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My Drake growled within me, agreeing wholeheartedly.We wouldnevergive up Avery, he told me.We would kill or die to protect him!He was ourl’lornaand we would never relent and give in to the pressure my Sire was trying to place on us.We would?—

“Told you I’d get you back, you littlefaggot.”Juan Gonzales’ voice interrupted my musings and I turned to see that he was pointing not at me, but at Avery.

I glared at him.

“Soyou’rethe one who alerted my Sire.”

“Somebodyhad to,” Juan sneered.“Cursed Drake or not, we can’t have you acting like a fuckingmariposain public.You’ll give Drakes everywhere a bad name!”

“What I do in public—or in private—isnoneof your business,” I growled at him.

My Drake wanted to come forward—hehatedGonzales for the way he had beaten and tormented Avery.And I had to admit, I agreed with him.Gonzales was a bully who ought to be punished for his impudence.How dare he involve my Sire in my private life?How dare he threaten my relationship with Avery?

“You’re both nothing but fucking faggots,” Gonzales sneered at me.“You better get rid of that Mark on your forehead and fly right!If you don’t, your Sire will recall you to the Sky Lands and exile you to the Swamps!You can go live with thebrujathat cursed you in the first place!”

“Do not speak to me of that place!”I snarled at him.My Drake surged forward and I felt my eyes begin to flame.

Gonzales took a wary step back.

“You can’t—you’ll be expelled!”he exclaimed, but his voice was high with fear as my Drake looked out of my eyes at him.

“But not before I kill you first!”my Drake roared at him.That was it—he was coming all the way out.I could feel him like a live coal in my chest, about to burst into deadly flame…

And then I felt something else.Someone was tugging on my arm and a familiar voice was begging me to look at him.

“Saint!Saint, please—no!Please—look at me,” Avery said.I turned my head and saw the fear and worry in his blue eyes.“Saint,” he begged, “Please—put your Drake away!If he comes out, I’ll lose you—we’ll lose each other.”

His words calmed my Drake as nothing else could have.Above all else, he wanted to stay with ourl’lornaand the idea of losing Avery was enough to slake even his nearly unquenchable bloodlust.Bit by bit, I felt him receding to the back of my mind.

Avery must have seen my Drake retreating as my eyes stopped burning and turned back to their regular obsidian, because he breathed a sigh of relief as he led me away from the Drake table.

Behind us, Juan Gonzales called,

“Yeah, you better run away—faggots!”

Avery turned his head and shot him a glare.

“Are youinsane,Gonzales?”he demanded.“Do you have a death wish?If Saint’s Drake comes out, you’retoast,along with everyone else in the Dining Hall!Is your dick really so tiny that you have tomachoeveryone in the school to death to prove what a big man you are?”

“Hey!”Gonzales exclaimed.“I don’t have a tiny dick!”

“Well, it’s either a tiny dick or a tiny brain—I’m inclined to think both,” Avery shot back.“Now sit down, shut up, and stop shooting off your mouth before you get us all killed!”

There were murmurs of agreement from all sides of the Dining Hall and I knew that Gonzales wasn’t the only one who had been horrified when my cursed Drake had come forward.

As for my Drake, however, he didn’t care what anyone said about him—about us.He was content that the beloved was touching us, leading us away to where we could hopefully be alone.He still wanted to come out and “cuddle” Avery, but he would be content ifIwould hold ourl’lornawhile he was awake, he informed me.

Of course, this was not the most convenient time—classes were due to start any minute—but I didn’t think it wise to deny my Drake’s request.Not when he had so nearly taken over.

“Avery,” I said, my voice sounding hoarse in my own ears.“I need—my Drake needs—me to touch you.To hold you.”

He shot me a quick glance.

“All right.It’ll mean missing First Period but come on—we’ll go back to the Norm Dorm.”

I breathed a sigh of relief that he was willing to comply with my Drake’s demands and followed him eagerly towards the trap door that led down into the Dorm.Hopefully being close to him would calm the madman inside me and we could continue to our classes afterwards.

As for what my Sire had said, I was trying not to think about it.I would deal with it later, I told myself.I couldn’t think of his accusations—or his threat—right now.Now, all I wanted was to hold myl’lornaclose and know that he was safe in my arms and that no one could take him away from me.