Coven (20 page)

Jett climbed out of the car, but leaned
casually against it. “Wasn’t I just here earlier today? What’s the
matter, Kenna? Back for more?”

Seth bounded away from his vehicle heading
straight for Jett, who slammed his door and faced him head on.

“You lied to her,” Seth hollered. “All so
you could seduce her.”

“I didn’t lie.” Jett responded casually. “I
simply didn’t tell her the whole truth.”

“Why not? To trick her into being with
you?”

“I’m not trying to trick her into anything.
Why didn’t you tell her?”

“Because I didn’t want to scare her away.
All of this is new to her.”

“Quit talking about me like I’m not here.
I’m a big girl and totally capable of making a decision on my own
without being bamboozled into it,” I interjected, moving closer.
“If we’re going to discuss what’s happening, then let’s actually
discuss it instead of sitting around throwing accusations at one
another.”

“At least someone is thinking,” Jett said,
walking past Seth and coming up beside me. “Close to that stand of
trees, on the far side of the meadow, are some tree trunks around a
fire pit where kids like to party. Let’s go over there. You can
light a fire and we can talk.”

Glancing at Seth, he nodded, producing some
witch light to help us see better as we crossed the meadow. Neither
of them touched me or offered to guide me along; instead, both of
them fell into step on either side of me.

In a matter of a couple minutes, we reached
the place Jett had suggested and he glanced expectantly at me
before nodding to the fire pit. There wasn’t any wood in the ring;
but I was a witch, so that didn’t matter.

Blasting the pit with a fairly large
fireball, the ringed area immediately burst into flame and kept
burning when I moved away to sit on one of the tree trunks. I
couldn’t help tensing when both guys moved to either side of me and
sat down, Jett on my right and Seth to my left.

“That’s pretty cool that you can make it
burn without fuel,” Jett said, obviously feeling less tense about
this conversation than I did.

I shrugged. “I never really thought about
it, I guess. It’s always worked that way for me.”

“Well, just to be safe—in case anyone else
were to show up out here.” Jett cast his hand toward the flames and
immediately the pit was filled with burning wood.

“How’d you do that?” I asked, wondering
where he’d gotten the wood.

“It’s just an illusion,” Seth commented.
“Remember I told you he can put a glamour on things? This is part
of that.”

“Incredible,” I said, enjoying the chance to
get to see powers that others had. While my dad was very gifted,
with both natural and acquired magic, no two witches ever had the
exact same abilities as another. And just like evolution
everywhere, some witches were better than others—either more
powerful, more knowledgeable, or both. While I had the chance to
regularly study and practice magic with my dad, and occasionally my
great grandma, Milly, I really hadn’t been exposed to the powers of
many others, beside Dr. Peck.

His powers were pretty awesome and led him
directly to the field of medical research. With the ability to see
things down to the molecular level with his normal vision, he was
the perfect person to try to unravel medical mysteries. I’d spent
many hours with Kyle in my dad’s lab, listening to him explain
things that I had no hope of ever really understanding; but still,
it was fascinating. I could listen to him go on for hours.

“So, what do we do about all this?” Seth
asked, clearly ready to move on with the rest of the
conversation.

“First we need to figure out what is
happening here, before we can decide what to do about it,” Jett
replied.

“And how do we do that?” I asked, feeling
more confused than ever.

“We need to line up the facts. Fact number
one, Seth and I both had the same dream implying that you belonged
to each of us.”

“What if the dream is merely a metaphor for
something else? Things like dreams and premonitions can often be
left open to interpretation. I don’t think whatever you both saw
was meant to be taken literally.”

“That’s what I’m thinking,” Seth agreed. “So
if we both aren’t meant to “literally” marry you and take you on a
honeymoon—which I have to say would be incredibly awkward—what are
we supposed to be uniting then?”

