Silver (Wicked Woods #3) (14 page)

Briony shook her head. “It’s not like that.”

“Isn’t it?”

Briony thought about asking him along. They needed to sort this out, and they couldn’t do that if they spent their time avoiding one another. Maybe if the three of them sat down and just
talked
-

“Is the boy bothering you, Briony?” Pete asked, interrupting her thoughts.

Briony shook her head. “No. I don’t think he is.”

Fal on looked suddenly hurt. “Wel then. Kevin can do what he wants. I know where I stand, at least.”

“What?” Briony asked.

“My feelings don’t even matter to you anymore? I thought we had more than that, Briony.” He turned and stalked out.

“Wait, that wasn’t what I…”

It was too late though. Fal on was gone. So much for making things up.

“I’m kind of glad he’s gone,” Pete said.

Briony found herself surprised. Normal y, Pete didn’t get involved in the things that went on in the diner beyond his nephew Percy.

“Oh, don’t get me wrong,” the cook said. “He seems a fine enough boy, for what he is, and if I can work with George now, I can deal with him hanging around.”

“There’s a ‘but’ coming, isn’t there?” Briony guessed.

The older man nodded. “Some people in the Preservation Society aren’t exactly happy with everything that has been happening recently, Briony. Not anyone in the diner, you understand, but some of the others further out.

They’ve been saying that we’ve been getting too close to the monsters, and that’s why we’re in this mess.”

“But that’s-”

Pete held up a hand to stop her. “I said that’s what people have been saying, not what I think. The trouble is, what people say is important sometimes. Like how they’ve been saying that you’re just a teenage girl, and not Sophie Edge. Like how they’ve been murmuring about some of the company you keep.” He gave the door Fal on had left through a pointed look. “They say it proves you aren’t old enough to have the right kind of judgment, yet. That you aren’t ready to lead the society.”

That was what people in the Preservation Society were saying? Briony hadn’t heard any of it. Then again, beyond Pete, Percy, Jil , Maisy and Steve, she hadn’t seen any of them recently, either. No doubt her general silence had something to do with it too. By not doing anything to take charge, she had made it easy for the ones who didn’t know her to think that she couldn’t.

“What do you think, Pete?” Briony asked. “You were in the army with George, weren’t you? It can’t be easy, being told that someone like me is supposed to be taking charge now.”

Pete shrugged, flipping a few burgers over. “Me, I’ve seen men who have been commanding years who don’t have the sense they were born with. I’ve seen kids just a little older than you who knew exactly what they were doing.

Al right, so I think you don’t exactly have the best taste in men, but I figure that there are probably worse choices for a leader until we get Sophie back. That idiot nephew of mine, for instance.”

Briony couldn’t help smiling at the thought of Percy in charge of anything.

“That’s better,” Pete said. “Now get on with you.

There are customers waiting for their food.”

There were, and Briony hurried to catch up. As she did, she did her best to push thoughts of Fal on from her mind. That wasn’t easy. Particularly not after what he had said. He had assumed that Kevin would be making some kind of move on her tonight. As much as Briony wanted to dismiss it as just his jealousy, was he right? Kevin was moving in, so would he try to push things further in spite of what he had said before?

Most of Briony didn’t believe that he would, but there was stil a nagging edge of doubt at the back of her mind.

She had seen how close they had come back at Kevin’s cabin. She could remember every detail of it. Of him.

Wouldn’t it be so easy for things to go there again?

Would it be so bad if they did?
Some mischievous corner of Briony asked the rest of her.
After all, if you want
him, and he wants you…

Briony shook her head to clear it. She didn’t need that kind of encouragement. She needed to remind herself that she would be strong. That she would wait until she was ready, not just until she gave in to what they felt. Maybe she should reconsider letting him move in? No, Kevin was right.

Briony needed someone else around in case Pietre came back. And not just for that. With Jake coming and going so unpredictably, it was rapidly turning into a very lonely place to be.

