Page 2
CHAPTER
TWO
Nobody was stupid enough to sit down at a cafeteria table with Kade “Monster” Renfield unless they wanted to get growled at.
It suited Kade fine. He was used to being alone at school. He only stayed in the cafeteria long enough to shove their shitty food in his face. He spent the rest of lunch lurking in the woods or embroidering in the seclusion of a bathroom stall.
But not today. Today he had his earbuds in, the music silent as he eavesdropped on the shitshow unfolding at the table in front of him.
“I’m just saying,” Aaron Fletcher snapped, loud enough that Kade didn’t even have to strain to hear him over the cafeteria chatter. He dug ferociously into his meatloaf, shoulders as rigid as his gelled hair. “I don’t know why you’re being such a bitch about this. They’re my parents . ”
Felicity Sloan glowered and folded her arms, which were toned with the muscle she’d gained over the summer. Gained back , anyway. She’d been an award-winning gymnast until middle school, then gave it up for modeling. All those muscles had withered into nothing—but now they were back with a vengeance. According to Theo, her mom made her train for five hours a day all summer. She was trying to go toned instead of bulky, Theo insisted, for the sake of her modeling career.
“And I’m your girlfriend ,” Felicity hissed, flipping her blond hair over one shoulder with such force Theo had to duck to stop it from hitting him in the face. He was so obviously trying to stay out of it, hunching over a tray of food he would quietly dump in the trash on the way out, that Kade couldn’t hold back a snort.
Theo’s gaze flickered up, so fast Kade thought he imagined it. But there it was—Theo’s exasperated eyeroll, right at Kade. Can you believe these two? Then he looked up again, eyes focusing on Kade’s meatloaf.
Kade rolled his eyes back at him. He’d scarfed down the energy bar and the disgusting sports drink Theo had given him that morning, but if he didn’t eat enough now, Theo would rag on him for it later.
Making sure my blood bag is okay, he called it. He made sure Kade had enough iron tablets and was always asking how he was feeling and if Kade was having any withdrawal symptoms. Which he hadn’t. All summer long, the worst Kade got was a vague tiredness and sweating, at which point it was time for Theo to feed and Kade would feel fine again.
Kade took a giant forkful of meatloaf, making sure to chew wetly and annoyingly.
Theo ducked his head back down to his tray, hiding a smile as his friends bickered around him.
“You’re supposed to take my side,” Felicity hissed, with none of the usual brightness she usually injected into her scathing comments. “You weren’t supposed to tell them in the first place!”
Theo frowned. “Wait, what did you tell them?”
Aaron ignored him. “What did you expect me to do, Liss? They’re my parents . I don’t even know why they’re being so weird about it, but they asked, so I told them!”
“Right,” Felicity sneered. “And now you side with them. You pick them .”
“In what ?” Theo asked.
Aaron turned to Felicity, a faint smirk gracing his face. He’d been showing more expression in the past year, less of his usual haughty blankness.
“Yes,” he said simply.
Felicity glared. For a moment Kade thought her blue eyes were filling with tears. Then she blinked and the wet sheen was gone.
“Then you’re stupider than I thought,” she snapped, standing up so fast her chair clattered to the linoleum behind her. “We’re done .”
Kade turned hastily back to his food. He wasn’t the only one looking up after that noise, but the last thing he wanted to do was draw attention to himself. They couldn’t afford it, with everything that was coming for them.
The back of his neck prickled. Someone was coming up behind him.
“What were you laughing at, Monster?” Felicity whispered.
Kade turned. He expected her to beam at him, that brittle too-white smile that always meant someone was going to get eviscerated with Felicity’s vicious words. Her teeth were out, but her smile was…desperate. A little unhinged. There was a scab under her chin, like she’d been picking at a pimple.
Felicity snapped her teeth and flounced off, leaving Kade’s heart hammering in his chest, not daring to look over and see if Aaron had noticed.
There had been strange, dark rumors about Felicity over the summer. Some about her mother. Some about the bruises she showed up with, which Theo insisted were definitely from gymnastics practice. You can tell because she has less of them as time goes on , he’d told Kade once. Her body’s getting used to hitting the mat.
