by Kailin Gow
Briony closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was shaking. Briony waited a whole minute before she did anything. Then she grabbed her cross, put it firmly around her neck, and slammed the window shut. She went over to the bed and gathered up the sheets, carrying them with her as she headed downstairs. No way was she going to be able to sleep in there tonight.
Instead, she settled onto one of the armchairs in the lounge, sitting there and staring into the darkness as sleep refused to come. Even when tiredness final y claimed her, she found herself dreaming of gates, and Aunt Sophie, and of Pietre’s eyes somewhere out in the dark fol owing her every move. Somewhere out beyond al those things lay a dragon, and now she needed to find it.
Chapter 14
School the next day was hard. Briony was too tired to concentrate, and even the drama teacher Miss Smith pul ed her up on it when she yawned in the middle of rehearsals.
“Busy social life is it, Briony? Come on, concentrate.
It’s bad enough that we’ve had to put things back because our star suddenly had to take time off.”
“Sorry Miss Smith.”
Briony did her best to concentrate harder. After al , everyone else in the production of Little Red Riding Hood was counting on her to do her part, and it was very good of Miss Smith to wait for her to come back rather than simply giving the role to an understudy.
Yet it was hard to concentrate when her mind kept flashing back to what had happened yesterday. Briony was lucky to be alive, and she knew it. If Pietre hadn’t needed her to find Aunt Sophie… wel , he had already said exactly what he would have done. Just the thought of it made Briony want to check the wings of the school theater to make sure that he wasn’t around anywhere. She was stil shaken up by how easy Pietre could get to her.
Pietre wasn’t the only one she was checking for, though. Briony thought that she had spotted Fal on in the hal s earlier, but the younger vampire had made no move to talk to her. Instead, when Briony had gone over, hoping to talk things through, he had slipped away into the mil ing throng of students. Briony had caught more glimpses of him as the day progressed. She even thought she saw him talking to Pepper and Claire. Yet every time Briony tried to get closer to him, he was gone before she could say anything.
Even Maisy seemed to notice the strangeness.
“What’s with Fal on?” she asked. “I heard you two broke up again, but he’s being very distant.”
“He just can’t deal with the fact that I won’t take things further with him,” Briony replied. “Last night, he seemed to think that Kevin and I are already having sex, so I should do the same with him.”
“You and Kevin are already having… ? When did that happen?”
“It didn’t!” Briony said it a little louder than she intended, and had to wait for some of the students around her to stop staring before she went on. “Fal on just thinks I did.”
“Wel , I can see why,” Maisy said. “Kevin is gorgeous. And his body… ” Maisy gulped.
“But Fal on doesn’t seem to get that I’m just not ready.” Briony took her books out of her locker as she said it, hoping that Maisy would leave the subject alone.
She didn’t, obviously. “Wel , I suppose in one sense you have it easy. I mean, if you ever want to, you won’t have to wait long. Whereas if I ever tried to seduce Steve, he probably wouldn’t notice.”
Briony smiled at that. “True.”
“Where is Kevin, anyway? He wasn’t teaching his class.”
That was true. Instead, their normal biology teacher was back from whatever family trouble he’d had. It was a sight that had gotten a definite sigh of disappointment from a lot of the girls in the class. Briony supposed that they didn’t let you stay on as a substitute teacher when the normal one wanted his or her job back. Besides, Kevin’s attendance record recently would be as bad as hers.
Briony had other things to think about than Kevin’s job prospects, though. There was stil the issue with Pietre eating away at the back of her mind, and then of course there was now the fact that she had to try to find a dragon who probably didn’t want to be found, and then somehow convince him to help her when he had been actively trying to keep her out of the gate the last time she approached it.
Those thoughts kept Briony busy until the end of school, and then into her shift at the diner. George was a lot better than he had been the day before, although he was a lot more careful around Jil than he had been, and Jil ’s attempts at cheerfulness seemed a little more forced than usual. It seemed that everyone was determined to pretend that things were normal, though, so Briony didn’t push at it.
Fal on did show up, but he kept his distance, staying outside the diner. Briony caught glimpses of him as she tried to serve the customers. She was sure that she spotted him outside the window at one point, while at another, Briony got just the faintest impression of him from the corner of her eye, just standing there, watching her. She wasn’t sure whether it was comforting to have him around with George there, or strangely creepy.
About an hour into Briony’s shift, Kevin showed up and took the seat in the diner that he had taken so many times before when they first met. Briony smiled and rushed over to serve him, happier than she could say that he had shown up like this. As usual, Kevin found excuses to hang around, and even though the diner was busy, nobody bothered him about it. Of course, the extra customers meant that Briony didn’t get much of a chance to stop and talk to him, but she could feel his eyes on her as he sipped at his coffee.
Unfortunately, that thought brought with it ones of the other eyes that might be on her. Fal on’s. Pietre’s. That was enough to make her shudder, and move a little more stiffly as she moved from customer to customer.
Kevin obviously spotted it, because less than a minute later, he was at Briony’s side, having said something to Jil that made the other waitress smile and nod.
