the couch and gently pulled her to rest her head in his lap, one of his arms draped protectively over her shoulders.
“ What are we watching?”
“ Up to you.” He passed her the remote. “Now that thing’s sacred, so be careful with it,” Justin joked. “I know you like The Terminator, but I don’t know much about your tastes beyond that.”
“ I think tonight I’m in the mood for a documentary tonight. Preferably one that I don’t have to pay much attention to. The more I can ignore the words, the better, so I'll get one of those nature documentaries with the great footage.”
“ I don’t want to wear you out like earlier,” he objected softly.
“ Don’t worry so much. I’d like to know more about you, and not just in bed. So talk.”
“ About what in particular?”
“ I remember the story of your names, but you really didn't talk about your childhood past when your mom died.”
“ Going for the hard stuff first, huh?”
“ Might as well. I'm curious. It's better than prying into your mind, right?”
He laughed. “If I tell you, you're going to have to do the same.”
“ Fair enough.”
“ As you remember, my mother drowned herself with her magic. Our father didn't deal with it well, and he buried himself in work to an extent to not have time for us. It meant that the four of us grew really close. We had a variety of witches taking care of us, but there wasn't much consistency beyond me and my siblings. To be honest, if I regretted anything, it’s that I haven’t stayed as close to my siblings as I was. Leo and Dymphna went off to college, and Seb and I stayed here to run the Coven.”
“ You’re still young enough to change that.”
“ You’re right. I just have to figure out how.”
“ I think you’ll be fine.”
“ God, here I am, spilling my soul. Hope I’m not boring you or anything.”
“ Nothing of the sort. People say I’m a good listener. Somewhere between that and my air magic, people will tell me a lot more than they necessarily intend to. I like listening to people.”
“ That’s good.”
“ Served me well in publicity.”
“ I'll bet it did. I never asked: what did you do about your job?”
“ I quit. With the Coven Campaign, I won't have time for one thing, and for another, I decided it was time to move on with that stage in my life and get out of LA. I've got enough money saved up that the baby and I will be fine for long enough to get things sorted out.”
“ That's good. But you've neglected to think that I'll be here for you. Even if things don't work out between us, I'll still help support you and the baby.”
“ Thanks. I appreciate that.”
“ Hell, it will be nice to have something to spend money on besides an entertainment center that no one sees anyway.”
“ So I guess the Coven pays well?”
“ Hell no. When my father was Duke, my mother managed to frivolously spend all the saved resources before anyone even realized the money was gone. People tithe to the Coven, but not that well.” He paused, as if he was going to stop there.
“ Well? Tell the whole story. I'm interested now.”
“ It was clear that there wouldn't be enough money for Seb and me to go to college from the outset. Of course, when our father died, we had to take on greater responsibility and wouldn't have been able to anyway. But when we were sixteen, Dad gave us a challenge. He said that some people have to make their own way in the world without a college degree to back them. His idea was to give us a thousand dollars apiece, and the challenge was to see who could make that amount increase the most. The winner after one year would get an extra thousand to help their project. He saved as much money as he could to finance our project, and that made a difference in how we approached it too.
“ Seb and I talked, and we even considered doing something together. But in the end, we decided to play the stock market. We did our research and based purchasing
“ What are we watching?”
“ Up to you.” He passed her the remote. “Now that thing’s sacred, so be careful with it,” Justin joked. “I know you like The Terminator, but I don’t know much about your tastes beyond that.”
“ I think tonight I’m in the mood for a documentary tonight. Preferably one that I don’t have to pay much attention to. The more I can ignore the words, the better, so I'll get one of those nature documentaries with the great footage.”
“ I don’t want to wear you out like earlier,” he objected softly.
“ Don’t worry so much. I’d like to know more about you, and not just in bed. So talk.”
“ About what in particular?”
“ I remember the story of your names, but you really didn't talk about your childhood past when your mom died.”
“ Going for the hard stuff first, huh?”
“ Might as well. I'm curious. It's better than prying into your mind, right?”
He laughed. “If I tell you, you're going to have to do the same.”
“ Fair enough.”
“ As you remember, my mother drowned herself with her magic. Our father didn't deal with it well, and he buried himself in work to an extent to not have time for us. It meant that the four of us grew really close. We had a variety of witches taking care of us, but there wasn't much consistency beyond me and my siblings. To be honest, if I regretted anything, it’s that I haven’t stayed as close to my siblings as I was. Leo and Dymphna went off to college, and Seb and I stayed here to run the Coven.”
“ You’re still young enough to change that.”
“ You’re right. I just have to figure out how.”
“ I think you’ll be fine.”
“ God, here I am, spilling my soul. Hope I’m not boring you or anything.”
“ Nothing of the sort. People say I’m a good listener. Somewhere between that and my air magic, people will tell me a lot more than they necessarily intend to. I like listening to people.”
“ That’s good.”
“ Served me well in publicity.”
“ I'll bet it did. I never asked: what did you do about your job?”
“ I quit. With the Coven Campaign, I won't have time for one thing, and for another, I decided it was time to move on with that stage in my life and get out of LA. I've got enough money saved up that the baby and I will be fine for long enough to get things sorted out.”
“ That's good. But you've neglected to think that I'll be here for you. Even if things don't work out between us, I'll still help support you and the baby.”
“ Thanks. I appreciate that.”
“ Hell, it will be nice to have something to spend money on besides an entertainment center that no one sees anyway.”
“ So I guess the Coven pays well?”
“ Hell no. When my father was Duke, my mother managed to frivolously spend all the saved resources before anyone even realized the money was gone. People tithe to the Coven, but not that well.” He paused, as if he was going to stop there.
“ Well? Tell the whole story. I'm interested now.”
“ It was clear that there wouldn't be enough money for Seb and me to go to college from the outset. Of course, when our father died, we had to take on greater responsibility and wouldn't have been able to anyway. But when we were sixteen, Dad gave us a challenge. He said that some people have to make their own way in the world without a college degree to back them. His idea was to give us a thousand dollars apiece, and the challenge was to see who could make that amount increase the most. The winner after one year would get an extra thousand to help their project. He saved as much money as he could to finance our project, and that made a difference in how we approached it too.
“ Seb and I talked, and we even considered doing something together. But in the end, we decided to play the stock market. We did our research and based purchasing
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