What would that be like? To watch yourself change into something unrecognizable? To know it would be irreversible?
“Until that happens, she walks with a foot in both worlds—human and Fae,” Oscar said.
“How does she get free?” Kevin asked. And what did that have to do with his father?
Oscar leaned toward him. “Someone else must go to Faery in her place. Or she must be ransomed by a person with as great a talent as she possesses, a person who is willing to challenge the Fae to a contest of art.”
“Come again?”
“They took her because she’s a singer,” Rude said. “A very talented singer. She can make you feel any emotion she wants.”
That didn’t sound like such a big deal. “All music does that if it’s good.”
“Not like this, Kev. She can make you love her—or want to kill the guy standing next to you. One note is all it takes.”
He’d have to take Rude’s word for it. If he could ever trust his friend again. How could Rude not have told him all of this? Not that he would’ve believed a word of it before yesterday, but there were just certain things you did for friends. You didn’t hide things from them. Not things this big.
“So you two sent my father to the Super Singer Bus Girl because she would be able to tell if my mom was kidnapped the same way she was,” Kevin said.
Rude tapped a finger on the table. Didn’t answer.
“And you thought he could help her as much as she might be able to help him.”
“More or less,” Rude said.
Awesome explanation. Except it didn’t say squat about why his father could look right through him without recognizing him at all or why he had a gun in the car or why he wanted to hurt Oscar. None of it.
Kevin took a deep breath and blew it out hard. “Did he try?”
Oscar nodded. “That’s what broke him, we think.”
“You think?” Kevin asked. “All this boogedy-boogedy, woo-woo you claim to know, and you’re not sure?”
Oscar didn’t have an answer for that. Silence settled over the room, punctuated by the serious clanging of pots and pans and shouted instructions in the kitchen.
“What exactly does ‘broken’ mean?” Kevin asked.
“There’s a part of him that’s stuck in Faery. He’s half-here, half-there. Half of himself.”
“Like the bus girl.”
“No. It’s much worse,” Oscar said.
Kevin opened his mouth to ask why.
Oscar interrupted. “I don’t know, Kevin.”
The worst thought slipped into his mind. “Could he die?”
Oscar took his time answering. Which worried Kevin even more.
“It’s possible,” the seer said. “Probable even. You can’t walk around like that forever. His spirit will want to reunite itself into one whole. It will eventually do that, in Faery.”
“Not here?” Kevin asked.
“It’s never happened that way before that I know of.” Oscar paused. “When his spirit reunites in Faery, his body will die here.”
Kevin couldn’t wrap his mind around that. A yawning hole opened up in him. His mom had been gone eleven months, twenty-five days, nine hours. And now his dad? Oh God.
Kevin flattened his palms on the table top. “How long does he have?”
Oscar and Rude passed a glance. Like they’d had this conversation before without him.
He balled his hands into fists. “Tell me.”
“A week at the outside,” Oscar said.
Not much time. Not enough time. Kevin would not let this thing go down without doing everything in his power—and Oscar’s, and Rude’s, and whoever-the-hell-else’s—to stop it. “Tell me,” he said, “how do we fix him?”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
OSCAR LOOKED AT KEVIN in a different way than he had up until then. Kevin couldn’t figure out how it was different, just that it made him feel bigger, like he could actually help his dad—like he had a chance. But he also felt like he was in way over his head. He thought Oscar expected something of him he might not be able to deliver. What would happen if he couldn’t?
Rude caught the look, too. From the expression on his face, he didn’t much like it either.
“She’s the key. The girl on the bus,” Oscar said.
Simone. “Have you asked her what happened?”
“She had nothing to say. I’m no one to her. However, from what Rude told me of your time with her last night, she’ll help you.”
Rude told his teacher about what happened between him and Simone? They hadn’t talked about it being secret. Still, going to Oscar without asking him first? So uncool.
Kevin shoved an elbow into Rude’s side, not sorry at all that Rude winced when the blow connected.
“Will she be in the same place tonight, same time and everything?” Kevin asked.
“She’s there every night,” Oscar said. “Between dusk and midnight.”
“No other way to contact her sooner?”
“There’s only the name she gave you. But like Rudolph advised you last night, you shouldn’t use it unless it’s an emergency.”
“This isn’t one?” Obviously, Oscar didn’t understand the meaning of word.
“There are degrees,” Oscar said.
“You mean this could get worse?”
Oscar nodded. “You could sit here all afternoon and fail to turn in your English paper. You need that grade to pass the class.”
To get his scholarship. “How do you know that?”
“Seer,” Oscar said.
Duh, Kevin.
“I’ll send you back to school with a couple of burritos. You do your job there,” Oscar said. “And whatever you do after that, don’t go home.”
Kevin stared from Oscar to Rude and back again. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s not safe, Kevin,” Oscar said.
“My dad wouldn’t hurt me.” Even though his dad hadn’t recognized him. Even though there’d been a gun on the seat.
“There’s no way to know what he’ll do, Kevin,” Oscar said.
“I thought you were a seer.”
