Coven (24 page)

“It is,” Jett said. “This way Seth and I
will know what mood you’re in, too; which I think will give us a
much needed advantage—especially during certain times of the month.
We will know when to avoid you.”

Seth chuckled and I shook my head.

“I can’t believe you just went there.”

Grinning, Jett replied. “I’m willing to go
anywhere with you.” His eyes drifted over me. “Someday I hope to
get to go on the whole ride.” I blushed heavily.

“Look, her necklace is changing. What was
pink again, Seth?”

“Pink symbolizes love, I believe.”

My breath caught in my throat. There was no
way I was in love with Jett Blackstone. I’d barely known him for a
week. “I think I need to go outside and get some cool air. It’s
getting warm in here, don’t you think? It’s probably messing with
this necklace.”

Neither of them stopped me as I made my way
outside.

“Dude, that girl wants you bad,” Seth said,
sounding sorrowful; and it made my heart hurt.

“Not any worse than I want her. I swear I
can’t get her out of my head. It’s like I’m under a damn
spell.”

“I know exactly what you mean. It kills me
every time she looks at you that way.”

Jett snorted. “Then you know how I feel
every time she looks at you.”

I needed to get farther away. I needed to
run—to just be free from everything. Glancing toward the dark
forest, I sprinted away.

Chapter Twenty

Magic pulsated through me, racing through
every single pore. Pushing faster, I ran harder. Despite being late
August, it was nice and cool, and I relished the feel of it across
my over-heated skin.

Breaths short and quick, I bounded across
the meadow surrounding the small cabin, heading toward the thickly
treed woods beyond.

“Kenna!” Seth’s worried voice called after
me. “What are you doing?”

“Wait for us!” Jett hollered immediately
after, and I pushed myself even harder, knowing they would give
chase. Adrenaline coursed through me and I was determined to “beat”
them, even though I wasn’t sure where I was going.

The solitude of the woods wasn’t
frightening; instead, it filled me with some sort of calm
focus—almost as if I were back home in the ancient Oregon forest.
Dodging about amongst the trees and vegetation, I jumped around,
hopping over fallen trees and shrubs.

All of a sudden I could hear them both, the
sound of their heavy breathing growing ever closer. Spurred on, I
ran even faster.

A large clump of vegetation loomed in front
of me and I instantly knew there was no way I could clear it
naturally. Shoving my arms down so that my palms were facing the
ground, I sent a burst of flaming magic out of my hands and feet,
which acted like jet propulsion, rocketing me off the ground. I
flew over easily before tumbling back to the earth. Angling my
feet, I descended back to the ground, using my levitation to hover
just above it. I continued on, desperately trying to “escape.”

Laughter filled the air around me—both my
own and whoops and hollers from Jett and Seth, who still remained
unseen.

“I’m gonna get you, darlin’,” Jett yelled
from somewhere close by. Suddenly a blast of air hit me full force
in the side, knocking me off my feet and sending me sprawling
across the ground.

Vision spinning, my eyes caught Seth several
yards away, his blond hair glistening in the moonlight. Smiling, he
shoved his hand into the dirt and immediately everything around me
started rippling and quivering. Vines appeared, growing quickly out
of the surface and twisting rapidly toward my position. Finding my
feet, I squealed loudly and took off again.

I didn’t make it far before something
wrapped around my ankles, yanking me off my feet. Before I hit the
ground, more vines twisted around me, breaking my fall and gently
lowering the rest of my body to the earth with care.

Instantly Seth was standing over me, hands
on his hips, staring down at me. “You seem to be caught in my web,”
he said, sounding triumphant as his eyes sparkled in the moonlight.
“I think I like that.”

“It was totally my push that knocked her off
balance. I think I should get the credit for the win.” Jett smiled
as he joined us. “Although that thing you did with the fire back
there was pretty amazing.”

I couldn’t help my gasps and giggles. “That
was so much fun. I swear, I haven’t done anything like that in
ages. We should come out here and do stuff like this all the
time.”

“I think that would be a great idea.” Seth
agreed. “It was part of the reason I suggested this place. It’s
completely private and the perfect place for us to have some
solitude and practice magic together.”

