He laughs, drawing me into his arms again and kissing me – a kiss that’s interrupted by a knock on the door behind me.
We break apart.
“Briony,” Beaufort asks from the other side of the door. I cast my light around the room, illuminating it, and open the door.
“You disappeared,” Beaufort says, “and you’ve been gone a while. We weren’t sure where you were.”
“Just in here,” I explain. “Fox was hungry.”
Beaufort’s eyes stray to my neck. “Is that necessary?” he says. “We’re not out in the demon wastelands anymore.”
“It’s necessary,” I say. “And besides, I like it.” Beaufort’s gaze leaps from my throat to my eyes.
“Isn’t it dangerous?”
“Isn’t everything we do?” I respond before Fox can.
“You could be weakening her.” Beaufort directs his words towards Fox.
“Actually, I think it does the opposite,” I tell him. “I feel more alive and more powerful once he’s done it.”
“That may be an illusion.”
“It isn’t.” I scowl at him, raising my hand. “I can give you a demonstration if you like.”
Beaufort darts forward and grabs my wrist in his hand. “Okay, little hellcat. I don’t need a demonstration. I believe you. I just want you to be careful.”
“I am careful with her,” Fox says.
Beaufort smirks down at me. “Are you? In my experience she doesn’t like to be handled carefully.” Then he pulls me against him and kisses me hard against his lips, whipping my breath right away and demonstrating that I may have magic that surpasses his, but he’s still physically much stronger than I am. A thought that has desire stirring in my belly.
Beaufort kisses me and I forget about everything else – the Empress, Slate Quarter, the firestones. I forget everything but Fox, lingering in the background.
It’s not just the Professor himself that seems different. His magic does too.
It’s not as cold, not as icy against my skin. There’s some warmth to it now.
I feel it prickling against my back, and I break away from my kiss with Beaufort and peer over my shoulder at the Professor.
He’s watching us through the gloom, his amber eyes glowing as always, his hands slack by his sides.
I glance back toward Beaufort, and then, in that moment, I decide. I crook my finger and beckon the Professor closer.
For a moment, it seems he’ll refuse or that Beaufort will put up a complaint. But both men are silent, and you could cut through the anticipation in the atmosphere with a knife.
The Professor stalks toward Beaufort and me, and with each step forward my heart thumps a little louder.
I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t imagined this – me pinned between Beaufort and the Professor. I think it might be every girl’s fantasy.
“What is it, Miss Storm?” the Professor growls. “What do you require my assistance with?”
Beaufort chuckles, because it’s probably very clear in my eyes why I’ve beckoned the Professor closer. But I know Fox – he wants to hear me say it.
“We’re friends now,” I tell him. “More than friends.”
Fox’s eyes flick up to meet Beaufort’s and then return to my gaze.
“We’re more than friends,” he confirms. “The five of us are bound by fate. We’ll be by your side till the end of our days, Briony.”
