Retribution (26 page)

She raised an eyebrow and waved a hand. “Do we look like we have a smart plan?”

Several mouths fell open, and Quin leaned forward, finding her face.

“What?” she asked. “Am I being rude?”

“Not by my standards,” Dallas assured.

He seemed to mean it, so she looked at the others. “Is this an inappropriate subject to be discussing at dinner or something?”

“No,” Caitrin answered. “There's no such thing as an inappropriate subject here. We're just surprised by your bold approach on this subject, due to its sensitivity and… well, to be honest, honey, you’re not usually one to speak up.”

“But that doesn't mean we don't want to hear what you have to say,” Morrigan added. “I, for one, would love to know what's going on in your head.”

“I'm not so sure,” Layla laughed. “It's a mess in there. My thoughts are about as organized as the closet in my old bedroom, piles that would take hours to sift through only to come out empty-handed and exhausted, wondering why you went in there in the first place.”

Quin laughed and refilled her wine. “You and your witty analogies. You're quite good at making sense out of them.”
 

She flashed a smile and tilted her glass. “That's because they do make sense.”

“I understood every word,” Weylin offered.
 

“Well,” Banning smirked, “if Weylin understood it, you can bet everyone else did, too.”

Weylin grabbed Banning in a headlock and ruffled his short blond hair, using magic to make it grow long and curly. Letting him go, Weylin pointed and laughed. “Look, Brayden, Bann's Goldilocks.”

Brayden burst into giggles. Then Alana joined him, and as Layla watched the children’s vibrant faces and listened to the beautiful sound of their happiness, she couldn't help but laugh along. Soon, the entire table was laughing at Banning's expense, including Banning, and while a small prank ignited the lively chorus, it burned bright with the need for release. With a cloud of doom hanging over them, the positivity they thrived on had been stifled, clogging their insides, and now the knot unwound, leaving them as light as air and ready to face the next challenge.

Chapter 17

Following dinner, the large table was cleared away and replaced by a small table bearing beverages; and the chairs were rearranged into a circle beside it. Once everyone had reclaimed their seat, Caitrin waved a hand and ignited a fire at the heart of their gathering. Then he, Catigern, Dallas and one of the twins summoned pipes, which they lit and passed to their right.

Layla leaned forward and watched the pipes work their way around the group. A few people passed without partaking, but most took a pull from the pipe before sending it on its way. Layla studied their expressions and auras, looking for anything abnormal, but nothing stood out as odd, nothing felt odd. Not the magicians or the summoned fire or the smoke rings floating toward the night sky. Traditional rules didn't exist inside the community or apply to its magical denizens. They were removed from the world she grew up in – two worlds so close yet so far apart – and within this beautiful bubble of sorcery and abnormality, cannabis didn’t have a stigma. “It's like another dimension,” she mumbled.

While she watched the others, Quin watched her, wondering how she still managed to surprise and amaze him after all the time he'd spent in her presence. Every day she revealed something new about herself, and it was never a disappointment to discover another layer of her complex personality. Each of them glittered like a star, so it was no wonder she sparkled brighter than the sun.

Tonight, he had the pleasure of watching her shed the armor she usually donned in social settings. She tended to drift through group discussions without reaching out or inviting people in. But tonight, for reasons Quin couldn't fathom, not only was she joining discussions, she was starting them, bypassing the insecure hems and haws and getting straight to her beautiful point.

“Quin!” Kegan laughed and nudged his shoulder. “Snap out of it, man.”

Quin looked over, finding Kegan holding out a pipe. “Thanks,” he mumbled, taking the herb. Then he lit it while returning his gaze to Layla. She was watching him, and he smiled as he pulled the pipe from his lips and blew her a heart-shaped smoke ring.
 

Kegan laughed, and Brietta grinned as she wrapped his bicep in a hug and laid her head on his shoulder. “I think it's sweet, but you know, he was like that with her even before they bonded.”

