Page 14 of A Sanctuary from Shadow
Briar’s brows met. “What the hell are you doing at the library on Saturday nights?”
I shrugged. “Reading.”
“Can’t you do that in your dorm?”
“Yeah, but I like the peace and quiet, and I love the smell of books.” I didn’t mention that I had my own reading nook reserved in the library. The head librarian knew me by name and let me keep pens and notebooks there.
“I like reading too. But not on Saturday nights. Saturdays are for debauchery and indulgence, Amy.”
Clearly, we had different literary tastes if he wasn’t finding those things in his books.
“You know, this year we’re both old enough to attend the Beltane festival,” Briar reminded me. “I’m looking forward to seeing you drunk and uninhibited.”
I wrung my hands. “I’m not getting drunk.”
“Oh, yes you are. It’s part of the rite of passage. All youngbloods must drink from the Beltane cauldron, and whatever’s in that thing gets you smashed in a heartbeat. Everyone else drinks from it, but not nearly as much as us. My cousin broke the rules and told me a bit about last year’s festival. He said shit got wild.”
I cringed, remembering Uncle Neel’s green face when he and Aunt Aylie had returned home the afternoon after last year’s Beltane celebration. Because of my father’s deteriorating condition, they wouldn’t spend more than one night away for the festival. Disheveled and dirt-smudged, grass in their hair, they’d trudged into the house and right up to bed without speaking to any of us. Concerned, we’d questioned my father about it. He’d told us to keep quiet the rest of the day. If the Beltane brew was potent enough to bring the devil out of my conservative relatives, I feared what it would do to me. And I knew Uncle Neel would drag me to the festival by my hair if I refused to go.
Maybe sensing my anxiety, Briar squeezed my knee again. “I’ll take a wild stab in the dark, Larkspur—you’ve never gotten drunk before.”
I scoffed. “Nope.” But I’d never really wanted to.
“Don’t worry.” Briar rose with a wink to resume our game. “I’ll be there to guide you through it.”
Funnily enough, that wasn’t soothing.
“Thankyouforthedate, Briar. I had fun.” We stood together by my desk, the sun setting beyond my double windows. Zahra had gone to dinner, and I wished she’d waited for me.
Briar glanced away from my laptop’s screen saver—a slideshow of pictures I’d taken on spring break. “I had fun too. We should do it again. Soon.”
My heart soared. “Yeah, I’d like that.”
“After finals, of course.”
“Of course.” Demanding to see him tomorrow would come off clingy.
“Guess I should leave you to study.”
My breath shook as he stepped toward me. “Homework is—” I gulped. “Waiting.”
Briar smiled at my nonsense, then cupped the back of my head, leaned in, and kissed me. Soft and gentle, his lips caressed mine. There was no tongue. No heat or passion. Just sweetness. And shortness. I knew I looked downright dazzled when he pulled back. A grin spread across his face.
“I’ll give you a call.” His thumb stroked my cheek. “I think I have your number.”
I giggled. Before we’d left the bowling alley, Briar had insisted I save my cell number in his contacts.
“I better get yours too,” I said, remembering my glitchy phone. “Something weird happened to my MulBerry, and now all my contacts are misidentified. Last night, I tried calling home and wound up calling my bank.”
“That’s weird.”
“It was.” I grabbed a notepad and pen off my desk and handed it to him. “We were at the mall yesterday—”
Briar paused, smirking over the notepad. “I thought you were studying yesterday.”
“Er—well, we needed a break.”
“Amallbreak?”