Just the idea of being married to and
physically uniting with both of them had me flushing from head to
toe. I was happy for the blazing heat of the fire to help mask my
reaction to such an intimate suggestion. In the grand scope of
things, I was pretty sure I could find myself tangled up in a lot
less pleasant trauma. At least I assumed it would be pleasant, just
from the experiences I’d had with each of them, so far. There was
no doubt they made my hormones fire from all cylinders.

“I can think of only one other thing the
three of us have in common,” Jett said. “And that’s magic. But I
have no idea what that would have to do with anything.”

Seth sighed heavily. “Which leaves us where
we started.”

“So let’s talk about what we do know,” Jett
suggested.

“Which is what?” I asked, not following.

“The relationship thing.”

“Oh.” That was exactly where I didn’t want
to go. Just sitting there, between them, was making my insides
quiver with desire. But in all honesty, I truly wasn’t sure which
one I wanted to be with.

“How do you feel about it, Kenna?” Seth
asked, staring at me. He was so close we were almost touching, but
he made no move to further our contact.

“You’re asking the wrong person. I’m so
confused at the moment, I’m not sure which way to go.”

“I think we should both date you,” Jett
piped up, and I was pretty sure he heard the low growl Seth
released at the suggestion.

I laughed. “How would that even work?”

“It’s easy. You simply wouldn’t be
exclusive—at least not with either of us. I’d like you to be
exclusive with the two of us.”

“Are you effing serious?” Seth asked,
obviously upset.

“I am. Think about it, dude. She’s new here.
Everything that’s happened up to this point has been a crazy
mess.”

“Only because you’ve made it that way,” Seth
pointed out. “We were doing fine without you.”

“But that’s just it—you weren’t. She’s
obviously attracted to both of us. So let’s date her. We can all
get to know each other really well and then, as things progress,
maybe a clear choice or path will stand out.”

“The only way I’m remotely agreeing to this
is if we set hard boundaries,” Seth replied after a few moments.
“For instance, there will be no sex. I know you; and I don’t want
you sneaking in for the kill while my back is turned.”

“As if you wouldn’t do the same. You’ve
already proven you’re capable of exactly that.”

Jumping into the fire was starting to sound
like a pretty good option to me at the moment. Too bad it wouldn’t
kill me. “Please stop fighting. I can’t take it.” Getting up, I
turned to face them both. “If we are going to do this ludicrous
dating thing, then we will do it on
my
terms, not yours.”
There was no way I’d be able to handle the constant bickering
between these two, but I couldn’t choose between them at this
point, either. Even thinking about trying made me feel sick.

“What do you suggest then?” Seth asked.

“I agree to date you both; but I want it to
happen naturally. If one of you wants to kiss me, then do it. If
you want to hold my hand, then do it, but no more fighting about
it. If we have all these rules then we are always risking crossing
lines and hurting someone. So my rule is no rules. I want us to be
able to relax around each other—whether I’m out with one or both of
you, and not constantly worry about how something I do might be
crossing someone else’s line. Time will tell if this is going to
help or not. Let’s work on building the friendship and see where
things go from there.

“And try not to make it awkward for me—in
public, at least. I don’t need to be walking down the sidewalk and
trying to beat you both off with a stick. I just want to find a way
to happily exist here. If my dad thinks things aren’t going well or
that there is some sort of threat, he will yank me out of here so
fast that neither of you will know what happened to me. Trust me
when I say he’s an expert at laying false trails and hiding his
family. I can’t go back to that, so you’re both going to have to
keep your cool in public around me. I can’t have gossip getting
back to him that will cause him alarm; and I’m pretty sure finding
out his daughter is dating two different guys isn’t going to help
his nerves at all. My dad is jumpy—constantly ready to flee. I
can’t hide anymore. I need a life—even if it’s this crazy one.”

I quit speaking and silence ensued between
us, with Jett and Seth glancing at each other as if they were
trying to gage the other one’s reaction.

“Why don’t I give you two a minute to
discuss my, uh, terms,” I said, still feeling flushed over the idea
of even trying to agree to something like this. I’d never even had
one boyfriend in my life, and now, suddenly, it looked like I had
two.

