Chapter 19
chapter
nineteen
Sadie’s van was…nice.
In that twenty-something, chewing gum gluing a Dracula figurine to the dashboard, Polaroids pinned to the walls, initials carved into the ceiling kind of way. If the oil light wasn’t on and the engine didn’t splutter every time Sadie turned the key, Tobias might even be jealous.
“I could take a look at the engine when we stop tonight,” he suggested as the van stalled at a red light on the way out of town.
“We’re fine,” Sadie insisted.
“Hell yes,” Honey said over her. She leaned over the gearshift to prop her chin on Sadie’s shoulder. “Sadie. You know I love Steve-van. But we all know he’s sick. Just let Tobias take a look under his hood.”
“Steve-van is doing fine,” Sadie insisted.
A loud pop interrupted her, followed by a cloud of exhaust that made Tobias’s nose wrinkle even from inside the car.
“It doesn’t sound fine,” Alexander said, shifting in the backseat. “You should let Tobias take a look. He’s even better at cars than I am.”
“Right, you only know how to hotwire,” Honey said. She mentioned something about Alexander’s life of crime, but Tobias wasn’t listening.
He leaned over, thinking sorely about mirroring the girls and propping his chin on Alexander’s shoulder. He settled for kicking his shoe instead.
“Sweet talker,” he said.
“What?” Alexander said distractedly. “It’s not a compliment, it’s a fact. You are better with cars than I am.” Then he went back to staring out the window, frowning. He’d been in the same position since they got in the car, staring out at the blurring scenery like it would offer him answers.
Tobias leaned over, lowering his voice. “You’ve hardly spoken all morning. You okay?”
“Stop asking me that,” Alexander said. “You’re always asking me unnecessary things!”
“Yeah, I hate it when people who care about me want to know how I am.” With bitter satisfaction, Tobias watched Alexander’s cheeks go pink, then continued, “It’s okay if you’re worried. Muzzle did kick our ass.”
“I’m not worried. I’m just thinking.” Alexander paused, then turned to Tobias with painfully fake calm. “My parents are going to meet me back in the city to assist with the hunt.”
“What?” Sadie barked. There was a sharp crack as she gripped the steering wheel hard enough to dent the metal.
Honey twisted to look at him. “Your parents, the hunters? Your parents who sent a sixteen-year-old to kill two vampires on his own?”
“It was a Proving,” Alexander said. “It’s supposed to be hard. And I would have succeeded if you didn’t…if I didn’t…look, they can’t know I’m working with you.”
“Why?” Sadie asked sourly. “Will they kill me on sight?”
Honey sat back in her seat. “I did not like your parents. I only talked to them that one time back home, but I got such bad vibes.”
“Of course you did, they were checking to see whether they needed to kill you! They’re usually fine.”
“Yeah?” Tobias said. “You never talk about them.”
Honey snorted loudly, opening the glove compartment to pull out a bag of gummy worms. “Good luck getting him to talk about his family. He wouldn’t even tell us if he had siblings!”
Of course he didn’t, Tobias thought as he watched Alexander’s tight expression close off even more. You don’t have a dead sibling for you and him to bond over.
“Alex,” Honey continued, muffled as she bit the head off a gummy worm. “Lighten up already or this will be a sad, shitty road trip.”
“Great,” Alexander said icily. “Just like last time.”
With that, he crossed his arms and didn’t speak for the next ten miles.
Tobias waited until he was trawling a gas station aisle with Honey to ask, “What was last time like?”
Honey hummed, still examining the drink selection.
She had dressed up in a way that might have been excessive if she didn’t make it look so good: platform heels, sparkly crop top, and bright red eyeliner.
It was a far cry from the gardening clothes she was wearing when they first met, but somehow, she made both outfits look equally hot.
“It was spring break,” Honey said, scratching absentmindedly at the bite scar on her neck that Tobias didn’t know if he should ask about. “We didn’t get to spend much time with him.”
She turned to look at Alexander. Tobias did the same, watching him read the back of a chip packet like the ingredients actually mattered. His serious expression made Tobias smile reluctantly.
“How long have you known him?” Honey asked.
Tobias sighed. “A few weeks.”
“Really?” Honey’s face did something complex and delighted that reminded him of a cheerleader in high school discovering something she was going to use to tear someone down in a vicious and hilarious manner later. “You seem pretty serious for guys who have only known each other for a few weeks.”
Tobias huffed. “I don’t know about that. We’re just helping each other out.”
“And fucking like rabbits,” Honey said breezily, pulling the fridge door open to grab a soda. “Sadie heard you two going at it.”
“Great. Love being in a house with super hearing.” Tobias ran a self-conscious hand through his hair, even more glad than usual that he wasn’t shoved in the barracks with the rest of his ‘pack.’ Poor bastards couldn’t even jerk off without everybody else overhearing.
“Just saying,” Honey said, handing over the soda. “Guy’s like a pressure valve. We tried to get him to loosen up, but it was like undoing a screw with your fingers. Glad he has some kind of stress release.”
“Happy to help,” Tobias said. He tucked the soda under his arms, glancing over to check Alexander was still out of earshot. He didn’t think he would appreciate this conversation.
“So,” Honey continued, still rummaging in the fridge. “How is it? Is he all repressed and stiff, or is he secretly super intense in bed? Me and Sadie placed bets. I bet he’s a nasty little freak.”
Tobias laughed awkwardly. He would actually love to have this conversation, but maybe with someone he knew a little better.
Unfortunately, that was only Josh Waters, and even if Josh hadn’t heinously betrayed them, he was still a little brother figure.
Tobias didn’t really want to talk about his sex life with him, which Josh always seemed to appreciate.
Tobias grinned at her as he took the third bottle she offered. “You mean Sadie didn’t tell you? Since she was listening in and all.”
“She didn’t stand outside your door like a creeper! She was in the kitchen when it started, she went into the forest to get away. ’Cause she’s polite.”
Tobias groaned. “Fuck, super hearing is annoying.”
“You’re telling me. Up until recently we had two couples living with us, and they were all very in love. She had to go for so many walks. It was especially bad with Kade and Theo—they couldn’t touch each other for years, so they had a lot of fucking to make up for.”
Tobias snorted. “They couldn’t touch? Were they long-distance?”
“No, just cursed. Honestly, I think they could’ve gotten creative and figured out ways to fuck without going skin to skin, but I guess they had a lot going on.
” Honey looked over again, spotting Sadie waving pointedly from the counter.
She squinted until she somehow translated Sadie’s nonsensical signing.
“Tobias, do we need any more first aid stuff?”
Tobias thought back to the giant first aid kit Alexander had moved from the stolen car into Sadie’s van. “I think we’re good.”
“You sure?” Honey eyed the healing burn on his forehead. “You still look pretty scratched up.”
“I look gorgeous,” Tobias corrected. He started to stretch, an old move when he wanted people to know how hot he was, only to remember his ribs and the soda bottles he was holding. Pain raced through his cracked rib, and he fumbled not to drop the soda bottles.
“Nice job,” Honey said.
Alexander cleared his throat pointedly.
Tobias turned to see him at the counter with Sadie, paying for fruit juice and cheap vitamins.
“Hurry up,” he called. “We’re wasting daylight.”
Honey raised her eyebrows at Sadie, who raised hers back like she was trying not to laugh.
“Same old Alex,” Honey said, slapping the fridge door closed and turning to Tobias with another troublesome gleam in her eye. “We should really do something about that.”