Coven (10 page)

“Who knows? Maybe casting her wiles over
some other poor unsuspecting fool.”

Narrowing my gaze, I stared at him. “The two
of you aren’t exclusive?” That would explain his proposition last
night.

He chuckled. “We are. There’s no way in hell
I’d let some other guy be all over my girl. I’d have to mess a dude
up.”

“Oh, so she’s exclusive and you can do
whatever you want then? I get it.” This guy made me sick. I had no
idea how someone as kind and caring as Seth had become best friends
with this punk.

“I’ve never cheated on her.”

“Not yet.”

“When you say yes to me, I’ll dump her. See?
No cheating.”

Stopping, I turned to face him full on. “You
really are an ass, you know that?”

“Why? Because I like you?”

“No because you’re the kind of guy who
treats girls like playthings made strictly for your amusement. Use
one and toss her aside once you find something new. Girls have
feelings, you know, and I happen to be on the cheer team with
your
girlfriend; so please stop trying to cause me any more
drama. I don’t need it.” I resumed my irritated march toward the
school.

Jett matched my pace. “What can I say?
You’ve already made up your mind about me.”

“There’s nothing you can say to change my
opinion of you. I see what you are—it’s written all over your
aura.” I waved my hand over him.

“My . . . aura?”

“Oh, quit playing dumb. I know you’re a
warlock. I know your parents are demons, too.”

A low growl escaped him. “I see Seth hasn’t
been able to keep his mouth shut around you. Damn it. He’s known
you all of twenty-four hours and he’s already spilling
secrets.”

“He had to tell me. My dad knew he was a
warlock as soon as he showed up.”
Damn it, damn it, damn it. I
didn’t mean to tell him that.

“Interesting,” he replied. “In fact, it’s
extremely interesting. I wonder if that means your dad knew he was
a warlock the same way my parents knew you were a witch?”

Wisely, albeit too late, I kept my mouth
shut, refusing to acknowledge my dad was a demon like his
parents.

“Is your mom demonic, too?” he asked in a
low voice.

I swung on him, wagging my finger in his
face. “You stay away from me; and you stay away from my family. Do
you hear me?”

Laughing, his extremely beautiful blue eyes
sparkled excitedly. “I like that you have fire inside you. It’s
sexy.”

“I have more fire than you can handle,” I
replied, irritated even more that he didn’t seem to be bothered at
all.

“I’d love to take a shot at handling
it.”

“And I’d love to blow you into kingdom
come.”

“Hey now. You barely know me.”

“I know enough.” Turning, I resumed my path
into the school, but he caught me by the arm and dragged me off
several paces to the side.

“I think the two of us have gotten off on
the wrong foot. Let’s call a truce shall we?”

Fuming, I didn’t answer him.

“Did I hurt your pride by asking you to
fight me?”

“No, you hurt my pride by throwing the
fight. And who asks to fight someone the first day they start
school? You didn’t exactly put out the welcome mat, did you?”

“I was just measuring you up. I had to make
sure you were what you claimed to be. I couldn’t have my boy, Seth,
getting all enamored with a fake, now could I?” He stroked his hand
briefly over his ever present five o’clock shadow.

“If anyone is a fake here, it most certainly
isn’t me. I didn’t fight someone just so I could rub up against
them.”

“Not gonna lie, that felt super nice. It got
me excited for more.” His eyes drifted over me, again.

“Are you deaf? There isn’t going to be any
‘more’. I’ve only known you one day and already I’m tired of
playing your games.”

His grip tightened on my arm as he pulled me
closer. “You don’t know what you’re missing. There’s a reason none
of the girls ever turn me down.”

“Really? None? Well, please then, allow me
to be the first.” Yanking my arm out of his grasp, I started to
walk away.

“I’m not gonna stop, you know?” he called
after me, apparently not caring who could hear him. “I always get
what I want.”

Like hell,
I thought, refusing to
acknowledge him. Quickly making my way inside the school, I was
thankful when he didn’t accost me any further. Hopefully luck would
be on my side and I wouldn’t have to deal with him in the
future.

