Star Eater
Chapter Eighteen

Kai huddled under Mason’s arm. His parents weren’t physically affectionate and he tended to stay to himself, so he wasn’t used to that much physical contact. Link had been a lot for him this week. Mason, who smelled of a cedar-sage cologne and whose jaw could cut glass, was on a whole other level. This close, Kai realized Mason was just as attractive as his sister but in a male way.

Can you do anything about my hormones? Kai asked Akuma. The demon shrugged.

Kai was convinced the karate kids were going to haze him but he didn’t want to look stupid in front of Link by running away. Kai considered playing the victim card. True, he’d never tried to keep his cover narcolepsy a secret but he’d also never told anyone besides Link. He wasn’t even sure he’d explicitly told Ava.

As Kai worked on a strategy, Akuma didn’t hesitate. Ten feet from the boys’ locker room, the demon reached through Mason’s clothes and laid a hand on his ribs. Mason yelped, instinctively shoving Kai away from him. Then he threw up his hands in a defensive position and glowered at Kai with menace. Kai thought he saw a flash of orange before Link got between them.

“What the hell?” Link asked.

Mason put one hand on his ribs where the skin burned, but kept the other up.

“He… hit me,” he accused. Clearly, he wasn’t sure what had happened, but he felt the pain.

“No, I didn’t,” Kai said, playing innocent. Mason’s eyebrows stitched together. He was baffled. It was the first real expression of emotion Kai had seen on Mason’s face so far.

Link swung his face between them. Kai slipped on his liar’s mask. For once, Link’s presence wasn’t causing him to blush. Instead the taller boy gave Kai reassurance and he put on his most guileless expression.

Before Link could make a decision on who to believe, Mason abandoned his defensive posture and straightened his blazer. There was the faintest wrinkle where Akuma’s hand had gone through the fabric. Kai wondered if Link noticed it.

“That was a fast one,” Mason said, throwing on a fake smile. “You totally got me,” he said to Kai. His face and voice were convincing enough but his eyes burned. Kai didn’t need Akuma to tell him Mason was lying again. He turned around and headed towards the locker room, saying over his shoulder, “With that speed, you should definitely be in the club.”

Link gave Kai a questioning look, which Kai returned with an equally confused shrug.

“Are you coming?” Mason asked at the door.

We have too much to do, Akuma said.

I know, Kai agreed. And yet, Kai was curious. The daemon had never given him a second glance. Why now? What had changed?

We should go, Akuma said.

We need to know what’s going on, Kai said, and followed Mason into the locker room.

The first time he’d encountered a daemon, Kai had been six, at the pediatrician’s office with his parents. He was playing with a Lego set in the front room while his parents were at the desk, arguing with a nurse. Kai remembered that distinctly because it was one of the few times he’d heard his mom raise her voice.

A couple walked in with a little boy. The boy had bright red hair, freckles, and pale eyes. And he wasn’t human. Akuma knew immediately. Even without a strict olfactory system, the demon could smell daemons. At that time, Akuma had been more overprotective of Kai. They had gone through four nannies by then, two of which thought he was the antichrist. It was before Kai had been able to talk Akuma down.

The instant Akuma spotted the daemon, he poured himself into Kai’s shadow. But he went for the father, not the son, burning his ankles. The man’s face instantly transformed, eyes glowing orange, horns peaking out from his hairline, face contorted in rage as he searched for the source of the attack.

Then the wife jumped up and put her arms around his neck, blocking any view of the monster. The little boy started to cry. Kai started to cry.

Kai’s dad hurried over and snatched him away, holding him protectively. Everyone was staring. When the wife let go of her husband, he appeared human again. He sat down heavily and said, “Charlie horse,” to the room as if that explained everything. Then he went about massaging his leg.

Kai buried his face into his dad’s shoulder, asking what the monster was. Dad tutted at him to be quiet, but squeezed him close. In all of Kai’s memories, it was one of the few times he could remember his dad being physically affectionate.

The daemon glowered at Kai until his wife touched his arm and he turned away.

Daemons appeared human but Akuma could always recognize them. He told Kai they lived in clans. There was a whole slew of them at school. Kai’s general policy was to avoid them. He had seen no evidence that they could sense him the way Akuma could sense them, but he didn’t want to take the chance.

Now, suddenly, a daemon was very interested in Kai. And Kai wanted to know why. Mason certainly seemed confused by what had happened. And yet, Mason’s behavior was also contrary to normal. As they walked into the karate room, it was obvious to Kai that there were plenty of karate club members. He counted over ten guys and that didn’t include any girls changing in their own locker room.

