“Come again?” She pales more.
“Unfortunate choice of words,” Ashton says. “Or not.”
Mia is shaking. “Emrys is making this up. You all are.”
I put my hand over hers, on my arm. My nails are already longer, sharper, turning into claws. “I told you,” I manage, through my jaw is all wrong right now, “that your touch helps… with the pain.”
“Then my touch may be enough to stop him from shifting,” Mia says.
“No sex?” Sindri asks forlornly.
“Nope.”
“Her touch isn’t enough,” Emrys says.Damn. Is he so set on watching me and Mia getting it on? “She’s touching him now. It’s not doing much. It may be helping with the pain but that’s it.”
“How would you know that?” Ashton demands.
“I feel it. What?” Emrys glances around with a shrug. “We demons have a feeling for sex magic. Sex and pain, remember? When we kissed, it was different, the relief was much greater, I think—”
“Shut up, all of you!” Mia yells, wrenching her hand free and standing up, her face red. “Stop this. I’ve never had sex with anyone and I’m not about to start tonight!”
The silence that follows is… hungry. That’s the only word I can think of to describe it. I mean, this is the kind of school where girls compete to see which one will lose her V-card first. It’s kind of a badge of shame, but in a good sense.
Of course, not every girl is part of that race.
And I don’t know if the others thought about her experience or lack thereof. IfIthought about it. Because I want her. Because I get so damn hard every time she’s around. Because when she’s near, I feel good, even if she’s not touching me. I just like her. And want her. And though I’m a fucked-up nutcase, I’d like her to be mine.
She grew up in a church, for fuck’s sake. What were we thinking? Thinking with our dicks, most like.
And it would all be really fucking funny if I wasn’t writhing in pain and feeling my thoughts slipping away as my shift progresses, fighting the meds still in my system. A groan leaves my lips.
“The moon is up,” Sindri whispers, his fingers digging into the armrests of the chair. His head is thrown back, tendons standing out. His hair seems threaded with feathers. His nails are turning into yellow claws. “Arawn…”
“Maybe we should lock the door,” Emrys mutters, his face pale, shiny with sweat. He’s leaning against the wall but he’s shaking, dragon scales covering his forearms. “In case Jason shifts and makes a run for it.”
“Then lock it,” Ashton growls. He’s braced against my desk, head bowed, cat ears poking out of his hair—and dammit, that’s sexy. “We should get Mia out of here.”
Not sexy. Not at all. Hear that, brain? He’s a guy. You’re confused.
Besides, we’re all in pain.
Most of all myself, which might explain the strange leaps my brain is making. Overcompensating, the adrenaline and the endorphins pumping into my system to counteract the pain making me feel like I’m drunk.
“Mia, get out,” Sindri says. There is a ripping sound as his shirt starts to shred. The air around him shimmers. “I may not shift fully, but Jason? We don’t know.”
“Oh, God…” She puts a hand over her mouth, her eyes shimmering. She looks like she’s about to cry and I want to console her, to hold her, but I can’t move.
“Go!” I manage, though it comes out mangled, swallowed by a growl. “Mia, go, now.”
She’s standing in the middle of the room, glancing from me to the others. Behind her, framed by the window, the full moon is shining, pale and huge like a silver plate.
“No,” she says, “I’m not leaving you.”
A frustrated growl escapes me. “Mia—”
“If Jason shifts, will he… will he eat you all?” she whispers.
“I never thought of that.” Ashton grunts. Sweat is running down his cheeks like tears. “I hope he doesn’t have a taste for vampires. We’re kind of bitter.”