Chapter Nine

My hope was short lived.

“Hey, Kenna. How’s things today?” Judging by
the confused semi-scowl on Seth’s face and the way his eyes bounced
between something over my shoulder and me, it was fairly easy to
deduce that Jett was still following me.

“I’ve been better,” I replied honestly,
refusing to acknowledge Jett. “How are you? I enjoyed hanging out
with you last night.” For some reason I couldn’t seem to resist
rubbing my time spent with Seth in Jett’s face.

Seth’s face brightened a bit. “It was nice.
I’m looking forward to dinner tonight at your house.”

“Wow. You’re already meeting the parents?
Isn’t this only day two?” Jett asked, casually leaning against the
lockers as he stared at Seth and then me. “What happens tomorrow?
Picking out diamonds together? Buying a house? And before you know
it, someone’s gonna have a little bun in the oven.”

I couldn’t help it, I blushed; though I was
unsure if it was because Jett was talking about me being intimate
with Seth or because he was just talking about intimate things,
period. Keen eyes immediately noticed my flush and Jett smiled.

“My dad is a very suspicious individual,” I
explained, though I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to do so. “I
thought it best for him to meet Seth and get to know him right
away. It will make him feel easier about us being friends.”

“Is that all it takes to get on the friends
list? Then maybe I should come, too?”

“You’re not my friend, remember?” I replied
snarkily. “You’re the jerk who wanted to kick my ass on the first
day of school. I’m pretty sure that qualifies you as more of a
bully than a friend.”

“That’s the way it used to be,” Jett
interjected. “You kicked my ass, remember? And showed me the error
of my ways? I’ve spent the whole night reforming—becoming true,
best friend material.”

Gosh, he grated on my nerves. I slammed my
locker shut and faced him head on. “And exactly how did you spend
the night repenting?”

He chuckled, his gaze once more skimming my
body, pausing to rest at certain areas before traveling all the way
down and back up again. It was obvious he didn’t care that his best
friend was standing right there, watching all of this absurdness go
down. “I don’t think you’d want to hear about that, but let’s just
say it made a world of difference in the way I think about
you.”

Releasing a sound like a low growl, Seth
shoved passed Jett. “You’re a dick, man. I can’t believe you
sometimes.” Hooking his hand around my elbow, he steered me away.
“Come on. We’re gonna be late for class.”

“Dude, I thought you were my best friend?”
Jett followed after us. “Besides, you should withhold the judgment.
We both know what you’d do with my ability, since we’ve discussed
it so many times.”

“Shut the hell up,” Seth snarled.

“Are you seriously going to let a girl come
between our friendship?”

Spinning around, Seth faced him. “I haven’t
done anything to come between our friendship; and neither has she.
It’s been all you, dude.
All you.
So if you’re trying to
start something here, then you better go take a long hard look in
the mirror. You’re the only one causing problems.”

Watching the two of them glare at each other
had me suddenly worried over whether they were going to come to
blows. Jett’s hands were balled into fists, and Seth’s jaw was
clenched and twitching. It appeared my arrival had definitely
caused some discord between the two.

“What’s going on here guys, really?” The
animosity between the two suggested something more was going on,
and it was starting to make me uncomfortable.

Neither answered, but their stare-down was
starting to catch the attention of others in the hall who were
steadily drawing closer.

“Let’s go, Seth. There’s a crowd
gathering.”

“You want to know what’s wrong?” Jett asked,
glancing only briefly at me before turning his gaze back to Seth.
“He’s mad because he knows I want to ask you out.”

“Are you kidding me?” I stepped closer. “You
already have a girlfriend. Besides, it should be pretty obvious to
anyone with eyes and common sense that I’m already dating
Seth.”

“You’ve been out with him once,” Jett said,
annoyed. “It’s not like you’re a couple or anything. That makes you
fair game, and he knows it.”

Moving between them, I stared at Seth. “Do
you have a girlfriend?”

Looking slightly confused, he shook his head
no.

“Would you like one?” I asked, feeling like
an idiot.

Seth smiled. “You offering?”

“I am.” I couldn’t resist smiling back at
him. He was so damn hot.