“I remember,” Kegan replied. “It surprised me when he agreed to play hockey. I didn't think he’d be able to pry himself away from her long enough to step on the ice.”

“I know,” Brietta giggled. “I had to talk him into it.”
 

“That explains it. You can talk anyone into anything. If you're selling it, people are buying it.”

Layla listened to their conversation while examining the pipe Quin handed her. The wooden stem was carved with the same markings Quin used in her library, and the dark stain was polished to a shine, reflecting the fire and moon. She had no idea how to smoke by herself, and while it didn't look difficult, she didn't want to make a fool of herself by fumbling through the process like an amateur, particularly since everyone who'd already taken a turn looked normal and not at all klutzy. They’d probably suggest she not partake if she couldn't even handle lighting the thing.

Quin leaned forward and quietly spoke. “Want some help?”

“No,” she answered, stubbornly tilting her chin. “I can do it… I think.” Holding up a forefinger, she summoned a small flame. Then she grinned at Quin. “Had to make sure I wouldn’t disintegrate it.”
 

He laughed as he sat back, but his gaze stayed on her profile as she tucked the stem of the pipe in her lips and carefully sucked while lighting the herb. Once she felt the smoke enter her lungs, she passed the pipe and slowly exhaled, glad she hadn't screwed up. Nevertheless, she had no interest in pushing her luck, so she declined when the next three offers came around.
 

Banning, Grant and Weylin were holding a spirited conversation about hockey tactics, and she humorously listened in until Quin grabbed her attention. “Brace yourself, love.” His magic clutched her body, and she relaxed as he floated her onto his lap. Sweeping her hair aside, he ran a forefinger down her neck, but when he got to her collarbone, he paused and found her eyes. “You seemed content sitting by yourself. Would you like me to return you to your seat?”

She took his hand and cuddled into his chest, kissing his fingertips as she looked up. “I was content, but this is much better.”

“I'm glad you think so, because I was missing you.”

He leaned in, kissing her forehead as light tingles slipped between them, and she giggled as her entire face twitched. Pulling his fingers from her lips, she buried herself in his neck, her smile parting around his strong pulse, and he sighed while wrapping her in a warm hug.
 

“We better get on with our discussion,” Kemble smirked, “before we lose two of our members for the evening.”

“By the look of those lights,” Brietta giggled, “we’ve already lost them.”

“Isn't it interesting,” Kegan noted, “that
we're
the ones who seem out of place? Like the glow they’re drowning us in is as natural and necessary as air, but we don’t have the lungs for it.”

“It's beautiful,” Brietta whispered.

“It's inspiring,” Kegan replied.

“Yes,” Catigern agreed, “it's all of those things and more, and we're extremely lucky we get to witness it, but perhaps we should figure out a way to keep it alive.”

Quin breathed deep then whispered. “You have to let me focus, love.”

Her mouth closed and stilled, and he pulled his face from her curls and shook his head. Glancing around, he shrugged and flashed a smile. “What could I do? She'd found my kryptonite.”
 

Layla giggled, but no one else responded. They just stared with dumbfounded fascination, a reaction that made the difficult decision Quin had come to earlier in the evening even harder to swallow. If their family stared at them that way, he couldn't imagine what strangers would do, and his stomach tightened at the mere thought of his angel being endlessly ogled.

“I believe we have a discussion to get on with,” he pressed, looking around. “Unless you’re waiting for us to go back to what we were doing so you can continue to stare.”

Layla laughed again, and as she peeked from his neck to see what he saw, her mental voice entered his head. ‘
Watch the fire.
’

Quin flipped his gaze to the flames as they loudly popped, and the surrounding magicians nearly fell from their chairs as the blaze expanded with a loud roar. Flashing from one bright color to another, the fire rolled high into the air, illuminating the entire lawn and its shocked inhabitants. Then a final boom made them all jolt before the flames swirled into a cyclone and subsided.

