“If this Willow woman isn’t telling the truth…” Maisie said hesitantly.
“She is,” Cece said. “I keep wanting to pretend that she’s completely nuts, but I know she’s telling me the truth. And if you had met her, you would have believed her, too.”
“Sometimes crazy people are very good at sounding normal and believable,” Kinsley said gently.
“It isn’t just that,” Cece said. “The stuff she knew about my aunt and me, that no one else knew… how do you explain that?”
“She could have been a friend of your aunt,” Kinsley said.
Kinsley was the practical, logical one in their friend group, and Cece had always admired that about her, but right now, she really just wanted her best friend to believe her.
“It’s true, Kins,” she said wearily. “At least the part about me being a blood witch and my father. But whether his family is actually after me is still up for debate.”
“What do you mean?” Maisie asked.
“I did some research on the Sylvan family. Willow was right. They are one of the most powerful witch families on the west coast, but they’re also very…”
“What?” Kinsley asked.
“Respectable,” Cece said. “Adora Sylvan runs two non-profits, and Werner is a member of the High Council in the western WWC. They have two children, my father and another son, Alistair. Alistair owns one of the most prestigious law firms in the country. They’re well-liked, from what I can tell, and I can’t find a single complaint against them or any negative press. Most of the information is on their non-profits, Werner’s position at the WWC, and on my father’s death.”
“How does it say he died?” Kinsley asked.
“Car accident,” Cece said. “While I believe that Willow is communicating with Aunt Sybil, I’m not entirely sold on the idea that my father’s family is trying to kill me. The mugging was three days ago, and there hasn’t been anything since. Maybe it really was just random, and I got lucky that Willow chose that day to speak to me so Briggs could save me.”
She blushed just saying his name, and Maisie immediately said, “So, you gonna hit that or what?”
“Of course not,” Cece said.
“Why not?” Maisie asked. “You told us he’s a polar bear shifter. You love polar bears, and if you slay his world in the bedroom, maybe he’ll be willing to shift to his bear form for you. Then you won’t have to go all the way to Alaska to see a polar bear.”
“He’s not attracted to me,” Cece said.
“Hold up,” Kinsley said. “Let’s recap for a second… a couple of months ago, this guy, Briggs, and his polar bear friend were trying to save Elora’s life, but you didn’t know that, so you - very bravely, I will add - took on two giant polar bear shifters -”
“I didn’t know they were polar bear shifters at the time,” Cece said.
Kinsley waved her off. “You took on two gigantic shifters, and when Briggs touched you, your magic went haywire, and you nearly crushed him with a tree before making out with him.”
“I nearly crushed both of us with a tree,” Cece said. “Not just him.”
“Right. And while you were making out, your magic went even crazier and this guy, this Briggs who you say is not attracted to you, shoved his hand down your pants and asked you if you wanted to be fucked to which you said, ‘yes, please’, and the only reason you didn’t actually fuck this guy thirty seconds after meeting him is because you needed to save Elora’s life. So, yeah, that guy? He’s not attracted to you. Is that what you’re telling us?”
“You’re leaving out the very important detail that I’m ninety-nine percent positive that he’s my,” Cece swallowed hard, “conduit.”
“Yeah, I’m going to need you to explain this whole conduit thing again,” Maisie said before popping a fry into her mouth.
“A conduit is a human or a paranormal who, when a witch touches them, it feeds their magic and makes it stronger,” Cece said. Blushing again, she said, “The more intimate the touch, the stronger the magic becomes.”
“And you’re automatically attracted to the conduit?” Maisie asked.
“Sometimes, but not always. A witch has no idea that a person is their conduit until they actually touch them. But once they touch them, the attraction usually amps up between them. Especially to the conduit because they’re getting a hit of the witch or warlock’s magic, too, and it feels good.”
“So fucking weird,” Maisie said.
“It’s awful,” Cece said. “The attraction isn’t real. It’s only because of magic that the conduit and the witch feel the attraction, and yet the conduit is forced to stay with the witch the rest of their lives, serving them sexually so the witch can increase their magic.”
“So,” Maisie chewed on another fry, “you’re telling me that the only reason you’re attracted to him is because of this conduit thing. There isn’t any part of you not ruled by your magic who would bang that giant polar bear shifter like a screen door?”
