Coven (21 page)

“Hey, gorgeous,” he said, brushing right
past Megan and leaning in to kiss me briefly on the cheek. “How are
you this morning?”

“Great, now that you’re here.” Last night,
the three of us decided that since everyone was pretty much aware
of the relationship between Seth and me, we would keep that up at
school and in other public places. I’d be dating Jett after hours,
so to speak. It wasn’t exactly the ideal situation, and Jett was
less than thrilled over being the guy hidden in the closet, but he
still agreed. That spoke volumes about his feelings for me—that he
was willing to sacrifice public time just to see me in private—not
that we didn’t plan to go out in public together, ever; we’d just
be more discreet when we did.

Man, this was all so confusing.

“Ready for class?” Seth pretty much ignored
Megan completely, taking my books from me.

“I am.”

It felt good when he laced his fingers
through mine and steered me past her and down the hall.

“This isn’t finished,” Megan called after
me, haughtily.

“Oh, I think it is,” I replied, not even
glancing back as we disappeared around the corner.

“Is everything all right?” Seth asked once
we were out of sight.

“She seems to think Jett broke up with her
because he wants to date me.”

“Hmm. Smart girl, that one. What did you
tell her?”

“I didn’t tell her anything. It’s none of
her business.”

“Well, it’s my business and I’m feeling
pretty weird about it.”

“Weird? Did you change your mind?” My heart
rate picked up and I was surprised to recognize panic. I couldn’t
lose him.

He shook his head. “No, it’s weird because I
feel strangely okay with it; but I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s
because I’m confident that you’ll choose me in the end.” Squeezing
my hand tighter, he smiled at me.

“You know I never wanted this, right? I
never wanted to do anything to hurt you.”

“I do know. And that’s why I agreed to this
arrangement. I don’t want to hurt you, either; and forcing you to
be with me before you’re sure of your feelings will do precisely
that. At least this way I still get to be with you in some capacity
while you decide.”

“You were always my choice,” I replied. “I
was perfectly content.”

“Content, but not sure. And when you do
finally come to me, I want you sure—beyond the shadow of a
doubt.”

A movement caught my eye and I saw Jett
strolling down the hall toward us. Seth didn’t release my hand, but
pulled me out of the way of most of the traffic.

“And how are we all this morning?” Jett
spoke cheerfully as he approached. “No regrets?” he added in a
lower voice.

“I’m all good,” Seth said, tightening his
grip on my hand, and I wondered if he realized he’d done it.

“Great. Me, too.” Staring specifically at
me, Jett moved closer, leaning against the wall beside me. One of
his fingers lightly brushed my pinky, linking with it, but he
blocked the view with his body, so no one else could see. “You look
really pretty today.”

Both of them were touching me. I couldn’t
even remember what I was wearing as desire streaked hotly through
me. I’d noticed it last night, too. Whenever both of them touched
me at the same time, it was like rocket boosters were being set off
inside me.

“Thanks,” I managed to mutter as a flush
raced through me. It was so hot I feared breaking into a sweat.

Leaning closer, Jett whispered. “Did Seth
tell you what happened to us?”

“I haven’t had a chance, yet,” he replied.
“Megan was all up in her face when I got here. You need to put a
stop to that.”

“I will. Are you all right?” His concerned
gaze penetrated me.

“What happened?” I asked, impatient,
glancing between the two of them.

“We both dreamed about you, again,” Seth
said, watching me closely.

“The same dream?”

“Mostly. This time all three of us were in
it.”

“Please tell me we weren’t all married
because that’s just a bit too weird. I’m already way over the line
of comfortable as it is.”

Seth and Jett exchanged glances, clearly
giving me an answer.

“Seriously? We were all married?” What the
heck was up with these dreams? I had the sudden urge to skip school
and go talk with Bels. I needed to figure out what the crap was
happening. It was obviously something magic related, but what? I
was getting a more than a tiny bit creeped out with this whole
dream scenario, to be honest.

Jett nodded. “We all were. And that’s why
it’s so strange.”

“What do you mean?”

