Page 47 of Just the Pool Boy at Vampire Mansion

We filled the next hour helping Theo’s guest get comfortable in her new surroundings. After, there wasn’t much more for me to do. Theo was going to keep an eye on her. She seemed alert, and healthy, not about to drop dead. Whatever had happened, she was doing pretty well considering she’d been face down in Theo’s pool for a long time.

As the girl got comfortable with a bag of chips, legs crossed on the couch, TV on, I nodded for Theo to join me over by the pull-down bed.

He ambled over, and we both leaned against the wall, heads bent close.

“So, I uh . . . I took the job next door,” I told him.

His eyes blew wide with genuine fear. “You what?”

I hadn’t expected him to care, and shrugged to diffuse it. “Just to figure out what’s going on.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Owen, shit. Jay died next door.” He whispered that last part so as not to scare his guest.

“Yeah, I know that. I’ll be extra careful.”

“No.” He stared at the TV, not really seeing it.

I frowned. Why did my chest hurt? What he thought shouldn’t matter. I was doing this for Jay, for a man I’d never met. Actually, no, I was doing it for Theo, and he was being a dick about it. “It’s done.”

“Then undo it,” he said, still staring at the TV.

“No.” I huffed a laugh. “I’m done arguing. I have to do this.”

“No you don’t.” He wasn’t laughing at all. A muscle twitched in his cheek. He turned his head and stared. “I’ll pay you double not to go back there.”

“Theo, stop.”

“I will⁠—”

“Stop. I’m not taking your money. I’m going over there, I’m going to figure out what’s going on and what killed Jay, because I’m all he’s got.”

“Jay is dead, Owen,” he snarled. “He hasn’t got anything.”

“Exactly.”

“I don’t understand you. You didn’t even know him.”

“It’s the right thing.”

“The right thing?” He laughed but it sounded sour. “Whatever, man. I’ll put that on your gravestone. Here’s Owen, died doing the right thing. Hope he’s happy now.”

He seethed, and the sense of guilt gnawed on my conviction. I was doing this. He could hate it, but it had to happen.

“It’s alright.” I lowered my voice again. “I’ve dealt with dangerous people before.”

“The Briars aren’t people, they’re different.”

“Different how?”

“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “Mother won’t say, but they’re different enough that I think she’s afraid of them. We already lost one pool boy, I can’t . . .” His voice caught. He pinched his lips together and looked away again.

Hold up, did Theo actually care what happened to me?

“Hey?”