Chapter 13
It was an unexpected but delightful discovery that even prim and proper Gabriel Hawthorne splayed out in his sleep, one foot peeking from the blankets, an arm curled tightly around his pillow as if it’d tried to escape in the night.
Miles had half expected him to sleep stiff as a board on his back and rise like Dracula from his makeshift mattress when he woke.
Miles’s alarm wasn’t set to go off for a few minutes still, so he sleepily watched Gabriel.
Not in a creeper way—a foggy-brained, appreciative way, pausing to admire something he wouldn’t see again anytime soon.
Gabriel’s hair fell messily across his forehead, his lips were parted in sleep, and the usual crease between his dark eyebrows was absent.
The wind shifted outside, rain pelting against his window. It was still too early for the sun to rise, but Miles could make out the vague shape of the tree outside his window.
He wanted to stay here forever, live in this moment for the rest of his life.
His bedroom door creaked open, sending his heart racing, but it was only Charlee in a pair of ratty sweatpants and a green hoodie with flecks of white paint down the front. He shushed her as she tiptoed exaggeratedly to sit on the edge of his bed.
She patted around the blankets. “Is Gabriel hiding in here?”
“Shhh! He’s on the floor.”
Charlee leaned over to peek. “Aww, look at him. Sleeping like a baby. You two must’ve had a good night.”
Miles swatted at her. “Knock it off.”
“Does that mean you didn’t make out all night?”
“Oh my God.” He should’ve known his peaceful little bubble would be popped by Charlee. “Go away, I’m not talking to you.”
Just for that, he wasn’t going to tell her yet.
“That’s not how you treat the person giving your boyfriend a free ride home.” She was teasing, but the word boyfriend sent an electric thrill through Miles. “We need to get going soon if we want to make it back before your parents get up.”
He didn’t want to take away even a moment of sleep from Gabriel. “I’ll wake him when I get back.” Miles threw back his blanket and immediately regretted it when the chill rushed in.
“Need to go brush your teeth before you wake him up with a kiss? Good call, nothing kills the romance like morning breath.”
Miles was going to strangle her.
He slid from bed, whimpering when his feet met the freezing floorboards and padded to the bathroom. When he was done, he paused in the hallway—his parents’ bedroom door was open.
They always slept with it closed.
Sure enough, when he crept close enough to peek inside, the bed was empty, blankets rumpled and thrown back.
What the hell?
Downstairs, the kitchen light was bleeding gold into the gloom of the living room. Both of his parents were up, his mom digging through her purse while his dad pulled milk from the fridge.
His mom rarely got up this early, his dad never. And Miles knew he’d been on a job last night—he’d left right after dinner and wasn’t back by the time they’d snuck out.
Were they up because of him? Waiting for him because they knew?
Adam spotted him. “Hey, you’re up early. Everything okay? We didn’t wake you, did we?”
“Uh, no. I couldn’t sleep, and thought I’d make tea.” Miles slid cautiously into the room. Not an ambush, then. He was in the clear as long as Gabriel didn’t come stumbling down. “You guys have early plans?”
They were both dressed, his mom wearing a thick plaid coat. His dad had on his faded, mud-crusted work boots.
“We got a call that couldn’t wait,” Sarah explained, getting up on her tiptoes to reach two travel mugs in the top cupboard. “One of the maintenance workers at the cemetery found something weird.”
Miles nearly choked. “Woah. Did they say what?”
“Only that it was strange enough they were calling the police right after us.” The coffee maker chirped and Adam filled the mugs, talking over his shoulder. “It might be nothing, you know how superstitious some people are.”
That was a bold criticism from the single most superstitious person in Thistle. He’d broken a mirror once and spent days doing every cleansing ritual he could find to “shake off the bad luck.” If he saw a ladder, he didn’t simply go around it, he crossed to the other side of the street.
Miles hid his face under the guise of pulling tea out of the cupboard. He was freaking out over nothing. They hadn’t left anything behind last night that would connect them to the scene. There was no way his parents would know it was him.
Sarah took her purple mug from the counter, checking that the lid was screwed on tight.
“We need to head out. Will you get your sisters up before you leave for school? And I got an email from your teacher about the after-school assignments this week.” She paused, and Miles braced himself.
But for the first time in days, she looked him in the face, blue eyes searching.
When she went on, her voice sounded normal.
