by Pearl Love
Chapter TWENTY-NINE
“JEREMY, OVER here.”
Jeremy turned around where he was standing near the entrance to Winton Yowell’s athletic field to see Mr. Crabtree walking toward him with an anxious expression. He looked even more distressed when he noticed Jeremy was alone.
“I heard about what happened with you and Tyrell. That Simonds woman is a piece of work,” Mr. Crabtree mumbled through pursed lips. “He’s really not coming to the game?”
“I don’t know. He promised me he’d be here but I have no idea how he’s planning to get around his mom.” Jeremy swallowed as he remembered the fury of Mrs. Hughes’s vitriol. Even she couldn’t keep Tyrell away from school, however, and he’d told Jeremy everything that had happened after he went home with his mother, including how he’d been grounded. Jeremy couldn’t imagine that Tyrell would have the nerve to go against her strict instructions that he stay away from the game.
“Hmmm,” Mr. Crabtree hummed thoughtfully. “Then we might have a serious problem on our hands. You’ve gotten a lot stronger, Jeremy, but if the threat is as great as we’ve predicted, I don’t think you’ll be able to cope on your own.”
Jeremy peered around the field, biting his lips as he took in the rapidly filling bleachers. As expected, nearly the entire school had turned out for the game. If Mr. Crabtree had been correct about the aluuku’s preferred source of energy, the gathering would certainly be a prime target.
“I guess I’ll have to do whatever I can,” Jeremy said uncertainly. Although he’d seen Tyrell during homeroom and at lunch the last two days, they hadn’t been able to find much time to be alone. Tyrell’s mother had ordered her son to come home directly after school as punishment for what had happened. He’d even missed band practice. Tyrell had insisted he’d be at the game, but Jeremy didn’t see how he’d manage it.
“Oh ye of little faith.”
Jeremy spun and gaped when he heard Tyrell’s voice. The fact he hadn’t felt Tyrell approach proved how anxious and distracted he was. Tyrell looked equally nervous, but he nodded toward them, his expression grim and determined.
“Did you really think I’d leave you to deal with this alone?” Tyrell asked.
Jeremy’s heart began to beat faster as he met Tyrell’s gaze. “How did you get out? I thought you said your mom would be home all evening.”
Tyrell face relaxed into a smug grin. “I convinced her to let me take my little brother to the game. No way she’d object to that, since she’s been on him to bring up his grades enough to be admitted after he graduates from Chaplain. I told her that allowing him to attend a school event and see how much fun they are would give him some incentive.” He snorted. “And I figured she’d think having Kevin with me would keep me safe from any ‘evil influences,’” he explained, his lips twisting in a wry smile as he quoted his mother.
Jeremy gaped at him. “You brought Kevin here? With all those things running around?”
“Of course not.” Tyrell raised an incredulous eyebrow. “I dropped him off at a friend’s house before getting on the bus and swore him to secrecy with the promise of buying him as much candy as he wants since he thought he was too old to go out trick-or-treating for Halloween last weekend.”
Mr. Crabtree chuckled. “I’m impressed and glad your brother is so easily bribed.”
Tyrell grimaced. “Yeah, I’m sure the little brat will think of something else to make me do to keep his mouth shut, but it’ll be worth it.” He smiled at Jeremy. “I didn’t want to put this all on you.”
Jeremy knew Tyrell meant more than simply the threat of danger from the aluuku. He’d been feeling queasy, and not because of any demons, ever since setting foot in the stadium. The sight of the River Vista Eagles uniforms on the field had given rise to several particularly unpleasant memories that he could have done without. Tyrell’s presence went a long way to make him feel better about the whole situation.
“Well, I’m very glad you’re here, Tyrell,” Mr. Crabtree said. “If anything happens with your mother as a result, we’ll deal with it then.”
Tyrell nodded his thanks. “What do we do now?”
“You’ll need to spread out and cover as much of the area as possible. Unfortunately, you won’t sense the aluuku until they decide to attack, and I’m afraid I can’t help you there. I don’t have your abilities,” Mr. Crabtree explained. “All I can do is keep them subdued to give you time to deal with them if you do find any.”
