17

WILL

I glare down at the tablecloth with the little cows on it. Has this kitchen always had so many cows all over it? I kind of hate them. All they do is stare up at me, looking like idiots. Idiot cows.

“What are you doing?” Hank asks, sounding annoyed.

“Glaring at these damn cows,” I mumble. I've thought about the cows too much, and now they're starting to look weird.

Hank makes an angry sound. “You aren’t mad at the cows; you’re mad at yourself for acting like an asshole.”

I did not act like an asshole. I acted like any guy would have if he walked into a room and found some other man holding his girl. Especially a hot man with an accent.

I’ve never had a woman cheat on me, not that I'm saying that's what Callie's done. It's more complicated than that. Hell, I’ve only had one other woman I cared enough about to mind if she cheated. But Callie? I fucking love Callie. Love . With a capital L. Even if I'm not able to say it out loud yet. I don't want to scare her.

And there she was with some douche bag while we were out risking our lives.

"You're the one who has to fix this," James says. "We could've talked through it if you hadn't lost your head."

I turn my glare on him across the kitchen table. “She’s in the wrong here, not me.”

Hank sighs like a jerk. “Doesn’t matter. Happy wife, happy life. Or girlfriend, or whatever.”

I want to stomp away from them all, but Lola and Hank’s dad are in the living room, along with half a dozen other people. Theresa and her guys are upstairs,and more people are in every other freaking corner of the house. It’s sit here with these jerks or have to make chit-chat when I feel like I want to murder someone.

Iris suddenly walks into the kitchen. “You boys look better after your showers,” she observes.

I grunt. My attempt at small talk.

Her face gentles. “You know what might make you feel better? The chocolate cake I made earlier. Want a slice?”

I look at Hank and James. Chocolate cake does sound good.

“That would be wonderful!” Hank answers for all of us.

Iris smiles, grabs her cake, and cuts each of us a huge piece. We all thank her, then snag our plates and forks and dig in. She watches us eat with a look of pride for one long minute before excusing herself back to the living room. Begrudgingly, I realize that I feel a little bit better as I eat.

I finish my last bite of my big slice and lean back in my chair. Now that we’ve showered off the soot and ash from the fire, changed, and eaten, I’m feeling a bit calmer. "If Iris always cooks like this, I'm keeping her."

Hank snorts. "Callie might have something to say about that."

"If things are the same after I blew up at her."

I can't help the sinking feeling going through me. What a mess my life is. I'm probably enemy number two, second after Callie, of the king. Well, I guess I am. Surely, he’s got other enemies higher on his shit list than me.

I could go to another coven, but that would mean leaving my mother and the woman I'm falling in love with. Or taking them both with me.

At least having my mother under the roof with me kept her sober and me from worrying about her.

A thump on the porch has us all throwing down our forks and peering out the back door. Callie sits on the back stoop. The sight of her blond head sends a rush of relief through me, and some of the tension eases from my back.

Now I just have to see if she’s still pissed at me or if I can make things better.

"She's safe," James whispers, then pokes me in the back. "Go fix this."

This time, I'm not as annoyed at him for suggesting that.

I stand and take a step toward the back door, then turn and look at the two guys behind me. This isn't just on me, and they need to know that. "You know, I lost my temper, but you two didn't make it any better."

They'll have their own apologies to give, but I don't mind going first. I care enough about Callie to swallow my pride and apologize to her. I open the door and step onto the back porch. The night air still holds the scents of the fire we so recently put out, and the smoky scent calls to my tired magic. I’d spent so long in that burning building just trying to control the damn flames, to keep them from killing people or spreading to other structures.

As much as my flames always want to be released, for once I’m too tired to even consider playing with them. Besides, there’s the whole apology thing I need to focus on.

Not that Callie has even bothered to look at me.

"Hey." I pause a sec to see if she's going to shut me down.

"Hey." She still doesn't turn around, but that's enough to make me confident I can sit beside her. She didn't tell me to get lost or anything, so that's hopeful.

"I'm sorry." Best to lead with the apology.

She sighs and looks at me out of the corner of her eyes. "Me too."

That surprises me. I assumed she was still mad. "I jumped the gun."

"I realize how it looked." She bumps her shoulder into mine. "But it wasn't like that. And when he took me to the Circle, he was a perfect gentleman."

"That's where you've been? Benny took you there?" I try to push the anger aside that bubbles up when I hear that news.

"He did. He said he'd protect me, and I believed him. And my magic likes him."

My blood runs cold.

Is she fucking kidding me? Part of me wants to start fighting again. Part of me wants to tell her that if her magic likes him so damn much, then what the hell am I here for? But I don’t say any of that because if I do, I’m risking her actually turning around and taking off with him. Even if there’s only a small chance, that’s too much for me.

So, I just sit there burning up inside, angry and jealous to my core, but too afraid to talk and lose her. Her magic likes him. How damn nice.