Besides, Briony wouldn’t let Fal on put doubts into her mind like this. He might not trust her with his brother, but that didn’t mean Briony couldn’t trust herself.

Kevin arrived just as he had promised, bringing his truck around to the front of the diner just as Briony’s shift there finished. He was dressed in slacks and a nice button down shirt that showed just enough of the muscles beneath it to make Briony hop in eagerly, kissing him by way of a welcome.

“Wel , that’s certainly a good start to the evening.”

Briony nodded her agreement. “So, where are you taking me? Um… I don’t need to go home and change, do I?”

“No. You’re beautiful as you are.”

Al right, so Briony had changed out of her waitress’

uniform, but she was stil only in a dark sweater, jeans, and comfortable shoes. Beautiful probably wasn’t the word she would have chosen to describe it.

“You are, Briony,” Kevin assured her, obviously spotting the uncertainty on her face. “You’re beautiful no matter what you’re wearing.” He smiled. “Besides, our reservation is in ten minutes, so there isn’t time.”

He drove, and as he did so, Briony realized that they were heading to the lake. She might have guessed at a picnic or something similar, if Kevin hadn’t already mentioned a reservation. He stopped the pick up at the start of one of the piers, where a smal seafood restaurant sat, and got out. Briony joined him.

“What do you think?” Kevin asked.

The restaurant certainly looked nice, though it was for the casual dining. Inside, it was delicately decorated and comfortable, and Briony found herself liking it from the moment she set foot through the doors.

Part of that was because, although there were certainly couples there, it wasn’t as much of an obviously romantic choice as the place Kevin had picked out the first time they had gone for a meal together. Whatever he had planned, he was obviously being careful not to come on too strong. Briony appreciated that, even if it was possible that Kevin might simply be starting out slowly before pushing things along later. At least he’d made sure that she wouldn’t feel pressured from the start.

In fact, Kevin went out of his way to keep things as light and simple as possible. The evening could so easily have been fil ed with talk of vampires, or missing relatives, or the problems of Fal on stil being around, but Kevin careful y steered around those subjects, bringing it back to the kind of smal talk any couple would have managed on a date like that. It was like he knew what Briony needed most right now was something that wasn’t about anything supernatural.

Or perhaps Kevin simply wanted any evening that was just about the two of them. Briony could imagine that too. After al , Kevin was probably almost as eager for something that wasn’t about the werewolves, or the vampires, or his brother, but was just about them as a couple. Maybe the evening was intended to be a bit more romantic than Briony had thought.

When their waiter came over, Briony ordered salmon, while Kevin opted for scal ops. While they ate, Kevin seemed to find so many excuses to catch her eye, or brush her hand with his, or simply compliment her. In a lot of ways, it made for a great evening. Briony soon found herself looking forward to the next time Kevin’s fingers would twine with hers, and watching every movement he made with an intensity that let her catch every shift of muscles under that shirt of his.

At the same time though, Briony couldn’t help a growing sense of unease. The evening was building up to something. She could feel it. She found herself proved right towards the end of the evening, when Kevin reached into the pocket of his shirt and pul ed out something that gleamed in the restaurant’s lights. A ring.

“Kevin, what are you doing?”

“You must know how I feel about you, Briony.”

Briony nodded, but she couldn’t stop a sense of creeping horror at the speed things were moving. “I do, but I can’t. I just can’t.”

Kevin looked puzzled for a moment. “Can’t what?”

“I can’t marry you. I’m far too young.”

“Marry me?” Kevin laughed. “Oh, Briony, this isn’t an engagement ring. It’s a promise ring. It doesn’t symbolize anything other than the fact that we’re going out with one another exclusively. I thought you wouldn’t mind, now that Fal on is out of the picture.”

Briony didn’t know what to say to that. It was so unexpected. Yet it was true. She was done with Fal on.