Jeremy squinted at the small stone tablet the teacher held in his hand. The stone was the same material as his pendant and was also engraved with a golden owl. “What is that?” he asked, feeling off-kilter as he realized there was far more to Chris’s gift than he’d realized.
“What are those weird scratches?” Tyrell cocked his head as though the new angle would help him make sense of the symbols etched into the tablet.
“It’s an incantation,” Mr. Crabtree replied. “If read aloud, the words will release the tablet’s power long enough to stun any aluuku within its immediate vicinity. It won’t kill them, but that’s where you two come in.”
“But what is it?” Jeremy demanded. “Why does it look so much like my pendant?”
Mr. Crabtree looked at him kindly, but his expression indicated he wasn’t in a sharing mood. “Another time, Jeremy. We don’t have the luxury right now for me to explain everything. But I promise I will very soon.”
Jeremy glared at him, his fists clenched at his side. He was seconds away from losing his cool, sick and tired of Mr. Crabtree’s constant equivocation, but Tyrell’s hand on his arm held him back.
“Come on,” Tyrell said softly. “You take the other side of the bleachers, and I’ll search around here.”
Mollified for the time being, Jeremy relinquished his stare at Mr. Crabtree and nodded. “Okay.” He glanced up at Tyrell. “Be careful,” he urged.
“You too.”
“I’ll be keeping an eye on you both.”
Jeremy walked toward the far end of the athletic field. The bleachers stretched across one entire side of the field, providing seating for several hundred spectators. He couldn’t see any empty seats and suspected the bleachers were at full capacity. He stretched his senses as far as he could, both hoping and fearing he would encounter the foul odor and scorching heat that indicated the presence of an aluuku feeding on a victim. That he could feel Tyrell on the other side of the field went only a little way toward relieving his anxiety.
The game began shortly afterward, but he barely noticed what was happening on the field. The sound of grunts as the players slammed into each other and the whistles from the referees were merely background noise. He glanced at the faces of his fellow students and the guests they’d invited, wondering if he would truly be able to protect them from danger.
By the time the buzzer sounded to indicate the start of halftime, he was nearly jumping out of his skin. Forty minutes had passed with nothing more menacing than a bee that had sniffed around to assess whether he was worth sacrificing its life to sting. While he was relieved no aluuku had appeared, the anticipation that something might still happen was almost worse.
He looked over for the umpteenth time to where Tyrell paced around the opposite end of the stands. Even if he couldn’t sense Tyrell’s emotions, he’d have known by the set of Tyrell’s shoulders that he was equally on edge. Mr. Crabtree was nowhere to be seen, and Jeremy figured he’d positioned himself somewhere he could get to either of them quickly.
The teams were filing off the field to spend the break in the school’s locker rooms, which were located in the Phys Ed building. The building was immediately behind where Jeremy was standing, but he didn’t initially pay much attention when the horde of padded shoulders and helmets began heading his way.
“Hey, didn’t you used to go to River Vista?”
He blinked in surprise as he was suddenly face-to-face with three players in Eagles uniforms. He couldn’t see their faces behind the protective face masks,
but the voice was eerily familiar.
“Chuck, look who it is,” said another of the players. “Isn’t this the little dweeb who had a crush on you?”
Jeremy froze as the third player suddenly removed his helmet. His breath caught in his throat as he saw a horribly familiar face looking back at him. Charles Peters stared at him for a moment before his handsome features twisted in a leer.
“What do you know?” he articulated slowly, his voice a menacing drawl.
Jeremy had forgotten Charles wasn’t a Chicago native but had grown up in Texas until the seventh grade. There’d been a time when he’d found that drawl extremely hot. Now it just scared the shit out of him.
“So this is where you ran off to… what was it again? Jerky? Jester?”
“Oh, I remember!” the first player who’d spoken exclaimed. “It was ‘faggot,’ right?”