The other rumors were the usual high school shit: drugs, DUIs, shoplifting, secret abortions, secret older boyfriends, secret older girlfriends . Kade had assumed most of it was bullshit, just like most of the rumors about him were bullshit. Theo certainly insisted they were bullshit whenever Kade brought it up. But he couldn’t deny that junior Felicity was more… unhinged than her sophomore version. Too eager to fight back. To go crazy at a party. She lashed out at anyone who tried to calm her down. Kade almost expected the next story to be about Felicity launching herself fists first at the next person who insulted her. Just like the stories they told about him.
Kade risked a glance over at the next table. Theo was glaring at the rest of the cafeteria, who quickly turned away and started chatting again.
Theo put a hand on Aaron’s shoulder, pulling him close. “The hell was that about?”
Aaron swallowed. “I…don’t know. What the hell, man.”
Kade raised his dark brows. He’d never heard Aaron so shaken. He’d always assumed Aaron and Felicity were dating for social status, to look good, to make their families happy. But maybe Lock High’s power couple really did love each other.
“She’ll come back,” Theo said hastily. “She’s just pissed. She’ll cool off.”
Theo lifted his head, sending an anxious look out the door Felicity had just stormed out of. They’d drifted apart in high school. She’d tried to reconnect with Theo last year, but Theo had to bow out with all his vampire shit. By the time things settled down and he started texting back, she wasn’t interested in talking anymore. Theo insisted he wasn’t worried, but Kade saw how he looked at her sometimes. Like he regretted not talking to her when he had the chance.
Aaron cleared his throat hard. “Uh. Are we playing basketball after school?”
“I have a thing. Tomorrow?”
“Sure. As long as you stay late. My parents keep wanting you there for dinner,” Aaron said, suspicion evident in his tone.
Kade winced, picking at his meatloaf. The Fletchers kept inviting Theo around to the house. It couldn’t be to make sure he was human—they already knew he was a vampire. Which meant they were just doing it to screw with him, make him eat human food that he’d have to throw up later. Not that they’d admit it. And Theo wasn’t about to admit he knew they were hunters. Going over to the Fletchers was one big game of everyone acting like everything was normal, while Aaron—still clueless—got increasingly creeped out about why his parents and best friend were being so passive-aggressive about things that made no sense .
“Don’t tell them,” Aaron said hastily.
“Man, the whole school heard her yelling. They’ll know by tonight.”
“Shit. You’re right.” Aaron’s voice got desperate, so soft Kade had to stop chewing and concentrate. “Look. You’ve been…weird. I know we’re not talking about it, don’t shove me into another wall?—”
“I won’t if you don’t talk about it,” Theo said warningly .
Aaron flinched. It was a strange movement to see from the aloof, unaffected asshole who had once laughed in Kade’s face for wanting to kiss him after they had a fumble in the woods during freshman year.
“I’m just saying ,” Aaron whispered as Kade ducked back toward his tray. “Something’s going on with you. Hanging out with Monster, getting that freaky dog that hates everyone but you—but you’re my best friend. Okay? When it comes down to it, it’s you and me and…and Liss. Right?”
There was an obvious vulnerability there. A rawness. Even if Aaron was an evil prick, Kade considered as he speared a slice of lettuce onto his fork, he was still a sixteen-year-old kid.
Theo was quiet. Kade fought the urge to look up. Sometimes Theo talked like he was only friends with Aaron for information on hunters. Other times he sounded like he was still on Aaron’s side, childhood friends until the end.
“You know it,” Theo said finally.
Kade nudged his backpack with his foot. The plastic bag of mushrooms crinkled. They were friends now. Friends of circumstance, the two of them trapped in a situation neither of them would choose—but still. It didn’t make the bitter pill of Theo ignoring him in public and being friends with assholes any easier to swallow.
Kade kept eating. His phone vibrated .
It was Theo. Or BLOOD BOI, as Kade had him in his phone.
Still doing tree later?
Kade thought about ignoring it. He’d been too eager with Theo lately, laughing too much and sharing stories he would regret later. Letting his guard down. Kade couldn’t afford it, unless he wanted his heart broken by another rough-hearted jock. At least, a jock who pretended to have a rough heart. Kade was still uncertain how much of Theo’s roughness was real and how much was a show. On the days where Theo watched him sew a patch onto his jeans, or complimented Aunt Sundance on fish sticks he wasn’t eating—two surprisingly common instances this summer—it was usually the latter.