“People are hard to predict,” Oscar said. “Choices can turn on a dime. If they don’t have a clue what they’re about to do, how could I?”
Was that a real reason? Or did Oscar know something he wasn’t saying? “You would come clean if you saw something, no matter how bad it was. Right?”
Oscar held his gaze without saying a word. After a while, it started to feel like a stare-down. What could Oscar prove with that? It wasn’t his father running around out there half-alive.
Kevin held his own against the seer. His eyes felt dry. He wanted to fidget in his seat. But he refused to blink. He would not be the first one to glance away.
Oscar sighed. “I’ll promise you that if you want. You may hate me for it.”
Nothing to worry about. “I’ve got no problem with that.”
“Nice to know.” The seer cracked a sad smile. “You still can’t go home.”
But he belonged at home. “No.”
“Dude, what if you’re wrong about your dad?” Rude asked.
Would his father hurt him? Kill him in his sleep? His father had never raised a hand to him. He didn’t even yell. When he got upset, he withdrew. The only time Kevin had ever seen him do anything else? Today, while he watched for Oscar in front of the restaurant. Why?
“What does he want with you?” Kevin asked.
Oscar took his time answering. “He thinks he can use me as a bargaining chip with the King of Faery. I’m the ransom he plans to pay for your mother. Makes no sense, because the Faery King doesn’t want me for anything. No convincing your father of that, though.”
His father planned to turn Oscar over to the King of Faery. In what universe did all those words fit together in a sentence? “And the cops, the ones who are after me? What are they, really?”
“They belong to the Faery King. They’re two of his agents in this world.
”
Meaning there were more where they came from. And meaning they weren’t police. His gut feeling had been right. Rude had been right. And Rude wouldn’t look at him.
“So they can’t touch me,” Kevin said to Oscar. “They can’t arrest me. I’m not being framed for murder.”
Oscar shook his head. “You won’t be arrested, but you are being framed in every way that matters. Hasn’t everyone at school heard a rumor that you knew the dead girl, that you had something to do with her murder?”
First of all: Friends? In short supply. Second: Well, yeah. The rumor had spread like wildfire.
“They’re busy screwing up your life as much as possible right now,” Oscar said. “Making sure you have nothing left—nobody to turn to, no one who’ll miss you much when he takes you.”
He. The Faery King. “What the fuck? Take me?”
“To Faery, dude.”
“On Halloween night,” Oscar added. “When the Hunt rides the sky.”
Like he’d taken Simone. And maybe Kevin’s mother. “What the hell does he want with me?”
Oscar shrugged. “Your new gift?”
“My curse, you mean. And you don’t know for sure.”
“I’m ninety-five percent sure,” Oscar said.
With five percent uncertainty and a who-knows-what margin of error. A lot of help, this guy. Tell him he was in life-or-death kind of danger without giving him an out. The news—on top of hearing about his father—how could he possibly handle that? Never mind that he’d asked for it.
Plus, how was his supposed to help anyone with this crazy Faery King after him, too? He wanted to hit something. Someone.
He sucked in a breath. “What can I do?”
“Don’t go out on Halloween,” Oscar said. “Hide. It’s the only thing that will save you.”
Of course. “I have a date.”
“Take a rain check. If you’re in hiding, the King and his Hunt might not be able to find you. If they can’t find you, they can’t take you.”
“That’s way too simple. If that’s all there is to it, how come everybody in the Hunt’s crosshairs doesn’t just do that?”
“Stupidity or ignorance,” Oscar said. “If you’re taken, you’ll know which one of those to chalk it up to.”
What a dick.
Rude jumped in. “Let me have your key, dude. I can get your stuff when your dad’s not home. Bring it to you at school.”
Where exactly was he supposed to go?
He met Rude’s gaze. “You gonna put me up?”
“I can make my parents forget little things, dude. You’re something else.”
“Oh yeah sure.”
“Really,” Rude said.
Kevin turned to Oscar. “What about you?”
“I don’t have a house,” Oscar said.
“What—do you stay in your car or something?”
Oscar didn’t answer.
“You’re supposed to help me,” Kevin said. “And you—dude—you’re supposed to be my friend. You can’t think of anything? I mean, it’s not like Amy’s parents are gonna want me surfing on their couch. It’s not like I can go stay with Traitor Scott, is it?”
Rude sighed. “I’ll figure something out.”
“Thanks for making me feel like I’m a problem.”
“I didn’t mean it that way, dude.”
Kevin pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes until he saw spots. How did they get to this point? If he hadn’t seen his father with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed it.
Here was the problem: his dad, seriously not okay. He was sick. With a Faery sickness.
He blinked the spots away. “I can’t just leave. I can’t leave him alone.”
Oscar didn’t like it. But he didn’t push it, either. “Then be careful. If you start to hear him think, get out. Something will be about to go down. Whatever it is, you won’t be able to stop it.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“You just don’t want to. You don’t want to hear it. You’d be stupid not to take me seriously, but that’s your own lookout. And don’t forget what I told you about Halloween.”
He’d remember, all right—tomorrow. He just couldn’t deal right now.
