CHAPTER TWELVE

Theo knocked eighteen times.

Nobody answered.

“Maybe he’s not home,” Kade whispered.

“He’s home, I can hear him moving around,” Theo told him. He cocked his head, listening to the footsteps stop. Russel would be checking the peephole.

“Theo?” Russel said finally. “Is that you? Isn’t it a school day?”

“I have a gardening question,” Theo replied. “It’s urgent.”

He waited, heart in his throat. Russel used to tell Theo that he could call anytime. He hadn’t said that since Theo hoisted him up in the air over Victor’s empty grave, but Theo hoped it was still true.

There was a long pause. Theo swallowed. He should’ve called him to apologize, like Sundance had suggested. He’d meant to. He just got so consumed by school and his drop from popularity and his parents’ monstrous betrayal and his new boyfriend. Apologizing to Russel had fallen by the wayside.

Kade touched his sleeve. “Maybe we should come back later.”

“Wait,” Theo said. “Just…one second.”

The door cracked open.

“Hi,” Theo said. “Look, I’m really sorry?—”

He stopped. The smell of dried blood washed over him.

“Oh shit,” Kade muttered.

The left side of Russel’s face was swathed in bandages. The material was dark, due for changing. A cut peeked out along his chin. It was a slash wound. A claw wound, if you were being picky about it.

Russel gave them a cautious nod.

“Boys,” he said. “What can I do for you?”

“Russel,” Theo said. “You’re…what happened ?”

Russel shifted guiltily in the doorway. “What? Nothing happened.”

The scent of blood wafting from him said otherwise. Theo held his breath.

Russel reached up like he was going to touch the bandages, then dropped his hand hastily. Like he didn’t want to draw attention to them. Like they weren’t taking up half of his face, blocking his left eye and still not covering all the wounds.

“Russel,” Theo repeated. “Seriously. What happened?”

Russel cleared his throat. “I fell.”

“Doesn’t look much like a fall.”

“Well, shows what you know.” Russel made a face like it physically pained him to be mean to Theo, which was…nice. Then he made another face, pained, because making faces had to hurt with all those claw marks. “Can I help you? I’m busy.”

He was definitely tangled up in some hunter stuff, Theo decided. Skeeter’s savior hadn’t been a random guy with an ax. Russel wouldn’t treat Theo so standoffishly unless he was being fed some lies from the Fletchers. Even after Theo dangled him in the air in front of Victor’s empty grave, he’d still tried to understand. Tried to help .

“Right. I won’t take up much of your time.” Theo dug the flower petals out from his pocket. “Have you seen these before?”

Russel’s guarded expression flickered to pure confusion. “You…ditched school. To ask about flowers?”

“Are we still playing into this?” Kade continued. “We know you’re involved, dude. And we’re not your enemies, so stop glaring at Theo.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Russel said. “And—and even if I did, I wouldn’t say anything. I can’t say anything.”

Kade groaned. “Jesus, not you too. What’s so appealing about a spell that kills you if you snitch? How did they rope you into that? Was this before you attacked Vicky or after?”

“ Vicky ?” Theo muttered.

Kade sighed. “Felicity thought we should have a less threatening name for your deadly vampire dad.”

Russel started to close the door. Theo shoved his leg in the way. Russel winced and held the door open. As if one flimsy door could harm Theo Fairgood. His dad had torn a chunk out of his side a few days ago and he was walking it off.

“You could really slam it,” Kade suggested. “It wouldn’t hurt. Except emotionally.”

“I don’t know how you got roped into this,” Theo told Russel. “But we’re not the bad guys, Russel. We’re trying to stop the bad guys. The Fletchers don’t trust vampires. But I’m not just a vampire, I’m me . And you know me. I know I scared you, back at…at the grave. I thought you hurt my dad. My mom tricked me into believing it. I never should’ve, but I did. I guess after Hawthorn tried to kill me it wasn’t that big of a leap.”

“ What ?” Russel said, appalled.

Theo talked over him. “But here’s what we know. Victor needs three things—not including us—to complete the ritual. One of them is these flowers. If we destroy them, he can’t complete the ritual. So if you know where they are, you have to tell us. Or…or tell Mrs. Sloan, and she’ll do it. Hell, tell the Fletchers! I don’t care who does it, just that it gets done.”

Russel frowned at the petals. Then he hissed in pain, the frown pulling hard at the injuries.

Theo grimaced in sympathy. “Shit. Want me to heal you?”

Russel gave him a bewildered look. “Excuse me?”

“He can heal your face,” Kade said.

Russel’s expression only got more bewildered.

Kade sighed. “Did they not mention it while they were giving you a lowdown of vampire powers? They can heal humans. Otherwise I would’ve been walking around with bite marks all the time.”

Russel hesitated. “What do you need to do?”

“Just touch your face,” Theo said. “That’s it.”

Russel pulled at the end of a bandage. “Do I need to take this off?”

“Not yet,” Theo said. He tucked the petals back into the pouch and reached up. Russel watched him cautiously, but didn’t move away.

Theo touched Russel’s chin and concentrated. The hum was stubborn, as it always was when he healed someone without biting them first. But it vibrated down his fingertips and into Russel’s skin until the tear closest to Theo’s touch started to seal up.

Russel gasped. After a few more seconds, the scent of blood was contained to the dirty bandages. Russel reached up with shaking hands and unwound the bandages, revealing the left side of his face: sweaty and compressed, but intact.

“ There we go,” Kade muttered.

Theo stood back, waiting. Did he even know anything? He’d seemed genuinely confused by the flowers, staring at the petals in Theo’s hand with a troubled expression. Russel took a deep breath.

“That girl,” he said tensely. “At the Founder’s Day party.”

His jaw worked like he desperately wanted to say more but didn’t dare. He would know about her body being stolen from the funeral home. Everybody in Lock knew by now.

“She’s safe,” Theo said. “You saved her.”

Russel slumped with relief. “Okay. Alright.”

Theo waited as Russel touched his intact face with increasing wonder.

“You should go talk to the Fletchers,” he said finally.

Theo sighed. “They won’t talk to us.”

“Walk around the grounds, then.” Russel smiled thinly, a muscle bouncing in his jaw. “I always liked their garden.”

Theo opened his mouth to point out that the Fletchers’ garden was boring and shorn and colorless, and now it was boring and overgrown and colorless. Then he caught Russel’s meaningful look.

“Oh,” Theo said. “Okay, we’ll?—”

He froze. He had been mentally cataloging the garden, trying to remember a single spot of color in that big space and coming up with nothing.

Kade turned to him. “What?”

Theo gave Russel a distracted nod and dragged Kade down the stairs by his elbow.

“Remember the greenhouse?” he whispered, leaning in as close to Kade as he dared. “Hidden out the back with the weird glazing so you can’t see in?”

Kade’s face filled with horrified realization.

“Shit,” he whispered.

“Shit,” Theo agreed, and ran for the car.