That morning while Dylan drove to school, Aiden said Tiago wanted to talk to him about something, but Aiden wouldn’t say what it was. They’d both been acting weird for months, so maybe Dylan would finally find out what it was.
As soon as Tiago joined them at the lunch table, Dylan asked, “So what’s this big secret?”
Tiago looked nervous, a faint scent carrying over the smell of food. Dylan had never seen him nervous for anything except tests. And when they were trapped in Aiden’s house with the dark fae.
“Um.” Tiago glanced around. “Maybe I shouldn’t talk about this here.”
“Tiago…” Aiden frowned in concern.
“After school.” Tiago rolled his shoulders, and Dylan got the impression he wanted to pace like an animal trapped in a cage. “I just don’t want anyone listening.”
So there was a secret.
“We could meet by Dylan’s car,” Aiden suggested, looking between them. “Would that be okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Sure,” Dylan said. He was dying to find out what the hell was going on.
He had English with Tiago in the afternoon, but Cat Boy wouldn’t say a word about this big secret. Finally the day was over, and Dylan grabbed his coat and went to meet Aiden at his locker.
Tiago was there waiting with him and they walked out to the parking lot together, Tiago’s head down and his hands stuffed in his pockets. Now Dylan was worried. Had something bad happened?
Dozens of other kids were in the parking lot, some of them hanging out and chatting. Tiago glanced at the nearest group. “Can we get in the car?”
“Yeah.” Dylan hit the unlock button and slid into the driver’s seat. Tiago got in the back and Aiden hesitated for a moment before joining him in the backseat.
Dylan turned to face them. “Okay, seriously dude, what’s going on?”
“My parents, they…” Tiago sighed, breath fogging. “The reason I’m in Shadow Valley is because I ran away. My parents… hit me and stuff.”
“Shit, I’m sorry.” Dylan’s stomach dropped. That explained why Tiago didn’t talk about them.
“They also… we hunt humans. Eat them.” The scent of his nervousness filled the car.
Aiden reached across the seat and gripped Tiago’s hand.
Okay that was… major. Dylan didn’t even know what to say to that.
Tiago looked up at him. “But I couldn’t do it anymore, so I ran away. I turned myself in to the wardens, and I guess because I’m a minor, Mr. Johnson convinced them not to punish me.”
Mr. Johnson again. Did he really care about them, or was this some scheme to win their trust? Did Tiago owe him a favor too?
“Last night my parents showed up in Shadow Valley.” Tiago’s heartbeat thundered. “They tried to convince me to go with them. Said I didn’t belong here, that it was a cage, that I was better than humans and they’re just cattle and blah, blah.” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “I’m scared of them. I know it makes me sound like a chickenshit, but there you go. I’m afraid they’ll try to take me, and I don’t ever want to go back to them.”
Fierce protectiveness filled Dylan’s chest. “Hey, no one’s gonna take you.”
“He doesn’t want to tell the wardens because they’ll put his parents in jail.” Aiden still held Tiago’s hand. “Or kill them.”
“They might leave me alone. They probably will. But just in case, could you, uh…” Tiago shifted, not quite looking Dylan in the eyes. “Watch my back?”
Dylan knew how hard it was to ask for help. “No problem, Cat Boy.”
“They came after him on his way home from school.” Aiden leaned back as he released Tiago’s hand. “So maybe you could drive him too?”
Great, more sharing his time with Aiden. “Yeah, sure.”
Tiago must have picked up on his lack of enthusiasm. “You don’t have to.”
“What if they come after you again?”
Tiago rubbed his palms against his pants. “How about just on the way home? If they do try to take me, it’ll probably be then.”
“Are you sure?” Aiden asked.
“Yeah. In the evening there’s a lot of people around, going to work and stuff.”
“Need someone to watch your house?” Not that Dylan wanted to sit in a car or stand around for hours waiting for something to happen, but he wanted to keep Tiago safe. And he liked the idea of catching Tiago’s asshole parents and making them hurt.
Tiago shook his head. “But I’ll call if anything happens. You could drive there in ten minutes.”
Twice as long as it would take the police to arrive. “Okay.”
“My guardian doesn’t know, but if they tried to break into the house, she’d stop them. I don’t really know how powerful she is, but I get the feeling she could handle two werejaguars. So I’ve got someone looking out for me.” Tiago sighed. “God, I hate feeling like this.”
“Hey, man, we’re all afraid of something,” Dylan said. It wasn’t easy to admit, but he wanted Cat Boy to feel better. “I was there when you offered to take on the dark fae, so I know you’re a badass.”
The corner of Tiago’s mouth turned up. “Thanks.”
“I’ll take you home now.” Dylan turned and started the car. “So, uh, where do you live?” He’d never been to Tiago’s house. He knew Tiago lived close enough to walk to school, but that was it.
Tiago gave him directions while Aiden nagged them to put on their seat belts.
“You know, we could all do our homework at your place since we’re all going there anyway. If that’s cool with you.” Dylan wasn’t sure why he wanted to go to Tiago’s house. Probably feeling left out. Aiden had been there a few times, and Tiago had been over to Dylan’s house.
In the rearview mirror, Dylan caught Aiden and Tiago exchanging a glance.
“Uh, sure, I guess,” Tiago said.