“I wouldn’t have expected you to go for that combination. Corbin, sure. Those dark eyes, the huge shoulders, that infuriating need to take charge of every situation. But I had you pegged for the sword-wielding maniac, not the quiet queer guy.”
“Rowan’s not queer!” But a flicker of Rowan’s face when he’d seen Corbin and Flynn on the couch with me passed in front of my eyes. “Is he?”
“Hell yeah. Can’t you tell? At the very least, he’s bi or pan. He’s mad keen on Corbin. I’m not surprised. Damaged guys like Rowan always cling to their saviors. Usually it’s the mighty pussy that puts them on the straight and narrow, but in Rowan’s case, it’s Corbin and his savior complex that have Rowan all hot under the collar. And you too, Maeve the witch.”
“Don’t call me that. It sounds weird,” I laughed. I didn’t think she had it right about Rowan and Corbin, but what did I know about stuff like this? “I’ve never met a guy like Corbin before.”
“Please,” Jane said. “I’ve met a hundred Corbins in my lifetime. They’re the protectors, the guys who have to be in charge because they can’t stand the idea that someone else might take responsibility for their actions. If I had three guesses, I’d say he’s carrying guilt about something he did in the past. Any history of drug use? The Corbins of the world are often users.”
“I actually don’t know much about his past, apart from the fact that his family lived at Briarwood until he was fifteen, and then his parents moved away for some reason and left Corbin behind.”
Jane waved a hand. “Whatever. They aren’t as interesting to me as you, Maeve Crawford-Moore of Arizona and Briarwood Castle. What’s your story?”
I shrugged. “You know most of it already. My parents died. I came to Briarwood, discovered I was a witch and that my ancestors spent centuries preventing the fae host from invading Earth and causing chaos and mayhem. And I’m living with four hot guys?—”
“Five hot guys.”
“Right.” I gulped. I couldn’t forget Blake. I wasn’t sure how long he’d stay, how long the others would tolerate him if Corbin didn’t accept him. But I guessed now that I was in charge of the coven I could force him to let Blake stay.
A flash of memory came to me, of Blake’s fingers sliding between my legs while Flynn’s mouth devoured mine.
Flynn’s already accepted him. At least, as far as I’m concerned.
“What were you doing in Arizona before you found out about this place?”
“I was in community college, studying physics.” The memory of my MIT acceptance letter on the fridge flashed in front of my eyes. “It’s my dream to attend MIT. I was accepted last year, but I couldn’t get financial aid. I reapplied and managed to get a scholarship for the upcoming year. Daigh somehow got to the college and they rescinded the scholarship offer. I got that news right after my parents died.”
“So no MIT?”
I shrugged. “I could sell the castle and get enough money for pretty much anything I wanted, but…”
“But it’s full of hot guys?”
“Yeah. And the whole my-father-is-a-fae-king-hellbent-on-destroying-the-earth-and-I-have-to-stop-him thing has kind of taken precedence. Plus, I’m messed up right now. I can’t seem to get through a day without breaking down about my parents. That’s not the ideal state-of-mind to be making decisions about my future.”
“So why physics?” Jane wrinkled her nose. “I was always rubbish at math.”
We rounded the corner on to Jane’s street. The bright flowers in her front garden spilled over the low wall.
“Physics isn’t just numbers on a page. It’s the essence of life. It’s the laws that govern our universe and potentially even universes beyond ours.” I started to explain my theory about the fae realm being in another part of the multiverse, and the gateway a wormhole between them, but Jane screwed up her face in disgust.
“Christ on a bike, you really are a nerd,” Jane laughed as she pushed open the gate, and we squeezed up the path between the overflowing beds. “I used to hate girls like you at school?—”
Jane stopped short, her breath catching. I crashed into her, tripping over the edge of the path and toppling over a flowerpot.
“Ow!” I cried as my knee hit a garish gnome. “Jane, what?—”
Jane’s face turned bone white. I followed her eyes to the door of the cottage. Written across the cherry-red door in thick black paint were the words:
CHAPTER TWELVE
ROWAN
Ipaid for my ticket in the machine and followed Corbin onto the bus. He slid into a seat near the back. I hesitated, not sure if he wanted me to sit next to him or give him some time alone. But then someone bumped me from behind and I stumbled down the aisle.
“Move it,” someone hissed in my ear.
I nearly fell in Corbin’s lap as I hurried to sit down, my heart pounding.