She must sense my emotions.

"Unclench. My magic doesn't like him the way it—and I—like you. And Hank and James. It's different. Benny is a friend. There's nothing sexual between us."

I want to believe her, but when it boils right down to it, we haven't known each other long. What if she's mistaken?

Callie sighs and shakes her head. "Will, you either trust me or you don't. That's a choice you have to make right now. If you trust me, then you trust there is nothing to worry about with Benny."

My gut says it isn’t that simple. That it isn’t about trust, it’s about the woman of my dreams meeting another guy who might be better suited for her and choosing him instead of me.

But I can’t think of a way to say that that won’t lead to me losing Callie. So, I answer her the way she wants. The way I have to if I want to keep her.

"Okay. You're right."

Callie looks at me in surprise. "Yeah?"

“Yeah,” I say, but I don’t meet her gaze.

She reaches out and takes my hand, and just the feel of her warm skin against mine is reassuring. It awakens a tiny part of me that might believe that even with her magic liking him, she could still like me. She might still choose to be with us.

I squeeze her hand and pull her close. Wrapping my arms around her, I press my nose and lips to her hair and breathe deep. "I’m glad you’re back." I know it doesn't work like that, but it almost feels like I'm covering her with my love.

"What happened at the Circle?"

"Oh, Will, it was magical ." She laughs at her choice of words. "I felt connected there. Like I belong."

"You're going to be a good queen. The Magic wants you, doesn't it?"

Tears glitter in her eyes as she turns her head and looks at me. "I think so."

After a few minutes, sitting together in silence, Callie sighs. "Go in. Tell the guys I'm not mad, and I'll be in to make up with them soon. I just need a few minutes to wrap my head around what's coming."

I can tell from the way she's holding herself that she's a little forlorn, but at least I feel like we're on solid ground again.

"Whatever happens, we're here for you," I promise.

With a kiss, I go back inside.

When I go inside, the guys aren’t in the kitchen anymore. I move through the kitchen and into the living room. Most of the people are already in their cots asleep or are settling in for the night. I know they aren’t used to using their magic to put out fires, so most of them are probably feeling pretty damned drained.

Which makes me glad they’re getting some sleep.

They’ve turned off the main light in the room. A couple lamps glow from the corners, and someone has started a fire to chase away the chill of the summer night.

Unable to help myself, my gaze goes to my mom. She sits at the edge of her cot, staring down at her hands. She’s showered since the fire, so her long hair hangs wet down her back. In her borrowed pajamas, she looks small and alone.

Going across the room, I kneel down in front of her. “You doing okay?”

“Yeah,” she says, too quickly.

“Mom, I know it’s hard not to drink?—”

Her gaze moves up and meets mine. “It is, but I swear I’m really going to try this time.”

I’ve heard that before. Too many times. But I nod. “You’ll do great.”

She touches my face lightly. “You’ve always been a good boy.”

I smile. “Lay down, and I’ll tuck you in, like old times.”

She does as I say, but as I draw the blankets up to her chin, she speaks, her voice soft and sad. “I should have been the one tucking you in.”

I look down at her. If she has any chance of staying sober, she can’t feel guilty. Guilt has a way of breaking her down. “And yet, it was one of my favorite times of the day. Thanks for giving that to me.”

To my surprise, she smiles. “Good night.”

“Good night,” I say, and my chest aches a little as I stand and walk away from her. Around the room, I see so many people. People I care about.

My chest aches even more, and I rub it as I walk up the stairs, still looking for the guys. My mind turns with each stair I take, but the central thought is that I don’t know when it happened. I don’t know when I started to care so much about all these people.

I find the guys in Callie's bedroom flipping through an old magazine.

"Well?" James jumps up when he sees me, and there’s tension in his face. "What did she say?"

"She said she overreacted. She wants us to trust her. And she says Benny is someone she likes, but not in the same way she does us."

James nods and sits down. I know the guy probably has as many worries as I do when it comes to Callie and the asshole, but he doesn’t speak them aloud. "She’s okay?”

"She's dealing with the enormity of what's coming.” Then, I take a deep breath before adding. “Benny took her to the Circle."

Hank's jaw dropped. "Why?"

Why is a good question. The Circle isn’t exactly the safest place for her to go right now. None of us would risk her life by taking her there, but then, Benny doesn’t care about her. He just did whatever she wanted, because, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter to him one way or another what happened to her.

But instead of saying all that, I shrug. "I don't know him. I don't know his angle. But Callie is convinced she can trust him."

James licks his lips and sighs. "Okay. We trust Callie, right?"

Hank nods, and I shrug. "I'm all in."

"Then, for now, we trust Benny."

I sit down and snag the magazine. None of us will be truly comfortable until Callie comes up.

This fast, she's become that important to us. We're not the same without her anymore.

We have to keep her safe, no matter what.