Page 38 of Extraordinary Quests for Amateur Witches

Even if Ash and I are on a break, we’re still technically together. Does that make it cheating? If he finds out, will he still take me back?

Do I even still want him to?

Kieran pushed Seaweed off and hauled himself out of bed.

She grumbled at him as he shuffled off to shower, doing his best to ignore the faint headache that had bloomed in the front of his skull.

When he’d finished, he opened the drawer below his bathroom mirror and took out a small glass bottle of painkillers, tossing two in his mouth and swallowing them dry.

He’d love to blame the wine for last night. But he’d wanted to kiss Sebastian since the moment he’d laid eyes on him, if he was being honest. Really, all the wine had done was melt away his ever-present sense of impending doom for a few hours. And with it, his reservations about the whole thing.

Part of Kieran wished he could call Ash. Confess to what he’d done and apologize over and over until his bruised sense of self-worth stopped smarting. But what was that, ultimately? Did he want to apologize to Ash, or did he just want permission to kiss Sebastian again?

That definitely makes me a bad person, Kieran decided as he ran a smoothing serum through his hair to keep his curls from getting too frizzy. Good people don’t abandon the relationships they’re trying to save just to kiss someone they barely know.

I wish there was a rule book for this. Kieran sighed, staring at himself in the mirror.

There were shadows under his brown eyes from sleeping only a couple hours, and a few small red bumps had appeared on his forehead.

He moaned, pressing the backs of his thumbs against his closed eyes.

And now I have stress acne to top it off. Take me out back and end it.

He set down the comb in his hand, deciding he needed to consult someone more experienced.

Once he’d gotten dressed in a pair of black pants, a white button-down shirt, and a blue sweater vest, Kieran headed to the door kitty-corner to his, leaving Seaweed to sleep on the warm spot he’d left on the bed.

As he knocked, he glanced at the door to Sebastian’s room. I’m going to have to speak to him too.

Did he regret last night? Kieran desperately hoped he didn’t.

The door in front of him swung open, making Kieran jump as the sound yanked him from his thoughts.

He jerked around to find Briar yawning, rubbing her forehead.

Her short red hair was sticking straight up in the front in a perfect cowlick.

If Kieran had to guess, she’d probably fallen asleep with her face buried in a pillow.

“You’re up early,” she grumbled.

“Is Delilah in there? I need to speak with her.”

Briar said, “She’s downstairs in the kitchen making croissants for breakfast with Santiago. Why?”

Kieran frowned. Damn. I can’t ask her about this in front of Santiago. He’ll laugh at me, then tell Ariel, and neither of them will ever let it go.

“Just…um…” Kieran’s eyes unconsciously wandered over his shoulder, then immediately snapped back to his twin, cheeks warming. “I wanted to ask her some, um, questions about…things. And stuff.”

Briar’s gaze went to Sebastian’s door for a moment, and Kieran watched as realization dawned on her face.

“Kieran,” she said, biting back a laugh. She put a hand to her chest in mock surprise. “You little harlot.”

Kieran shushed her. “Not so loud!”

Briar did little to cover her smirk. She stepped back and opened the door wider. “Come in. Delilah’s busy, and I wanna know everything.”

Kieran hesitated for a moment. Did he want to come clean about this to his sister?

She might make fun of him for it, but he had to admit, it was better than keeping it to himself.

He sighed and stepped over the threshold.

While he didn’t consider his twin to be a paragon of romantic knowledge, she was, at least, in a happy relationship. So maybe that counted for something.

“Fine, but lower your voice,” Kieran said as he shut the door behind him. “I don’t need Sebastian knowing I talked to you about this.”

Briar scoffed. “Fine, fine. I’ll do my best. Now sit.”

Kieran nodded, then crossed the room to take a seat at the small table in the corner, identical to the one he had in his.

Briar and Delilah’s room was the largest of the crew cabins up here, with a four-poster bed and a big window behind it looking out at the sky.

The room was a bit messy, with clothes stacked on a few of the chairs, but not dirty.

Briar and Delilah were both cleaner than Kieran.

He was, admittedly, a bit of a slob sometimes.

He blamed it on the fact that he had had maids his entire childhood.

He sighed as he put his elbows on the table and hung his head. Briar took the spot across from him, steepling her fingers as if they were about to discuss a business deal.

“Let me guess. You told him you like him?”

“Not exactly. It wasn’t so much talking as it was…kissing.”

“Really?” Briar tilted her head, her brow furrowed. “I need some context. What happened?”

Kieran worried at his lip with his teeth for a moment before sighing and launching into what had happened last night after Delilah and Briar had gone to bed.

The whole time, Briar did little to hide the emotional journey her face was going on.

Her smile turned wicked, and a few half laughs escaped her, especially when Kieran mentioned the truthful-question bit.

“I must admit,” she said when Kieran had finished his story, “he sounds very smooth.”

“He is! That’s part of the problem. It all felt so easy. It shouldn’t feel easy, right? Not when I dragged everyone to join my Calling for the express purpose of trying to get Ash back.”

“Technically, we’re here to get a panacea,” Briar corrected. “What you use it for isn’t our business.”