“Come on,” he said. “It’s time you took your break.”
“But we’re stil in the rush.”
“Jil says she can handle it, if it wil help you. Now come on.”
Kevin led Briony out to the al ey behind the diner. It was quieter than inside, at least, and they leant against the wal together. Kevin reached out to touch her face.
“Something has you tense, Briony. Do you want to tel me what’s wrong?”
Briony sighed. “With Fal on, or with Pietre?”
Kevin stood very stil for a moment. “My brother, I can handle. Tel me about Pietre. Did he do anything to you, Briony?”
Briony shook her head. “He didn’t do anything except talk. But he could have. He got into my room somehow. He was there when I arrived after taking a shower. I wasn’t armed. I wasn’t ready. He could have done anything he wanted.”
“I bet he made a point of tel ing you that, too,” Kevin guessed. He moved until he was in front of Briony, his hands on the wal either side of her. “He wanted to scare you, Briony.”
“Wel , he succeeded.” Briony shook her head. “What sort of vampire hunter am I, Kevin? I get caught off guard like that, and…” she didn’t say the rest of it.
Kevin stroked her hair. “And?”
“And I can’t even keep track of my own life. George is a vampire, my great aunt’s gone, I have to find the dragon who beat us up if I ever want to see her again, Fal on and I are… wel , I don’t know what we are right now.
Oh, and I haven’t even started trying to run the Preservation Society.”
“When you do though, you’l do a good job.”
“No I-”
Kevin put a finger to her lips. Just that touch felt more sensual than Briony could have imagined. They had been so careful with one another since Briony had left his home, but it was obvious that the need for her stil bubbled beneath the surface for Kevin. And there was definitely something in Briony that answered it.
Kevin hesitated just briefly before leaning in to place the most delicate of kisses on her forehead. He stepped back a little. It was easier to think wi
th him further away.
“I’ve told you before,” Kevin said, “it’s al right to feel a little under pressure, Briony.”
“I know. Losing my family, and al of this with the vampires, and everything else that has happened.”
“Don’t say it like it’s nothing. You’ve had more to deal with than most people.”
“And sometimes I feel like I spend my time whining about how unfair life has been to me.”
Kevin kissed her then, and just the joy of it drove that thought from Briony’s mind. “One of the things I love about you is that you don’t do that. Most people complain about every little thing in their lives, but you don’t even when you have something to complain about. I like that only I get to see when you’re real y hurt, Briony. I like that you let me in like this.”
“I let most of the diner in the other night when Fal on broke up with me.”
“I bet you tried to hide it though,” Kevin guessed. He smiled tightly. “Maybe I’m not the best one to help with the whole Fal on thing. I’m a little too happy that he’s gone, but I can help with the rest of it, if you like.”
That sounded tempting. More than tempting, given how out of control Briony’s life was getting. “How?”
“Wel , for one thing, I think I should move into the inn for a while.”
Briony wasn’t so sure about that. She could remember what it had been like living in Kevin’s cabin. How much tension there had been between them there. It sounded a lot like the kind of move that might increase her troubles, not solve them.
“Kevin, I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”
“There would be more space than in the cabin, Briony.” It seemed that Kevin’s thoughts had already run in the same direction. “We wil both have more freedom to spend time away from it, too. It won’t be the same, and you need someone there for support if Pietre comes back.”
“Jake’s there.”
“Sometimes. He wasn’t there last time, was he? We both know that, with his poor control, he can’t stay around you permanently. I can.”
Briony smiled up at him. “So long as you keep control over other hungers.”
“I wil .” Kevin looked solemn as he said it, and Briony found herself believing it. It would be good to have him around, and Briony had already seen that, alone, she wasn’t any match for Pietre. If the master vampire decided that he was getting bored of waiting, did Briony real y want to be alone?
“Al right,” Briony said. “But what about the rest of it.
The dragon, and the society?”
“I’l help you to look for the dragon,” Kevin promised,
“and so wil the rest of the Preservation Society if you ask them. I think you’l find that they are a lot happier about you running them than you might think, Briony. You just have to have the confidence to actual y lead them.”
Somehow, Briony doubted that it would be that simple.
“Whatever happens,” Kevin promised, pul ing her close, “I wil be right here for you. You aren’t alone, Briony.”
“I know.” She kissed him then, and wanted to keep kissing him, but she managed to pul back. “I should get back to the diner. Jil can’t hold off the rush al evening.”
“I bet she can manage just a few more minutes,”
Kevin suggested. His lips barely brushed hers.
Briony grinned. “You know, I bet she probably can.”
Chapter 15
Kevin left when Briony went back to her shift, saying something about a special surprise before he moved in and asking her to meet him for dinner when she was final y finished at the diner.
“That would be nice,” Briony said.
“Great, I’l pick you up as soon as you’re done here.”
Briony spent most of the rest of her shift thinking about what it might be that Kevin had planned. Knowing him, it could be almost anything. Briony ran different scenarios through her head as she worked, and it made the time go that much faster.
