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I glance around at the other guys and see what they think about this change in expression, but they’re all looking at each other again.
I sigh and push up from Ezra and pull my hand from Hardin. “Will you please stop having a conversation without us? It’s hurtful and rude.” Not one of them looks shamefaced. They just blink at me before turning back to Cohen.
“Fine. If you can prove that you have access to a Librarian, we’ll let you stay and help train Rosalind,” Fielder finally says. My jaw clenches. I’ve already told them I’m going to have Cohen teach me. They don’t need to give their consent. “But only for the time between now and when her trial starts. Once this time is passed, we expect you to leave and not return.”
Cohen’s icy eyes flick to me. “Nope. Cannot do. I will stay as long as my wildcard wants me here.”
Dammit. As soon as he says those words, four pairs of eyes turn to me. I shift uncomfortably on my feet, wishing like hell that the floor would open up and swallow me, or that the black mass on my arm would burst out and surround us again. Any kind of distraction I would appreciate right about now, and I can’t see that one is forthcoming.
“Sweeney,” Fielder prompts, and I can tell from the tone of his voice that he thinks I’m going to say I want Cohen gone after two weeks. That I’ll give them this. Taking a deep breath and fisting my hands at my sides, I meet his eyes. His expression falls. He can tell. Heknows.Something fractures between us at that moment. It doesn’t break, but it’s damn close.
“I think that two weeks isn’t enough time to learn everything, Fielder.” I’m trying to be gentle, so gentle. He pulls his green gaze away from me, his jaw tight and so I look at Hardin instead, whose fists are clenching and unclenching. “I think Cohen should stay with us for as long as it takes.” Hardin shakes his head in denial. “I’m not trying to hurt you, I swear,” I say to Gideon’s tense shoulders. His back is to me as he shakes his head. “It’s the last thing I want to do, but I want him to stay, for as long as it takes for all of us to learn how to better protect ourselves.”
Ezra’s hand closes around mine, drawing my attention to him. “We can protect you, Ro.We can.”
“You can try. But… we all know that the elders don’t play fair. Do you honestly think that they’ve allowed themselves to be limited in their access? Do you think there isn’t a chance that they’re hoarding all kinds of spells and runes?” I look at Fielder. “When was the last time you saw your dad without a shirt on? Can you say for sure he doesn’t have spells tattooed on him that could destroy me? Hell, he could have a shadow and we’d never know.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Gideon says, turning to look at me. “After you pass the trial, you’ll be a member of the Seven Stars coven. You know they don’t allow members to mingle with other witches. You won’t even be able to talk to Cohen.”
The man in question snorts. “Says you.”
“No, says all the laws that govern us. We have to stay separate. We have to protect our castings.”
I shake my head. “That is faulty logic and you know it. If Cohen found his way into The Library. If he got his hands on the grimoire and journals of all the covens, then who’s to say someone else hasn’t done the same thing? That they won’t in the future? That your father and the other elders aren’t already in possession of the same knowledge? If your overall goal is to overthrow them, then this is our best chance.”
For four guys who seem to thrive on having power, on being the best, on succeeding. They sure are fighting this. And I’m sure it only has to do with me. If I wasn’t a factor here, and Cohen approached them with the offer of teaching what he knows, they would jump all over the chance.
But since Cohen started this whole interaction by saying he wants to be a part of myharem… Well, here we are.
I puff out my cheeks as I let out a long breath. “I wish you guys would trust me.”
Fielder frowns. “We do trust you.”
“No, you don’t. In the last three hours, you’ve had two conversations that you used a spell to hide. I’m not stupid. You don’t trust me with stuff about your coven. I know you don’t trust Cohen as far as you can throw him… which, actually, for some of you, might be pretty far. Considering your powers, but you should trust me on this. He’s done nothing but help me.”
“Calling you a whore was helping you?” Ezra growls out.
Cohen winces. “Yeah, not my finest moment. My jealousy and anger got the better of me there. You assholes treated her like shit for months. I couldn’t believe she’d want to stay with you after that. Not even a little. Pissed me the fuck off that she did.” His ice green eyes move over to me. “You know I’m sorry about that, right?”
“You know that’s not a genuine apology, right?” I say back, but my lips twitch into a small smile.
He grins back. “I’m sorry I called you a whore, wildcard.”
I wave a hand because it’s not important, and I know he doesn’t really think I’m one. After all, he has straight up said he wants to join us… at least as far as the whole dating me thing goes. But not so far as joining the coven.
Which we still need to talk about. We need to resolve this. They need to accept Cohen’s help. And we need to start training right now. Because if I’m going to have any hope of passing these trials when I’ve only been learning witchcraft for a few months, then I need all the help I can get.
“Let’s just all agree,” I say, running my hands down the front of my jeans. “That none of you were at your best in the past. I need to train. And I need to do thatnow. The more time we spend on this, on arguing about whether Cohen should be allowed to help us and for how long, the less time I have to prepare.” I meet each of their eyes. “And while you don’t agree on just about anything, I know you all can agree that I need to be prepared.”
They all nod, somewhat reluctantly, but it’s an agreement all the same.
I huff out another breath. “Excellent. Then let’s talk about a schedule, shall we?”
“Why do we need a schedule if Cohen knows everything and is going to teach us?” Hardin sounds petulant as shit, and I resist the very adult urge to kick him in the shin.
Instead, I take a deep breath, and say, “If you want to start with a group session, I’m down for that. But I would still like to have some one-on-one time with each of you.”
Five sets of eyes blaze into me, and it takes me a moment to realize that the statement I just said could be sexual. My face flames and I let out a small sound of embarrassment before I quickly clarify. “Training.I mean training sessions, obviously. I’m not talking about group sex.”
