Page 1
CHAPTER
ONE
Four months after Theo Fairgood died, he snuck back into his bedroom with a pocket full of foraged mushrooms.
It had still been dark when Theo left the house through his bedroom window, but darkness didn’t mean much to Theo since he was turned into a vampire. He spent his sleepless nights studying or hunting unlucky woodland creatures to tide over his hunger. And some nights—thanks to a particularly helpful YouTuber who specialized in native Tennessee fungi—he foraged for mushrooms.
He couldn’t eat them. But he did have someone who was all too happy to take them off his hands.
Theo smiled to himself as he cleaned the mushrooms in his en-suite bathroom and hid them in his backpack. He could already picture Kade’s expression: those gray eyes lighting up, how he’d chew on his lip to stop himself from grinning. He would tease Theo for it mercilessly, but Theo was getting better at seeing through Kade’s sharp mask. He liked it when Theo brought him things.
Theo touched the lighter he’d been keeping in his pocket for weeks. Maybe today would be the day.
A sad whine echoed through the bathroom door. Theo looked over to see Sparky’s paw wiggling underneath the door.
“No, you can’t come next time,” Theo told her, zipping up his backpack. “You’re too loud.”
He opened the door. Sparky stared up at him, her orange eyes baleful.
Theo sighed, reaching down to pet her short dark fur. “I know, girl. You can’t help it. But the one time I let you come, you barked so loud that my parents almost caught us sneaking back in. I can’t let that happen. They have to believe I’m a normal teenager and you’re a normal dog, okay? Not a vampire and…whatever you are. Hellhound? Familiar?”
Sparky huffed, tail wagging reluctantly.
“You can’t come to school with me, either,” Theo told her, heading for the hallway. “I got in big trouble last time you showed up. Come on, now.”
Sparky fell into step beside him. She was still a puppy with oversized paws and ears, but she’d almost doubled in size since she showed up in the woods several months ago. She barely fit beside Theo as they went down the stairs together .
Carol Fairgood sighed as her son came into the kitchen, dog at his heels.
“Look, honey,” she said, stirring her coffee with a Fairgood & Fairgood pen. “The dog’s with him.”
Theo tensed, waiting for his dad to chime in about how Theo was too lenient with Sparky. How dogs needed a firm hand and to know who was boss. How dogs shouldn’t sleep on their owners’ beds, because it made them feel like they were equals.
But Victor Fairgood only said, “What a shocker.”
Then he looked up from his newspaper to shoot Theo a wink.
Theo couldn’t wink. He nodded back, surprised by the good mood his dad was in. Victor had been strange and distracted all summer. Carol said it was because of the case they were working on, but she seemed normal, which made Theo think it was something else.
“Coffee’s still hot,” Carol told him, tugging her crisp shirt collar up.
“Thanks.” Theo poured himself a thermos full of it. It was important to keep up appearances. So far he’d been able to get away with saying he’d developed the same stomach issues as Victor, who rarely ate in the mornings due to nausea.
“I’m just glad you can still drink coffee,” Victor said, watching Theo push the coffee jug back onto the warmer. “When I was your age, I couldn’t stomach anything but water until almost midday. Had to absolutely stuff myself at lunch.”
Theo nodded, stepping around Sparky toward the dishes drying on the rack. He hadn’t used any yesterday—he needed to run some bowls under the faucet when he got home. Throw that raw chicken they’d gotten him into the woods to make it look like he was still eating dinner. Keep up the fiction. Image was everything, as his parents so loved to tell him.
Theo hitched his backpack further up his shoulders. “How’s the case you’re not allowed to talk about?”
“Not guilty on all charges,” Carol said.
Victor leaned across the kitchen island and held up a hand. She high-fived it, and Theo hid a smile at the easy affection. Living together, working together, raising a kid together—Theo kept waiting for them to get sick of each other, but they never did.
He waved at them with the thermos, trying to draw their attention to it. It’s me, your son! Consuming normal human drinks! I totally didn’t drain a squirrel with my teeth at two a.m!
“Hope someone does something absolutely terrible and you get to talk them out of it,” Theo said. “See you later.”
Carol frowned. “Already? You’re early.”
“He’s a go-getter, Carol.” Victor folded his newspaper and stood. “Before you leave, could I have a second?”
Theo couldn’t sweat. But if he could, his shirt would’ve stuck to his chest as he followed his dad into the hallway, Sparky trotting happily beside him.
This was it. The moment he’d been waiting for since the rest of sophomore year, and all summer after that. He’d never seen any consequences—parental ones, anyway—from abandoning a basketball game for the second time in a month. My friend’s in trouble , he’d said. Like that would matter to his parents.
