“That’s right,” Cece said before looking away.
“Hoo, that’s some bullshit right there, isn’t it, Kins?”
“Yep,” Kinsley said.
“Fine!” Cece said. “Maybe I was attracted to him when I first saw him in the hospital, but any red-blooded woman would be. He’s giant-sized with broad shoulders and gorgeous blue eyes, and these beautiful, thick thighs, and his biceps are bigger than my head.”
“What about his ass?” Maisie asked.
“Spectacular,” Cece sighed.
“Nice,” Maisie said, giving Cece a thumbs-up.
“No, not nice,” Cece said. “Now that he’s my conduit, it doesn’t matter that I was attracted to him beforehand. His attraction is still not real.”
“Well, you don’t have to stay with the conduit, right? You can, like, set them free or whatever,” Kinsley said.
“Most witches find it impossible to stay away from their conduit. They get addicted to that extra magic, too,” Cece said.
“Magic is messed up,” Maisie said.
“It can be. But it’s why I need to stay the hell away from Briggs. As rare as it is to have a conduit, how my magic reacted to touching him, how quickly we were, um, into each other, makes it pretty clear that he’s my conduit. As much as I don’t want to believe it, it’s the only logical explanation. And I definitely can’t fuck him. Just touching him that day outside the hospital made my magic stronger than I’d ever imagined possible. I don’t even know what would happen if we had sex and he gave me his…”
“His what?” Kinsley’s brows raised.
Her cheeks a fiery red, Cece mumbled. “Seed.”
“Seed?” Maisie repeated, her voice way too loud for the busy restaurant. “I’m sorry, did you just say his seed?”
“Hush, Maize,” Kinsley said absently. “Explain, Cece.”
She sighed again. “Look, this part could be complete bullshit because it’s not like I know a witch with a conduit, so I’m getting all of my information from the goddamn internet. But according to my research, while the physical touching and the actual act of sex with their conduit can and does increase a witch’s magic, if they’re fucking and the conduit comes in the witch, then that gives the most powerful boost of magic.”
“Huh, magical cum. Neat,” Maisie said before eating another fry.
“It could just be bullshit,” Cece repeated. “Conduits are incredibly rare, so there isn’t a lot known about them, plus they only happen to blood witches, not apprentice witches, and a lot of blood witches are weird about sharing any magic information with, like, the general public or even apprentice witches. They prefer to keep it to themselves.”
“I guess that lends credit to you being a blood witch,” Kinsley said thoughtfully. “If what Willow said wasn’t true, then this Briggs guy couldn’t be your conduit.”
“Exactly,” Cece said. “If I didn’t have any natural magic ability, and it was all just learned through apprenticeship, then I would never have a conduit and I wouldn’t…”
“What?” Maisie asked.
“My moods are starting to affect my magic. Like, if I’m afraid or upset, it sets off my magic, and that doesn’t happen to apprentice witches. Their moods don’t affect their magical abilities at all. It’s why blood witches going through puberty often have such a hard time controlling their magic. It’s growing stronger anyway, and then you add in messed-up emotions and hormones, and next thing you know, you’ve got fire witches accidentally setting fires in the cafeteria and water witches flooding the entire second floor of your high school.”
Maisie laughed. “Oh my God, that’s both awful and hilarious.”
“So, if you’re actually a blood witch, why didn’t your magic flare up during puberty?” Kinsley asked.
“Maybe she’s a magical late bloomer,” Maisie suggested.
Cece shrugged. “It’s a good enough explanation as any. Who the fuck knows what or why magic decides to do what it does.”
“Cece,” Kinsley gave her a solemn look, “what if that witch family is after you? What if you’re in danger like your aunt says you are?”
“I have to hope she’s wrong,” Cece said. “I can’t go to the police without any proof.”
“Maybe you could hire the security firm,” Maisie said. “That’s what they do, right? They keep people safe.”
