Deception (10 page)

“I’m getting my own drinks from now on,” she decided, throwing out a third glass of wine. “I'm tired of being wasteful.”

The chairs around them were empty, so aside from Finley's prying eyes, they were secluded.

Quin refilled her glass with a wave of his hand. “I'm not going to let him take away the pleasure I feel when I provide for you.”

“Just wait until he’s not around,” she countered. “Then you can do whatever you'd like for me.”

“No, Layla. That's not fair to either of us, and I won't hide around him.”

Her eyes widened. “I would never ask you to. That's not what I meant.”

He leaned close and took her cheek. “I know what you meant. You want to stop playing his game so he can’t win, but this isn’t a game to me. I'm not trying to prove myself to you or him. I'm just doing what I love to do, and I'm not going to let his presence prevent me from doing it.”

She sighed and laid her hand over his. “That’s sweet, Quin.”

“I’m not trying to be sweet. Like I said, I love giving you what you want.”

Layla loved it, too, and her chest filled with warmth as she cuddled into his bicep and ran her gaze over their family. They were so beautiful and happy, and they were gathered for what could very well be the last time.

Alana’s giggle caught Layla’s attention and she looked over, watching the toddler shoot a tiny puff of fire toward the sky.

“That’s better,” Brayden encouraged, patting his little sister’s back. “But you’re shooting too fast. Be patient and build more fire inside, then your fireball will be bigger. Like this.”

He squinted as he pointed toward the sky, but before he could cast his magic, Alana tugged on his sleeve. “Come on, Bwayden, do it aweady.”

Brayden sighed and raised his eyebrows at his sister. “Patience, Alana.”

“Wight,” she pouted, “patience.”

Layla laughed at the cutie-pie kids then looked at Quin. “Is there something in particular covens do to teach children about magic?”

“Not really,” he answered. “Some covens are structured and stern about their children reaching certain goals by certain ages, but most covens let their kids choose how quickly they learn and what kind of magic they study. Magic is a gift, not a necessity, so in this coven, and most others, learning magic is an option, not a requirement.”

“But you’re required to go to public school?”

“Most of us, but only because we interact with the hexless and need to learn what makes them tick and how their world works in comparison to ours. Some covens avoid the non-magical world altogether, so their kids don’t attend public school.”

“It seems like it would be hard – going to school when you could be home playing with magic. If I'd grown up here, I would have been far less involved in school and much more involved in magic. Bye, bye, student council president. Hello, flamethrower.”

Quin laughed as he pulled the inside of her wrist to his lips. “Most of us are that way. Magic is too much fun for us to concentrate on getting the top grades. But our natural born talents keep us ahead of the game in academics, so we pass with minimal effort.”

“So you're saying you got A’s even though you spent your evenings throwing fire around.”

“It’s not like I was valedictorian,” he teased.

She wrinkled her nose. “I was trying to get a scholarship to a good college.”

“Did you?”

“Yes, but my mom got sick so I couldn’t go.”

“That’s sad, love.”

“It’s in the past,” she mumbled, veering the conversation into brighter territory. “So what about sports?”

“What about them?”

“Did you play any?”

“Only for fun, never for school.”

“Why not?”

“Because it's too easy for me to cheat.”

“That was honorable of you.”

“Don't give me too much credit. I wasn't so disciplined the few times I played backyard ball. I liked beating the other guys, and I liked doing it with teammates who rarely got the upper hand, so I’d throw some magic around to raise my team's confidence. They did fine on their own after that.”

“I bet the jocks didn't like that.”

“I didn’t do it for them. I just like seeing the underdog win.”

Layla watched his face, trying to imagine him among average teenagers, walking the halls of a public school filled with hexless students. “Do magicians ever date non-magical people?”

“Few of them try, and even fewer of the relationships work.”

“Why?”

“Because we can't be honest with them. If we tell them we can perform magic, they'll probably freak out and never talk to us again. And even if they do accept our powers, they'll probably feel inadequate, which would force us to limit our magic or dismiss it altogether.” He smiled as he touched a forefinger to her bottom lip. “I was terrified to tell you about magic. I was afraid you'd leave me standing alone in that clearing broken-hearted and drowning in my failure, but you were wonderful and gave me the chance to explain. Most hexless aren't so open-minded.”

Layla couldn't imagine any girl, magical or non, leaving him standing alone in the enchanted clearing. He was far too smooth and handsome. “Have you ever tried?”

“Tried what?”

“To date a hexless woman.”

“No.”

“So how do you keep them away? I’m sure they work hard to get your attention.”

“What makes you think so?”

She smirked and nudged him with an elbow. “Don't play dumb. You're humble, but you're not an idiot. I can just see the high school girls falling over one another in a race to be the first to call you their boyfriend. So how did you turn them down? Because I know you had to do it over and over again.”

His gaze stayed on her smirking lips as he contemplated her question. Then he found her eyes. “I would tell them I was honored but no thanks.”

“That’s it? No excuses?”

“No.”

“Ouch. How did they handle your rejection?”

He leaned over and playfully bit her neck. “You are persistent, my love. Why do you want to know these things?”

“I don't know. I tried to picture you at my high school, and all I saw were girls throwing themselves at you. It made me wonder how you handled it.”

“If I'd been at your high school, only one girl would have caught my eye. The rest would have been invisible.”

“That's my point,” she laughed. “How did the girls handle you looking right through them? And how did the guys handle being upstaged?”

“I don’t know, and I didn’t care. Magicians are detached from the social life other students get from school. We go to learn about them, not join them. We have our own communities, pastimes and friends, so we rarely participate in school sponsored events and extra curricular activities. My classmates probably considered me an outsider, which was fine. I wasn't there to make friends.”

