Page 19

CHAPTER

NINETEEN

Kade stared. “You said he was bowling!”

“He was ,” Theo insisted. “Every Monday night, his bowling club goes?—”

Kade shushed him, heart pounding. This was one of those story moments where everything came down to what he decided to do in the next few minutes. Unfortunately—like all story moments he’d lived through—the part of his brain that told him what would logically come next in a story was drowned out by blind panic.

Kade shoved the glass case open. Before he could grab the scroll, Theo blurred over and grabbed his sleeve.

“What are you doing ?” Theo hissed. “He’ll notice it’s gone!”

“What’s he gonna do, shoot you?”

Theo gestured at the weapons and bloody family photographs lining the wall. “Maybe! ”

Kade winced. He hadn’t noticed the photo of the toddler holding the decapitated head.

He dropped the glass case back into place and wrestled his phone out of his pocket.

Theo glanced anxiously at the living room. “He’s coming.”

“Then shut up!” Kade aimed his camera at the scroll, trying to stop his hands from shaking.

Theo jerked his sleeve. “Take the goddamn picture!”

“I’m trying,” Kade snapped. “My hands?—”

Theo grabbed the phone off him and took five photos in rapid succession. He shoved the phone back at Kade and then dragged him into the living room, only letting his sleeve go to push the bookcase back into place.

Kade started, “Where?—?”

They both went still as Cheech’s humming drifted down the hallway.

Theo swore, grabbing Kade’s sleeve again.

Thank god this man has such a stupid big house, Kade thought as Theo yanked him behind the couch. The only thing behind the Renfield couch was the wall. This couch had another half of the room behind it, complete with a chest of drawers, an angel statue nudging into Kade’s foot, and a whole other couch that looked like it had been last sat on in 1983.

The humming came closer.

“What’s the plan?” Kade whispered.

Theo stared at him, blank and panicked .

Kade winced. “Shit.”

He fell silent as Coach Cheech walked in. There was the familiar crack of a beer can being opened. The humming faded into a weary sigh as Coach Cheech dropped onto the couch.

“Crap,” Coach Cheech said. The TV flicked on.

Kade’s knees ached with how hard he was clutching them. He squeezed even harder as Cheech changed the channel to an old MASH rerun. If Cheech was anything like Aunt Sundance, they could be stuck here for hours.

Kade squirmed. The angel statue pressed hard against his jeans, and there was no room to move over. Its arms were outstretched. If Kade were a religious man, he might’ve taken that as a sign everything was going to be okay.

Kade was not a religious man. Historically, very few things turned out okay for him.

Pain burst in his thumb. Theo had leaned too close and touched it, skin-on-skin.

Kade gasped, jerking sideways into the angel statue.

Something cracked.

Theo blurred with speed, reaching past Kade to steady the angel statue and catch the tip of its wing, which had broken off when Kade bumped it.

Kade cowered with his burned thumb in his mouth. Was this how he died? Squished between a statue, a couch, and a boy who was trying very hard not to touch his bare skin?

The TV turned off .

Shit , Kade chanted silently. Shitshitshit. Please don’t shoot us. This is the part of the story where we get away. A daring escape, come on, I know my life has sucked so far but that’s all underdog setup, right?

For a moment, nothing moved. Then there was a slow creak of floorboards supporting Cheech’s weight as he stood. He didn’t call out or ask if anybody was there. He just stood there, listening. Then he murmured something, so low Kade couldn’t hear it.

Kade’s gaze darted desperately to Theo. Theo stared back at him, his perfect hair falling down his forehead. The tip of the angel’s wing sat in his outstretched hand, gray and dusty.

Kade wet his chapped lips. Throw it, he mouthed.

Theo frowned at him.

Kade nodded to the broken stone in Theo’s hand. Throw it!

Theo’s expression smoothed out. He leaned around the side of the couch and slung the stone.

Kade squeezed his eyes shut, listening. The stone zapped into the hallway, bouncing along the walls. Theo had thrown it hard .

Cheech took off. Kade waited until his footsteps hit the hall, then grabbed Theo’s letterman jacket.

