I pulled back from Rowan, looking for the rest of my guys.
“It’s just me, Q-tip.” Rowan ruffled my hair. “One’s never going to be enough for you, is it?”
I zeroed in on his expression, terrified to see hurt in his eyes, only to find his broad face filled with joy. I grinned. “Nope. But you might’ve earned some one-on-one time.” I bit my lower lip. “As long as that’s what you want.”
Rowan lit up.
“It’s all you're gonna get if the others can’t pull their heads out their asses,” Silas mumbled. “Selfish fuckers, all three of them.”
I raised an eyebrow, but Ravana swatted her partner, and he didn’t explain further.
The five of us settled around the table, still glowing with stacks of Intentions. Rowan pursed his lips before taking a scrawl of his white magic out of his void and pushing it between two others.
“Do you want to help me go through these?” I asked.
“No!” At least three people said at the same time.
Ravana and Brit scowled at me while Rowan rumpled my hair again.
“It’s not right for me to see what the others are offering you.” He grimaced. “Mine’s probably the worst on that table. I don’t need the reminder.”
“It’s not about the offer, Rowan,” I said softly.
“I know.” Rowan pulled me forward and kissed me softly. “But I still want to give you the world.”
“Dump the other three.” Silas fished Rowan’s buried Intention out of the pile and put it on top.
I bit my lips together. “And how do you know the other three? I didn’t see you at the big family meeting.”
Silas stood and pulled Ravana with him. “Let’s give these kids some privacy.” He glanced toward the far side of the room, where the sounds of food prep and mumbling still carried. “As much as one can get here.”
Joe stood as well. It took a bit of convincing, but Brit joined him, and the two took off to wander the bowels of The Pit, leaving us with a semblance of privacy on the far side of the heat cone
Watching her go, it made sense. She’d grown up learning from the fighters while Ravana and Lacy kept watch, Silas a rough father figure. No wonder she was fierce. And now that she could, she wanted to pass all of that on to her child.
“What’s on your mind?” Rowan asked.
I looked away from my friend's retreating form. A child giggled on the far side of the room, while the smell of stew wafted. A wave of unexplainable homesickness washed over me. Brit’s revelation weighed heavily on my shoulders.
“Brit thinks I’m the reason she can get pregnant.” I stood and moved us to a more secluded couch, hiding between a leather tent and a domed green polyester one from my time. “Now that she can get pregnant, she’s desperate for a baby.”
“And that’s making you want a baby?” Rowan asked.
I shook my head. “Not even close, but it’s making me wonder if I really did help her…” My heart fluttered. Maybe I didn’t just destroy. “Should I do it again?”
Rowan put out his arm, and I snuggled into his side.
“What do you think?” I asked.
“I believe if you can help someone, you should.” He squeezed me. “But not everything’s black and white.”
We sat in silence as our thoughts churned.
“Do you know what you did to Brit?” Rowan asked.
My Majekah forced me to go to Professor Holiday, just like it moved my hand from Brit’s chest to her abdomen when I used it on her. Until this moment, I hadn’t connected the two sensations. One was a little tug, while the other was a monster truck dragging me forward. But both pulled.
I nodded slowly. “I think so.” For the first time since it happened, I was able to separate the horror of what I’d been through from the facts. “When Horax had us, Brit wouldn’t wake up, and I got desperate, so I touched her with my Majekah. It’s the only thing I’ve done to Brit, so that has to be it.”