Kade scratched his shirt, the embroidered heart itchy underneath his fingers. Then he texted back three words:
You know it.
Sundance looked up from the couch as he barreled in. She had a book in one hand, the other folded in a sling across her chest. She had another few weeks of leave before her work stopped paying her, and she was spending most of that time parked on the couch in her dressing gown, reading cowboy books.
“Just here for a bit,” Kade called as he sped to his bedroom. “You look nice! ”
“You’re a dirty liar,” Sundance called back. “I haven’t washed my hair in days!”
Kade grinned as he rooted through his nightstand. Rings, necklaces, lamp, bits of thread, cigarette butts—homework. Bingo.
Kade ran back through the living room toward the front door.
“Hold it,” Sundance said.
Kade turned, trying to look less sweaty and pale, panting from the very short run from the next block where Theo had parked the car.
Sundance squinted. “Were you hungover this morning?”
Kade blinked. He didn’t get drunk the night before a feeding. He hadn’t drunk very much this summer. It was a big improvement from sophomore year: constant puking, blacking out, drinking anything he could get his hands on as soon as he got it, then waltzing out to look for someone to fight.
“Because you’ve been doing better,” Sundance continued, worrying the wrinkled pages of her cowboy book between nicotine-stained fingers. “You’ve been really steady this summer. I was hoping this was the year I could stop worrying.”
Kade squirmed guiltily. He’d given her a scare last year: first he went to the hospital for mysterious blood loss, then he went missing overnight. He’d lied and said he passed out in the woods. What was he supposed to say, he got kidnapped by a vampire and then helped Theo kill him?
“I wasn’t hungover,” Kade protested. “I just…didn’t sleep great.”
Sundance sighed and adjusted her dressing gown. “Bad dreams still?”
He shrugged, shooting her a lopsided grin. He woke up screaming more than he woke up hungover these days. The funny thing was, he could never remember the dreams. Just a horrible sense of loss and dread and the acrid stink of smoke.
He dug a hand into his pocket, feeling the fire eye he’d been carrying with him since he got kidnapped by his history teacher.
“Heading out,” he repeated, tangling the vine around his fingers. “I’ll be back for dinner.”
She nodded, going back to her cowboy book. “Don’t get into trouble.”
He paused near the door with a gasp. “Me? Never.”
Then he left, the fire eye thorns pricking comfortingly into his hand.
Theo drove them to the woods near his house. He parked off the road, and even held the back door open for Kade.
“Thanks,” Kade said sarcastically as he unfolded himself from the backseat. Theo still insisted on his ‘can’t be seen in my car’ rule. Kade knew it made sense— the fewer people who saw them hang out, the better—but that didn’t stop him from bitching about it. It was practically an inside joke by now. Kade would enjoy it if it didn’t make him feel a little like Aaron used to make him feel—like Kade was this shameful, dirty secret no one could know about.
They headed into the woods.
Theo looked over at Kade as the tree line faded behind them. “Got your homework?”
Kade groaned. “Yes, Mum. Sorry, I mean Mom .”
Theo shrugged. “It’s not like this time will work, we might as well get some study done while we’re there.”
“Quit distracting me with school shit,” Kade told him. “What the hell was with Felicity breaking up with Aaron? What did Aaron tell his parents about?”
Theo’s jaw worked. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “They won’t talk to me about it. I think it’s pretty serious. Like, I think Felicity got into real trouble.”
“And she didn’t tell you?”
Theo ran a distracted hand through his hair, blond curls falling artfully over his forehead. Kade wanted to sketch it. Kade wanted to dig his fingers in it and pull.
“She doesn’t tell me anything,” Theo said, yanking Kade out of his stupid fantasies. “I’m just surprised Aaron’s keeping quiet. That’s why I think it’s really serious.”
Kade hummed. He kicked a rock, sending it skittering into Theo’s ankle. Theo glared at him, like he couldn’t have dodged it with his vampire reflexes .
Kade asked, “So who gets you in the breakup? Her or Aaron?”
“Neither,” Theo said sharply. “I don’t know. I have to stick with Aaron to find out if his parents are planning something. Or if we can get them to help us stop the ritual, like Milly said.”
“Which I still think is a terrible idea.”