Briony obviously wasn’t the only one thinking about it though. Ten minutes before the end of her shift, Fal on final y stopped his game of cat and mouse with her line of vision and walked up to her in the kitchen as she was fetching an order. Pete the cook looked up from the ovens, but didn’t say anything.
“What did Kevin want?” Fal on demanded.
“That’s none of your business now, is it?” Briony knew it would probably only cause an argument, but Fal on couldn’t dump her, spend the day avoiding her, and then expect to be told every detail of her life. She moved to step past him.
Fal on stayed in the way. “Briony… ”
“If you must know, he’s taking me out to dinner.”
Fal on rol ed his eyes. “Of course he is. With me out of the way, he’s final y getting ready to make his move on you.”
Briony shook her head. “It’s not like that.”
“Isn’t it?”
Briony thought about asking him along. They needed to sort this out, and they couldn’t do that if they spent their time avoiding one another. Maybe if the three of them sat down and just talked-
“Is the boy bothering you, Briony?” Pete asked, interrupting her thoughts.
Briony shook her head. “No. I don’t think he is.”
Fal on looked suddenly hurt. “Wel then. Kevin can do what he wants. I know where I stand, at least.”
“What?” Briony asked.
“My feelings don’t even matter to you anymore? I thought we had more than that, Briony.” He turned and stalked out.
“Wait, that wasn’t what I…”
It was too late though. Fal on was gone. So much for making things up.
“I’m kind of glad he’s gone,” Pete said.
Briony found herself surprised. Normal y, Pete didn’t get involved in the things that went on in the diner beyond his nephew Percy.
“Oh, don’t get me wrong,” the cook said. “He seems a fine enough boy, for what he is, and if I can work with George now, I can deal with him hanging around.”
“There’s a ‘but’ coming, isn’t there?” Briony guessed.
The older man nodded. “Some people in the Preservation Society aren’t exactly happy with everything that has been happening recently, Briony. Not anyone in the diner, you understand, but some of the others further out.
They’ve been saying that we’ve been getting too close to the monsters, and that’s why we’re in this mess.”
“But that’s-”
Pete held up a hand to stop her. “I said that’s what people have been saying, not what I think. The trouble is, what people say is important sometimes. Like how they’ve been saying that you’re just a teenage girl, and not Sophie Edge. Like how they’ve been murmuring about some of the company you keep.” He gave the door Fal on had left through a pointed look. “They say it proves you aren’t old enough to have the right kind of judgment, yet. That you aren’t ready to lead the society.”
That was what people in the Preservation Society were saying? Briony hadn’t heard any of it. Then again, beyond Pete, Percy, Jil , Maisy and Steve, she hadn’t seen any of them recently, either. No doubt her general silence had something to do with it too. By not doing anything to take charge, she had made it easy for the ones who didn’t know her to think that she couldn’t.
“What do you think, Pete?” Briony asked. “You were in the army with George, weren’t you? It can’t be easy, being told that someone like me is supposed to be taking charge now.”
Pete shrugged, flipping a few burgers over. “Me, I’ve seen men who have been commanding years who don’t have the sense they were born with. I’ve seen kids just a little older than you who knew exactly what they were doing.
Al right, so I think you don’t exactly have the best taste in men, but I figure that there are probably worse choices for a leader until we get Sophie back. That idiot nephew of mine, for instance.”
Briony couldn’t help smiling at the thought of Percy in charge of anything.
“T
hat’s better,” Pete said. “Now get on with you.
There are customers waiting for their food.”
There were, and Briony hurried to catch up. As she did, she did her best to push thoughts of Fal on from her mind. That wasn’t easy. Particularly not after what he had said. He had assumed that Kevin would be making some kind of move on her tonight. As much as Briony wanted to dismiss it as just his jealousy, was he right? Kevin was moving in, so would he try to push things further in spite of what he had said before?
Most of Briony didn’t believe that he would, but there was stil a nagging edge of doubt at the back of her mind.
She had seen how close they had come back at Kevin’s cabin. She could remember every detail of it. Of him.
Wouldn’t it be so easy for things to go there again?
Would it be so bad if they did? Some mischievous corner of Briony asked the rest of her. After all, if you want him, and he wants you…
Briony shook her head to clear it. She didn’t need that kind of encouragement. She needed to remind herself that she would be strong. That she would wait until she was ready, not just until she gave in to what they felt. Maybe she should reconsider letting him move in? No, Kevin was right.
Briony needed someone else around in case Pietre came back. And not just for that. With Jake coming and going so unpredictably, it was rapidly turning into a very lonely place to be.
Besides, Briony wouldn’t let Fal on put doubts into her mind like this. He might not trust her with his brother, but that didn’t mean Briony couldn’t trust herself.
Kevin arrived just as he had promised, bringing his truck around to the front of the diner just as Briony’s shift there finished. He was dressed in slacks and a nice button down shirt that showed just enough of the muscles beneath it to make Briony hop in eagerly, kissing him by way of a welcome.
“Wel , that’s certainly a good start to the evening.”
Briony nodded her agreement. “So, where are you taking me? Um… I don’t need to go home and change, do I?”