Walking toward the tree line, I turned back
to observe them once I entered the cover of darkness. I’d never
felt so strangely conflicted or euphoric in my life. I wasn’t sure
what the intense pull I felt for these two meant. I only knew I
wanted—no,
I needed
—them both in my life right now. It made
no sense, but it was something I felt deep inside me. It irritated
me because it wasn’t fair to any of us, but none of us seemed able
to walk away.

From my hidden spot, I watched as the two of
them spoke to each other—unable to hear what they were saying, but
able to clearly read their body language as it slowly changed from
stiff postures to more relaxed positions the longer they spoke.

Gaze drifting between the two, I pondered
over their similarities and their differences. Both were around the
same height, six foot two inches would be my guess. While they were
both fairly tan, Jett was all dark good looks. There was something
hidden and mysterious about him, like he had secrets I needed to
find out. Sex appeal practically oozed from every pore, and that
killer body of his was enough to bring a girl to her knees. I was
certain many a girl had lost her heart to him in the past. He
looked like a heartbreaker—that hot playboy who could have any girl
he wanted and did, frequently.

Seth, on the other hand, was like this
golden Greek god or something. While he didn’t have that air of
mystery around him that Jett did, he had a different kind of sex
appeal that was just as consuming. I liked that I always knew where
I stood with Seth, and that he went out of his way to make things
nice for me. And when we were together, something happened that
sent sparks flying like mad.

Of course all of my “experience” with guys
basically boiled down to books, television, and whatever bits and
pieces of their relationship my parents had chosen to share with
me.

Even though Seth and Jett appeared to have
come to some sort of an agreement, my breath still caught and my
heart rate picked up when they sought me out. Watching as they
approached my position, I tried to gauge their moods by reading
their auras and found them both surrounded by colors suggesting
nervous excitement.

Immediately, that put me on my guard.
“Well?” I asked as they got closer, my eyes drifting from one
handsome face to another.

“We agree to your terms,” Jett said, staring
at me heatedly.

Glancing at Seth for confirmation, he
nodded. I could hardly believe it. There was no way I thought
they’d actually follow through with this ludicrous suggestion. I
figured they’d be duking it out, for real, about right now.

“No rules?” I asked, not wanting to be
backed into a corner by either of them.

“No rules,” Jett said, moving closer and
capturing me by the hand. He dragged me against him and his mouth
descended to mine in a crushing, needy kiss. I was stiff in his
grasp as I felt Seth move behind me, his hand brushing my hair away
from neck as he bent to kiss me there, sucking lightly.

Heat exploded through me, and I went weak in
the knees, feeling like I was going to pass out.

Holy hell, what have I done?
The
weight of my decision settled heavily on me. Had I somehow just
agreed to be part of a threesome, of sorts? Who did stuff like
that? I started to tremble, both from fear and from what they were
doing to me with their lips.

Oh, if my dad could see me now, I’d never
see the light of day, again.

Chapter Eighteen

“You are the biggest, two-timing, effin’
bitch I’ve ever met!” Megan shoved her finger in my face. “I know
he did it because of you. How could you? I even voted you on the
squad—against my better judgment, I might add.” Sneering, she cast
a disgusted look over me. “I should’ve never listened to Jett when
he convinced me that he wanted nothing to do with you, and that
this was all for Seth’s benefit. And what about Seth? Did you just
dump him for Jett?”

“Do you always jump straight to assumptions,
or do you ever try to find out the actual facts first?” I asked,
not even the tiniest bit intimidated by her snotty girl persona.
“There was nothing between Jett and me before you broke up.”

“But you admit there is now?” she asked,
folding her arms and glaring at me.

“I admit nothing,” I replied. “Now if you’ll
excuse me, my
boyfriend
is waiting.” Glancing behind her, I
smiled at Seth who was briskly coming toward me with a wide grin on
his face. That was probably a pretty big indicator that he was
feeling okay with how things worked out last night, something I
still wasn’t quite sure about.