Were all witches gorgeous? Was it some prerequisite for a male to have magick that he also be sexual-fantasy inducing? She wasn't as attracted to Thomas as she'd been to Jack—that had been knee-meltingly strong, and yet...

"I'm your first cousin."

FIFTEEN

FOURTEEN

Every thought Mira had crashed to the floor like a stack of china plates. She blinked. "Uh, excuse me?”

Thomas leaned forward, threading his fingers together in front of him. "Your mother, Eva Monahan, was my father's sister. That makes us first cousins.”

Suddenly, she felt light-headed. It was almost noon, and she'd had nothing to eat. That meant on an empty stomach she'd nearly killed six men while misusing her magick and then found out she had a long-lost cousin. No wonder she felt a little woozy. She glanced at the bar. "I think I might have that drink now.”

He laughed and stood. "What would you like?”

"An orange juice, if you have it"—with half a bottle of vodka in it—"That would be great.”

Thomas came back with her orange juice and she took a sip, letting it steady her and calm her nerves. After a moment of digesting both liquid and new information, she spoke. "I noted right away that Monahan was also my mother's maiden name, but I just thought it was coincidence. I, uh, didn't even know my mother or father had any siblings.”

Her chest and stomach were heavy with sadness. Annie had kept all her parent's secrets from her, everything. Even though Mira knew she'd done it to honor their wishes, it stung. Hadn't she understood how alone Mira had felt in the world? She felt betrayed.

And weary of secrets.

"I imagine they didn't want you to track down your family and discover you were a witch, Mira. They were trying to protect you because they loved you." He paused and studied the look on her face. "What do you want to know?”

Mira sighed. "Everything.”

"We'll have time to catch you up. I'm sure you'll meet some of the rest of the family while you're here too.”

"Rest of the family?”

"The Monahan family is directly involved with the Coven. My father, Richard, led it before control was handed to me by the council. You have a bunch of cousins who hang around here pretty often. In fact, my sister Serena should be here later today. I'm going to see if she wants to take your training over. She's an earth witch, like me.”

She blinked. "Not that I'm objecting, but why Serena?”

"I only want people around you that I trust implicitly.”

"Jack's been doing my training so far. You don't trust him?”

Thomas took a moment to answer. "I wouldn't have allowed Jack to be your personal bodyguard if I didn't trust him, and I still think he's the best man for that particular job, but let's try someone new for your training.”