Fang And Claw (Nocturne Academy 2)

Griffin’s face was like a thunderstorm but his voice was cool and smooth when he spoke.

“Sweetheart,” he said to Megan, “I understand that you are trying to help your friend but you are Blood-Bonded to me.”

Megan put a hand on her hip.

“So?”

“So, that makes you allowing any other Nocturne other than Griffin to bite you tantamount to cheating,” Avery said flatly. “Even I know that.”

“Avery is correct,” Griffin said quietly. “But even if he wasn’t, I don’t believe Kaitlyn would want to drink from your vein, sweetheart.”

“What? Why not?” Megan demanded. “You always tell me my blood is delicious—you said it tastes like strawberries.”

“So it does—to me,” he said, nodding. “But the fact that you are Blood-Bonded to another Nocturne will make your blood taste noxious to her. Besides…” he cleared his throat. “There is the…sexual component to think about.”

“What sexual component?” I demanded. “There was nothing like that when Allegra bit me! It was just warm and comforting—just a way to get her to go back to sleep after a nightmare.”

Just thinking of that made me want to cry again but I forced myself not to, remembering that I needed to conserve what little blood I had left in my system.

“That was because Allegra isn’t mature yet,” Griffin said patiently. “But when biting occurs between a Nocturne and another mature human or Other, it always brings intense feelings with it.”

Megan’s cheeks got pink. “Well, that, uh, intense feelings part is certainly true, but I still don’t understand why she wouldn’t be able to drink from me if you and I weren’t bonded.”

“Neither do I,” I said. “What are you trying to say, Griffin?”

He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair again.

“There is no way to be delicate about this. Kaitlyn, are you gay?”

“What?” I demanded.

“Why does that make a difference?” Avery asked, bristling. “Can’t there be gay Nocturnes?”

Griffin blew out a breath.

“There can and there are. But my point is, unless Kaitlyn is gay, she won’t want a donor of the same sex to feed her. And before you offer your own vein, Avery,” he went on when Avery opened his mouth. “Consider that the intense feelings generated during a Nocturne’s bite go both ways. You have no interest in females, therefore letting Kaitlyn bite you and drink from you would feel very wrong for both of you.”

“Oh, come on now—how bad can it be?” Avery scoffed. “Here, Katydid—try some.” He rolled up one of his sleeves and offered me his right wrist.

I looked at it for a moment, noticing the blue bracelet of veins pulsing beneath his golden tan skin. As I watched, one of the veins grew even larger and more prominent. It seemed to be calling to me, almost begging me to bite it.

At the same time, I felt a prickling in my upper teeth. The feeling grew to an ache so intense I felt like I had to bite something. What was happening to me?

“God, Kaitlyn—your mouth! You’ve grown fangs!” Megan exclaimed, staring at me with amazement.

“I have?” I put up my fingers to feel and sure enough, I had two needle-sharp points just where my upper incisors used to be.

“Well, at least your fangs are responding normally.” Griffin sounded relieved, as though he hadn’t been certain I would or could grow fangs like a Nocturne was supposed to.

I guessed I couldn’t blame him—after all, I was already defective, being unable to drink bagged blood. Why would it be surprising if I also couldn’t bite properly?

Which was what I was longing to do right now as I stared at the pulsing blue vein in the underside of Avery’s wrist.

“Well, you might as well go on and bite him,” Griffin said, sounding resigned. “You will both see what I was talking about in a moment.”

“Go on, Katydid,” Avery urged me. “I’m not afraid.”

“Thanks, Avery,” I murmured, looking up at him. And, baring my new fangs, I sank their needle-sharp points into his arm.

34

Kaitlyn

Avery’s blood tasted good and my body didn’t reject it, but from the very first suck I took, the feeling I got was just wrong.

The sensation was incredibly intimate—like a French kiss but more so. And while I considered Avery very handsome and sweet and kind and the best friend a girl could have, I didn’t have any desire to kiss him or do anything else with him either.

Avery must have been feeling the same way I was but he didn’t say a thing. He just set his jaw tight as though he was enduring something distasteful but was prepared to keep it up as long as necessary.

I pulled away first. I couldn’t stand it anymore—I was getting a squirmy, uncomfortably feeling inside and a creeping sensation outside, almost like ants crawling all over my skin.

“Ugh!” Avery and I exclaimed at the same time and Avery clamped a hand to his still-bleeding wrist.