He’d come down from his bedroom—clothes freshly changed after killing his transformed history teacher, hiding the deep cuts scoring his torso, Sparky locked in his room while he figured out what to do—and found his parents waiting for him downstairs. Theo had waited to be told to stand in one spot overnight, or kneel with his arms out until dawn, or lift weights until he sobbed, or—thanks to that one time he got caught smoking in middle school—smoke cigarettes until he puked. But his dad had just stared at him with cold disappointment and told Theo to go to bed. It had sent a shiver down Theo’s spine, imagining what was to come.
But nothing happened. Which was impossible, because something always happened when Theo screwed up. The waiting was worse than any punishment they could come up with. He wanted them to get it over with already.
Sparky whined, bumping her nose into Theo’s hand as they walked. Sensing her owner needed comfort.
Theo shushed her. He was suddenly terrified his dad would do something to her as punishment. He was still shocked his parents let him keep her so soon after he ran out of the basketball game. Carol had started to protest, but Victor had spoken over her and said they’d allow it as a lesson in responsibility.
Victor turned to Theo, his face unreadable.
Theo braced himself. Anything was fine as long as they didn’t involve Sparky.
“We both know I’m hard on you,” Victor started.
Theo waited for the punchline. Victor’s usual line was that he wasn’t hard enough . That he was letting Theo off easy.
“I don’t know about that,” Theo said, anxious to be let in on the game.
Victor shook his head, picking at the sleeves of his button-down. Another uncharacteristic move. Victor wasn’t a fidgeter.
“No, I have been. More than your mom. It’s just because I worry about you, Theo. I worry you’re?—”
“Soft,” Theo said, ignoring Sparky’s wet nose bumping insistently against his wrist. “I know. Dad, I’m so sorry about the basketball game, you know I’ll make it up to you.”
“No. Hey.” Victor put a hand on his shoulder, and Theo forced himself not to tense. “We all have weak moments. You’re a kid, it’s going to happen. I guess…I guess I expected you to be a hothead. But you’re not. Which isn’t a bad thing! It just means you know when to drop the nice guy act. Then, when the times comes—you strike. Right?”
He gave Theo a firm shake. He looked proud, like he’d finally figured out a puzzle he’d been working on for a long time.
“Right,” Theo replied. He would have agreed to anything in that moment. Relief hovered at the edges of his stomach, waiting to rush in. Maybe this was real. No game, no rug to be pulled out from under him. It would be a first, but it was a year for strange things.
Victor sighed. “I know I’ve been distant this summer. I’ve just been…worried. About things happening around town. That’s actually something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about. Can we chat tonight?”
“Sure,” said Theo faintly. He cleared his throat. “Definitely. Love to.”
“That’s great.” Victor gave him one last shake, then ruffled Theo’s hair.
Theo stiffened automatically. Sometimes it was just a fond hair tousle. Other times it was a hard clench, almost ripping Theo’s blond curls out from the roots. Maybe this was where the tide turned. Theo waited, not daring to blink.
“I know it might not seem like it,” Victor said. “But I’m proud of you, son. You’re a Fairgood, through and through.”
And then Victor’s hand was gone. He straightened his tie as he retreated to the kitchen, giving Theo one last nod.
“Knock ’em dead,” he called.
“Always do,” Theo called back weakly, caught between immense pride— I’m proud of you son , like he’d done something incredible—and relief at not getting punished.
Sparky nosed at his hand. Theo finally let himself pat her. He wanted to sag against the wall. Instead, he turned and headed out the front door, still reeling.
“Stay,” he told Sparky as he closed the door behind them. “ Don’t jump the fence today. I mean it. I’ll be back in the evening, you can wait until then.”
Sparky whined but sat down on the doormat.
The blooms lining the front path were rotting. Theo touched one as he passed, shriveled black petals coming off under his hand. He would clip them tonight if the gardener, Russel, didn’t get to them first.
Kade was balancing on top of the lidless disabled toilet when Theo came in, blowing smoke toward the open window. He spotted Theo and grinned.
“Took your time, blood boy,” he said, playing up his British accent that had faded after so many years in the states.
Theo watched him climb down. Kade was wearing a flowy black shirt with an anatomically correct heart embroidered over the left side. The red stitches were so neat and intricate Theo couldn’t help but imagine Kade in his cramped bedroom, leaning over the shirt with a needle and thread, tongue out. He stuck his tongue out when he embroidered, one of the many stupidly endearing facts Theo had learned about him over the summer. The two of them had met every few days in the woods so Theo could feed and Kade could get his venom hit. Sometimes they went to Milly’s, going over translations or discussing theories. And sometimes they even went over to Kade’s place to hang out.
They hung out now. Kade said it was only fair, since they were trapped together. Hooked on each other’s blood and venom, staring down destinies neither of them wanted.
Theo strode up, gesturing at the black fuzz over Kade’s head. “It’s getting thick. Are you shaving it off yet?”
Kade scrubbed his head self-consciously. It was longer than Theo had seen it since Kade rocked up with a buzz cut last year. It suited him better than the buzz cut, and much better than the frizzy mop that Theo used to glare at during class, wishing Kade would wise up and start taking care of it.