“Maybe,” Theo admitted. “But…I don’t know. I was Felicity’s friend first. I’ve been closer with Aaron for the past few years, but now he’s…”
Kade kicked another rock, this one bouncing harmlessly off a tree, and waited. He’s an asshole. He’s in a family that wants me dead. He was terrible to you, Kade, my new buddy and beloved blood bag.
“He’s been pissing me off,” Theo finished darkly.
For a moment Kade let himself pretend that Theo was angry on his behalf. Aaron hadn’t said one word to Kade since everything came to a head last year. Even when Kade bumped into him in the hall and made Aaron drop his water bottle. Aaron had turned around, nostrils flaring—then he’d seen who it was and a strange expression had flickered over his face, gaze jerking toward Theo. He’d almost looked frightened. Then he’d walked off. No insult, no cutting quip. Just a scared glance at Theo and a run for it.
When Kade asked about it later, Theo had muttered something about the two of them having a fight. It was natural for Kade’s dumb crush-brain to invent a scenario where Theo was mad at his best friend for the things he did to Kade. That same dumb crush-brain that made Kade stay awake at night, touching the burn on his wrist and imagining Theo kissing his neck, no burns, just sweet pressure. He imagined Theo taking him flying, fighting bullies for him.
He imagined a lot of things. He would rather die than tell Theo about any of them.
Theo started walking faster into the woods.
“I still don’t know how you can tell,” Kade called as Theo walked ahead. “All these trees look the same to me, and you have super-sight, not X-ray vision. You can’t see through… ”
He trailed off as he stepped into the clearing. The tree they were looking for sat in the middle, gnarled and stooped. The branch where Hawthorn had thrown Theo was still broken, moss growing over the sharp splinters.
Theo stood next to it, waiting.
Kade sighed. “Moment of truth?”
“Probably not,” Theo replied.
Kade walked up slowly. No matter how much he knew nothing was going to happen, it still sent a shiver up his spine. This was the spot where Cyth had been set on fire and buried deep in the ground. Somewhere beneath their feet, she was still burning.
“You know,” Kade said conversationally as he stepped around the thick tree roots. “I spent hours tied to this tree and nothing happened. No visions. ”
“It’s the only thing that’s worked so far,” Theo pointed out.
“Maybe we should get Fletcher and son back here,” Kade suggested dryly.
Theo snorted. It wasn’t, Kade thought, a terrible idea. If they were throwing everything they had at the wall, they might as well replicate the only situation where this worked. But somehow Kade knew, deep in his bones, that the Fletchers didn’t have anything to do with it. The visions, the tree—those roots were in them . Kade and Theo. Knotted together in ways they still didn’t understand.
Kade reached out, fingers shaking. Another shudder ripped down his spine. No , he thought, unknown horror bleeding into him as his hand neared the tree trunk. No, no, no ? —
His fingertips brushed bark. Then his palm.
Nothing. Kade blew out a shaky breath, the horror leaving him. He hated that part. Like there was something crucial he needed to remember, but it kept slipping away every time he reached for it.
“How long are we giving it this time?” Kade asked.
Theo shrugged. “Don’t have anywhere to be for a few hours. Where’s your homework?”
Kade threw his head back and groaned. “Quit trying to turn me into a good student, Fairgood! It’s not gonna work! You’ll drag me into the C-plusses over my dead body. ”
“The only dead body here is me,” Theo said. He reached into Kade’s jacket pocket.
Kade twitched. He tried to stay still whenever Theo came too close, all too aware that one wrong move meant a burn. Also, staying still meant he had something to focus on that wasn’t Theo’s sturdy jawline, his deep brown eyes, that smile turning oddly sweet if Kade said the right thing.
“Careful,” Kade said. “I have fire eye in the other one.”
“Good thing I didn’t go into that one.” Theo pulled out Kade’s cigarette pack and lighter. “I’ll trade you for some iron tablets.”
“Promises, promises.” Kade motioned for Theo to continue, hand still pressed to the tree trunk.
Theo fit a cigarette between his teeth. Then he did the same to Kade, carefully placing the cigarette between Kade’s waiting lips.
Theo flicked the lighter. It spluttered to life on the first try, like always.