“Grab me and run,” he whispered. “Fast as you?—”

He didn’t finish. Theo had already scooped him up, rushing into the next room. Wind rushed past Kade’s buzzed scalp. The world blurred past. Kade squeezed his eyes shut. If he wasn’t putting all his effort into forcing himself to be quiet, he would’ve yelled. It was the most alive he’d ever felt since Theo put his teeth in his neck.

When Kade opened his eyes, Theo was propping him up next to the car and telling him to get in.

Kade folded himself into the backseat, ignoring his wobbly legs. Theo tore out of the street like there were people after them. Kade risked a look out the back window—no one. He patted himself down—everything was where it should be, including his wallet, wallet chain, and the pointy end of the broken knitting needle Theo had stepped on in class. For fidgeting purposes, he told himself. Or maybe he really could use it to defend himself one day.

“So,” he started. “Bowling, huh?”

“He does it every week ,” Theo said. His nails split on the steering wheel. Theo swore, pushing at it like he could glue it back into place if he pushed hard enough. His hand was still burned from the silver, but the skin had already faded pink.

Kade pressed his head harder into his knees. His burned thumb throbbed. “So we just send Milly the picture? Ask for a translation, lie about where we found it?”

“Looks like.”

“Did you take a picture of his desk?”

Silence .

Kade groaned. “Come on , mate!”

“We got the date and kind of the time,” Theo said over him. “That’s what’s important.”

Kade sighed, leaning with the car as they sped around a corner. He couldn’t see the windows when he was hunched over like this, but Cheech’s place wasn’t far from home. And Theo parked a block away from his place, anyway.

“Right,” Kade said. “We’ll just follow Cheech.”

“He’ll be at the game.”

Kade lifted his head. “No he’s not. You saw that mess all over his desk, he’ll find a way to weasel out of the game if it’s THAT important.”

Theo glanced in the rear-view mirror. Kade only caught a sliver of his expression, but it was enough.

“Oh my GOD,” Kade said. “You want to be at the game!”

“I have to! I let everyone down!”

“The vampire hunter hand-feeds us a date and time, but noooo, you need to prove to everyone you’re still the town golden boy!”

“We don’t know what Cheech meant,” Theo argued. “It could be anything! It might not have anything to do with us!”

Kade laughed, loud and spiteful. It cut off when the car turned, making Kade veer sideways and bang his head on the car door. “Ow! Bloody hell, Fairgood!”

“You can walk from here,” Theo announced .

Kade rolled his eyes, trying to hide the wet sheen. His thumb was bad enough, but now his head stung.

“I can’t believe I’m stuck with you,” he told Theo as he un-pretzeled himself from the backseat. He dug in his pocket, pushing a cigarette between his teeth.

Theo made a warning noise. “Not in the car.”

“I’m getting out!” Kade reached for the car door, hissing when it caught on his burned thumb. “ Ow . I was actually having a good time for five seconds back there, and then you ruin it by being a jock asshole. What happened to all that shit you said with the knitting needles, huh? God forbid you miss the big game that had to get rescheduled because you messed up the first time?—”

Kade’s words died in his throat as he opened the door to find Theo standing there, palm held out. Kade stared at it.

Theo swallowed. He had the gall to actually look hurt by the stuff Kade had said.

“Just let me heal you so you can stop bitching,” Theo said, voice low.

Kade scoffed, unlit cigarette still clamped between his teeth. “When did I bitch?”

Theo’s jaw worked. He grabbed Kade’s hand. Kade hissed reflexively, pain blooming around Theo’s grip. But tingling followed it, those burns sucking back into his skin along with the burn on his thumb.

Theo let him go, looking guilty. “There. You can shut up now. ”

Kade flexed his newly healed hand. “So you have to focus.”

“What?”

“To heal me. You gotta focus. Doesn’t just happen automatically.”

“I guess.” Theo frowned, like he didn’t understand why it was important to know these things. If Kade was turned into a vampire, he’d want to know everything about every ability he could get his hands on. He’d buy a cool notebook and a fancy pen and write everything down.