“No,” Kade said after a moment, his British accent back to its usual parameters. “Think I’ll let it grow.”
Theo nodded. “You sleep alright?”
“Yup,” Kade said, popping the p .
He was lying. Theo could see the bags under his eyes, even more prominent than yesterday. The nightmares that had started last year were only getting worse, but every time Theo asked, Kade insisted he didn’t remember them.
Theo held out a hand. Kade huffed, but fished around in his pocket.
“Smoking me out of house and home,” he said nonsensically as he fit a cigarette into Theo’s waiting fingers. As always, he was careful not to let their skin touch. If he did, Kade’s skin would sizzle with heat and Theo would have to heal the burn. They tried to avoid it.
Theo leaned forward. Kade used to offer his cheap, shitty lighter, but Theo told him not to waste the lighter fluid. He kissed his unlit cigarette up against Kade’s lit one, both of them breathing in until it caught.
Theo’s cigarette flared to life, the orange glow reflected in Kade’s gray eyes.
“Don’t even need to breathe,” Kade muttered as he leaned back, flicking ash onto the white tiles. “You said you had something for me? Other than the usual.”
Theo snorted, pulling his backpack off. He’d give Kade the lighter tomorrow, he decided. Giving him two things in one day was just weird. He didn’t want to come off too strong.
He pulled out the plastic bag. Kade’s eyes lit up just like Theo imagined.
“Free veg,” he said. “Hell yes. And you’re sure they aren’t magic? ”
“Sorry to disappoint,” Theo said dryly as he handed them over.
Kade pouted. He held the plastic bag up to the crappy bathroom lights, examining the mushrooms. “Are these puffballs?”
“Yes,” Theo said, absurdly delighted that Kade remembered. “So you have to eat them fast.”
“Got it.” Kade chewed his cheek, trying to hide his smile. He narrowed his eyes at Theo, who groaned.
“They’re tasty! I promise!”
“You’ve never had it! You could be feeding me forest gunk!”
“Well, everyone says it’s tasty. And I sure can’t eat it. And my parents will be annoyed if they think I’m wasting time foraging for mushrooms.” Theo sucked on his cigarette distractedly. The exciting part was lighting it—leaning into Kade, watching his face. The actual smoking, he could live without.
Kade sighed dramatically. “Fine! I’ll tell you how it goes. You can live vicariously through me and my human tastebuds.”
He bent down, stuffing the bag haphazardly into his own backpack: black and falling apart, patched together with fraying gray thread. It was always the least aesthetic thing about Kade’s outfit, if he even bothered to bring it to school.
“Speaking of tastebuds,” Kade continued, stubbing out his cigarette. He pulled his leather jacket off and stalked forward, baring his neck .
Theo wanted to say something witty. But words failed him as he stared at Kade’s throat, the veins fluttering underneath his pale skin, that dark mole right in the middle like a bullseye.
“Bon appétit,” Kade said. He sounded wry, but Theo could hear his heart racing as his fangs lengthened in his mouth. He could hear Kade’s heartbeat from the parking lot, could smell him from the other side of school if he concentrated. Like all his senses were homed in on him. It had to be because of their strange link, which had let Theo track him down after Hawthorn kidnapped him, but sometimes Theo thought it was just because Kade smelled that good.
Theo leaned in. Kade’s skin parted under his fangs, sweet blood rushing into Theo’s mouth. The world narrowed: blood on his tongue, filling him up. Kade jerked against him, his skin sizzling where Theo’s lips touched him. But Kade’s pained groaned turned weak with ecstasy as the venom flooded his system, turning everything in him to liquid pleasure.
That was how he phrased it once . Like I’m a big glass of happy, all sloshing around, Kade had continued, like that would lessen the impact. Like Theo wouldn’t have the phrase liquid pleasure bouncing around his head for days after, remembering it every time he bit into Kade, the boy sagging against him and panting.
Theo pulled back. Kade leaned into him, as always, and Theo caught him, rubbing a thumb over the bite mark ringed with burn. The wound healed under his touch. When Kade could stand upright again, his neck was all smooth skin.
Kade picked up his backpack with a woozy wave. “Thanks, sunshine. For the mushrooms, too.”
Theo laughed. “Sunshine?”
Kade blinked, startled. Like he hadn’t meant to let that slip out. His expression turned annoyed.
“Sure, ’cause you’re all…” He waved a dismissive hand at Theo’s blond curls, his letterman jacket and jeans, his gleaming sneakers tied in neat knots. “Shut up.”
He gave Theo another annoyed wave and stormed out of the bathroom. Theo watched him go, oddly delighted, his gaze stuck on the burn on Kade’s wrist: the only wound that Kade hadn’t let him heal. It sat right over the knob of bone, shiny and pink as a kiss.