Page 10
CHAPTER TEN
“Where’s Theo?”
Kade stiffened, caught off guard by Aaron’s sudden appearance at their cafeteria table. Thankfully Felicity was already on top of it.
“He’s taking a shit,” she said with an acidic glare.
Aaron looked like he wanted to remind her that vampires were physically unable to shit, and was cursing the spell that wouldn’t let him say it without choking to death on his own splintered organs. He also looked like he wanted to pass out right there on the linoleum. Even his eyebags had eyebags.
“He looked sick,” he said instead. “Thought he might’ve gone home.”
“He’s fine,” Felicity insisted, scratching her burn bandages under her T-shirt. “He’s doing great . Thanks for checking in.”
Aaron looked reluctantly at Kade. Kade bent low over his meatloaf, wishing Aaron didn’t still make him feel like crap. At least it was a different kind of crap nowadays: less loathing and more…squirming, uncomfortable pity.
Aaron didn’t want to be in this story either. Last year he had friends, popularity, both parents, both hands . He had good hair and good grades and was the second-best player on the basketball team. Now what did he have? His grieving mom and a mission. An ex-best friend and an ex-girlfriend who avoided him in the halls. Kade knew intimately what it felt like to keep walking down a path you never wanted because it was the only one you could see in front of you.
He hated that he could relate to the guy. But he couldn’t help it. Aaron just looked so pathetic . Gone were the days of cool, aloof Aaron Fletcher, ruling the school with two expressions: bored or smug. Now, anytime he wasn’t actively pissed off he looked like he was going to collapse or cry, possibly both at once.
Kade sighed, digging a ripped piece of workbook paper out of his pocket. “Hey Fletcher. You seen any of these?”
He showed him the sketches, ignoring Felicity’s warning stare. They weren’t anywhere near as detailed as the sketches in the spell book, but they were the best Kade could do when Milly asked for a recreation: a flowy dress, a jagged spear, a flower with pink, diamond-shaped flowers and veins down the middle.
“Kade,” Felicity hissed.
“What? We’re on the same side. Even if he’s a shit.” Kade waved the page, inviting him to look but not touch. “Anything?”
Aaron frowned. He bent over the page, looking up at Kade warily. Like he half-expected him to slap him in the face.
“I don’t,” he started. Then he looked at the flower, and something flickered over his face: confusion going deeper, before arriving at a realization. He smothered it as soon as it came, his face falling into that haughty mask that Kade loathed.
“Nope,” he said easily. Then he turned.
“ Hey ,” Felicity barked. She scraped her chair back as she stood, shoved in front of him, and stabbed a finger in his face. “I saw that. You can’t say shit, but you can help . Okay? You can . I think you’re a lost cause, but you always did love proving me wrong. Are you gonna?”
Her voice shook on the last word. Kade had never heard her voice do that, except at the end of Spider-Man 3 , when Harry sacrifices himself to save Peter after trying to kill him for the whole movie. Theo had given him a look that clearly meant if you laugh at her right now she will kill you , so Kade had wisely shut up.
Aaron’s throat worked. “Liss,” he said, like an apology.
Felicity’s face was already twisting up in disgust. “You were always going to pick them. They treat you like shit, and you still?—”
She sat back down with a growl, scratching the burn bandage on her arm. She mostly didn’t let Theo heal the wounds she got during training, no matter how much her mom or Theo or even Kade pushed her toward it. Theo was constantly healing Kade: bite marks and stray bruises and puncture wounds from pricking his finger during sewing. It felt nice, being taken care of. Weird, but nice. Still, Kade completely understood why she didn’t let Theo fix it. Why she kept scratching at her wounds, making them heal wrong. Sometimes you wanted to keep the hurt.
“Whatever,” she said, grabbing the paper from Kade’s hand and stuffing it in her pocket. “Go tell your mommy what you saw and leave us alone already.”
Aaron curled his lip. For a second Kade thought he was going to grace them with one of his trademark sneers. Then Aaron ducked his head, and Kade realized that the sneer was still happening, it was just reaching inwards.
“Sucks about Delilah,” he muttered.
Felicity paused, still staring determinedly at her tray of nearly demolished meatloaf. “Emmerson? Why, what happened?”
But Aaron was already walking away.
Felicity watched him, eyes narrowed. “The hell was that?”
“No idea,” Kade said, unease churning in his gut. He took out a biro from his pocket, spinning it anxiously. “Are you okay?”
“I’m great ,” Felicity snapped, digging her phone out of her pocket. “I’m awesome. Unlike Delilah Emmerson, who is… oh, shit.”
“What?” Kade leaned in, but Felicity was already leaning his way to show him the texts she’d received this morning: Delilah Emmerson was missing. Nobody had seen her since the night before when she went for a run in the woods.
“Shit,” Kade whispered, spinning the biro so fast it almost spun out of his hand. “Did we miss something in the spell book? Maybe the ritual does need sacrifices.”
