I laughed. “You have no idea.”
“Does that mean he kissed you again?” Corinne gasped. “Did you sleep with him?”
“He kissed me twice total. That’s it.”
“Sounds tasty.” Corinne’s eyes twinkled. “I hate to have to remind you of this, but you’re only seventeen. You can date and have fun. It’s okay. No one will judge you.”
“Yeah, Tessa, it’s not life or death. Date him, have a good time. If it gets weird, dump him. It won’t make you a slut or a horrible person.”
“You guys don’t understand. If I do that, I’m going to sleep with him. I won’t be able to resist. It’s like… inevitable.”
“Oh, no.” Nadia’s hand flew to her throat. “That would be awful.” She nudged Corinne. “Can you see yourself sleeping with someone like Hayden?”
“I don’t want to imagine such a thing.” Corinne gave a mock shiver. “Get out now, Tessa, while you still can.”
I snorted in a half laugh. “Okay, I get it. You guys are no help.” I spied the boys’ table. Hayden was watching me. “I should go apologize. Be right back.” As I approached the table, Brad turned away. That was as good as a guarantee he’d never hit on me again. Fine by me.
“You can have my spot.” Skyler gave me a lopsided smile and made room next to Hayden.
“What’s up?” he asked as I sat.
“Sorry about that, you know, a few minutes ago. I was feeling a little bitchy. Stress.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He didn’t crack a smile and I guessed he was still mad. Maybe he’d finally gotten me out of his system? Maybe my crabbiness made him realize how stupid he’d been for pursuing someone socially inferior? I felt a pang of regret and loss in the center of my stomach. But I knew it would be good to end it all before I fell too hard.
Oh, hell. I’d already fallen. But it wasn’t the innocent kind of crush I’d had on Blane. What I felt for Hayden was real and deep and powerful. And so wrong since Hayden and I still wanted different things from life. The agony I’d felt over Blane dumping me would be nothing compared to what I’d suffer when Hayden and I eventually parted ways.
I was completely screwed.
He grinned at me and I smiled back, relief washing over me at his forgiveness.
“I was wondering what you were doing later today after our tutoring session,” I asked.
“Hanging out with you, I hope.”
“Good.” I leaned into Hayden, hoping for a more private conversation. “We have to talk.”
The eavesdroppers at the table snickered. “I hate it when girls want to talk,” Skyler joked.
“It’s not what you think, Skyler. I have to update him on something. Which, by the way, is none of your business.” I glared.
“This one’s a keeper.” Skyler snorted and patted Hayden’s back.
When the bell rang, Hayden walked with me to our next class. “So what did you want to talk about?”
“Sorcerer business. Later though. I have to work tonight, so after we study in the library, I’ll cut my meeting with Phillips and Linton short.” I sighed, dreaming of running steaming hot water, lighting some candles and closing my eyes for about twenty-four hours. “I want to take a bubble bath,” I mumbled.
“What?”
“Nothing. I haven’t had much time to myself lately.” It was getting old. “Anyway, never mind about that. Will you be around to go over some stuff before I leave for work?”
“Yeah, sure. Just let me know what you need.”
Telling him what I needed would get me into more trouble than I already was. I wouldn’t be doing that any time soon.
* * * *
“Here it is.” Mr. Linton handed over an unsealed envelope.
I opened it and quickly scanned the letter. It was perfect. “What about his records? Are they clean?”
He handed me Hayden’s file and pointed to a square contraption at my right. “There’s the shredder. Get rid of anything you don’t like.”
“And his grades? Are they magically better?” I wanted Hayden’s grades to improve but wasn’t sure falsifying them was the way to do it.
“That’s where I ran into a snag since I’m not the only one with those records. His teachers would never go along with it. But I was able to arrange extra credit opportunities in all his classes. Everything’s on the up-and-up. All Hayden has to do is to talk to his teachers.”
I liked that much better.
“Looks like Hayden came through for you on the kidnapping,” Fawn said casually as she looped her thumb in the waistband of her slacks.
“Yeah. Where were you for all that? I thought your people were tailing me.”
“When our man spotted Hayden taking off after you, we realized once he arrived, they’d let you go. All of us, no matter whose side we’re on, avoid involving the normal folk.” Fawn handed me a stack of photos. “I was wondering if you’d recognize any of these guys from the kidnapping incident.”
The face of a dark-haired woman stared back at me from the stack. I didn’t recognize her. But what if I recognized others? “I was thinking…” I looked into Fawn’s eyes. “What if I met with them the way I meet with you? And what if, after all this, I choose you? How would you like it if I’d already given them information about you guys? The thing is, I don’t know which side to choose. So I’m not spying for anyone.” I handed Fawn the photos.
“Fair enough.” She studied me and I felt a familiar rush of energy seep into me, soothing.
My eyes narrowed. “And no more trying to work your mojo on me. If I want to calm down, I’ll read a book and make tea or something.”
She held up a hand in surrender. “Okay.”
“What do you know about my family?” Why not go for it, cut to the chase?
Fawn and Linton exchanged looks.
“You have a five-year-old sister,” Linton answered. “Your parents have a marriage of convenience. He’s into real estate and she… well, she’s at the gym a lot and lunches regularly at the Grand Mesa Hotel. And—”
I waved a hand. “I know the rest. What about my other family?”
An almost imperceptible eye twitch made me suspect that maybe Linton knew something else. “What specific family are you referring to?”
Perhaps he wanted to know what I knew so he didn’t accidentally give me new information. I wasn’t playing along. “You and I are both aware of other members of my family. I’d like to know everything you have on them.”
He leaned back in his chair, his eyes maintaining contact with mine. “Your mother had three children — one’s deceased. Grandparents on your father’s side are still alive but grandparents on your mom’s are deceased.”
Disappointment over their lack of new information weighed on me like a sumo wrestler sitting on my chest. But I wondered what specifically they had on Zoe. If they admitted to having knowledge of her being a witch, it would be as good as admitting they should have informed me. But if they had no information, my probing would draw attention to her. The less they knew, the bigger my advantage.
“My shift starts soon and I still have things to do.” I picked up Hayden’s file and dove into it, looking for anything negative. “Is there anything else you want to go over while I shred?”
“No. I guess not,” Fawn replied.
“I meant to double check something. You said our abilities weren’t hereditary, right?”
“Correct.” She paused. “Why?”
“In all the history of sorcerers, there has never been more than one per family?”
“I don’t know. It’s not scientifically impossible. But if there are cases on record, they’re anomalies, not the norm. If it were truly hereditary,” Fawn said, “we’d all be having little wizard babies since we generally pair with our own kind and some of us have children.”
And still, I didn’t know anything more than I knew before. Fawn and Linton excelled at appearing to give information without actually doing so. But if I pressed the issue, they’d get suspicious. I took a different tact. “Is there anything else I should know?”
“What are you fishing for, Tessa?” Mr. Linton asked, intertwining his fingers in front of him.
I continued shredding and peeked at him from under my lashes. “You tell me.”