However, I was halfway there when he finally called me back.

“I’m sick,” he said, his voice sounding distant.

“It’s probably because you wouldn’t let me take you to the hospital. You’ve probably got an infection.”

“I did go to the hospital. I’ve got the stitches to prove it. And I probably picked up some bug while I was there.”

“Oh.” Suddenly, it felt like he was blaming me for his illness. “I can bring you some soup. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“No,” he said a little too abruptly. “Leave me alone.”

“What?” My voice caught a bit in my throat.

Daniel sighed into the phone. “Sorry. I don’t know what … I don’t know if I’m contagious. Just stay away, okay?”

“But there’s no one there to take care of you,” I said. “When was the last time you were even sick anyway?”

That was one of the few benefits of being an Urbat—I hadn’t even had so much as a sniffle in the last ten months. Daniel probably hadn’t been sick a day in his life in the last eighteen years. A common cold might knock him flat.

“I can take care of myself.”

I sighed. “Just tell me you aren’t trying to avoid me on purpose. Are you still mad at me for what happened with Pete?”

“No, Gracie,” he said. “I was never mad at you in the first place. I just feel like sleeping all day. And you know you’re not really supposed to be inside my place. I mean, what could you even do to help me?”

I still felt terrible about last night, and it made me feel worse that he wouldn’t let me help him now. But if that’s the way he wanted it, I wasn’t going to force myself into his apartment.

“Okay. But call me if you need anything.”

“Yeah. Okay. Bye.”

“Oh, and I have something to tell you—” I said, but Daniel hung up before I even finished. I thought about calling him back and telling him my plan, but since he was so sick, I didn’t want him thinking he had to come along.

I might not have been able to stop Daniel from getting hurt, or help him feel better now, but I was tired of standing idly by. I needed to do something before I went crazy. I tucked my phone into my bag, turned the car around at the next light, and headed to the place where I was now.

Trepidation filled me as I stood outside the door, but I wasn’t going to let it stop me from getting answers. I mean, we used to be best friends. What’s the worst she could do anyway: slam the door in my face? I knocked and waited almost a full minute before the door opened.

“Hey,” I said.

April looked at me for a long moment, like she was actually contemplating slamming the door. But then she crossed her arms in front of her chest and said, “Hey.” She waited another few seconds. “What do you want?”

“Jude,” I said. “I need to find him, and I think you know where he is.”

A FEW MINUTES LATER, UP IN APRIL’S BEDROOM

“You know where Jude is, don’t you?” I asked April as soon as she shut her bedroom door behind us.

April glanced sideways at the computer on her desk and then looked back at me. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t know anything about Jude being back.”

“Then how did you know he’s back?”

“Because …” Her gaze shifted toward her computer again.

“You overheard my conversation with Daniel yesterday morning, didn’t you?”

April looked down at her hands.

That was the thing that had been bugging me all morning. The way April had been acting yesterday, I was pretty sure she’d overheard what Daniel and I had said about Jude’s being back. And she seemed only mildly surprised. Then it seemed like she’d wanted to tell me something important, reconsidered, and now was trying to hide that something from me.

“Jude called me from inside Daniel’s apartment. He was back here in Rose Crest two nights ago, but you already knew that, didn’t you?”

“He called you?” April folded her arms and leaned against her desk, the top of which was littered with beads, what I assumed were fake gems, metal charms, and what looked like fishing line. There were even a pair of little pliers and a large magnifying glass. “I don’t believe that.”

“Why? He’s my brother.”

“Because you’re the reason he left.”

“I know.” I couldn’t help rubbing the scar that hid under my sleeve. I’d always figured Jude left because of what he did to me.

“After what you did to him, I’m surprised he’d ever want to talk to you again.” April put her hands on her hips. “I know I didn’t.”

“Wait, what I did to him?” I asked.

All this time I thought April had been avoiding me because she was still freaked out by all the things she saw in the parish that terrible night, but it was really because she blamed me for Jude’s leaving?

“He told me he left because you betrayed him for Daniel,” April said. “Daniel tried to kill your own brother, and you still sided with that stupid dog boy. You and your dad act like Daniel’s some sort of angel, but he’s really just a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” April picked up a purple bead from her desk and held it between her thumb and forefinger. “I know what Daniel is, Grace. And I know what he did to Jude.”

Dog boy. Wolf in sheep’s clothing.

“How?” I asked. I wondered just how much Jude had told her about what had happened—or at least his version of it.

“Jude always called him a monster. At first, I thought he was being metaphorical. But then I saw Daniel turn from a wolf into a person in the parish, when you pulled that knife from his chest. I’m not completely stupid. It didn’t take a lot to figure out that he’s a werewolf.”

“Was,” I corrected her. “He’s been cured. And I’ve forgiven him for the things he did while he was under the influence of the wolf. If Jude had been capable of that, then he wouldn’t be where he is now.”

April stared at the bead she held in her fingers. She bit her lip.

“Do you know about Jude, then?” I asked tentatively. “What really happened to him?”

“He’s a werewolf now, too. Because of what Daniel did to him. Jude said he was going through changes, and I figured it out on my own. You’ve always treated me like I was dumb or something. You’ve never given me enough credit, but at least Jude does. He trusts me.”