“We were all married. As in
all
. . . Seth and I weren’t just married to you, but we were
married to each other.”

“Excuse me?” My eyes went wide and full
panic exploded in my chest. What the hell was I involved in? “Are
you two trying to tell me that there is something between the two
of you?” I was pretty sure my pulse rate was at heart attack level
now.

“Oh hell no!” Seth groaned out, before
sticking Jett with a glare. “I told you she wouldn’t get it.”

Jett shook his head. “There is nothing, uh,
sexual, on any level, between Seth and me. Our mutual attraction
for you is the only thing going on. But knowing that makes me think
that maybe you’re right about the dream symbolizing something else.
I don’t necessarily think it’s about actual marriage, but maybe
magic.”

“He thinks maybe we’re supposed to bind our
powers together, that perhaps it’s the magic between us that’s
melding . . . sort of like a trifecta of power.”

“So we’d be like our own coven or
something?” I asked, trying to follow along. Actually this made
sense to me and did a whole lot to calm my over-anxious nerves.

“Yes, exactly like that,” Jett said.

“I’m not really in a coven, since I’ve
mainly just practiced with my dad. There weren’t really any other
witches around except my adopted uncle, Earl, but he died when I
was pretty young. But wouldn’t that mess up your magic with the
covens you belong to? I thought your powers were bound to them,
making it where you can’t join another coven?”

“I don’t think so. Think of it as something
separate from your regular group. Sort of a nexus of power that is
always at your fingertips, except from a different source.”

I nodded, even though I wasn’t sure I
totally understood. “Will it make your covens mad, though?”

“Actually, I’m the only one tied to a
coven,” Jett said, surprising me.

“Yeah, my family practices mostly as
solitary witches, unless my mom is leading us in certain festival
rituals,” Seth added, telling me something I should’ve already
known about him. “Jett has been given the task by his parents to
recruit me to their coven.”

“Actually, you aren’t the only one they want
me to recruit.” Jett stared at me, making his point clear.

“Me?” Now my pulse was skyrocketing for a
different reason. “A demon coven is targeting me?” I could taste
the fear in my mouth, despite all my training.

“Don’t worry. Seth and I will protect you.
That’s another reason why we think it would be good to bind our
powers together. It will give the three of us a stronger defense
against anyone who might try to attack us.”

“So you’ve changed your mind about becoming
a demon?” I asked.

His heated gaze never left me. “Let’s just
say I’ve found something that interests me more.”

“We want to know if you’ll meet us after the
scrimmage tonight?” Seth spoke up before I could respond to Jett’s
comment. “Maybe we can try testing some things out and see how it
goes. It might shed some light on what’s going on.”

I nodded. “That’s fine with me. I’ll have to
ask my parents first, but I don’t think they’ll have an issue with
it. I don’t work on Fridays since they’re game days.”

“Are the cheerleaders going to be there,
tonight?” Jett asked, changing the subject entirely.

“Yeah, just in our practice uniforms,
though. Why?”

“No reason. Simply looking forward to
watching you.” He squeezed my finger a bit tighter before glancing
around the quickly thinning hall. Leaning down he brushed his lips
ever so briefly against my cheek. “See you at lunch, darlin’.”

Watching him for a moment as he walked away,
I immediately realized that Seth watched that exchange and glanced
up at him. “You okay?” I asked, still worried about all of
this.

