Saint came as requested, but he stood a little way back from Avery, frowning.
“Where I come from, males do not hold hands with one another,” he announced.
Avery gave him an exasperated look.
“Is this because I’m gay? Honestly, why do straight guys always think—”
“I never said it was because of your…preferences,” Saint interrupted, glaring at him. “I just…have never done this before.”
“Well, you’ll have to do it now if you want the skink to understand you,” Avery said sharply. “Holding my hand is the only way the translation spell will work.”
I wasn’t sure, but I thought I saw hurt on his face, though he masked the emotion well.
“Well…” Saint looked at him uncertainly.
“I promise I won’t bite,” Avery said waspishly. “Just because I’m gay doesn’t mean I want to jump your bones, roomie.”
“Jump on my bones?” Saint looked confused.
“Avery is promising not to try and have sex with you,” Ari said helpfully.
Saint’s face went dark red.
“Oh, I never…I didn’t…” He shook his head. “It’s just that my Drake can be dangerous,” he said at last, looking directly at Avery. “If he thinks you are…trying to tame him and he does not wish to be tamed to your hand.”
Avery frowned.
“How did we get from you holding my hand so you can talk to the skink to me taming your Drake? I told you, Saint—I’m not interested in you that way.”
“You’re not?” Saint’s face was impossible to read. “I mean, of course you’re not,” he said quickly. “I just thought…” He shook his head. “Never mind.”
Avery was looking more and more irritated.
“Look, I know you come from the Fatherland of Homophobia, but do you think we could get on with this? My Coven-mate is in a lot of trouble here.” He held out a hand to Saint, who stared at it.
“Please, Saint,” Kaitlyn whispered. “Emma is hurting. If there’s any chance the skink will listen to you…”
“Of course.” Saint seemed to shake himself. “Forgive me,” he said formally to Avery. “Let me try.”
He came forward and reached for Avery’s hand. But the moment their fingers touched, both of them jumped back and Avery almost fell in the fire. Only Griffin reaching around and grabbing him by the arm kept him from tumbling backwards into our small hearth and landing ass-first in the flames.
“Dios!” Saint breathed, and looked down at his hand as though searching for some kind of an answer. “Did you feel that?” he asked Avery, who was finally on his feet again.
“I certainly did.” Avery shook his head. “Whatever it was, it was really strong.”
“What? What was it?” Megan asked anxiously as Avery and Saint looked at each other warily.
“Nothing,” Avery said at last. “Just some kind of static electricity, I think.”
“Of course,” Saint agreed, though I thought his voice sounded hoarse. “Shall we try again?”
Without waiting for Avery to answer, he grabbed the other boy’s hand in a firm grip. I watched as he entwined his fingers with Avery’s and couldn’t help thinking that for someone who didn’t want to hold hands with another guy, Saint was really going for it. I wasn’t sure what he was trying to prove but at least this time neither one of them jerked backwards.
“Wow,” Avery said in a low voice, looking at Saint. “I…I think I can feel your Drake.”
“He certainly feels you,” Saint remarked. “Come, we must do this. What should I say?” he asked and I noticed that his knuckles were white where he was gripping Avery’s hand. Clearly he wanted to get this over with for some reason.
“Just order the skink to leave,” Avery said, his voice slightly breathless. “That’s all—just tell it to get out and be very, very firm with it.”
“As you wish.” Saint, who was taller than Avery, had to bend down to speak in my right ear. “Skink,” he said in a deep, menacing voice that sent a shiver through my bones. “Leave this female at once and bother her no more.”
There was that awful, by-now-familiar stirring in my right ear and then the skink asked,
“By whose authority do you command me to depart?”
Saint looked up at Avery.
“It will not listen to me. Brace yourself—I must let my Drake come forward. You may feel him and he will most probably feel you since we are touching.”
Avery swallowed hard, but nodded.
“All right. Do what you have to do.”
Saint nodded briefly and then his eyes began to glow a deep, fiery red.
Suddenly I felt another presence in the room. It was like something huge and dark and absolutely terrifying had spread its wings to surround me. Not to sound like a nerd, but the image that formed in my mind was of the Balrog in the Lord of the Rings movies. A creature of darkness and fire that shouldn’t be messed with, lest it destroy everything that it touched.