Page 76 of Bitten By the Basilisk

He stopped short of revealing how close his father had come to dying from his injuries, hating that the words wouldn’t pass through his lips, but he didn’t want her to think that territorial challenges were always so dangerous.

“My father barely defeated him. And even though it meant Lance couldn’t challenge him again for a decade, Father realized his time as Basilisk was ending, so he abdicated to initiate the trials for his replacement.”

When Silas peeked at her, Alice was twisting her lips unhappily and furrowing her brow. His first instinct was to reassure her, followed closely by the instinct to assert his dominance.

“If Lance is smart, he won’t challenge me,” Silas said, raising his chin to an imperious angle.

“And if he’s not smart?”

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and curled his lips into a small smirk. “Then I’ll gladly teach him a lesson.”

They had followed Water Street past the marina and down to the boardwalk, where a human vendor had set up a cart to sell handmade kites, and was helping customers get them in the air.

Several distinctive kites swooped in the steadily blowing seaside wind. A pirate skeleton, a black bat, a witch on her broomstick, and a bedsheet-style ghost. More shapes and styles were firmly affixed to the cart’s display board, most of them Halloween-themed, but there was also a dragon, a kraken…

“I can’t remember the last time I flew a kite,” Alice commented, gazing ahead of them with interest.

“How about we change that?” he asked, squeezing her hand.

She whipped her face toward him. “Really?”

He sent her a proud smile in response, earning bounces of excitement that warmed his heart.

The kite vendor was an older gentleman who proudly advertised that he made each kite himself. Alice scanned the available selection, then pointed at a red cobra-shaped kite while flashing him a knowing smile.

As the vendor took it down from the display board, Silas couldn’t help dropping a kiss on her mouth, which instantly softened beneath his.

When he lifted his head, she had a dreamy look in her eyes that would have earned her a second, deeper kiss, but he had to pay the vendor.

Most of the other kite fliers were doing so from the beach, but he and Alice elected to remain on the edge of the boardwalk to avoid getting sand in their shoes. The vendor walked with them a short distance from the cart, then unwound several feet of red string from the spool already attached to the frame of the kite.

Alice made a sound of surprise. “Isn’t kite string usually white?”

“Oh, I like to match the string to the kite when I’m making them,” the vendor said as he handed her the rest of the spool. He then explained how to launch a kite and keep it in the air.

Silas only half listened, more focused on Alice. Her breaths were a little heavier and her eyes flicked about, as though her thoughts were racing. He could guess why.

“Here we go.” The vendor lifted the kite and let the wind take it, but he kept hold of the slack and let it out slowly, until the kite was entirely in Alice’s control. “See? It’s that easy.”

Alice stared up at the kite with a growing smile, delight overcoming her worries.

“Remember to keep both hands on the spool,” the vendor said. “I’ve seen folks lose hold of it because they weren’t ready for the wind to tug hard on the line, so be careful if you want to let it out some more or bring it in.”

“Got it,” Alice acknowledged, her grip on the handles of the spool tightening.

“Have fun, you two. I’ll be around a little while longer if you have any other questions.” They thanked him for his help, and he began moseying back to his cart, where another customer was browsing.

Alice carefully extended the kite string to send the cobra higher, its long tail twisting and undulating quite realistically. The same wind holding it up batted at the back of her skirt, threatening to flip it up while her hands were occupied. When a particularly strong gust hit them, her shoulders jumped up to her ears, which the cold breeze had turned bright pink.

Wordlessly, he moved to position himself behind her, parted his coat, and wrapped as much of it around her as he could without interfering with her kite flying, crossing his arms beneath hers to hold her against him.

“And here I thought you would let the wind expose me,” she said, relaxing into his hold.

“Don’t count me as a gentleman yet, kitten,” he purred near her ear. “If I didn’t have a challenge to meet, you would be bent over the hood of my car right now, skirt flipped up, panties around your knees, getting absolutely railed.”

She whined with disappointment. “Who knew my challenge would end up testing both of us?”

He chuckled. “I did, immediately. Shall I distract us from our torment?”