“We're not helpless, Quin. We're the exact opposite of helpless. You and I can do anything we set our minds on. Surely we stand a good chance against anything they can throw at us.”
“You want to face them?”
“Only if we have to.”
“If we don't leave, we'll have to face them.”
“Then that's what we'll do.”
“Layla...”
“No, Quin. I don't want to hide. I don't know much now, but if you help me, I'll be able to defend myself better than anyone else in the world. The last thing I want is for one of us to get hurt, but we're not weak. We can live without hiding like meek rabbits.”
“I don't know if we can.”
She huffed and straightened her shoulders, her jaw set, her chin tilted. “We can. Finley lived in the magical world without being hunted, so can we.”
Quin's eyes flashed as his voice hardened. “Finley did it all wrong.”
The pain and anger in his aura tugged on Layla’s heart, but she held firm. “He did do it wrong, but we'll do it right. He was crazy, but he made a valid point beneath the nonsense. Why is our power punishing us? Obviously I don't believe I should get everything handed to me, but I shouldn't have everything taken away either.”
Quin stood silent for a long moment, and Layla could tell he was reading her, trying to decide if he had a chance at changing her mind. “What are we going to do about Agro?”
She shrugged. “Let him find me. What can he do? He'll never be able to sway my loyalties, and there won't be any children for him to take. I'm no longer his perfect treasure.”
“If he can't use you, he'll kill you. He might slaughter everyone in sight when he realizes you’re bonded and there’s nothing for him to gain by it.”
“Well, we can't have that, can we?”
“No, we definitely cannot.”
She searched for answers, but came up with nothing. “I’m still not hiding, so let’s figure out a solution.” She pulled Quin to the sofa and urged him to sit. Then she made herself comfortable on his lap as she looked at the others. “Any ideas?”
The women watched her with bloodshot eyes, a result of the tears they'd shed for her desperate situation, and the men watched her with wrinkled brows, still shocked by her stubbornness. Layla watched them right back, determined to get her way.
After a full minute ticked by with no answer, she dropped her gaze and played with Quin’s fingers. “When was the last time someone tried to kill Agro?”
Their silence stretched; the sad hues in their auras growing bolder.
Layla kissed Quin’s pinky then moved to the next finger. “Is anyone going to answer me?”
Serafin caved and cleared his throat. “It's been twenty-nine years since the last group, but I’m sure there have been individual attempts.”
“How many in the group?”
“Around forty. They tracked down his camp and invaded it.”
“Any survivors?”
“No.”
Layla had showered Quin's left hand in kisses, so she laid it in her lap and took the other. “Tell me about the group. Was it a coven?”
A quiet moment passed, and Layla thought they were going to refuse to answer, but then Serafin sighed and came to the rescue. “They were from five different covens that had suffered losses at Agro's hands. They wanted revenge, so their strongest joined together and planned for several months before marching to their deaths.”
“When you say their strongest, how strong were they?”
“Above average, but if you're asking if any of them had bonded powers, the answer is no.”
“No bonded children?”
“No, but Agro does have bonded children.”
“A lot of them?”
“Too many.”
“But they lead the other groups, right? They're not with him.”
“Many of them lead other troops, yes, but the outfit he travels with consists of his strongest soldiers and a handful of bonded children. He usually has a few sets of twins on hand as well.”
“Twins?”
“Yes. Multiples are more powerful than singles. They absorb a fraction of each other's ability while still in the womb. Much like bonding, but not as potent.”
“Oh.” She was playing with Quin's forefinger now, and she smiled as she kissed it. “Do you guys want to see something cool?”
Everyone looked at her like she was crazy, and she laughed as she looked at Quin, who stared back with an odd mixture of admiration and dread. Her laugh abruptly died, but her smile stayed in place as she reached for a hidden dimple. “Want to show them our new trick?”
“Sure,” he agreed, taking her hand. Then he kissed her finger and looked at the others. “Layla's brilliant and taught me a new trick, and she did it before we bonded, so I can't imagine what she'll teach me next. Go for it, angel.”