“Yeah, or maybe he just wants more vamps to wreak vengeance on the town.” Felicity shoved her phone in her pocket and looked up, scanning the cafeteria and letting out a hiss of victory. “Sighted.”
“What?”
Felicity nodded up at the cafeteria line. Kade turned, expecting to see Theo back from his squirrely snack break.
Delilah Emmerson’s sibling was loading rice onto their cafeteria tray, their shoulders hunched. Where Delilah was outgoing—a class president full of unfulfilled campaign promises—Ryan Emmerson ran under the radar. Kade only noticed them because of their black nail polish and baggy denim jacket, which was covered in pins of obscure bands and quotes and assorted flags. They’d only started dressing like that last year, so their fashion wasn’t yet fully realized. But it was earnest and more interesting than ninety-five percent of the town population.
Felicity raised her bandaged arm. “RYAN!”
Ryan jerked, whirling around so fast their apple almost toppled off their tray. Kade waved and tried to look nonthreatening, for once. He knew what it was like to be on red alert every time someone called your name.
Felicity yelled, “Come pop a squat over here.”
Ryan glanced over at their usual table, where a group of alternatively dressed teens were passing around volumes of manga.
Felicity yelled louder. “Ryan! Squat!”
Ryan hesitated. But Felicity Sloan still had sway at this school, even if it had corroded in the last few months. They headed toward the table.
Kade leaned over. “Are we sure this is a good idea?"
“All my ideas are good ideas.”
Kade made a face.
Felicity kicked him under the table. “What if the Emmersons have some shit hidden away, too? What if Vicky’s taking people from hunting families? What if—? Oop, time to be cool.”
Felicity dragged out a chair between her and Kade, patting the dented plastic.
“There you go,” she said as Ryan sat down. She reached over and flicked one of their newer pins. “Cute. No idea where you got that in Lock.”
Ryan looked down at the pin she’d flicked. It was a tiny row of flags: the bisexual flag, the trans flag, the LGBT+ flag, and another flag that Kade didn’t recognize, gray and white and purple.
“Ordered it online,” they mumbled. “Am I being hazed?”
“If that makes it easier to explain,” Felicity said. “Yes.”
Kade gave her a sideways look. Felicity grabbed his biro, flipping it easily between her fingers.
“Sucks about your sister,” she said. “I hope they find her.”
Ryan stared at the spinning biro. “Thanks,” they said slowly.
“I just wanted to let you know we’re rooting for her,” Felicity continued.
“Thanks,” Ryan repeated. Their eyes flickered to Kade nervously.
Kade had caught them looking at him last year. At first he thought it was for the usual reasons people looked at him. Then he noticed Ryan’s gaze lingering on Kade’s shirts or his earrings or his eyeliner. Picking up fashion tips. But also, Kade suspected, taking comfort in the knowledge that they weren’t the only weirdo in town.
There wasn’t any comfort in their face now. But there was a shred of hope. Like they wanted to believe the rumors weren’t entirely true. That they weren’t being hazed, there was something different going on here, something strange and misunderstood.
Felicity looked over at Kade expectantly.
Kade looked back at her just as expectantly. She was the one from the hunting family, she was supposed to lead the questions. But Felicity just kept staring. She’d picked up on the hope emanating from Ryan, who had averted their eyes down to their tray.
Kade sighed. “Okay. This is going to sound weird, but I promise we’re not hazing you. Did your family have any…Lock-related stuff they keep hidden?”
Ryan frowned. “Lock-related stuff?”
“Yeah. Like, maybe a spear. Or a dress. Or some secret flower patch that only blooms one week a year?”
The hope in Ryan’s face was waning fast.
Felicity cut in. “What about weird family history shit? Maybe something your grandparents couldn’t tell you about. Old photos of ax-wielding ancestors. Saying you were important. Defending the town. Did anyone make you train with weapons and then get really weird and threatening if you tried to tell people?”
Ryan stared at her. It was a bewildered silence, but it wasn’t just bewildered, their face lurching between confusion and deep horror.
“They said—” Ryan stopped, wetting their lips. They tugged their baggy denim jacket closer, knuckles scraping the endless pins. “Grandpa—Dad’s dad—he was kind of weird. Dad doesn’t like talking about it. There was a lot of weapons training. Dad said Grandpa was some kind of doomsday prepper. Said we had to be ready.”
“For what?” Felicity asked.
Ryan shrugged. “Never told him. It really annoyed Dad. Before he went to college they tried to get him in on the secret. Well, Grandpa did, Grandma didn’t want to. And Dad said no. Said he didn’t want anything to do with it. I think Grandpa was really upset about it. He really believed…” They trailed off, face full of fear and wild hope. “Does this have something to do with Delilah?”
Kade met Felicity’s eyes. This was as good as a confirmation: the Emmersons had something Victor wanted.
Felicity flicked her dyed hair out of her face. “Do you do a lot of things alone, Ryan?”
“I guess?”
“Maybe stop that for now.”
