“I don’t get it, Blair. Why are you still dating him?”

“His magic,” I say with a sigh.

“You mean his magical signature. You and I both know he’s an exsul.” I know she’s right. I’ve done multiple spells to figure out what he is. Sadly, he’s just human with dormant magic in his blood. Likely, he has a magical parent, but for Ryan, his magic is latent, making him completely ordinary. I can’t tell him I’m a witch if he isn’t part of the supernatural community.

“It’s like I can feel his magic wanting to connect with mine. Like every time we fuck, it’s just bubbling up to the surface, but it can’t come out.”

Stevie grimaces. “That isn’t an image I needed in my head this early in the morning.”

“Want a worse image? Something I thought I would never say. I’m so tired of topping him all the time.”

Stevie spits out her drink and can’t stop herself from uncontrollably laughing. “Blair, you have got to break up with him. You don’t really like him and you keep pretending to be someone you’re not around him. I gotta say, Cousin, it’s pretty pathetic trying to watch you play little miss nice girl around him.”

My mouth gapes open. “Stevie, you’re lucky I love you or I would charm your clothes to shrink so you thought you were gaining weight.”

“That’s just evil.” I would never hurt Stevie; she knows she’s my soft spot. Stevie is my person, and must be protected at all costs.

She slides over the new cocktail, and I take a sip. “This is much better. Add it to the menu. Is Heather printing the new menus for tonight?”

“Yes, she said she would be back around three.”

“Good, I’m meeting Ryan for lunch, but I’ll be back well before the dinner crowd.”

“Don’t forget about the meeting at midnight, full moon and all.”

I groan and sit back on the stool. “Do I really have to go?”

“You’ve missed the last two, and you’re on probation. You can’t risk it. They’re our coven. You know we need to do our rituals to keep the coven’s strength up.” The council governs all witches around the globe. Their job is to make sure we don’t have another Salem situation on our hands. Fucking around with humans is the biggest way to get yourself in trouble. So far I’ve really just had some slaps on the wrists. Not being able to use certain magic, but if I get in more trouble with them they could potentially imprison me, restrict my magic even further or attempt to take it away completely. I would never let that happen, though. They would need to kill me first.

“You mean those cunts want to pull from my power to keep the coven strong? Why should I do that, Stevie?”

“You know it’s not that simple. Aunt Josie will lose her shit if you don’t come,” she says, giving me big blue pleading eyes.