The three of them broke out into loud guffaws. Jeremy stared at them, unable to move. He was caught in the nightmare that had plagued him for months after he’d last encountered Charles and his flunkies. His elbow and hand twinged in memory of the pain he’d felt when Charles had slammed him to the ground, all the while laughing in his face. Since they were standing right at the edge of the bleachers, several of the attendees could hear them, and he blanched at the thought that his old life was crashing so violently into his new one.
“You got something to say, asshole, you can say it to me.”
Jeremy jumped as a hand grabbed his shoulder, breaking him out of his horrified trance. Tyrell’s angry taunt might as well have been a chorus of angels.
Charles gaped at Tyrell, obviously uncertain what to make of him. “What’s it to you, dickwad?” He lurched forward until he was inches away from them. His teammates closed in, backing up the threat. “You wanna make something out of it?”
“Everything all right, Ty?”
Jeremy turned to see that Ryan and a few other Winton Yowell players had gathered around them. He felt infinitely better now that the odds were even, but that didn’t stop him from worrying that Tyrell was about to get into it with Charles. Tyrell’s body was a taut line, fury pouring off him in waves, and he looked ready to jump Charles at the slightest provocation.
“Tyrell, it’s okay,” Jeremy said with quiet urgency. “Let’s just go.”
Charles glared at him, his eyes narrowed into gray slits. He grinned like a shark who’d gotten a whiff of blood in the water. “Oh, so that’s it, huh, Jerky? You found someone to hide behind?” He clasped his hands under his chin and batted his eyes, looking utterly ridiculous in his football uniform, his face smeared with black greasepaint. “Is this your boyfriend?” he said in a cloying singsong.
“Damn right. So back the fuck off, or I’ll mess you up.”
Jeremy stared at Tyrell in shock. A crowd had gathered in anticipation of a fight, including players from both football teams, spectators, and several members of the dance squad. He heard a loud gasp and saw Shaunteé standing nearby with one of her pom-poms covering her mouth.
Charles seemed uncertain how to proceed in the face of Tyrell’s blatant admission, not to mention that the number of Winton Yowell players standing around them now outnumbered him and his teammates. He glanced around with narrowed eyes for a moment before apparently realizing the odds weren’t in his favor.
“Whatever, fags,” Charles spat weakly. He glanced at his fellow River Vista players. “Let’s go.” He sauntered off with his friends in tow.
A slightly hysterical giggle escaped from Jeremy when he saw Charles trip in his haste to leave.
“You okay?” Tyrell asked.
Jeremy blinked up at him. “You did not just do that.”
Tyrell frowned. “Do what?”
“Ugh! Out yourself in front of the entire school, you idiot!”
“Oh, that.” Tyrell lifted one shoulder in a shrug, looking sublimely unconcerned. “Well, it’s true, isn’t it? We’re dating, right?”
Jeremy inhaled sharply, making a noise that sounded terribly close to a sob.
“Good grief. Why don’t you two get a room?” Ryan snickered before turning to address the crowd. “Come on, folks. The show is on the field.” He and the other Winton Yowell players formed a defensive line, blocking Jeremy and Tyrell from view until everyone else had dispersed.
“He wasn’t good enough for you, Shaunteé. It’s his loss if he chose a boy over you.”
“Oh my God, Amanda,” Shaunteé hissed. “Would you please shut up?”
As the girls’ voices faded into the background, Jeremy dredged up a brief shred of sympathy for Shaunteé before remembering the part she’d played in orchestrating his humiliating experience at the birthday party. Any thought of her or anyone else quickly disappeared as he continued to gaze up at Tyrell in wonder.
“Do you really mean it?” he whispered.
Tyrell smiled. “Yeah.” He took hold of Jeremy’s hand. “If that’s okay with you.”
Jeremy nodded, unable to speak. From the moment Tyrell had confronted Charles, he’d heard the low hum of their resonance. This was the first time it had manifested so strongly without them consciously willing it into existence. Now it filled the space between them, making him shiver with delight. His cheeks went hot, but his grin was unreserved. “Yeah, it’s okay.”
“Good. So was that the guy who gave you shit at your old school?”
“Mmm-hmm.” Jeremy realized he’d already completely forgotten about Charles.
Tyrell raised a skeptical eyebrow. “You had seriously bad taste in guys before me, you know.”