Warmer than before. “Text me when you’re done, and I’ll come pick you up. ”
Guilt squirmed up Miles’s throat. He’d ignored the olive branch at dinner the other night, but here she was, trying again. Making the decision to trust him. Attempting to fix things, while Miles was lying straight to her face.
“I will.”
He had to lie. It was the only way. But part of him feared he was breaking something that couldn’t be fixed. That his parents would never trust him again, or would decide he wasn’t worth forgiving when the truth came out.
Adam gave Sarah’s shoulder a squeeze before steering her out of the kitchen. The front door closed and a moment later, the sound of their car starting rumbled from the driveway.
Abandoning his tea, Miles sprinted back upstairs. “My parents just left to investigate the cemetery,” he announced, flinging his bedroom door open. “We might be screwed.”
Thankfully, Gabriel was already awake and sitting cross-legged at the foot of Miles’s bed, bleary-eyed and messy-haired. He and Charlee were only a few feet apart and unbelievably, neither had killed the other yet.
Last night came rushing back, and Miles’s face went up in flames. “Uh, good morning.”
Gabriel mumbled something unintelligible around his yawn, covering his mouth in an attempt to hide it. It was hard to tell in the dim light, but Miles thought the bridge of his nose was pink.
The bridge of his boyfriend’s nose.
Miles had to bite his lip so he didn’t grin like an idiot and embarrass himself. Charlee was already squinting at him suspiciously.
“What did your parents say?” she prompted. “Should we be worried?”
“Probably. They said they’re going to check it out, and if they find anything—”
“Won’t they assume it was a prank or graverobbers, like you said?” Miles’s shirt was so big on Gabriel, it slouched off one of his shoulders, showing a curve of pale skin.
Miles made himself look away. “Yeah, in a perfect world. But the circle of death we left behind is a bit weirder than digging up dead bodies. They’re going to realize it was magic and look into it.”
“We didn’t leave anything behind.” Gabriel shrugged. God, if Miles had even a fraction of his confidence, he’d be unstoppable. “They won’t be able to find out what caused it or who’s responsible.”
He didn’t know that for sure. Miles’s parents could have a spell they didn’t know about that revealed culprits. Or, what if one of them had left footprints behind? Or dropped something out of their pocket? Or—
“You’re freaking yourself out,” Charlee told him. “Even if they did find out, they’re already pissed at you. It’s not like your mom can get more mad.”
That might be the naivest thing she’d ever said.
“Why am I the only one worried here? You guys could at least have a little solidarity panic attack.”
“Hypothetically, if your parents did discover our involvement, we wouldn’t leave you to fend for yourself.
Even if it meant revealing our secrets.” Gabriel studied Miles, brows furrowed like he was working a math problem out.
“We’ll be extra cautious from now on. We already agreed we won’t use the grimoire again, so even if your parents suspect dark magic, we won’t give them any further evidence. ”
Miles appreciated the reassurance. That was all he wanted.
Charlee snorted. “I’ll worry when there’s a reason to. Until your parents kick down your door and demand to know why you summoned zombies in the middle of the night, I’m not nervous.”
And wasn’t that a horrific mental image?
“What I’m more concerned about,” she continued, “is getting Gabriel home at a decent time. We should’ve left five minutes ago.”
“Yeah, yeah, we’re going.” Miles would’ve preferred some time to check in with Gabriel, but there was no dodging Charlee.
He bent down to grab Gabriel’s things, handing them over.
Gabriel slipped on his shoes, tying the laces in perfectly neat bows.
He didn’t offer to change out of Miles’s pajamas, bunching the long sleeves at his elbows.
Charlee snorted. “Aren’t you just the cutest, coziest little thing?”
“I’m not little, your cousin is a giant. Blame your family’s faulty genetics.” He shrugged his coat on, looking ridiculous wearing that, red plaid flannel pants, and shiny dress shoes. Miles could only imagine how Edmund would react if he caught him sneaking in.
“I might die if I don’t shower soon,” Gabriel groused while Miles shoved on his own boots. “I feel disgusting.”
“That wasn’t even too bad. When I dig up a grave, you wouldn’t believe the places I find dirt the next day.”
“That’s nothing,” Charlee interjected. “One time, I climbed into a casket, and didn’t realize how juicy the body was until I got embalming fluid all over my shoes.”
Gabriel sidestepped the hallway table. “How did you know it was embalming fluid?”
“The smell,” Miles and Charlee said in unison. There was no mistaking that scent, like the world’s most potent pickle that had spent a decade in a musty basement.
Gabriel’s mouth twisted in disgust.