Kai wondered if Akuma was somehow more noticeable; if this had something to do with the star needing food.

I am not different, Akuma insisted. And the star needs food, yes, which is another reason we should go. They are dangerous. We do not have the strength to fight them all.

We can phase out, Kai pointed out. I just want to know what he wants.

You want to hang out with Link.

There was that too. Kai glanced at his crush. Link met his eyes and gave him a lopsided, worried smile. Why was Link so adorable?

“We have some extra uniforms,” Mason said, then gestured at another boy to grab them. “When you’re done changing meet us in the small gym.”

Most of the members were already changed and filing out. The two friends exchanged looks and headed back to a small nook where they began stripping. Kai very purposefully turned his back on Link. He did not need this to be any more awkward.

“He wasn’t weird when I talked to him earlier,” Link said out of nowhere. “Are you, like, dating his sister?”

“No,” Kai said. “I mean, she’s cute but no.”

She turned you down, Akuma thought.

Shut up, Kai said.

“My dad thinks karate will teach me discipline,” Link said.

Kai nodded sympathetically. He’d had plenty of experience with parents assuming. They were good at that. So, even if he didn’t think Link was the cutest guy ever, he would have stayed just to be there for his friend.

“Well,” Kai said, taking off his shirt. “I guess let’s go get our asses kicked.”

Mason excused himself to go to the bathroom while Link and Kai learned about basic throws. The locker room was quiet, but Mason paused to make sure. Satisfied it was empty, he headed over to Kai’s locker. There were no locks, so Mason opened it easily and ruffled through the kid’s stuff.

From his credit card, Mason found out Kai’s full name was Kaito Davault. Mason digested this for a minute. Family lines were so important in the daemon world, but Kai wasn’t a daemon. He wondered if Kai’s heritage was important and made a note to check into it. He also made a note to look at the boy’s files.

There were other things in his wallet: mostly frequent buyer’s cards to places on Ventura—a donut shop, a photography store, and a yogurt place. Mason blinked. Was Kai the person his uncle was trying to get surveillance on? It seemed pretty far-fetched for so normal and small of a kid. And yet, it also seemed absurd that he’d ordered Mason to befriend Kai.

Shaking his head, Mason took pictures of all of the cards with his phone and put the wallet back. He looked through the kid’s notebooks, but most of them were blank. It was early in the year, but Kai clearly wasn’t a note taker. He was in Ava’s remedial classes. Did he have a learning disability like Ava? Mason had only known Kai for ten minutes, but he could see the kid’s mind was fast. Why was he in remedial classes?

Mason also found photocopied notes in his sister’s handwriting. He could tell by the spelling mistakes. So Ava did know this kid. She hadn’t answered any of his texts. Mason wondered if she was trying to protect Kai.

The fact that she hadn’t answered him and that she was protecting this kid annoyed Mason. He shoved the notes back into the bag. Other than textbooks, his phone, and his Fitbit, there wasn’t much else Kai’s bag offered. Mason grabbed the Fitbit and looked over Kai’s GPS tracker. The kid had been running around the hills behind Mulholland at two in the morning. Strange, Mason thought.

At the bottom of the book bag, Mason found a Tupperware filled with white powder. He opened it cautiously. His first instinct was that it was drugs. Although he’d never done drugs, Mason’s family was into too many pots for him not to see and smell them before. This was definitely not cocaine or heroin. Maybe it was a new designer drug?

Frowning, Mason went to his own locker and pulled out his empty water bottle. He tapped a little of the powder in, planning on having it analyzed later. They were doing analysis of chemicals in his chemistry class. He could come back at night and work on it.

The powder sizzled and smoked when it hit the last few drops of moisture, then began eating through the plastic. Definitely not drugs. He swore and threw the bottle out. A little shocked, Mason searched around for something better. He found a sandwich baggie with some dehydrated banana chips in one of the other boy’s lockers. He dumped the chips and poured a little of the powder into the sandwich bag, zipping it up firmly. Then he returned Kai’s Tupperware to the bottom of his schoolbag and closed the locker. He slipped the baggie into his own book bag. He’d have to have it analyzed later, professionally. There was no way he was touching that stuff, whatever it was. Which made him wonder what exactly Kai was into. Or his family, Mason thought.

An explosives expert might be useful to Joseph. Perhaps this boy’s clan was not part of the organization, but was being recruited.

Finally, Mason returned to the karate room and found Kai and Link still learning how to throw someone. Mason kept his eyes glued on Kai. Why is this kid so important?