Kade got out of the car, pulling a plastic lighter out of his pocket. He waited for Theo to move out of the way. But Theo just stood there, watching Kade dig his cigarettes out.

“I expected something fancier,” Theo told him. “Like…silver. Engraved. Got a coffin on it.”

“We can’t all afford engraved lighters,” Kade drawled, lighting up. He sucked in a breath, shoulders already relaxing. “Are you going to let me go home or are you just gonna stand there?”

“You know that’s disgusting,” Theo said. “Right?”

Kade grinned around the cigarette. “Secondhand smoke can’t hurt you . Right, dead boy?”

Theo tilted his head. Kade lifted his hand, worried Theo would snatch the cigarette right out of his mouth.

“Alright,” Theo said instead. “Gimme one.”

Kade raised his eyebrows. Theo held out a hand, index and middle finger parted. Waiting for Kade to slot a cigarette in.

Kade fumbled for his cigarette pack and handed it over.

“Thanks,” Theo said, placing the end in his mouth.

“Oooh, even got the correct end,” Kade muttered, pulling his lighter back out. He flicked the trigger, watching it crackle and then fade out. “Breaking and entering. Now he’s smoking . Watch out, Lock, there’s a new bad boy in…”

He trailed off. Theo was ignoring the faulty lighter still unlit in Kade’s hand, opting instead to lean in and press the tip of his cigarette to Kade’s. He breathed in, long and steady, gaze never dropping.

Kade watched him, frozen. His lips slackened around his cigarette. Then he realized he had to help this along and sucked in a tight breath.

Their cigarettes flared: first Kade’s, then Theo’s. Catching the spark.

“Thanks,” Theo said again, leaning back all casual, like he hadn’t launched Kade into a full gay freakout.

Kade nodded, hoping like hell Theo wasn’t paying attention to his wild heartbeat just then. Or his burning cheeks. He couldn’t help it. Not a lot of guys wanted to get that close to Kade “Monster” Renfield unless they were beating the crap out of him.

“Do you even breathe anymore?” Kade asked, desperately trying to claw back some semblance of dignity. “Like, normally? ”

“I try to,” Theo said. “Have to keep my image.”

He gave the cigarette a considering look. Then he brought it to his lips and sucked, grimacing as the breath went on inhumanly long. When he finally breathed out, the entire cigarette was ash.

“Great party trick,” Kade croaked, still stuck on how intense Theo’s eyes had been when he leaned in. All pupil. Like he was hungry.

“Thanks,” Theo repeated, quieter than last time. He thumped his chest. “God. Like licking a fire pit.”

“Don’t knock it,” Kade said faintly.

Theo nodded. He watched Kade smoke for a few seconds longer, like he wanted to say something more. He looked almost…nervous. Then he turned to get back in the car.

“See you next time you need a bite,” Kade told him, voice thin.

“Right. If you need…” Theo turned back, face twisting. “Venom? Uh, let me know.”

“I think we sync up.” Kade grinned. He tried to make it sharp, the kind he gave to teachers who pissed him off, but he was still shaky with adrenaline. The smile slid into something soft, almost teasing, the kind of goofy smile he gave his aunt when she caught him on a good day.

Theo blinked. But before Kade could reign his smile in, Theo’s mouth twitched. Like he was going to smile back.

“Hey,” Kade said, to save himself the embarrassment of a vampire overhearing his heart do something stupid under the force of a slightly soft Theo smile. “Did you hear what Cheech said? When we were shitting ourselves and waiting to see if he’d discover us?”

Theo paused. He reached out and touched the hood of his car, tapping a beat along the shining paint job.

“No,” he said. “Your heart was beating so loud . It was hard to hear anything else.”

Kade tried to think of something to say to that. He couldn’t stop staring at Theo’s hands, those hands which had been tucked under Kade’s knees and braced along his back, carrying him to safety. Couldn’t stop thinking about his stupid heartbeat acting up when Theo had leaned in with that cigarette, cherry glow reflecting in those big brown eyes.

Kade managed a grin. “Sorry for my loud heart.”