Fledgling
Page 45
Chapter Forty Four
“To Anathaem?” she asked, her breath leaving her, “We’re going to Anathaem?”
“You don’t have to come,” Dustin put his hands into his pockets, “Sorry for the late notice, but there’s a little girl in there. An air dragon with a chaos parent. Someone just found out, and her trial is tomorrow.”
“Then we better get there today,” she said firmly. She held out the scissors, pointing the handles at him, “Could you help me with this?”
“Yeah. How short do you want it?” he asked, taking them. She watched the reflection in the mirror as he came closer, and then she could feel his chest against her back. Did he have to be that close to cut hair? Her cheeks filled with a blush as he cut, the snipping sounds loud in her ears. Fiery red hair fell to the ground in small pieces, and she didn’t stop him. He neatened up where she had already cut and evened out the rest. Her curls were cut out and her bangs swept over her eyes in a dramatic twist. The longest ends were just longer than her chin and even shorter in the back.
“I like this,” she touched the ends of the newly cut hair, marveling at how lighter her head felt. More than that, the haircut made her look different. Stronger.
Dustin nodded, sweeping up some of the hair that had fallen into the sink. He threw it away, “Austin the warrior.”
“Is that a good thing?” she raised her eyebrows.
Dustin chuckled, nodding, “It’s always a good thing.”
He left, probably to pack, while Austin swept up what was left of her hair. She had already changed into new clothes this morning and she had never taken anything else out of her bag, so she was ready to go. She dumped her cut her into the trash bin. There was so much of it that it covered the entire bottom. She felt her hair move freely when she straightened up.
Dustin appeared in the doorway again, handing her the worn bag, “Let’s go.”