“I agree,” Jett added. “Not to mention we
can get to know each other better while we are at it.”

“I thought you two already knew each other,
“I teased.

“You know what I mean. Seth, release her
from this mess.”

Slowly the vines that gripped me so tightly
began to loosen; but before I could rise, they disappeared,
replaced by beautiful, scented flowers.

Jett glanced at Seth. “Show off,” he
muttered, and Seth grinned wider.

“We should set this up to be our special
place,” I suggested, loving the feel of the forest and how the
sliver of moonlight filtered down through all the trees, casting
dark shadows that should’ve been terrifying, but weren’t. It was
like we were together in our own secret world.

“We can totally do that if you want. What
are you thinking?” Seth asked.

I shrugged. “I’m not sure. Maybe we could
set up an altar and some large stones to mark the four elements and
the spirit.”

“So lay it out so any circle we cast is in
the middle of a pentagram?” Jett asked.

“Yes! I think that would be awesome.” I
turned to Seth. “Do you think it would be discovered or disturbed?
I just thought it would be nice to have a peaceful place that’s
ours, so to speak.”

“I think I can easily do some things to help
camouflage it.” He studied the small clearing we were in. “I’ll add
some thick vines and foliage around the perimeter, here, that will
discourage any wandering people from trying to get through.”

“Perfect. We can also put wards around it,
too. That will redirect people. We did that in the Opal Creek
Forest. I can totally do that.”

“Sounds great,” Jett said, seeming totally
at ease. “Would you like to go help me look for suitable stones, or
would you rather stay here and work on wards while Seth builds the
vegetation?”

“I can come with you,” I said, glancing at
Seth. “If it’s okay with Seth.”

“Fine by me,” he said, casting a penetrating
stare at Jett. “Just watch those hands. I don’t need them all over
my girl.”

“Your girl?” Jett raised an eyebrow.

“That’s right. I had her first, and I still
have her. I’m just letting you come along for the ride.”

“Oh, I see how it is. You want her all for
yourself.”

Something flared in Seth’s eyes. “Yes, I
do.”

“So do I.”

“But your wants don’t really matter in my
universe.”

While I knew they were simply doing some
friendly ribbing, it was starting to make me feel a bit
uncomfortable. “Um, how about I’m my own girl and we continue doing
the tasks we had planned? All this testosterone may kill me
otherwise.”

“Your wish is my command,” Jett said,
grabbing my hand and pulling me along.

“Funny you should say that.”

“Why?”

“My dad’s a jinn; well, sorta.”

“Excuse me? Did you say your dad is a jinn?
I didn’t even think they really existed.”

“Actually, my step-grandpa, Hex, is the real
jinn—or half jinn, rather. His mom always claimed that something
had possessed his father when he’d gotten her pregnant. I guess she
was right. Unfortunately for Hex, he fell in with some of the wrong
people and his coven disowned him; so he spent a lot of time living
alone. During that, he began trying to isolate the jinn cells
inside him, until he finally manufactured one dose to try on
someone else.”

“And he gave it to your dad?” Jett
guessed.

“No, my mom, actually. But for some reason,
in her blood, the chemistry caused the magic to amplify greatly.
Hex, a “natural born” son of a jinn, can only disappear and
reappear for a few feet at a time. But my mom could easily skip
halfway around the world.”

“Are you serious?” His eyes widened in
amazement.

“I am. But when my dad had to save my mom
after her demon conversion, he sucked the jinn out of her, too.
Strangely enough, even though he assimilated her power, he can’t
blink any farther than Hex can.”

“Blink?” Jett questioned.

“Disappear and then reappear.”

“Gotcha. That’s interesting. You’d think it
would be the same for both.”

“I agree, but it isn’t. My dad wants to try
and reintroduce my mom’s powers back to her. Hex reportedly has a
new serum almost ready to go. He and great-grandma, Milly, are
supposed to come to visit when it is ready and try it on my
mom.”

“So you don’t have these jinn powers?”

