Then Baz looks at me like he always looks at me when he’s about to attack.
BAZ
Simon Snow is still going to die kissing me.
Just not today.
62
SIMON
I end up sitting on the ground next to Baz, facing him. Kissing him. He took me by the shoulders a while ago, on either side of my collar, and he won’t let go.
I’m not sure what we’re doing, to be perfectly honest—but nothing’s on fire anymore. And I feel like maybe we’ve solvedsomething.Even though this is probably just a new problem.
For a minute, I think about Agatha, and I feel like a bounder, but then I remember that we’re not together anymore, so it’s not cheating. And then I think about whether this, what’s happening right now, means that I’m gay. But Baz and I are hidden in the trees, and no one can see us, and I decide I don’t have to answer that last question right now. I don’t have to do anything but hold on to Baz; Ihaveto do that.
I’ve still got my hands on his cheeks, and his cheeks aren’t so cold anymore, not where I’ve been touching them. And when I suck on his lips, they go almost pink. For a few seconds, anyway.
I wonder how long he’s wanted this.
I wonder how longI’vewanted it.
I’d say that I didn’t—that the possibility just now occurred to me for the first time. But if that’s true, then why is there a list in my head of all the things I’ve always wanted to do to Baz. Like this:
I push my hand up into his hair. It’s smooth and slips through my fingers. I clench my fist in it, and he jams his face forward into mine—then just as suddenly snatches his head away.
“Sorry,” I say. (I’m out of breath. It’s embarrassing.)
Baz lets go of my jumper and shakes his head, holding on to his forehead. “No. It’s… Where’s your cross?”
I feel for it on the ground around us. When I find it, I hold it up between our faces.
“Put it back on,” he says.
“Why? Are you gonna bite me?”
“No. Have I ever bitten you?”
“No. You’ve never kissed me before either.”
“Youkissedme,Snow.”
I shrug. “So?Areyou going to bite me?”
Baz is getting to his feet. “No… I’d just rather think less about it. I need to drink. It’s been—” He looks around, but it’s too dark to see anything. “—too long.” He glances back at me, then sheepishly away. “Look, I have to… hunt. Will you wait?”
“I’ll go with you,” I say.
“Crowley,” he says, “you will not.”
I jump up. “Can it be anything?”
“What?”
“Anything with blood, yeah?”
“What?” he says again. “Yeah.”
