Kaleb sighs. He pulls a water bottle from his lunch and takes a swig. “Unfortunately, we don’t know a lot about witches and how their magic works. It’s something to do with the earth and the elements. Witches are the guardians of the realm and aren’t too interested in letting others have knowledge of witch business.”
Donovan sneers. “What a nice way of saying they’re self-absorbed jackasses who have their heads so shoved up their own asses that they can’t see daylight, and at a time so long ago no one can fucking remember, they appointed themselves the supernatural police,” he finishes with nasty relish.
“Okay,” I say slowly, chewing on my lip. I pick up my sandwich and take another bite, not knowing what to think or feel.
“Podex perfectus es,” Kaleb says to Donovan, voice strained. He then looks at me with sympathy, “Not all witches are like that.”
“How would you know?” Donovan counters heatedly. “The only witches you’ve met are the outcast bitches that live here, and they had to learn it from somewhere. And don’t curse at me in Latin. Just because no one besides me can understand you doesn’t make it more gentlemanly.”
Kaleb’s gaze drops, and he takes a shallow breath. His smile is brittle, but still there. An ache settles in my chest watching Kaleb hold onto his mask. A normal person would probably get up and hug him, but I’m having a hard enough time dealing with people touching me, let alone initiating something like that.
“Dude!” Felix chastises, then gestures to me.
Donovan rolls his head to look at me with a put upon expression. “Obviously, I’m not talking about you, Callie. You’re just learning about this crap. Iwillstrongly recommend you stay away from the local coven. We’ll help you figure everything out.”
Kaleb appears more collected and nods. “He’s right. There has to be books on what you need to know. I’ll do some research.”
I blink, unsure of where to begin. I feel like they told me a lot and nothing all at the same time. “Why are the witches here outcasts?” I start, trying to find out why I can’t go to the obvious source.
“The local coven is made up of witch families who have chosen to live outside of their community,” Kaleb explains carefully, both hands clasped around his water bottle. “They’ve agreed to keep their eye on this area, and in exchange, the council leaves them alone.”
“There’s a council?” I ask, my face contorting in confusion, then under my breath I mutter, “Of course there’s a council. They’re guardians of the mortal realm.” I rub at my forehead, trying to relieve the feeling of my brain exploding. “And how do you know this? I thought witches didn’t like sharing their business.”
Kaleb and Donovan look at Nolan, who has been extremely quiet through all of this, and not like Connor quiet. Connor’s been calmly eating his lunch, but still looks like he’s listening and following the conversation. Nolan has been actively looking down, eating his lunch, and appearing to try to almost hide from what we’re talking about.
He sighs, clearly feeling everyone’s gaze, and looks up at me. His expression is strangely unreadable, but it’s obvious that how they all came about this information is something Nolan doesn’t want to talk about. Felix’s hand hovers over Nolan’s shoulder for a moment before he drops it back down at his side.
“Freshman year, I dated a witch,” he says plainly, packing the remainder of his lunch away.
“Didn’t end well, I take it?” I murmur, my whole face softening.
He straightens. Through clenched teeth and pressed lips, he merely responds, “No.”
“Speaking of Princess Bitch,” Donovan snarls, sitting up to properly scowl at the approaching girl. “I’d call her Queen Bitch, but her mother holds that title as the leader of the coven.”
“Immanissimum ac foedissimum monstrum!”Kaleb spits with a scowl that is downright shocking in its menace.
“Fucking understatement,” Donovan grunts.
Connor’s expression needs no words. Everything about his posture is clear disdain-- and I think he might literally be growling.
Holy crap! What did this girl do?This kind of venom doesn’t come from just breaking a friend’s heart.
Felix crosses his arms and looks sorrowful, his feelings more focused on how this affects Nolan.
Nolan, however, looks the picture of calm leaning back on his hands. His playboy smirk is in place with matching bedroom eyes, though something that makes my heart skip, and not in a good way, swims within their depths.
“Nolan,” the girl purrs when she reaches us, seemingly uncaring of the amount of animosity being thrown her way.
She steps right into Felix, which makes me irrationally dislike her immediately since, according to Kaleb, she can’t see him.
Felix leaps out of the way and walks back between Donovan and Connor. He looks dejected, arms crossed tighter, holding his sides, and huddled into himself. The hard reminder of what he is hangs heavy over his shoulders.
“Gina,” Nolan purrs back, looking up at her lazily. The sensuous feline grace that I noticed earlier is back but more so. Despite barely moving, there’s an energy in every part of him that promises untold pleasures if only he deigned to offer them to you. “What brings you over here?”
Is this what he meant by charming?I wonder, possibly understanding what happened to Ms. Martinez. Then I remember Nolan was fourteen freshman year, and it goes back to being really gross.
She runs her manicured nails along his shoulder, and the energy in his body coils, promising pain with that pleasure. “Why, you of course,” she coos, “and to meet your new play thing… I mean, friend.”
