Page 37 of Extraordinary Quests for Amateur Witches

“They’re really something, huh?” Sebastian said, breaking Kieran out of his thoughts as the sound of Delilah and Briar’s laughter vanished up the stairs.

Kieran turned to meet his gaze. Sebastian’s sharply arched eyebrows were up, a quarter smile quirking the corner of his lips. If Kieran hadn’t known better, he might have laughed. Those eyebrows reminded him of little of bat wings. I can see why whoever cursed him decided to go with vampirism.

Kieran nodded. “ True love, just like in the fairy tales. Sickly sweet, isn’t it?”

“Not at all.” Sebastian laughed. “It’s kind of reassuring, in a way, isn’t it?”

“I don’t follow.”

Sebastian gestured to the stairs where the girls had disappeared. “Well, if it exists for them, maybe it can for the rest of us too.”

“How optimistic of you,” Kieran said. He stood up, gesturing to one of the couches that had been set up along the windows to get a better view of the ground far below. “Wanna move to the couch? The view over cities is incredible, and I think we might be close to one.”

Sebastian nodded, following Kieran’s lead. The two crossed the floor side by side, hands nearly touching. They sat down next to each other, and Sebastian tilted his face down to better take in the lights below.

The aeroship had just left the flatlands outside the town of Maybury and were now approaching the towering buildings of Cestella City.

The city lights glowed in shades of topaz and pink and blue, winking up at them as if the city itself were greeting them.

Unlike up north, here, no snow decorated the sidewalks.

Instead, some hearty cool-weather trees and bushes still clung to their leaves, framing the roads on either side.

A few cars puttered down them with their headlights on.

Not far from their own ship, other aeroships floated through the skies.

With the languid flap of their metallic wings, they reminded Kieran of birds.

“Not bad, right?” Kieran said, sneaking a look at Sebastian.

Sebastian’s eyes were rounded, the lights reflected in his near-black irises. His lips were parted in a smile, revealing the edges of his snowy teeth. Kieran’s stomach clenched. Part of him waited to hear Ash’s voice in his head telling him that this was a bad idea.

His brain had gone silent.

“No,” Sebastian said, turning his gaze to Kieran. The joy in it was almost childlike. “Not bad at all.”

Kieran’s heart nearly launched itself into his throat. He could feel a hot blush in his cheeks. He felt lucky that the only illumination in the room was coming from string lights and the glow of the city below.

“You know,” he said, and beneath the layers of tension in his body, something else gave way: an uncharacteristic boldness bolstered by wine. “I just realized that everyone forgot to ask me a question. The one I had to answer truthfully for losing the game.”

“Hmm,” Sebastian said, rubbing his chin as he considered it. “Well, that seems a bit unfair, doesn’t it? Who am I to let you get away with such a transgression?”

Kieran’s pulse thrummed. The air had suddenly begun to feel charged around them, as if any spark could ignite an explosion.

Unconsciously, he moved closer to Sebastian, close enough to smell his cologne.

Kieran could guess the layers of it: bergamot, grapefruit, and sandalwood.

It reminded him of a summer night, heavy but warm.

“What’s your question, then?” Kieran said, his voice coming out huskier than he’d intended. Typically, that would have made him turn bright red with an immediate shock wave of embarrassment, but for once, it didn’t.

Sebastian angled himself so he was firmly leaning into Kieran’s personal space. There was no way to ignore him, from the heat coming off his skin to the touch of his hand as it suddenly went to Kieran’s knee.

The air was sucked out of Kieran’s lungs all at once.

Sure, he’d seen the way Sebastian had stared at him for a moment too long once or twice, but with him this close, Kieran’s mind struggled to explain away what was happening.

This wasn’t something Just Friends did. At least, not ones who were going to stay just friends for long.

I should tell him to move, Kieran thought, his eyes trained unwaveringly on Sebastian’s lower lip. It was full and pouty, perfect for Kieran to nip at. I should be loyal to Ash. I should…

Sebastian took a breath, staring directly into Kieran’s eyes.

“If I asked you to let me kiss you right now, would you say yes?”

Kieran felt like the ground had swooped out from beneath him.

His heart lurched. When had he last felt like this?

Had he ever, even with Ash’s body wrapped around him?

Because just now he couldn’t seem to summon a single memory of a feeling that burned even close to as bright as the one growing hotter and hotter in his chest. He couldn’t stop the truth from spilling out, voice choked with the weight of it.

