheech in the face. Then he went stiff, letting them haul him up.

“Alright,” Mr. Cheech yelled at everybody taking photos. “Everybody sit down and shut up. I better not hear anything while I take care of this. Aaron—you hurt?”

“Not for lack of trying,” Aaron replied stiffly, pushing himself up off the floorboards. He stared at Theo, who let go of Kade’s sleeve like it burned him.

“Great,” Coach Cheech barked. He let go of Kade and sucked hard on his mustache. “Renfield, go take a walk.”

Kade looked over at him, surprised. He was expecting the principal’s office. Maybe a suspension. Detention , at least.

“What? You said you can’t do gym today, go have a free goddamn period. ”

Kade glanced at Theo. Theo stared back, confused, as Coach Cheech marched off.

The gym filled with murmurs. Nobody let Kade off scot-free. The last time Kade acted up in gym, Coach Cheech made him run laps until a hungover Kade puked on the floor. Then he made him mop up the puke.

“Cheech,” Kade yelled after him. “What’s the catch?”

Coach Cheech turned. “Get. Out .”

Kade shrank back, turning his flinch into a shrug. “ Fine . Should’ve just let me go at the start, save everybody the trouble.”

His gaze caught on something red and glittery. The heart patch had flown out of Aaron’s hand when Kade punched him. Kade bent down and scooped it up as he skulked toward his boots. He tucked the patch into his pocket and ignored all the whispers behind him, no one daring to look directly at him lest he launch himself at them next.

He stood up and swore. Felicity Sloan stood next to his shoulder, gaze wary but aimed straight at him.

Kade sneered. “What?”

She shook her head. Her gaze dipped toward his pocket.

Kade shuddered with mortification at the idea she might’ve seen him pick up his stupid glittery heart.

“You need to move,” Kade snarled, “Or you’re gonna have to call your modeling agency and tell them you can’t do that sparkling water job with a busted nose. ”

Felicity’s pink lips curved up. She was rarely scared of him. Shocked, sure. Amused , even. But he hadn’t gotten an inch of real fear from her in all the years he’d been in Lock.

“ You’re going to break my nose, Renfield?”

“Maybe,” Kade spat, feeling like an idiot. They both knew he wouldn’t hit her. Not unless she hit him first. And fistfights didn’t seem like Felicity’s style. She cut with words, not with her polished nails. Even if she looked like she wanted to take a swing at him right now, bright with sweat and adrenaline. She’d been lobbing dodgeballs like her life depended on it, smiling through a snarl.

Kade shouldered past her, the heart burning a hole in his pocket.

She called after him, Forrest Gump style. “ Run, Monster, run .”

Don’t look back, he told himself. He didn’t want to see his classmates whispering about what a freak he was, Aaron sulking over his bruised arms, Theo joking to try and make it better.

Don’t do it, he told himself as he pushed open the door. Don’t ?—

He glanced back. Felicity was adjusting her ponytail as she ran back to her boys. Cheech had his phone out, texting furiously and barking at everyone to shut up and get back in their lines. Aaron had a dodgeball in his hand, spinning it like a basketball and getting annoyed when it spun onto the ground .

Theo held out a sneakered foot. The ball rolled to a stop under it. He was watching Cheech text, his blond brows furrowed. Then, just as Kade was about to let the door swing shut between them—he looked up. Right at Kade.

It lasted maybe a second. But as the door swung closed, Kade knew:

They were going to break into Cheech’s house.