Kade leaned in, inhaling until his cigarette flared to life. His heart fluttered. He couldn’t always look Theo in the eyes when they did this, but this time he risked it. He glanced up to see Theo’s face, so intent and so close, his lips pink around his own cigarette. They were never pinker than after he fed. Flushed with Kade’s own blood.
Kade averted his eyes, willing himself to stop blushing .
Theo leaned back, his own cigarette burning. “I have something for you.”
“Oh?” Kade cleared his smoky throat. “More mushrooms?”
Theo shook his head. He reached into his pocket. He looked almost…nervous. Theo didn’t look nervous often, even when he put himself in between Kade and a monster trying to kill them. It set Kade on edge.
Kade sucked in a deep lungful of smoke. “Hey, before that. I’ve been meaning to say something for a while now. To, um…apologize.”
Theo paused, hand still in his pocket. “Apologize?”
Kade nodded, already hunching into his bony shoulders. “So…after we killed Hawthorn. There was a second where, uh.”
He cringed just thinking about it. Both of them still in shock, covered in Theo’s black blood. Kade dazed and shaking, staring at Theo’s lips. Leaning in like an idiot. And Theo’s awkward rejection. Kade, we can’t. Kade still flinched every time he remembered Theo’s pitying stare. Like he wanted to let Kade down gently.
“I got caught up in the moment,” Kade said. “I don’t want things to be weird between us. I know you wouldn’t kiss me even if you could. So. Sorry.”
He risked a glance up.
Theo was staring at him, mouth open.
Kade flushed, pinching his cigarette anxiously. “What? I said I’m sorry! Let’s just forget about it and move on! Give me mushrooms or whatever it is you have in there.”
Theo blinked rapidly. His hand twitched inside his pocket.
“I…” Theo started.
Then he froze. The wideness of his eyes, the pure panic in his face, made Kade’s neck sweat. This wasn’t a my-friend-awkwardly-brought-up-that-time-he-tried-to-kiss-me panic. This was mortal-danger panic.
Theo ripped the cigarette out of his mouth and shoved in front of Kade. Kade grunted, his back hitting the tree trunk.
“What?” he snapped, struggling to peer over Theo’s shoulder. “What is it?”
Theo shushed him, still staring off into the trees. Kade followed his gaze and jerked, his cigarette falling out of his gaping mouth.
A monster stood in the trees. Tall and spindly and winged, joints almost poking out of its ghostly skin. Blood coated the lower half of its pointy face, viscera dripping down its chest. It was staring right at them, eyes liquid black.
For a horrifying moment Kade thought they screwed up, that Hawthorn was still alive and coming for them. Then he looked closer. No tree markings on its chest. And this one was even taller than Hawthorn, its skin even whiter, like an exposed bone.
“It’s him,” Theo whispered. “That’s the one who sired me. ”
Kade blinked. It had been the middle of the night when Theo’s sire attacked him, before Theo had night vision. Everything happened in a blur. Theo couldn’t have gotten a good look.
“How can you tell?” Kade whispered back, clutching Theo’s letterman jacket.
Theo shook his head. “I just know.”
In my bones , Kade thought, and shivered. “What do we do?”
Theo didn’t move. Neither did the monster. Blood dripped off its claws, a speck of torn flesh slid down its chin and splashed onto its still chest.
Theo crouched. “Get ready.”
“Shit,” Kade spat. He reached into his pocket, the one that had fire eye in it, and twined the vine around his fingers. Thorns poked into his palm. He was already shaking with adrenaline, tensing up for when that thing would charge.
“Come on,” Theo whispered. “What are you waiting for?”
The monster blinked. The first time Kade had seen it move since it flew off after dropping Theo in the lake next to his house. Then it turned, dropped on all fours, and sprinted away. It was gone before Kade had time to say anything.
“What?” Theo said. He straightened, still standing in front of Kade like he was expecting a surprise attack. “Why didn’t it attack?”
“Looked pretty busy.” Kade wet his lips, trying to stop shaking. “Think we caught it in the act.”
Theo ran off into the trees. Kade cursed and followed him, tripping over his feet until he caught up. Theo bent down, touching the blood the creature had left on the forest floor. It was so dark red it was almost black.
Theo’s nostrils flared.
Kade winced. “Any chance it’s deer blood?”
Theo stood, brushing the blood on a nearby tree. “Let’s go to Milly’s.”