Layla and Quin watched with amused smirks while everyone attempted to compose themselves, straightening in their chairs as leery pets slowly settled back in.
 

“Good one, love,” Quin approved. “That will teach them to interrupt us for no reason.”

“Yeah,” Brietta sarcastically agreed. “Really good one, if you consider an exploding heart good.”

“
I
thought it was funny,” Alana offered, giggling at Selena, who held one hand to her own chest and one to her daughter’s.

“Me, too,” Brayden agreed, staring at the fire with an ornery gleam in his eye.

“Oh great, Layla,” Selena cut in. “Now you've given Brayden another trick to play on us.”

“Glad I could help,” Layla laughed. “But remember, Brayden, you have to pick your moments carefully. It’s all about the timing.”

“Pick my moments carefully,” Brayden repeated. “Got it.”

Caitrin laughed as he pulled Morrigan under his arm and leaned back. “We really should get on with it. So what do you think, Quinlan? This is your call.”

Quin looked at Layla, who looked back, her gaze a trusting sea of innocence. She wouldn’t remain so naïve. Not after this. He pulled her wrist to his lips. Then he closed his eyes and breathed deep.

“Call them in,” he answered, finding Caitrin's stare.

“You’re sure?” Caitrin asked, nodding his agreement.

“I am,” Quin confirmed. “It really comes down to two options. Either we accept the probability of dying now, or we expose ourselves, improve our odds, and face the possibility of dying later. I choose later.”

“Wise choice,” Caitrin approved. “So we’re calling in strangers.”

“Yes.”

“How do you want to do it?”

“I don't want them near our homes. I suggest they stay in the clearing southwest of Mount Hood, the one used for our local herb festivals. It's big enough to hold a crowd, but not too big to conceal. It's also a good distance away from the glacier, our community, and Agro, so as long as it's not in use and everyone agrees, let’s secure it.”

“You’ve given this a lot of thought.”

“Yes I have.”

“Good,” Caitrin replied. “We'll make sure nothing's set to happen there in the next two weeks. Now, we need to spread the word, and with that, there's inevitable risk.”

“Yes,” Quin sighed, wrapping a spiral around his finger. “But it's a risk we're going to have to take.”
 

“Will you reveal yourselves to the strangers?” Caitrin asked, motioning to their bright hazes.

“They'll see us and our work,” Quin answered, “but they won’t see our lights until it’s absolutely necessary, and it will become necessary. We can’t face Agro with our auras and bonded lights concealed, but that doesn’t mean he needs a heads up. If someone from his cesspool makes it into our allies’ clearing, the less information we give them the better.”

Caitrin nodded then looked around the circle. “Obviously this will be a group effort. Once the help arrives, we’ll need to keep an eye on them while providing them with necessities. Secrecy will be of the utmost importance, so we're talking about living in a way most of you have never lived before. We'll be hiding ourselves and our auras, covering our tracks, and with three different locations – our home, the glacier and the allies’ clearing – there will be a lot of daily travel. I'm sure I already know your answers, but as our coven is a democracy and I don't believe Quinlan and Layla would have it any other way, let's see where everyone stands and open the floor for objections.” He paused, scanning everyone's faces. “Does anyone have a problem with our plan?”

A moment of silence passed. Then Catigern spoke for them all. “We'll do whatever's necessary, Caitrin.”

Caitrin smiled and squeezed Morrigan’s hand. “We’re lucky to be members of such an amazing coven. Thank you. Now, to spread the word...” He searched out Dallas. “Are there others like you, Dallas? Others who've sat in on battle plans, then removed themselves from the failed efforts before it was too late?”

“Of course,” Dallas answered. “There's a group of six who hail from one coven. They've been waiting fifty-three years for retribution. I've seen them at two different strategy meetings. Then there are two wizards and a witch who've sat in on the same plans as I on four separate occasions, and another handful I've met at one or two of the doomed gatherings.”