Page 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“Are you ready?”

Kade startles. Theo stares at him, his face grave.

It feels wrong, doing this in the nest of flowers Theo has grown for him. But the hunters asked for a place that had special significance to them, and this was the first place they thought of.

The hunters wait. Several of them stay beyond the clearing, hands on their axes. Only two have ventured into the clearing: the wizened spellcaster, staring wordlessly. And her scarred assistant, her carving knife poised over Kade’s thumb. Waiting.

“Sorry,” Kade says. “I felt as if I was somewhere else. Yes, I’m…I’m ready. Do it.”

The assistant nods. The knife flashes.

Kade bites hard on his lip to muffle his cry. The pain in his mouth is nothing compared to the harsh, unrelenting agony of his severed thumb, gathered quickly into the pouch the hunter holds beneath it.

The assistant shifts the knife to Theo’s thumb. The blade flashes again.

Theo lets out a pained grunt as his thumb follows Kade’s into the pouch. His eyes flicker black, gaze intent on the blade as the assistant wipes it on her tunic. She hands the pouch over to the spellcaster, who cradles it in her wrinkled hands and starts to whisper.

Theo takes Kade’s bleeding thumb, sterilizing and then healing the wound with a touch. Kade grits his teeth as the burn recedes. When Theo lets go, there is a newly healed stump where his thumb was.

“There we go,” Theo says, his own thumb still bleeding freely. He reaches into his vest pocket and frowns.

Kade fumbles in his own pocket. “Here. Let me.”

Theo lets Kade tie his moth-eaten handkerchief around the wet black stump of Theo’s thumb. It soaks through instantly, and Theo touches the embroidered ferns Kade has stitched so carefully over the edges. The pained twist of his mouth pulls sideways into a fond smile. For a second Kade thinks that Theo will say something sweet. Then Theo looks self-consciously at the hunters gathered around them and straightens, the smile fading.

“You’re sure this will work?” he asks the assistant.

The assistant does not look at him, cleaning spots of black blood from her fingernails as the spellcaster’s chanting grows louder.

Theo gives Kade a weary look.

“Another one we can no longer talk to without risking their vital organs,” Kade says. “Lovely.”

One of the hunters speaks up over the chanting. “It will work. And then you will go forth and put an end to all of this.”

She fixes Theo with a hard look. Kade withholds a sigh.

“I still think we can find another way,” Theo starts.

“Theo,” Kade says.

But Theo is already shaking his head.

“No,” he continues as the chanting rises behind them, more voices joining it. “This is a last resort. I won’t let you die.”

Kade smiles. His stubborn vampire, trying to craft a happy ending where there is none. He takes a deep breath, spring air flooding his lungs, and looks over to see the spellcaster and her hunters ? —

—crouched in Felicity’s kitchen.

Kade blinked, dazed. The room was a mess of shattered crockery and plaster, a blender cracked in half at his feet.

He was huddled in a corner, a broken mug dripping blood into his hands. He must have taken a bite out of it, Kade realized as he ran his tongue around his mouth, tasting gritty ceramic and something else so tantalizing Kade growled.

“Kade,” said Theo.

Kade looked up.

Theo was standing in the doorway, his hands raised in a pacifying gesture. His cheeks were wet with smudgy black tears, his shirt wet with delicious, drying blood.

Not the romantic awakening I was hoping for , Kade thought.

“I was right,” he slurred.

Theo frowned. “What?”

“Finger bones,” Kade whispered. Then he shoved his fingers against his eyelids, pressing until he saw spots. Until the flowers and flames and blood were gone, the dull throb of his own head rushing in to fill the spaces. He needed to tell Theo what he had seen. But first, he needed to know if his grand plan had worked.

“Everybody’s in the living room,” Theo said, relief thick in his voice. He was looking at Kade like he was something amazing, not some grubby monster rising from a kitchen he had destroyed.

“Sundance is on her way,” Theo continued, wiping his smudgy cheeks clean. “That was…pretty intense. How do you feel?”

Kade tried to find an answer. He felt half awake, one foot in a dream. He felt strange and out of control, the broken mug creaking in his hands. More than anything, he felt like charging up and wrapping Theo in a hug, burying his face in Theo’s neck and breathing in until the world made sense.

He took a step forward. Theo’s hands twitched at his sides, like he had been thinking the exact same thing.

