Shut up shut up shut up.

“Your loverboys are out there convincing the coven that hired me that they were the cause of the magickal burst, but the witches will be back to canvas the area to make sure they left. You certainly don’t want to accidentally run across one of them. Worst group of bitches I’ve met.”

Yeah, because you’re such a fucking bouquet of flowers.

Comebacks fought with terror as my brain split in two, half-terrified that my life was crumbling around me, and the other half spitting with rage that it would be this man’s fault.

“Easy kitten. You lose it again, and you’ll bring that coven right to you.”

Right, as if I had enough magick to do that, especially after resetting wards, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t still enraged with him.

BANG BANG BANG. I jumped as someone pounded on my newly repaired door.

“And they’re back,” Quinn said. “Took them longer than I thought to figure it out. Or perhaps the witches detained them.”

Karl and Luka strode through the door, taking a moment to look surprised at the lack of mess, and then focused their fury on Quinn.

“That’s my cue to go. Good luck with everything!”

He practically ran out the door, and I could tell Karl and Luka wanted to go after him. I sank to the ground, overwhelmed with everything. I held my hands out to them, desperate. Even if they were around me for selfish reasons, I was going to be just as selfish and wring everything I could out of it. I liked having someone care about me. Why was that so wrong?

“Please.”

Luka had me in his arms a moment later, and Karl was at my back.

“What did he do? We’ll kill him—”

“No. He just … you can smell that I’m a virgin?’

Luka glanced down at me through those golden eyelashes, a look of such warmth that I almost didn’t care why he wanted me. Almost.

“Well … yeah. It’s pretty potent—”

Karl rapped him over the head with a newspaper from my table like a naughty dog, and it was exactly what I needed. I snorted, then broke out into a full belly laugh as Luka fell back on his haunches, rubbing his nose.

Seeing my mirth, Luka twitched a small smile, but Karl’s eyes were practically dancing. As much as they warmed my heart, the underlying fear was still there.

They will leave you as soon as they have what they want, or you pick one over the other.

I shook my head.

“What are we going to do now?”

Karl’s question caught me off guard. For as long as I could remember, it had always been just me. We? The sudden emotion that hit me was raw, even as Quinn’s voice taunted me in my head.

They’re only in it for your power.

It didn’t feel like that though! I wanted so desperately to believe my instincts (and Damon’s as well), but I needed to know if they were here for me, or just for my magick. Luckily, I knew an easy way to find out.

“I need to tell you both something. If you want to leave after you know, I-I’ll understand.”

Disbelief already twisted their faces, but I held up a hand.

“Just listen.”

Then I told them my story.

???