“I see.”

He watched her face for a moment then turned the interview around. “How did you handle it?”

“Handle what?”

“All the guys in your school throwing themselves at you.”

“They didn't.”

“I don't believe that. You're the most beautiful witch I've ever seen, so I know you didn't go unnoticed by a school full of teenage boys.”

She looked from his fingers to his eyes, but she didn't answer his question.

“You don't want to tell me,” he concluded.

“There isn't anything to tell,” she insisted. “The guys in my school weren't interested in a girl like me. They went after the ones who made themselves available, and I didn't do that.”

“I do believe that, but there must have been a few with the guts to approach you.”

“Most of them thought I was an icy bitch, but yeah, I guess there were a few who wanted to thaw me out.”

“Did you accept any of their offers?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Are you asking if I've ever had a boyfriend?”

He hesitated, filling his lungs as he ran a thumb across his jaw. “Yes, I guess I am.”

Her cheeks grew warm as she looked down. “It’s not the most comfortable subject for me, but I suppose you deserve an answer.” She paused long enough to take a deep breath, which she released with her confession. “I've dated a few people . . . well, dated isn't the right word, because the guys I knew didn't take girls out on dates, but I hung out with a few guys who wanted to be my boyfriend. There were two who I let kiss me, and one who I… considered a boyfriend.”

“Lucky guy,” Quin returned.

She shook her head. “He lost interest in me.”

“Impossible.”

“Not impossible. He dumped me. Not that I was too concerned about it. My reason for going out with him was silly.”

“Would you like to explain?”

She watched her wine for a long moment, creating a magical whirlpool in its burgundy depths. Then she sighed and looked up. “I started my senior year the only girl in my class who never had a boyfriend, which sucked, because that’s all the girls talked about. But I’d known most the boys in school since I was five and didn’t like them that way. Then the new kid walks in. He seemed nice, and I didn't know him well enough to be uninterested, so when he asked me out, I thought
why not
. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, and he was the only one I could stand to do it with.”

Quin frowned as he tapped her nose. “That's not so silly.”

“It is,” she disagreed. “I didn't say yes because I was attracted to him, I said yes to see if I could become attracted to him.”

“Did you?”

“No. I liked him enough to hang out with him, but I didn’t feel what every other girl in school claimed to feel. And in the end, I was sorry I gave him my time.”

Quin shifted forward and found her face. “Did he hurt you?”

“He didn't hit me, if that's what you mean.”

“But he did hurt you.”

She shrugged. “It wasn’t a lasting wound, and I had no one but myself to blame. I usually have better judgment than what I showed at the time.”

Quin leaned close and took one of her curls, flipping it up to tickle her lips. “You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, Layla, but I'm curious to know why you feel it was your fault, and why the relationship ended on a sour note.”

She watched his dark eyes while trying to decide if she’d be able to answer. She wasn't sure the words would make it out of her mouth. “It's really embarrassing.”

“You probably think that more than I would,” he countered.

She reached up and took his hand. Then she watched his palm while fidgeting with his fingers. After a long moment of steeling her nerve, she cleared her throat and met his stare, explaining in a shaky whisper. “I lost my virginity to him, and I didn't like it, so I told him I wouldn't do it again, and he dumped me, right there in the cab of his truck, before he even had his pants zipped up.” Her cheeks burned as she averted her gaze, mortified by the confession she'd never shared with anyone, not even Katherine.

Quin struggled to breathe as her words soaked in, piercing his heart like jagged steel. When at last his lungs yanked in air, he vanished their wine and pulled her onto his lap. “I'm sorry you were treated that way,” he whispered. “That guy's a fool who blew the best thing that's ever happened to him.”

“It’s okay,” she assured, hiding her face in his neck. “I'm just humiliated by the whole thing. I do regret giving him what he didn't deserve, but it's been a long time and it doesn't bother me anymore.”

“It bothers me.”

Her aura froze. “What bothers you?”

“The fact that someone treated you that way, and the fact that something that should have been special for you was ruined by an ignorant ass. I know how women feel about sex, Layla, and just because you weren't in love with the guy doesn't mean his inconsideration and spineless rejection didn't hurt. You put your faith in him, and he dropped the ball big time. Then he threw it in your face. I hate that you went through that.”

“So… do you think less of me? For giving myself to an ignorant ass?”

He pulled her face from his neck and forced her to meet his stare. “No, I don’t think any less of you, but I'm sorry it had to be that way. You deserve better than that.”

She sighed and relaxed. “Well, like I said, it was my fault for being so stupid. I've never made the same mistake again.”

“What? You haven't been with anyone since him?” Quin couldn't believe her only sexual experience had been with an inconsiderate jerk. It made him angry at the prick who'd done this to her, sad she'd been missing so much, and anxious to change the fact.

“No,” she meekly answered. “Does that make you feel differently about me?”

“No, but it does make me eager to show you how sex should feel, and how you should be treated when you give something so special to someone. It makes me sad the only time you've offered yourself to someone, you got nothing but humiliation and rejection
in return. That's not how it should be, and I hate that's how it was for you. Your body is so beautiful, Layla. It's beyond amazing, and with or without magic a woman’s body can do phenomenal things that nothing else in this world can do. It's meant to be treasured and respected; you should never be taken for granted like that. When you allow someone to have something so precious, you should be treated like a queen.” He kissed her forehead, then her nose, then her lips. “I'll show you. When we take that step, I'll show you how it should be. I'll treat you the way you deserve to be treated, and I'll repair what that guy broke.”