“I’m perfect,” he said, raising my hand to
his lips and kissing the back of it. “Let’s get to class.”

~~~

“Hey,” I said, leaning in the doorway of my
dad’s home lab, watching as he bent over a microscope, studying
carefully. Kyle was seated beside him in a swiveling chair and
turned to glance at me.

“Hey, kiddo! How are you today?” he
asked.

“I’m good.” Okay, that might not have been
the most honest answer, because I was truthfully confused out of my
head at the moment. “I love Fridays because we have early release.”
I continued on with a smile, not wanting to dwell on my current
predicament. “How’s the research going?”

“It’s looking promising. Your dad and I
think we may have finally isolated the gene that is causing your
mom’s blood to overreact to magic. We have several more tests we
need to do on it, but we’re closer than we’ve ever been.”

“That’s exciting! Congratulations.” I really
hoped they found a way to make it work. Reintroducing my mom’s
magic would go a long way toward healing my dad’s broken heart.

“Thank you. We’re feeling pretty pumped
about it, too. Vance tells me you have your first game
tonight?”

“We do, but it’s just a scrimmage. The first
real game is next weekend.”

“Is it at home?” Dad asked,
straightening.

“Yeah, both games are.”

“Then I will definitely be coming to watch.”
Crossing the room he wrapped his arms around me and hugged tightly.
“How was your day?”

“It was good,” I replied, going for vague
and hugging him back just as strongly.

“Are you hungry? Your mom is still working,
but Kyle and I can stop and we can all go get something to
eat.”

“Actually, I ate lunch at Nicolazzo’s, with
Seth, before he dropped me home.”

“You never said how dinner went with his
parents last night.”

“I didn’t get to meet them. Something came
up and we had to reschedule. Seth ended up taking me to hang out
with a friend of his until he brought me home. You were out doing a
late bike delivery to someone, Mom said. Sorry I fell asleep before
you got home. I haven’t been getting much rest and was feeling
pretty dead.”

“I understand. You were up early the night
before.” Releasing me, he took a step back. “How do you feel about
making Kyle and me some lunch so we can keep working just a bit
longer? And then, after we eat, I’ll take you to buy your new
car?”

“Seriously?” A girlish squeal escaped me as
I threw my arms around his neck, once more. “I’d love that!”

Dad laughed. “I never knew you liked making
food so much.”

Giggling, I pushed away from him. “The
excitement was for the car.”

“Well, damn. I just thought you really
enjoyed doing nice things for your old dad.”

“You’re not old, and I do love doing things
for you—and Kyle.” Casting a glance over to him, I found him
watching our interaction with a smile.

“You have a good girl there, Vance,” he
said. “If I knew I could have a kid like this one, I might look
harder for a wife.” He winked at me.

“Be careful what you wish for.” Dad warned
him. “Portia has already met someone she wants to set you up
with.”

“Really?” Kyle asked, a surprised grin
appearing. “Tell me about her.”

“I don’t know much—just that someone
recommended a hairdresser to her and, after the appointment, Portia
said she’d found your soulmate.”

“Soulmate? She actually said that?”

I could understand his surprise, since that
was a term not casually thrown around in the magical community.

“Is she a witch?”

“I didn’t ask. All I know is her name is
Julie or something like that.”

“Come on. You’ve got to give me something
better than that. Is she good looking?”

Dad chuckled and shook his head. “Again,
didn’t see her. You’re going to have to take it up with Portia if
you want to know more.”

“Oh, I definitely want to know more.”

“What do you guys want to eat?” I
interrupted, anxious to get on with the car part of this day.

“It doesn’t need to be anything special.
Sandwiches are okay,” Dad said, going back to the workstation and
peering into the microscope again.

“On it. Be back shortly.”

Making my way into the huge custom kitchen,
I let my thoughts wander over things with Jett and Seth as I
collected the items to make ham sandwiches—getting out some chips
and a lemonade mix to go with them.

Summoning magic to make the lemonade, I used
my hands to put the sandwiches together at the same time. It was
just a few short minutes before lunch was prepared and I carried it
to them.

“I wish we could speed the process up,” Dad
was saying.

“I know you do; but in this case, better
safe than sorry,” Kyle responded. “How’s the serum that Hex has
been working on?”

“Good. He says it shouldn’t be too much
longer. When he gets it just right, he and Milly are planning on
flying out here.”

Hearing that tidbit of news excited me. I
loved great Grandpa Hex and Grandma Milly. Even though Hex was my
step-grandpa, he was the only grandpa I’d ever known. All of my
grandpas were dead; so he was very important to me. He had married
my grandma after everything that happened with my parents. In fact,
he was the reason my mom was still alive. My dad hadn’t been in his
right mind after The Awakening was removed from him, restoring him
to his full demonic state. His bloodlust for her had nearly driven
him mad.