“Yes.”

The next moment, Sebastian’s soft lips were on his.

Kieran inhaled sharply as one of Sebastian’s hands went to Kieran’s thigh while the other pressed to his neck, nudging him closer.

Kieran trapped Sebastian’s lower lip between his teeth, nipping it gently.

Sebastian hummed against the kiss. The touch of his fingers as they sank into Kieran’s hair felt electric, a shiver running down Kieran’s spine.

Kieran failed to stop himself from smiling against the other boy’s lips.

Sebastian broke the kiss, pressing his forehead to Kieran’s so their noses gently brushed. His voice was thick, lower than Kieran was used to. “I didn’t think you’d say yes.”

“I wasn’t allowed to lie,” Kieran whispered.

“Well, then. Can I ask another question?”

“Sure.”

“Do you want to do it again?”

Kieran’s breath rushed out of him. “Yes.”

Sebastian’s eyes flickered with an emotion Kieran couldn’t place.

After a moment, it dawned on him: It was like hunger.

Kieran’s heart rate sped up. If they got closer, would it trigger Sebastian’s bloodlust?

Sure, he’d been able to control himself before when Kieran’s blood had been dripping onto his face, but how could he know if it would be the same this time?

Kieran barely felt in control of his own body at that moment—he couldn’t imagine how much harder it must be for Sebastian with his curse.

Sebastian hesitated, pulling back. “Are you okay? You looked…afraid for a second.”

Kieran tried to swallow, but his mouth had gone dry. “Sorry—sorry, it’s nothing—”

“It’s not nothing if it makes you uncomfortable. Tell me.”

A wave of guilt washed over Kieran. Why did he find it so hard to communicate this sort of thing? Speaking up for himself had never been a skill Kieran excelled at, especially in the case of something like this. He’d hate to hurt Sebastian’s feelings or make him think he was any less for his curse—

“Kieran,” Sebastian said, eyes narrowing. “You’re in your head. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

Before he could let himself get mired in anxiety, Kieran said, “Is it, um, safe? With your curse and everything?”

As soon as the words were out, Kieran winced. You’re going to hurt him, and he’s going to hate you—

Sebastian, however, didn’t falter. His expression softened, though not in a sad way. There was understanding there, despite Kieran’s feeling that he might hyperventilate. Sebastian reached out and cupped Kieran’s cheek with his hand, tilting his face up to meet his eyes.

“I would never hurt you,” he promised. There was a weight behind the words that made Kieran wonder if he was speaking about something more than just his curse. “I swear it. I’ve had time to learn how to keep that part of me in check. I would never bite you without your permission.”

Kieran’s eyes widened. Without…permission?

He thought back to what Sebastian had said about when he bit Lila in Raven’s Roost: I can make it feel positive for whoever I’m drinking from.

Kieran’s first thought was to emphatically deny he’d ever want that.

That everything he liked was very safe and normal and didn’t involve teeth.

His second thought, however, didn’t fully support that.

“I…huh” was the only thing Kieran managed to say.

“Whatever I can do for you, just say the word,” Sebastian said. He stroked a thumb across Kieran’s jaw. “If it’s a only a kiss, it’s only a kiss.”

Kieran found himself nodding before his thoughts could wander any further. “I think I’d just like a kiss for now.”

Sebastian reached out for Kieran again. He pulled him closer, and they rearranged themselves so Kieran sat sideways in Sebastian’s lap, his knees bent and feet on the couch.

Feeling Sebastian’s arms wrapped around him, resting low near his tailbone, was almost enough to completely erase his anxiety.

“I can manage that.”

With that, Sebastian pulled him close once more.

Kieran fell into his kiss as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

While it was a bit stiffer at first than it had been before, Kieran felt his muscles slowly relax as he settled into the feeling of Sebastian’s tongue teasing at his own and his hands slipping just underneath the waistband of Kieran’s trousers.

Everything about him was warm and sure and steady, and so much around Kieran wasn’t.

And for once in his life, Kieran let himself simply enjoy that.

When Kieran awoke the next morning, Seaweed asleep on his chest, he wasn’t entirely sure whether the night before had been a dream.

It had certainly felt like one. He’d spent more nights in a row than he’d like to admit wondering what Sebastian’s lips would feel like on his.

Each of those nights too he berated himself for thinking it.

So when the moment had finally come, and it had been better than he’d imagined, it had immediately sent him into a spiral.