Chapter 10

Abidos

I tried to find a more comfortable position to sit on the floor as I thought. The trouble was that I was drawing a complete blank as to what I could say or do to help her at this point.

Finally, she rolled over again and pushed herself into a pose that was somewhere between sitting and reclining, just looking at me. Her ears were drooped, and her tail was just lying on the ground behind her. Everything about her just shouted out sad resignation.

I started wracking my brain again, this time trying to remember anything I'd ever learned about demons. If I was going to help her, I needed some idea of what other inborn reactions could be set off here and now. The list of what I knew was depressingly empty, considering anything would have been helpful.

Professor Maximar was silent. Either he didn't know anything about Verity's demon father either, or he knew something and he wanted me to figure this out myself.

The silence was getting stressful. I shifted my position a little and one of my hands wound up against hers.

I got another bunch of concepts, but this time I was looking for some clues as to how to help her. I knew that whatever I received, I would have to act on it almost immediately, with no time for thinking so that she couldn't truly call me on eavesdropping.

"Everyone who looks at me sees some unusual creature that can speak their language. And anyone who's watched me duel has seen me bare fangs – no boy would dare to kiss me."

This is probably the easiest thing I could possibly act on.

That was the only thought I allowed myself. My other hand caught her chin, and my lips met hers. I don't know what I was truly expecting; I definitely found her attractive, I wasn't scared of her fangs, and if a kiss would prove to her that I believed she was human, then so be it.

She stiffened, and through my fingers against her face I felt the muscles work to pull her ears straight up. I figured she was probably going to pull away in another second, so I made sure I wasn't hanging onto her chin anymore.

I expected her to pull away. I expected her to hit me.

I expected, in fact, everything except what did happen.

She surged against me, bowling me over, snaking her arm around so I wouldn't stun myself on the floor, and deepening the kiss.

And that surge wasn't just physical…I was overwhelmed by the sheer force of her emotions, too intense and mixed to sort out. All I could really do, with one final thought, was settle down for the ride.

What did I just set off?

Verity

My kitsune side took me by surprise. I admit it. I was swept up myself and carried off by that sudden wave of what I think was lust. It was terrifying and thrilling all in one.

I'm just glad I managed to return to my senses before we, um, did anything thoroughly indecent. I sprang off of Abidos – his blazer was unfastened at the neck, and not much was left of his shirt thanks to my claws – and balanced on all fours staring at him, my tail tucked and my ears at an odd angle. Oh, god…what's he going to think of me now? I almost took him like an animal!

He pushed himself up again and stared right back at me. Then he got this thoughtful look on his face and licked his lips briefly. Finally, he spoke. "That…was one hell of a first kiss."

He didn't…seem upset. "I…that was my first, too."

His eyebrows went up. "Really? You seemed experienced to me."

I felt my face getting hot. "If there's one thing any…female with fox-demon blood is experienced at on some level, it's romance." My gaze roved around the room and landed on his chest. "Sorry about your shirt, by the way."

Abidos blinked as he looked down. Then he lifted the shredded ribbons and studied the skin underneath. I was as surprised as he probably was – while his shirt had been rent almost completely in the front, his skin was unmarked! There were just some faint pink pressure-lines.

"Sorry," I apologized again.

"It's just a shirt," he interrupted me. "It can be mended."

I shook my head. "For jumping you. I…that was in my blood, but it wasn't me. I didn't mean to do that."

"What would you say if I told you I enjoyed that?"

While I stared at him in surprise, he went on. "Remember, I'm older than I look. I was well over this age when I died the first time, and had had my way with many palace girls. The only real difference between those times and this is that this time, I wasn't in control. When I had said 'first kiss,' I'd meant in this body."

"The only difference?" I felt compelled to repeat. "What about the claws and fangs?"

He waved a hand dismissively. "Nuances. Besides, some of those palace girls did have claws of their own, and were far less controlled with them."

Abidos

I watched as she took in that information and slowly settled back down to a sitting position. Then her tongue traced her own lips with a thoughtful expression. "That…would explain why you knew what you were doing. That was…you were practically teaching me how to…"

I let one eyebrow twitch up, along with one corner of my mouth. "If you want to see it that way. So…how do you feel about yourself now?"

I'd just handed her a surprise twist to the conversation, if her expression was anything to go by. "What? Um…I…"

"For the record," I still found it amusing that I'd also been given a certain amount of understanding of the many figures of speech this century had, "I believe in you. I believe that you are capable of controlling whatever powers you hold, once you receive proper training of course."

She stared at me some more. Then she shifted to all fours again – both times, she was on hands and feet, not hands and knees like most people do – and started sidling closer, moving sideways.

I sat there, watching her. That was evidently a wary-animal reflex she'd gotten from her father. I didn't say anything, mainly because there was no point. The ceiling wasn't high enough for her to stand on two legs, and besides, it was an interesting quirk to have.

When she got to me, her hands stopped on my right and she continued moving her feet around behind me until she was lying down curled around me. I stroked her hair, feeling a vague memory of having done that during our kiss.

We sat there like that for a few minutes. Then I asked, "Do you know what time it is?"

"In case neither of you know," Professor Maximar's telepathic voice interjected, "you're going to be late to Doctor Crowler's class if you don't hurry. And Abidos, you don't have time to change your shirt, so you'll have to ad lib."

Verity gave me the out even as she was rolling away from me. "We'll turn your shirt backwards. My claws hadn't touched the back, and your blazer will hide the damage."

The thought was parent to the deed, and soon we were hurrying out of the tunnel with my shirt backwards under my blazer and Verity bounding on all fours. She was going to make it to class before I did, even though I was running as well. And yet, being defeated in a foot race by a girl didn't bother me. Verity was…amazing.