Kade waited for Felicity to smile. That teasing smile she always did, sharp and mildly infuriating, letting you know she was always one step ahead. But she didn’t smile. She just sat there, staring, the biro spinning expertly between her practiced fingers.
“Why?” Ryan whispered.
Kade took over. They wanted to warn Ryan, not freak them out. Or worse, send them scurrying back to their table full of new weird gossip that would make people even more suspicious.
“Just to be safe,” he told them. “Liss?—”
He broke off as something slammed hard into the side of Kade’s chair, sending him sprawling.
He hit the floor with a grunt, pain exploding up his arm. That snarling dog inside him woke up, straining at its leash as he looked into the stupid grinning face of Finn Harley.
“Heard you were bothering a grieving classmate,” Finn said. “Pretty rude, Renfield.”
“They’re not grieving,” Felicity pointed out, the biro stilling in her hand. “Delilah’s missing , jackass. Not dead. Get your facts straight.”
Theo had told him not to engage. Don’t let him know we’re onto him . But the guy had just knocked Kade out of his chair. He couldn’t not react. Maybe it was part of Finn’s plan or maybe he was just being an asshole, giddy with the power he was primed to receive, but Kade couldn’t not react to this shit.
Finn laughed. “Gonna growl at me, Monster? Huh?”
Then he barked.
Kade closed his eyes, trying to remember Aunt Sundance’s voice telling him not to give in. Theo’s annoyed admonishments as he healed Kade’s bloody knuckles, telling Kade to just limp away or call for backup.
Then Finn barked again. Someone on the other side of the cafeteria joined in.
Kade bared his bloody teeth. Some things were in you so deep. Sometimes you wanted to keep the hurt.
He slammed his boot into Finn’s shin. Finn’s smile vanished as he skidded onto one knee, the perfect height for Kade to kick him in the face.
Kade did. With gusto.
Finn howled in shock and pain. Kade smashed his boot into his chest, and Finn went sprawling backward.
The cafeteria erupted in barks.
Felicity shouted something. Kade didn’t hear it. The blood was too loud in his ears, the barking too intense. He snarled as he climbed on top of Finn, cracking his fists into his cheekbones.
Finn held his arms over his face. He flailed out, a clumsy punch.
Kade laughed, smacking it away. If this was really Victor’s chosen, he’d picked horribly wrong.
Felicity yelled again. This time Kade heard it: “Not the face! Bone on bone, idiot! Go for the soft parts!”
Kade punched him in the stomach. Finn curled inwards, face blooming red. He gasped airlessly.
Kade reared back to punch him again.
Then he paused. Ryan was standing a safe distance behind Finn, frozen in place. There was no hope in their eyes anymore. Just fear. Fear that Kade was just as bad as the rumors said—that he was in a cult, that he led the cult, that he dug Theo’s dad up, that he made Theo’s mom disappear, that he was the corrupter of all things good and pure, a wild animal they should put down for the good of the town.
Kade’s fist wavered in midair. Part of him wanted to grab them by the hair and snap that it wasn’t him , okay, why wouldn’t anybody believe him? The other part of him, louder and infinitely more tempting, wanted to ignore Felicity’s advice and keep smashing Finn’s face in, no matter what it would do to his precious hinge joints. Theo could heal him later. Better yet, Theo could leave them raw and scabbing, let everybody see what happened when you messed with?—
Felicity’s strong arms closed around him, twisting his nipples like a maniac.
Kade jerked back. “Liss! Jesus!”
Felicity dropped her face close to his ear, her whisper louder than the barking.
“Save it for later,” she hissed.
Finn stared up at him, dazed. His nose was busted, blood running down his chin. Only some of it was Kade’s.
Kade went still. Felicity let go of his nipples, and Kade rose stiffly to his feet. His leg still ached where Finn had kicked it.
Finn stumbled up after him, tears in his eyes. “Broke my fugging nose ,” he cried. “You’re…I’m gonna…”
“Oh shit,” Felicity said as the barking died down. “Guard dog incoming.”
Kade looked up just in time to see Theo charge in. He grabbed Finn by his bloodied letterman jacket. His blunt teeth were bared, and Kade had a twisted moment of euphoria, Felicity’s words echoing through his head. Guard dogs, both of them. Twin mutts circling the same chain.
“What’d I say?” Theo demanded, shaking Finn hard. “Huh?”
Finn spluttered, blood dripping down his neck.
“ Don’t go near him,” Theo spat.
“He attacked me!” Finn wailed.
Ryan spoke up from behind them. “Finn started it.”
Kade looked over. Ryan was rigid and small, trying to disappear into their denim. They said nothing else, and scurried back toward their table when they saw Kade looking.
Theo reached up like he was going to touch Kade’s face, as if after all this time he still forgot. Then he faltered, dropping his hand to grip Kade’s jacket instead. He was staring at Kade’s bloody lips.
“I didn’t bite him,” Kade said.
“I know,” Theo replied, his pupils far too big as he stared at Kade’s red mouth.