Page 11

CHAPTER

ELEVEN

The house was emptier when Theo ran through it a second time. Everybody had followed Felicity out to the woods, toward the rising smoke.

“Careful,” joked Finn Harley—a fellow Nightfowl who excelled at jump shots and absolutely nothing else—as he toyed with Delilah Emmerson’s hair. “You know they keep finding deer drained of blood, right? You know what that means. Everybody says golden boy’s dad got attacked by a bear, but I bet?—”

Finn stammered to a stop when he caught sight of Theo stalking past him and glowering.

“Never mind,” Finn squeaked.

Theo ignored him. Finn wasn’t his only classmate joking about what was lurking in the woods. Theo could smell the fear on them. Teenagers clutching their cheap beers and sticking close to their friends. Like the thing they feared wasn’t walking among them right now, following the stench of smoke from the fire Felicity had set.

The bonfire was deeper into the woods. A dead tree trunk burned, helped along by orange leaves and generous splashes of spirits. Theo’s classmates huddled around it, laughing and joking and pretending like they weren’t glancing out into the dark, worrying what was out there.

Somewhere behind him, Kade called Theo’s name.

Theo kept walking. Kade could catch up.

Felicity stood behind the flames with her hand twisted in a girl’s hair. They were kissing, the slick sounds of their mouths almost as loud as the fire.

“Hey,” Theo barked as he stormed up. “Liss! What the hell?”

The girl she was kissing jumped back. It was Skeeter Bass. Felicity’s lipstick was smeared all the way down her scarred neck.

“Um, sorry,” Skeeter said, flushing tomato-red.

“I’m not pissed at you ,” Theo snapped. “Liss, it’s fall. There are dead leaves everywhere . Are you crazy?”

Felicity leaned back lazily, hands still in Skeeter’s mousy hair. Her eyes were glazed, her breath stunk of beer and spirits. She’d somehow managed to jump up several levels of wasted since Theo left her.

“Town pride,” she drawled. “Lock started with fire.”

“So you’ll burn down the whole forest?” Theo stepped in closer. Skeeter Bass wisely untangled herself from Felicity’s grip, slinking into the trees with hunched shoulders.

“Liss,” Theo hissed. “You’re in enough trouble already. If your mom finds out?—”

“Like I’m afraid of her!” Felicity laughed and spun, her eyes bright with firelight. “There are worse things out there in the dark. Right, guys?”

She yelled the last words out at the teenagers gathered around the bonfire. A cheer went up, tempered slightly by some of them noticing who was standing with Felicity and how mad he looked.

Theo glanced back at the fire. The dead stump was far enough away from the rest of the trees that nothing was catching, but that didn’t mean a flaming leaf couldn’t drift off and start a wildfire.

Kade’s heartbeat was getting closer. Theo could hear it the whole time he was charging out of the house, could hear Kade swearing as Theo got further and further away.

He grabbed Felicity’s arm, stilling her spin. “Has anyone called you about your case?”

Felicity’s smile died. Then it started up again, a pale imitation of itself. “Why would they? We won. No juvie for me! Not even a fine!”

“So nothing’s been reopened? There’s no new evidence?”

“No,” Felicity said slowly. “Evidence, what do you mean?”

Kade’s heartbeat thudded louder. He yelled Theo’s name through the trees, and Theo watched a few people turn toward it.

“It wasn’t a big deal,” Felicity said slowly, staring off into the woods. “It was…it was just a stupid dare .”

“Was it?” Theo asked. “Because we asked Delilah. She said you told her to cover for you. What’s going on?”

Felicity laughed. “I don’t know.”

“Liss.”

“I don’t know ,” she repeated. She reached up and squeezed his cheeks. “I don’t know anything that’s going on in this batshit little town, Theo. Do you? Can you tell me?”

Theo frowned. Felicity looked desperate. Like she really wanted him to sit her down and tell her everything.

“Liss,” he started. “Did someone…did your mom ?—?”

A familiar voice drifted in from the tree line. “HEY!”

Theo turned, Felicity still squishing his cheeks.

Kade was limping. He was almost hopping , holding his left foot like he couldn’t put much weight on it.

He spotted Theo and sighed. “Asshole! Hey! I found something!”

Then he stopped. His eyes were locked on something behind Theo’s shoulder.

Theo whirled.

There, in the distance, standing predator-still in the trees: the creature. Deathly pale and spindly, even taller than Hawthorn’s towering bulk. Its wings were pulled tight against its back. Its black eyes drilled into Theo, and something resonated deep in Theo’s bones. Knowledge. Belonging. I am his.

The creature blinked. Then, before anyone else could register where Kade and Theo were looking, it took off, blurring into the trees.

Rage bloomed in Theo like someone had dropped a match in a pot of gasoline. Theo took off after it—not blurring, but still too fast. Scarily fast, judging by the shocked gasps he heard as he ripped past his classmates, Felicity among them.

Further behind them, Kade swore again. His limping shuffle resumed.

Theo could still hear Kade’s unsteady heartbeat. He blocked it out, forcing himself faster as he got further into the trees. Nobody could see him now. He could run as fast as he wanted. The creature wasn’t too far ahead. Theo caught glimpses between the trees, bone-white in a sea of bark and dying leaves.

Then, suddenly, it was gone. Theo couldn’t tell where it went.

He stumbled to a stop, growling.