“Then not only yes, but hell yes.”

“Congratulations. You may now kiss the
bride,” Jett sneered from behind me.

“I think I will,” Seth replied, snatching me
around the waist and bending to press his lips against mine.

Confusion and fireworks hit me at the same
time. Books clattering to the floor, my arms went willingly around
Seth’s neck, my senses on complete overload.

How could lips feel so soft, yet so
powerful at the same time?
A gasp escaped me as Seth’s tongue
invaded my mouth, causing goose bumps to erupt over my entire body.
My fingers slid into his hair pulling him harder to me, and I was
thankful that his arms were around my waist because I was pretty
sure I would’ve fallen, my knees were shaking so badly.

Whistles, catcalls, and some applause
brought me crashing back to reality. I released my hold on Seth,
but he didn’t let me go just yet, staring down at me with a huge
smile.

“Good for you?” He winked and my skin heated
even more.

“Very good.” I smiled back.

“Your books are all over the floor,” Jett
said in an annoyed tone. I’d almost forgotten he was there.

Releasing me, Seth bent and gathered my
books before offering me his hand. A shot of giddiness raced
through me as I slipped my small hand into his much larger one and
he laced our fingers together.

Without a backward glance at Jett, the two
of us walked away, heading toward class.

“You still coming to lunch?” Jett called
after us.

“Yeah,” Seth replied, as if nothing had gone
down between the two, surprising me.

“See you then.”

“You really want to eat with him?” I asked,
confused.

He shrugged. “Jett and I have our arguments,
but they never seem to stick long. I guess it’s because he feels
more like a brother to me than a friend. If we have a disagreement,
we get over it and move on, for the most part.”

“The most part?”

“Every now and then he pisses me off and it
just sits and eats at me.”

“So, what had you upset with him this
morning?” We entered the classroom and slid into our seats, right
next to each other at a table.

Seth hesitated, staring at me for a moment,
and I noticed the ticking jaw was back. “Forget about it.”

“Tell me,” I pushed. “It’s obviously
bothering you.”

“I don’t want to upset you.”

“You won’t, I promise.”

Leaning back in his chair, Seth picked up a
pencil and began absently rolling it between his fingers. He
glanced around before he shifted closer. “Jett has the power of
illusion, meaning he can change things so they look different.”

“Okay . . .” I replied, not sure
where he was going with this.

Seth sighed and continued on. “If he likes a
girl and he can’t have her—it could be anyone, mind you, even a
celebrity—Jett can make someone else look like that to him. So,
when he’s with his girlfriend, he’ll shift her appearance so she
looks like whoever his latest fantasy is.”

Uh, gag!
I flopped back in my chair,
sickened. “Does Megan know?”

Seth shook his head. “She doesn’t know
anything about the magic or witches. It’s a glamour that he sees,
not her.”

“And she has no idea that he’s not actually
with
her when he’s
with
her?”

“None.”

“So gross! Wait . . . you’re not
saying that he’s imagining me, are you?”

He stared at me, head bent so close I could
see the darker green flecks around the pupils of his eyes. “That’s
exactly what I wish I wasn’t saying.”

Speechless and unable to even process that
thought, I just sat there in dumb silence.

“You okay?” He sounded concerned.

“I guess so. It’s just so weird, I don’t
know what to think. You two seem so different, it’s hard for me to
grasp your friendship.”

“I’ve known him for a long time. In all
fairness, there is a semi-decent guy under all the bullshit. He’s
just a victim of his circumstance, really. He wasn’t always like
this.”

“Do you think his parents drinking from him
is changing him?”

“I’m positive it is. I’ve seen it happening.
He craves the power now. He wants to be made a demon.”

“But why?” I couldn’t comprehend it. “I’ve
watched my dad my whole life. All he’s ever wanted is to escape it.
He hates being beholden to blood. It can greatly affect someone’s
personality. I just don’t see how added magical strength is worth
the risk.”

“I don’t really get it either, but he wants
it. He even talked about the two of us finding a third and binding
our powers together—like creating our own small coven—if we could
find the right fit.”