Felicity’s voice echoed in from the hallway. “Can I come in now, or is he still cuckoo for cocoa puffs?”

“One second,” Theo called back. He took a cautious step toward Kade, hands still outstretched. “You have a little…”

He gestured at Kade’s cheek, streaked with blood and plaster and burned petals.

“Come and get it then,” Kade whispered.

Theo smiled, so full of wild hope that Kade could hardly stand to look.

Please, Kade thought deliriously as Theo moved closer. Oh god please work. Let me be wrong, let us have this. Let him touch my face. Let us have one kiss, just give us that.

Theo lifted his hand, slow and hesitant. If Kade still had a heartbeat, it would have stopped.

Theo touched his cheek.

Kade burned.

He jolted back with a pained yell. It stung, but the disappointment was so much worse. Of course it didn’t work. Of course they didn’t get to have this. Kade’s life was trash, had always been trash, why not have his afterlife carry on the grand Renfield tradition?

“Shit,” Kade whispered. “Shit, shit, shit. It was for nothing .”

“It’s fine,” Theo said with a strained smile. “Kade, hey. You’re fine.”

“It’s not FINE,” Kade bellowed. “I wasn’t ready yet! What was the point? What’s the point of any of it if we’re still stuck like this, wearing gloves and tiptoeing around each other in the kitchen so we don’t accidentally touch each other? This is bullshit!”

The mug handle shattered in his hand. Kade had squeezed it to smithereens.

“Shit,” Kade spat. He was breathing hard, but there was no relief. No rapid heartbeat, no sweat. Just panic swirling in his dead chest and a stinging cheek.

“Let me heal you,” Theo offered.

Kade grumbled but held still. Bitterness surged through him as Theo touched him again, the pain intensifying.

Kade waited for it to ebb away, like it always did when Theo healed him. But it didn’t. It grew stronger, the burn burrowing through layers of pale skin.

Theo yanked his hand away. “Why isn’t it working?”

“Can’t heal a dead thing, I guess!” Kade laughed harshly and stormed past him toward the door. “Come on, you said everybody’s waiting! Let’s go tell them it didn’t work. Ritual’s still on and we didn’t stop him from getting the flower. We’re one step closer to screwing over the whole town, and probably dying in the process.”

He yanked open the door to find Felicity standing in the doorway, twisting a weathered strand of fire eye around her fingers. Her gaze lingered on the burn on his cheek, but only for a second.

“You’re such a Debbie Downer,” she told him in a terrible British accent. She smiled like she was her usual cool, mocking self. But there was a brittleness in her eyes, a relief not unlike Theo’s as he watched Kade come back to himself.

Kade refused to wonder if she was worried about him. He gestured behind him at the wrecked kitchen.

“Sorry,” he said.

“We’ll clean it up. Don’t worry about it.” She tucked the fire eye away, and Kade’s gaze locked onto a bandage on her wrist. This one had the smallest spot of blood against the white. Dark. Fresh. Kade’s mouth watered, teeth thickening.

“Whoa.” Felicity laughed, stepping back. “Put those away, man. I’m tapped out for today. Didn’t even get any venom out of it.”

She looked over Kade’s shoulder. Kade turned to find Theo standing behind him, hands clenched at his sides, looking ready to slam him into the ground if necessary.

Kade swallowed back a tide of saliva. For a moment, it had felt necessary. He had completely forgotten about Felicity, and only seen the sweet blood underneath.

“Come on,” Felicity said, oddly quiet. “We’re through here.”

Kade heard them in the hall: Milly and Skeeter talking about chess, Beverly Sloan humming distractedly as she dusted the space where a vase used to be. Sparky pacing around, desperately trying to get someone to pet him.

Then he stepped inside and everyone went silent.

Felicity cleared her throat.

“Good news is he’s fine,” she announced. “Bad news?—”

Sparky yelped and ran over, leaping up to brace her paws on Kade’s chest.

“I’m okay,” he assured her, stroking her ears. He wanted to bend down and comfort her properly, but he didn’t want to start sobbing in front of everyone. He was almost glad Sundance wasn’t here for this.

“Ritual’s still on,” Felicity said. “So. There goes that plan.”