He’d made his position on that more than clear earlier. And she did care about Kevin. A lot. There was a kind of electricity between them every time they were close. Briony suspected that it was one reason why she hadn’t been able to commit ful y to Fal on.

She nodded. “Which finger do I put it on?”

“Any,” Kevin said, moving round the table to kiss her.

“What matters is that you’l wear it. That you’l be mine.”

Briony caught the back of his head, pul ing him down into a longer kiss before slipping the ring onto the third finger of her right hand. “I think I can manage that.”

“Good.” Kevin took her hand, placing a delicate touch of lips to the knuckle where the ring sat. “Now that I’ve persuaded you to do that though, I’ve got one more piece of persuading to do.”

Oh. Here it came.

Kevin grinned. “Help me to move my stuff in?”

Briony fel asleep on one of the lounge sofas again that night, but it was a lot more comfortable than the one before. She drifted off while she and Kevin were watching television, closing her eyes during a particularly good bit in the movie they were watching together, only to open them to find that the morning sun was streaming in through the windows.

The scent of cooking hit her nostrils, and Briony knew even before she looked that Kevin was making breakfast. She ambled sleepily into the kitchen.

“Is any of that for me?” she asked.

“I’m sure we could think of some way for you to persuade me to hand some of it over,” Kevin replied.

Briony stood on tiptoe to kiss him. His hand folded over hers, brushing against the ring she now wore.

“I think that might do it.”

“Do I have time to shower before it’s ready?”

Kevin nodded. “But you’l have to hurry. You don’t want to be late for school on only your second day back.”

Briony checked her watch, realized just how late it was, and looked back at Kevin. “You could have woken me up.”

“But you looked so cute, curled up like that.”

“Cute? I’m meant to be a big, tough vampire hunter.

I’m not meant to be cute.”

Briony rushed upstairs to get ready. By eating only a hurried breakfast and then driving slightly faster than she should have, she managed to arrive at school just before the start of classes. Maisy had saved her a seat in their first class, English, and raised an inquiring eyebrow as she spotted the ring on Briony’s finger.

“I’l explain later,” Briony whispered.

Of course, that only held Maisy off until the end of the period, and Briony soon found herself cornered by the other girl between classes.

“So what’s this?” Maisy asked. “Have you final y chosen one of them?”

“It’s just a promise ring,” Briony said. “It’s not like I’m getting engaged or anything.”

“That’s stil pretty serious. I mean, you’re saying that you want one of them exclusively, right?” Maisy paused.

“Which one? Only I have this bet with Steve…”

“Maisy!”

“I’m kidding. So is it the tal dark and furry brother, or the pale and brooding one?”

“It’s Kevin,” Briony said. “He gave me the ring when he moved in last night.”

Maisy’s eyebrows rose even further. Briony wouldn’t have thought it possible. “What’s your Aunt Sophie going to say about that?”

“We have to get her back before she can disapprove of anything,” Briony pointed out. “Besides, Kevin’s just there to keep an eye on me.”

Maisy looked like she wanted to say something else, but obviously thought better of it, because she chose that moment to change the subject. “How is the search for this dragon of yours going?”

“He’s not my dragon. And it’s not going at al at the moment. I mean, how do you start looking for a dragon?”

“Short of chaining you to a rock somewhere and waiting for it to show up like they do in stories?” Maisy shrugged. “I think we just have to keep our eyes open. After al , how hard can a guy who looks like that be to spot around here?”

“So far,” Briony pointed out, “he’s not proving very easy to spot at al .”

They had to get to their next class, so there wasn’t time to work out what they were going to do about finding the dragon. Maybe they would just have to search Wicked a piece at a time. Assuming that the dragon shifter lived there, and didn’t have a place in the woods the way the werewolves did and Pietre had.

That was another important thing to think about.

Pietre had moved his lair to somewhere else, and Briony would feel at least a little safer if she knew where the new one was. As it was, he knew exactly where Briony would be, but she couldn’t say the same thing about him.