Kieran considered it. She was right. While he’d been sure he was going to use it on Ash when they’d left Gellingham, that certainty had wavered—especially in the last few days.

“I mean, let’s be honest,” Briar continued.

“Ash has been stringing you along for weeks now. Maybe months. He’s just biding his time so he can muster up the courage to end it,” she said, not even attempting to soften the blow.

When Kieran winced, Briar asked, “What? You really think he’s gonna change his mind?

He’s been done for a long time, Kieran. He’s just too nice—or cowardly, maybe—to break your heart by making it official.

Why waste your time on a guy like that when you can do better? ”

“B-but—”

“No, no buts. There’s no reason to defend him.” It was odd to hear it said so matter-of-factly. Briar went on: “Plus, you’re on a break. You’re allowed to have some harmless fun. It doesn’t have to be a whole new relationship.”

Kieran blinked as he studied his twin’s face. She was serious. And really, why wouldn’t she be? There was something to what she was saying that Kieran hadn’t considered.

“I…guess I didn’t think of it like that,” he admitted.

“Of course you didn’t. Because you’re a hopeless romantic whose only knowledge of relationships comes from fairy tales.

Runs in the family, it seems.” Briar stood up, gesturing for Kieran to do the same.

“Listen. I think I have something that can help you, but you can’t tell anyone I gave it to you. ”

Kieran’s eyes widened. What in the world…?

Still, he stood, following his sister across the room. He had to step around the dress Delilah had been wearing last night, discarded in a heap on the floor.

Briar knelt in front of a trunk that had been pushed against the wall. She swiftly jammed a key in the lock. After it let out a click, she lifted the lid, then stepped back, gesturing inside.

“This,” she said, “is my collection.”

Kieran stepped forward, terrified of what she might be showing him. He peered inside gingerly, practically waiting for some kind of strange beast to jump out and bite him. Instead, however, he had to withhold a barking laugh as he realized what he was looking at.

Inside were at least fifty paperback romance novels, all with illustrated covers of couples in various states of undress. People of all genders clung to one another, hair windswept and chests exposed. A few even had humans held in the clutches of various half-human, extremely muscular beasts.

Kieran’s jaw hung open, and he found himself unable to speak.

“There are a few in here that may speak to you,” Briar said.

She reached inside and grabbed one featuring two men on the cover, one shirtless while the other wore a heavy trench coat.

She handed it to him. “This one has a nice friends-with-benefits storyline.” Kieran took it, and she shoved another in his hand.

“This one has a relationship with three men. Just in case polyamory is of interest.”

“I—” Kieran’s shock silenced him for a beat. He could say with total certainty that he’d never considered anything of the sort. One partner was enough anxiety for him to deal with; he severely doubted he had the communication skills for two. “Briar, how many of these have you read?”

“Rough estimate?” Briar considered it. “A thousand, maybe? This isn’t my entire collection, obviously. I have way more at home. If I’m not spending money on necessities, it’s going to this.”

Kieran was agog. Instead of elaborating, Briar handed him a third novel. This one pictured a shirtless, extremely built man, grinning with a mouthful of fangs and a trickle of blood running down his chin.

Despite himself, Kieran blushed. “Does Delilah know you have all these?” he squeaked. “In your…smut trunk?”

Briar snorted at that. “Of course. Sometimes I read them out loud to her when she’s baking. She thinks they’re hilarious.”

“Oh.” Kieran’s eyes scanned the covers again, wondering just how many of them had been read aloud in their apartment while he was at work or asleep in his room. “Interesting.”

“Listen,” Briar said, getting to her feet as Kieran stood frozen with an armful of books.

“Everything I know about relationships, I learned from these. If you’re not sure what you want, fiction’s a great way to figure it out.

There are no unspoken romance rules you have to follow.

You just have to figure out what you want. Does that make sense?”

Kieran frowned. He’d been asking himself what he wanted a lot recently.

“So…you don’t think I’m a terrible person for kissing Sebastian?”

Briar scoffed. “Of course not. Granted, you should probably tell him that you’re in a weird place with all the Ash stuff just so he knows what he’s dealing with, but no.”

“And I wouldn’t be a terrible person if I wanted to kiss him again?”

“I don’t think so.” Briar pointed to the books. “I’m serious—read those. Think of it as a learning experience. A crash course in different kinds of relationships, if you will.”

Kieran swallowed, the lump in his throat bobbing. He had, admittedly, never been one to consume this sort of literature. In fact, he’d read nothing but elegant love poetry about undying romance for most of his life. Maybe that was why everything else seemed so strange to consider.

Kieran held the books to his chest like a secret to keep. “I…I think I will.”

Briar closed and locked the trunk. “Good. If you ever want more, just let me know.”

“Noted.” He nodded. “Thank you, Briar. Genuinely.”

“Anytime. Now let’s get out of here and see if breakfast is ready. I’m starving.” Briar headed for the door, Kieran nodding in agreement as he followed. Then she paused.

“Might want to drop those off in your room first, though.”

“Oh—sure.” Kieran held them tighter. “Will do.”

After he had tucked the novels under his pillow, he followed his sister down to breakfast.

Maybe Briar’s right, he thought, eyes bright. I just need a little perspective.