“That’s fine,” Milly said, in that overly hopeful voice that never sounded as natural as she wanted it to be. “We can still stop Victor from gaining everything he needs. Felicity and Bev are going to check out the Emmerson place. I’ve been combing through local history to find anything about Cyth’s dress or a spear, I’m sure I’ll come up with something.”

“Or we’re stuck chasing our own tails,” Felicity said. “Watching Victor break into houses we didn’t know to be careful about, turning their teenagers for nefarious plans we still don’t know the full scope of.”

“Felicity,” Beverly said warningly.

“ Beverly ,” Felicity replied, flopping down on the couch beside Skeeter and Milly. She patted the last empty spot next to her. “Take a seat, my dead friend.”

Kade tried to laugh. It came out dry and cracked. He didn’t want to be here, coming up with their next plan. He wanted to go home and—well, not sleep. And he couldn’t drink. He couldn’t start a fight; it wouldn’t hurt him and he’d have to pull all his punches.

Sparky licked his hand. He patted her absently, listening to the worried whine in her chest. It was all so much : the fly buzzing on the ceiling. Electricity humming in the walls and wind outside the windows. Beverly Sloan’s perfume, Felicity’s nervous sweat, cleaning fluids and dust where the Sloans hadn’t been able to reach. Sparky’s strange ozone musk and the stink of burned florals. And over it all: the thumping din of heartbeats, the overwhelming scent of blood waiting under flimsy skin. How did Theo put up with this all the time? It was maddening.

A hand on his sleeve made him jump.

“Hold your breath,” Theo whispered. “It helps.”

Kade nodded. He was afraid that if he opened his mouth an outraged wail would come out. Theo shouldn’t be standing a careful distance away, touching Kade’s shirt. He should be dragging him so close Kade couldn’t tell where he ended and Theo began.

The front door opened. Kade turned toward it, distantly aware of Theo and Skeeter following suit.

Racing footsteps. A heartbeat that was familiar even though he’d never heard it before.

“Where is he?” Sundance yelled from the front hall. “Hello? Beverly?”

“He’s okay, Sundance,” Beverly called back. “He’s in here.”

The footsteps sped up. Theo’s hand tightened on Kade’s sleeve before inevitably dropping.

Sundance burst into the room. Sparky ran up to her, headbutting her knee, but for once Sundance didn’t pat her. She just stood there, staring in growing horror at the blood drenching Theo’s shirt, the burn on Kade’s cheek. Sundance is on her way, Theo had said. What had he told her?

“I’m okay,” Kade blurted. “I’m, uh. Dead. But other than that?—”

Sundance blew out a watery breath and launched herself at him. Her arms folded around him, squeezing him so hard it would hurt if he was still alive.

“I’m okay,” Kade repeated, resting his chin on top of her head. He’d always thought of Sundance as sturdy, but suddenly she felt so fragile in his arms. Breakable. Human .

Sundance sniffed, pulling back. “I thought you were saving this for the day before the ritual. I was going to make you that pudding you like.”

Kade shrugged stiffly. “We thought earlier was better.”

Sundance’s gaze flickered once more to Theo’s shirt soaked with Kade’s blood. She was giving him that strained, sad look she often had when he was breaking her heart. He’d only seen it from hospital beds or bathroom floors or that time she had to coax him out from under his bed the week after his mum’s funeral. It never lasted long—she was good at hiding it. He always appreciated that about her.

Sparky licked her hand. Sundance startled.

“Can’t take one second where it’s not about you,” she muttered, stroking Sparky’s head. Then she turned back to Kade, her smile more solid. “Well, you look pretty alive to me.”

She hugged him again. Kade hugged back, sinking into her comforting hold.

Then, all of a sudden, the comfort was gone. In its place was a hot hunger, her heartbeat growing louder in his ears. Kade’s grip tightened. His teeth sharpened, his nails following suit, digging into her work uniform?—

“Okay,” Theo said. “That’s enough for now.”

He tugged Kade away. At first Kade resisted. Then he saw Theo’s alarmed face, Skeeter holding a knife she definitely didn’t have before, Beverly reaching under a couch cushion like she had a crossbow hidden under there.

“Right,” Kade said, dropping his arms from Sundance’s suddenly frail body. He stepped back, thinking about the mug he’d shattered in Felicity’s kitchen. Was this what Theo had to deal with all the time? It felt…horrifying. If Kade was going to hurt someone, he wanted it to be on purpose. Not because he forgot himself and ripped a hole in his aunt’s throat.

