Our Little Kitten has had just a little bit too much to drink so, after a little negotiation, we carry her upstairs and tuck her up in the bed in Tudor’s old room, rearranging the furniture, mattress and covers to make room for us all, because whatever he was up to with Kitten and Beau it clearly wasn’t preparing the room. In fact, the old bed seems to have collapsed.
The Little Kitten falls asleep almost immediately, helped on by all that liquor and the exhaustion of today, but the rest of us don’t sleep – our eyes focused her way, keeping a vigilant watch over her.
I have a feeling that if we get out of this alive, this is how things will be from now on – the four of us watching over this girl, protecting her, keeping her safe. The question is, how hard is that going to be?
It was different when she was just a girl from Slate, someone the others at the academy liked to pick on, poke at. It was easy then. Now she has possibly the biggest enemy out there. The Empress. Seems almost incredible to me.
Then again, Briony herself is pretty incredible. Something I can’t help but voice to the others.
“She’s really special, isn’t she?” I say, directing my words at the Prof.
He looks up from where he’s gazing down at her sleeping face and nods seriously.
“Far more special than I think any of us can even comprehend,” he says. “She means the world to me, this girl. I hope you believe me now. I’d never do anything to hurt her. I’m going to spend my life, whether that is for eternity or whether I have just days left, keeping her safe, making her happy. I’ve never felt like this about anyone before.”
“Didn’t feel like this about the deputy headmistress then?” I ask, with a hint of a smile.
He scowls at me. “Most definitely not. That was...”
“Sex?” I ask.
“No,” he says. “It wasn’t that. It was …” He pauses. “She was very good at stroking my pride and massaging my ego and making me feel... special.”
“Sure.”
“You have to understand,” he said. “I came from Slate. Out here, I was special. I had people massaging my ego all the time. Then I came to the academy and, well?—”
“The shadow weavers outshone you,” I say helpfully.
“Yeah,” he says, scowling at me even harder. “I was young and foolish. I know better now. Better than to waste this opportunity with Briony.” He looks round at the three of us. “I strongly advise all of you not to waste this opportunity either.”
I consider this for a moment. Before I came to the academy, I had hoped we’d find a thrall. I had hoped I’d find lots of other girls too. I had spent a lot of my time chasing tail, being chased myself. And I planned to continue that when I got to the academy.
Fuck, I probably planned to continue it for the rest of my days. I never really saw myself as a one-woman kind of wolf. Especially as head of my pack. I could have my pick, couldn’t I?
But now that I’ve met Briony, things have changed. I am most definitely, 100%, without a trace of doubt, a one-woman wolf; a one-woman man. There is no one else for me.
“I won’t waste this opportunity,” I say. “I’ve never met anyone like her before. I’ve never felt this way about anyone either. And I know I never will again. Briony’s the only girl for me. There will be no one else.” I turn my head to Beaufort. “Do you see us getting out of this alive?” I ask him. “And by the way, when I mean see, I’m talking visions here, man.”
Beaufort stares off towards Briony.
“I wish I could tell you something. I wish I could control them.”
“Have you ever tried?” Fox asks.
“A little,” he says. “But I’ve never had instruction. I never told my mother about these visions.”
“And why is that?” Fox asks.
Beau smiles half-heartedly.
“I think we’ve established now, Professor, that I don’t exactly have the best relationship with my mother. It’s not the closest.”
“You’ve never trusted her,” Tudor says.
“No, it’s not that exactly. I just didn’t know what she would do with this gift. And until I understood it myself, I wasn’t prepared to share it with her. I always thought, eventually, given time, I would. But now, well...” He trails off.
“You ever read any books about visions?” the Prof asks next.
