day, you’l be ready, and we won’t have to be so careful with one another. I can wait.”
From the seriousness of his tone, Briony knew that Kevin meant it. He would wait for her, no matter how long it took. Right then, she suspected that it was more than she deserved. The rest of the evening passed quietly, with Kevin keeping a distance between them that obviously said how much the move had pained him, but Briony couldn’t close it. She knew that she couldn’t be just his. Not with the way she stil felt about Fal on.
Those feelings were there waiting for her the next day at school, rising up in Briony as she spotted him by the hal lockers. Seeing him like that, feeling the sudden connection that blazed between them the way it always did, Briony knew that she had done the right thing. She couldn’t wear Kevin’s ring when Fal on was waiting for her each day, and she was beginning to feel more and more attracted to hi
Fal on turned, saw her, and smiled. He made his way over, and Briony stopped to admire the almost delicate grace of him as he did it. She didn’t get enough opportunities to just watch him. Briony waited until he got close.
“Fal on, I have something important to tel you… ”
“Me first,” he said, reaching for her and pul ing her to him. He kissed her on her lips softly.
“But this is… ”
“I’ve found your dragon.”
It took a moment for the words to sink in. They had been looking around for the past few days, but there had been no sign of the strange looking young man.
“You have?”
Fal on nodded. “He’s been hanging around the school, and I managed to track him down in one of the music rooms. Apparently, he’s been giving lessons as an excuse to be here.”
Briony thought back to the playing she had heard in the theater. She could easily imagine the dragon shifter managing to convince the school, while the disguise probably meant that he didn’t have to spend al his time there, the way he would have to if he pretended to be a student.
“What did he say?” Briony asked.
Fal on shook his head. “Not a lot. He told me that he had no business with me, and that he would talk to you when it was time to, not to anyone else.”
“Wel , that wasn’t very friendly.” Although Briony wasn’t sure why she should be surprised by that. After al , the last time the dragon shifter and Fal on had met, they had been fighting.
“At least he didn’t knock me sprawling this time,”
Fal on pointed out with a smile. Now, what was your news?”
Briony held up her right hand. It took Fal on a moment to get it.
“You took it off? Oh, Briony…”
He kissed her, and it had days of pent up passion in it. Fal on’s mouth was almost bruising on Briony’s, but right then, she didn’t care. She kissed him back with just as much ardor, and kept at it, running her hands through his hair. The memory of Fal on and her behind the diner when they were carried away with passion, came back to her, and instead of fighting it, she was giving in, kissing Fal on with as much passion as she can… feeling an unquenchable hunger for him. As far as Briony was concerned they could kiss al day…
“Ouch!” Fal on pul ed back from her sharply, and Briony could see that his fangs were extended. A few drops of blood showed on his lips. Had he accidental y cut her, or bitten himself?
Gently, so gently, Fal on reached out and pul ed back Briony’s top lip.
“Um… you aren’t going to believe this, Briony, but you seem to have… wel , fangs.”
“Don’t joke about it, Fal on.”
“I’m not joking.”
Briony ran her tongue around her teeth, then pul ed it back sharply.
“I do. Are they like… real vampire fangs?”
Fal on shook his head. “They’re smal er. They’re actual y kind of cute.”
“This isn’t funny, Fal on.” Briony turned and practical y ran for the nearest girl’s bathroom. There, she stood in front of a mirror, opened her mouth, and recoiled in shock. The fangs were indeed smal er than a vampire’s, but they were there. They were definitely there.
Briony forced herself not to panic. Forced herself to take deep breaths. She hadn’t been turned. The fangs weren’t the right size, and in any case, there