Not to mention her work clothes, he thought, wincing as he noticed the holes he’d poked in her shirt with his nails.

Beverly cleared her throat, straightening up again. “What were you saying, Milly?”

“Well—” Milly started.

Kade cut her off. “Not that this isn’t riveting. But I’m gonna go talk to Theo.”

All eyes turned to him once more. Kade gritted his teeth.

“Alone,” he prompted.

Theo blinked. Then he jerked into motion, following Kade into the hall.

Kade hadn’t been inside the training room since he threw the Molotov cocktail. It was covered in scorch marks. Several axes had their wooden hilts burned to stubs. They hadn’t had time to put everything out before they raced after Theo, tailing the distant shape of Victor in the sky.

“I’m really screwing up the Sloans’ house,” Kade muttered. He reached out and touched the tip of an ax blade. It burned his finger, making him jerk back. “Ow, shit!”

Theo huffed a faint laugh as he closed the door. “What are you doing?”

“Testing,” Kade said, touching the burned wood. “You never tested anything after you got turned. You just let things happen.”

“I tested,” Theo argued. “I ate something after you goaded me into it. Then I puked for an hour. Didn’t want to test much after that.”

Kade laughed. Talking Theo into trying a McDonald’s fry felt like a million years ago. Then again, time always felt wrong after he came out of a vision. Slick, almost liquid. Like he could look through and see it all happening at once. Like he could dive in and never hit the bottom.

Theo asked, “What did you want to talk to me about?”

Kade swallowed. His throat was too dry, his skin stretched tight. He needed to feed. To rest. But he needed to get this over with first.

“We’ll tell them,” he started. “I just don’t want to say it for the first time in front of everyone.”

He closed his eyes. Blood, flesh, fire. He still hadn’t seen their old selves die yet.

“I had a vision,” he admitted. “When I…woke up. They changed the ritual. That’s what the hex bag—that’s what the pouch did. It’s our fingers in there. Our bones.”

Theo twitched. His fingers tightened into fists, and Kade knew he was imagining a knife slicing through his hand. He always hated talking about their past selves, hated thinking that the fates of those boys had anything to do with him.

“They changed it,” Theo said, latching determinedly onto the least disturbing thing in that sentence. “What did they do?”

Kade grinned. He couldn’t help it. He still felt doomed. Felt it in his marrow, the same way he’d felt it since before he could remember. And yet, the joy was there: what a story . A horrible, dark story of death and misfortune, but a story nonetheless.

“So,” he began. “Burn me to death like Victor wants? Cyth is sealed in there forever.”

Theo opened his mouth, the protest ready on his lips.

Kade cut him off. “Hey! I’m not done. Burn me to death and she’s trapped. But burn me a little bit…” He touched his cheek, where the burn was gradually getting smaller. “The coffin opens.”

“Cyth escapes,” Theo said. “The ritual is over.”

Kade nodded. He could see the realization forming behind Theo’s eyes. That stupid, wild hope.

“And I can touch you,” Theo finished.

Kade grinned shakily. “For about thirty seconds. Before they kill us and destroy the town.”

Theo looked down at him. Kade didn’t have to ask what he was thinking. He was thinking the same thing. For a moment all the horror and bitterness of today was gone, and Kade almost believed— truly believed—that everything might be okay.

Then something pulsed deep inside Kade’s belly, and he shuddered. The heartbeats were distant down the hall, but he could hear them again. Calling for him to feed. His own blood on Theo’s shirt was like a siren’s song. He wanted to get on his knees and suck it out of the fabric.

“Kade,” Theo said. “You okay?”

“I’m hungry,” Kade rasped, slurring around the fangs growing in his mouth.

Theo nodded. Kade could see him trying to process everything, shutting down all the disappointment and relief and hope so he could be there for Kade.

Theo turned toward the door, stopping when Kade shuddered again. “Whoa, hey. You good?”

“Fine,” Kade mumbled, fighting to stop himself from reaching out to grip Theo’s sodden shirt. “It’s just…a lot.”

“I know.” Theo smiled understandingly. “You’re gonna be fine.”

“Sure.” Kade held his breath. It didn’t help. The scent trickled through, gripping his dry throat like a vice.

He grimaced. “Theo?”

“Yes?”

“Can you change your shirt?”