By the time he and Rude walked into the remains of the stormy morning, into the parking lot where the unbelievable had happened, he could only think about his father. How to help him. How to save his life.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
KEVIN AND RUDE PARKED behind the school and ate in the car as the sun came out, not talking about what happened, for which Kevin was profoundly thankful.
A few days ago, he’d have sat shotgun and bitched about little things. A bad day would have been if he had a pop quiz and he didn’t have all the material down so he got a C, or if the coach made them do pull-ups. Now that kind of stuff seemed far away and small.
Rude took his last bite of beans and cheese and tortilla, then crumpled the foil wrapper. “You have time to catch up with me before you go home, dude?”
He had gym, study hall, English. “Not much. My dad’s picking me up right after.”
Rude tossed the foil into the back seat. “You okay with that?”
“No,” Kevin said. “Doesn’t mean I’m going to change my mind about going home.” No matter how scared shitless he felt.
Rude raised his hands. “Backing up, Kev. It’s cool.”
“Fine.”
“But I’m around if you need me.”
That meant a lot. In fact, he’d probably be holding on to it by his fingernails all night. “Thanks, man.”
“Don’t mention it,” Rude said. “I’ll be at the front door, main building—on the inside, so your dad doesn’t see us. I don’t know why that’d be a problem, unless he’s seen me with Oscar. And he might have, so I don’t want to take any chances. If you just keep on walking past me, I’ll know you’re out of time. But if you can stop, I might have something important for you.”
Wow. A mystery. “Can you be a little more vague?”
“If I was sure I’d have it, I’d be Captain Obvious.”
“Funny, man.”
The lunch bell rang and the schoolyard began to fill with bodies. They slipped on their shades, got out, and headed over.
Kevin found Amy on the second floor, at her locker. He sidled up behind her as she backed up to shut the door. She leaned into him and didn’t make a move to break contact, or even glance over her shoulder. She spoke low, so close to his ear, he could feel the warmth of her breath.
For one gut-churning second, she reminded him of Simone. But it passed, thank God. He drew in her scent, vanilla and leather—and Altoids. She liked the chocolate-covered ones.
“Where did you go this morning?” she asked.
“Rude had an errand to run. He needed me to go with.” Not strictly a lie, although it gave the truth an awful wide berth. It rolled off his tongue too easily. He didn’t want to lie to Amy.
She turned a little so she could see his face. “You never skip school.”
“I know,” he said. “Don’t worry. It’s not a new habit. Just a one-time deal.”
“You’re not gonna tell me where you went, are you?” she asked.
What could he possibly have said? “Plausible deniability.”
“And last night?”
“I had a fight with my dad.” More untruth. Even if they had fought this morning.
“You could’ve just said so before.”
“Sorry.”
Her face softened. “Britt said some shit about you.”
“I figured from your message,” he said. “What did she say?”
“Things that are grounds for the silent treatment. Or worse.”
“Did you believe what she told you?”
She shook her head. “I know you, Kevin.”
“You know her, too. She’s your friend.”
“Maybe,” Amy said. “I’m not sure whether she unloaded on me for my own good or because you’re th
e juicy gossip.”
“Never thought of myself as juicy before.”
She laughed. He loved the way she did that.
And then she changed the subject. “You missed some important stuff in Stat today. It’ll be on the test, but it’s not in the book.”
Just his luck. “Can I borrow your notes?”
“Yeah. Or I could come over and help you study.”
Somehow, he didn’t think his dad would go for it. Plus, he didn’t want Amy anywhere near him. It was bad enough that he took the chance by himself that something crazy could go down.
He wanted her to like him, not be weirded out—or worse, scared—by his family.
“I’d be stupid not to take you up on that,” he said. Wishful thinking.
“You’re not stupid.” She pressed closer to him.
“Some other time. Give me a few days.” It’d be over by then one way or another. He hoped.
“You’re not gonna tell me what Britt said, are you?”
“No,” she said. “No matter how many times you ask.”
As much as he wanted to know what people were saying about him (especially to Amy), he was grateful.
He wrapped his arms around her, one around her waist and the other a little higher, the top of his hand brushing the bottom of her breast through her lace camisole. He swore he could feel her heart race. His own heartbeat sped up, and all his blood rushed away from his brain, all of it headed south.
He wouldn’t have minded if they’d been anywhere except the school hall. Where he did not want to have a boner for all the world to see.
She placed a hand behind his neck and pulled him in closer to kiss him. Her lips were soft and full. Under the curiously strong mint, she tasted sweet and exotic. She nipped his lip with her teeth.
His mind bent to all the private nooks and empty rooms close by. Somewhere they could go to keep doing this, just the two of them. No one else around—
And the bell rang.
She pulled away, her jade eyes clouded with the same lust and pique he felt. “Only two more days ‘til Halloween,” she said.
Friday of the date. The one he was too grounded to take her on and his dad might not live to see, not to mention himself. “Lucky me.”
Hunt: An Urban Faery Tale (The Faery Chronicles Book 1) Page 7
