Page 106 of Cursed

I understand why she needs to be near her teddy bear druid right now. Out of all of us, he’s the best at soothing her and helping her relax.

We are exhausted from the lengthy interrogations.

And for some reason, Shayla’s still extremely anxious. We all feel it and exchange a worried glance.

“What’s going on, Sparkles?” Arden coaxes her and slides his huge hands up her arms reassuringly.

“Am I the only one waiting for the other shoe to drop?” she asks and looks at us.

“A little,” Branden agrees. “But I think we’re going to be okay now.”

Shayla looks at me, then at Rourke. “So what about what Cranish said? Are we leaving?”

“Leaving?” Landis, Branden, and Arden ask at once.

“If I pass my control test, I can leave the academy,” Shayla explains, then asks me, “What do you want to do?”

“I never had a passion for being a teacher. Before Rourke’s father blacklisted me, I was going to be an Elite Enforcer. But I don’t think that’s on the table any longer. Nor do I want it anymore. Not with you in my life.”

“You know that none of you have to worry about money again, right?” Rourke chimes in. “And as far as education, Shayla, if you want to keep going to school, I will support that. But three of us were already supposed to graduate this year. While I get my father’s estate in order, I’ll have to finish my last semester from home anyway. If you all want to come with me, we can have the finest tutors come to our home and finish off all your schooling. And Quade, uh, I could use your help with dealing with… well,everything.”

I don’t want to live off Rourke’s money, but he won’t be able to do it all on his own—even with Branden’s help. I realize I need to make our new home secure for my mate—for my entire coven. And the Lewellyn estate sort of owes me for derailing my life all these years. A teacher’s salary is nowhere close to what I would have been earning in one of the other careers I would have had.

Speaking of protection and security, I inform him, “You’ll need to investigate and fire most of the staff, and hire new staff for all the properties. So, yes, I could help with that.”

Rourke sighs in relief and settles back into the couch. “Goddess, thank you, Hollis.”

“Quade,” I tell him. Then I look at all of them. “You can all call me Quade now. We are in a mated coven.”

“May I call you sir,sir?” Landis asks, batting his eyes and quirking his sassy mouth.

“If you do, you will have to doeverythingI say,” I state with a growl, and I feel my cock come to attention with that thought. I never thought I’d fall for an incubus, but here I am… one of the fallen.

“As if I’m going to turn down that offer,” Landis stage whispers to Shayla and gives her a wink.

I ignore him, for now, and ask Shayla, “Do you want to stay at the academy? Or would you prefer private tutoring after you pass your exams this week?”

“Other than for Kat and you guys, I don’t really want to be here.” She looks at all of us before squaring her shoulders. “That’s not the issue though. I need to focus more on understanding my ability, then teach others how to change energy into magic.”

“You think that’s possible?” Branden leans forward, obviously fascinated with the possibility.

Before she can answer, I ask, “Is it wise? What if supes misuse that power?”

Shayla stares at me for a long moment. She looks at me with wisdom beyond her years shining in her eyes. With confidence I have never quite seen in her before, she explains, “Supes already misuse their power. Even humans misuse their power. But if I don’t do something to save our realms, thenI’mmisusing my power—my gift. Supes will become more and more desperate to hold on to their lives, their magic. They will figure out how our fathers did what they did. Once again, we’ll have supes who will hurt others in their attempts to stay alive. I willnothave that weighing on my shoulders.”

I nod, hearing the truth in her words. “You’re right.”

Shayla adds, “Besides, I don’t think supes can take into them any more than they did when magic was still a limitless resource. We only have so much room in our magical gas tanks.”

I chuckle at her analogy, but it makes sense. “Okay, so are the rest of you good with leaving?”

The druid squeezes Shayla to his chest. “I go wherever Sparkles goes.”

All of us agree.

She is our center. Our heart.

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