“COME ON,” he screamed. He didn’t know if they’d traveled far enough to hear him back at the bonfire, and he didn’t care. He bared his teeth, yelling louder. “COME AND GET ME! THAT’S WHAT YOU WANT, RIGHT? WANT TO USE ME FOR YOUR CREEPY RITUAL SHIT? GET CYTH BACK? COME ON, I’M RIGHT HERE!”

A flash of white off to his left. Theo took off. They were heading to the cliffs near his house. Theo could smell the lake water, tepid and still.

They sped past the tree line. Finally, the creature came to a stop and turned to face him. They were at the edge of the cliffs. Behind them sat the lake he’d died in, and just next to them, his house. It was dark and silent.

Theo braced himself, waiting for the inevitable attack.

It didn’t come. The creature stood there, staring at him. Its eyes were so shiny Theo could see himself in them, crouched and snarling.

Theo growled again. “Why won’t you attack?”

The creature cocked its head again. Not listening this time, just…curious. Its mouth opened, huge and filled with long teeth that had ripped Victor’s face off.

“I wanted to see what you would do,” it said. Its voice was just like Theo remembered: thick and distorted, sending shivers down his spine.

Theo screamed. “I’m gonna KILL you!”

The creature didn’t respond. Its wings cracked open, huge and horrifying, blocking out the moon.

Theo surged forward, but it was too late: the creature leapt off the cliff, wings flaring. He flew into the night. Theo stumbled to a stop at the cliff’s edge.

He howled. He picked up a rock and threw it with all the strength it could muster. It sailed harmlessly over the lake and hit a faraway tree on the other side, snapping off a branch under the impact.

A light turned on inside his house. Theo froze. If he focused hard, he could hear his mother coming down the stairs.

Theo thought about going to her. About collapsing into her arms, finally crying the tears he’d been pushing back for days. Asking her how that meal went.

Then he turned around and ran back into the forest.

It didn’t take him long to find Kade. Theo had barely been running for thirty seconds when his heartbeat came back into range.

“Oh good,” Kade panted when Theo emerged through the trees. “You’re not dead. Or any more dead than usual. What happened?”

“Nothing,” Theo said, the word coming out more brutal than he’d like. “It just—it wanted to see what I would do.”

He sucked in a breath, tasting dirt and dead leaves and Kade’s blood rushing hard underneath his skin. Kade’s heartbeat was racing too fast for it to be a comfort right now.

He ground his teeth together. “Dammit. Goddammit !”

“We’re fine,” Kade croaked. “Hey. We’re good. No fighting is good.”

Kade leaned against a tree, taking the weight off his left leg. He’d definitely injured it. Theo could smell the ankle swelling under his boot, fluid rushing to the injury. He had scratches on his arms, too, bright red where the branches caught him.

Theo looked around. They weren’t that close to Felicity’s bonfire. Theo had expected Kade to turn around after some aimless chasing, but Kade had kept following him into the dark.

“Now that you finally stopped,” Kade said, and paused to wheeze. He held out his hand. A necklace rested there, small and golden.

Theo’s stomach sunk in recognition. “Was this in Liss’s room?”

“Yeeeeep.” Kade straightened up against the tree, then groaned when the movement jarred his ankle. “Shit.”

Theo pressed his teeth together hard enough to hurt. He needed to learn how to sprout wings so he could track that murderous bastard down and rip his head off. He wanted to check the funeral home to see if his dad had been stolen yet. He needed to stop feeling like a failure, disappointing his parents no matter what he did. He needed to charge back to Felicity and shove the necklace in her face and finally demand some answers, even if she really was as confused as she claimed. He needed?—

Kade made a soft noise through his teeth.

Theo sighed. “Sit down. Jesus. What did you do? ”

Kade slid down the tree and landed on his butt, wincing.

“Tripped on the stairs. Think I sprained it.” He unzipped his knee-high boot and eased it off carefully. They both grimaced at his ankle. It was tender and an angry red, already twice the size it should’ve been.

“You definitely did something ,” Theo scolded. He reached out, then realized his hands were shaking. When did that happen? He clenched them into fists, willing himself to calm down. He wasn’t chasing anything, wasn’t gearing up for a fight. He was just sitting here in the dark with Kade, trying to heal his ankle.

Kade groaned through his teeth. His head was tipped back, eyes squeezed shut in pain.

“Easy,” Theo told him. His hand hovered over Kade’s foot. “Ready?”

Kade nodded.

Theo pressed down.

Kade yelped as his flesh sizzled.

“I know,” Theo said, already concentrating. The burn faded. Something cracked into place inside Kade’s leg, and Kade hollered again.

“I know,” Theo repeated. He pressed harder, the burn creeping back and then fading away again. The swelling shrank until it was Kade’s ankle once more, thin and pale and whole.

Theo let go, suddenly exhausted. He wanted to go home, but home would just remind him of all the shit he was going through. Mostly, he wanted to sleep. Really sleep, check out of the world for a while.

“Alright,” Kade wheezed. He wiped sweat off his forehead, wiping it onto his peach-fuzz scalp. “Back to the party? You gonna grill Liss, or do you want me to do it? She does wanna ‘get to know me better. ’”

The idea of going back to the party made Theo want to scream and punch something. Or cry. Probably both. He blinked back an infuriating swell of heat gathering behind his eyes.

“Fine,” he said, and stood. He offered a hand before he remembered they couldn’t do that. He took Kade’s shirt instead, hauling him up until they were face to face.

Kade stared at him, eyes wide. His cheeks were pink.

Theo’s mouth watered.

He let go of Kade’s shirt.