I shook my head. “No. They didn’t pass to
me. My dad has speculated about whether or not it is something that
would ever pass from a parent to child. I guess we’ll never know,
unless Kyle comes up with some sort of amazing discovery.”

“Kyle?”

“He’s a research doctor that works with my
dad. He’s more like family than an associate, though. I used to
call him Uncle Kyle when I was younger. Sometimes I still do.”

“Well, I wish them the best in their
research. I’m sure it must’ve been hard for your mom to not have
her magic.”

“I don’t think she misses it at all. I think
she’s mostly humoring my dad. He’s the one who has struggled the
most with it . . . at least he’s the one I’m aware of,
due to our link.”

“Do you think if your mom got her magic back
that she’d be able to hear you, too?”

“I don’t know, but I’d like to think
so.”

“Here’s a nice rock,” Jett said releasing my
hand and going over to examine the waist high boulder. Leaning
forward, he placed his hands on the rock and whispered Seth’s name.
Almost immediately, the boulder disappeared. Glancing at me, he
smiled. “I figured Seth could manifest it more easily to our new
location than to try and levitate it and haul it there
ourselves.”

“Good idea,” I replied. “We have the magic,
might as well use it.”

“I have all the vines up and just
transferred your massive stone,” Seth said, appearing beside us.
“How’s the search going?”

“That’s the only one we’ve found. I’ve just
been filling Jett in on some family details.” I quickly did the
same for Seth, catching him up to speed. “So now, you should tell
me about your families. Is there anything special I should know
about them? Neither of you have been very forthcoming on that
subject.”

“Do you plan on being here all night?” Jett
teased.

“I figure we’ll be back pretty often. We
might as well use those times to get to know everything about each
other, too, right?”

“I think so,” Seth agreed, slipping one of
his hands into mine. “And if we haven’t been very forthcoming it’s
because we aren’t used to talking about them and magic so
openly.”

“I understand that. But I still want to know
about them.”

“Ask away,” Jett said. “We’ll tell you
whatever you want to know.”

Together the three of us continued on,
searching out the perfect stones for our new ritual location, all
the while sharing and swapping stories with one another. Before
long, we found several more stones and even a long rectangular one
that was fairly flat on one side, to serve as a natural altar.

Once all the items were transferred back to
the circle and set up, we stood aside and surveyed everything with
deep appreciation—well, at least I did. I assumed the others were
doing the same.

“I like it,” I said, feeling the same
peaceful ambiance that originally drew me to the place.

“I do, too,” Jett said from my left,
casually draping his arm around my shoulders. “This was a good
idea.”

“I can’t wait to use it.” Immediately my
head began filling with supplies and things we would need for this
place. I hoped it would be all right to store them in the
cabin.

“Tomorrow,” Seth said with a laugh. “It’s
getting late and I promised your dad I’d have you home on
time.”

Reluctantly, I cast my gaze around the
secluded space once more, before looking up at the moon. “You’re
right. I guess we should probably go.”

Walking back toward the car, Jett kept his
arm draped loosely around me and Seth held my hand, all the while
rubbing the back of it in a lazy circle, first three times in one
direction and then three times in the other.

“Why are you doing that?” I asked, nodding
toward our clasped hands.

“No reason. I just like feeling your silky
smooth skin under mine.”

“Oh.” I like that he wanted to touch me.

“Yeah, I like feeling you up, too,” Jett
added and I almost choked.

Reaching the car, he held the door open and
Seth climbed into the back, pulling the seat into place after him
so I could sit in the passenger side. Glancing at the cabin, I
realized it was all dark and closed up, once again, looking as if
it had never been disturbed.

“Thanks for bringing me out here,” I said to
both guys, once Jett slid into the driver seat. “I had a really
great time.”

Leaning forward Seth wrapped his arms around
my shoulders from behind the seat, his face briefly appearing as he
kissed my cheek.

“Hopefully this is just the first night of
many.”

Chapter Twenty-One

“Are you kidding me? This place looks like a
zoo!” Standing in the middle of historic Salem, I couldn’t believe
everything I was seeing. It was like Halloween had thrown up all
over the town and people.