Jeremy laughed. “You certainly have a high opinion of yourself.” His pulse sped up as Tyrell squeezed his hand. “Thank you, by the way.”
Tyrell winked. “Any time.”
“Your mom is probably going to hear about this.” Jeremy glanced up into the stands. “You know Ms. Simonds is here.”
“I don’t care. If she grounds me—again—we’ll deal. Some things are more important.”
“You’re right,” Jeremy replied. “It’s not like these aluuku things are just going to vanish.”
Tyrell rolled his eyes. “You goof. That’s not what I meant.” He leaned down and pressed his lips gently against Jeremy’s in a soft kiss. “But you’re right,” he continued as Jeremy looked at him in amazement. “Let’s hope we can get through the rest of the game without any trouble.”
Jeremy thought he said something in response before Tyrell gave his hand a final squeeze and left to return to his position on the far side of the field. Their resonance covered the entire stadium in a protective blanket of energy, but Jeremy didn’t feel the slightest bit drained. If anything, he felt stronger. He couldn’t recall much of the rest of the game since Tyrell’s wish was granted. While he did try to pay attention for any indication of an aluuku presence, he mostly spent the next hour tracking Tyrell’s movement, reveling in his ability to pinpoint exactly where Tyrell was at any given moment.
Mr. Crabtree found them immediately after the game ended with Winton Yowell winning a 14-to-3 victory. Jeremy moved away from the stadium entrance to avoid the departing stream of humanity and made a beeline for Tyrell. Mr. Crabtree was already with him, and he hurried to meet them.
“Looks like you had bad information, Mr. Crabtree,” Tyrell said.
“Seems that way.” Mr. Crabtree frowned. “The portents have never been wrong about this sort of thing before. It is troubling.” He sighed. “I fear there are even bigger forces at work here than I suspected.”
“At least everyone is okay,” Jeremy said, trying to see the bright side of a night that had already turned out pretty fantastic from his point of view. His glanced over at Tyrell as though unable to keep his gaze away, and was gratified to see Tyrell staring back at him just as intently.
Mr. Crabtree chuckled. “At least something positive came out of all this. I’m quite pleased at your public declaration of affection for your sakes, as well as because of what it means for your bond.”
&
nbsp; Tyrell nodded. “Yeah, I felt it get stronger almost immediately.”
“Me too,” Jeremy confirmed.
“That’s good, because I fear we’ve only delayed this confrontation.” Mr. Crabtree sighed. “Anyway, we should call it a night. Good work, you two.” He smiled and turned to disappear around the bleachers.
By unspoken agreement, they walked together to the bus stop on Halsted Avenue.
Tyrell leaned back against the Plexiglas wall of the shelter while Jeremy claimed the empty bench.
“I wish I could see you all the way home. It’s too bad you live on the other end of the city.”
“I’ll be all right,” Jeremy said reassuringly. “Especially now.” Sitting so close to Tyrell, their resonance vibrated like a pleasant shiver he could sense down to his bones.
“If you’re sure.” Tyrell’s expression reflected his reluctance to part from Jeremy as the bus rumbled into view. “I guess I’d better get home before Kevin rats me out. I still need to pick him up on my way back.”
“Okay. You be careful too.” Jeremy stood and found himself being pulled toward Tyrell.
Tyrell dropped another kiss onto Jeremy’s lips and smiled. “I will.”
Jeremy climbed onto the bus and turned in his seat so he could see Tyrell out the window. Tyrell raised a hand in farewell, standing in front of the shelter until he was out of view.
Jeremy was wrapped in a cozy bubble of happiness the remainder of his trip home. He texted Tyrell as soon as he was in his room after reassuring his parents that he was back safely from the game. Nothing about the anxious search for the aluuku or his unpleasant run-in with Charles lingered in his thoughts as he lay on his bed, trying to go to sleep. The only thing he remembered was how wonderful it felt to have Tyrell kiss him in front of what felt like the entire school.
Chapter THIRTY
JEREMY HOVERED on the threshold of Tyrell’s apartment, peering nervously inside. “Are you sure about this?”