Kegan returned his attention to Brietta and the air around her. “Is something wrong?”
“I forgot to let everyone know you were coming,” she explained.
“Oh.” He smiled and kissed her forehead. Then he turned to the rest of the family. “I'm sure they don't mind. Right, guys?”
“Of course not,” several people replied.
Free from Weylin's snare, Brayden jumped on Kegan's back. “Of course not,” he repeated, his voice mockingly mature as he gave him a noogie. Before Kegan could retaliate, Brayden soared away, pointing and laughing as he went.
Catigern laughed at his great-great-grandson's orneriness then smiled at their guests. “You and Weylin are always welcome, Kegan. Grab a chair. Dinner will be ready soon.”
“Don't mind if I do,” Weylin accepted, sparring with Banning on his way to the circle.
A moment later Banning was in a headlock, and Weylin turned his blond hair gray before letting go and flying toward an empty chair. Halfway there, his gaze landed on Quin, and he halted in mid-air, suspiciously eying his friend for several seconds before landing in front of him. “I see you still have your mysterious angel.”
Quin smiled. “Did you have any doubt?”
“No.” Weylin shifted his gaze to Layla. “Hey, gorgeous.”
“Hey, Wey,” she returned. “How's it going?”
“Grand as always. Still hiding that beautiful aura, I see.”
“For the moment.”
“That's a shame. I barely got a glimpse of it before you flew away Monday.”
“You'll see it again.”
He grinned and raised his eyebrows. “I look forward to it.” Then he sobered as he looked at Quin. “Is she rubbing off on you, man?”
Quin laughed. “You could say that.”
But his good humor didn't placate Weylin. “Why are you hiding, Quin?”
Kegan approached and stood beside Weylin. “Good question. I can't remember the last time I saw you without your aura.”
“I’ll explain,” Quin offered, summoning two chairs. “Take a seat.”
They did, and Brietta quickly summoned another chair, positioning it so she could watch their reactions.
“First of all,” Quin stipulated, “what I’m about to tell you is sensitive information and should never be repeated.”
Kegan's and Weylin's eyebrows drew together as they nodded and leaned back, ready to listen.
Quin looked at Layla, smiling as he ran a forefinger across her lips. Then he met his friends’ stares. “Layla's an extraordinary witch, guys, and I'm not just saying that because I love her. I’m saying it because she's Rhosewen and Aedan's daughter.”
“What?” they returned, sitting up straight.
They knew the story… well, some of the story. All the locals did. Any coven that had anything to do with the Conn/Kavanagh coven knew of Aedan and Rhosewen's sad tale. It had become a legend of sorts among the younger generation, and over the years it had been distorted by those who weren't close to the family, warped and glamorized into fiction. But nobody outside the family, no matter what they might claim, knew the whole story.
“Aedan and Rhosewen had a child?” Kegan asked, turning wide eyes on Layla.
“Yes,” Quin answered, “and you're looking at her.”
“But that would mean... What would that mean?”
“Well, as you know, Aedan and Rhosewen were bonded children who bonded with each other, so Layla was born with magical and physical abilities handed down by three bonded union s. We didn’t get a chance to discover Aedan and Rhosewen’s magical limits, but using what little knowledge we have, we've estimated Layla could surpass the combined power of four magicians.”
“Are you serious?” Weylin exclaimed.
“It's a guess,” Quin clarified.
“But where has she been?” Kegan asked.
Quin searched Layla's eyes, getting unspoken permission to recount her sad beginning. Then he kissed her head and looked at his friends. “To answer that I need to start at the beginning. You’ve heard the story about Agro discovering Aedan and Rhosewen's union and showing up at their wedding, which is true. That's exactly how it happened. But the rumors claiming they fled for their safety are false. They fled for Layla's safety. Rhosewen was already pregnant when they left. But what nobody knew, not even them, was that Rhosewen had been cursed the night of her wedding. The spell was meant to kill her upon giving birth, and that’s what it did.”
Kegan and Weylin frowned, their auras darkening as they looked at Layla, but they didn't interrupt Quin’s explanation.
“Aedan feared Layla would be an easy target if she returned home, and he didn’t want her carrying these burdens through childhood, so he chose to hide her in the non-magical world. She was adopted by a hexless woman the day after she was born. Then Aedan searched out Agro and somehow convinced him Layla had passed away with her mom. Aedan didn’t leave that meeting alive, and he’d asked Layla’s adopted mom to change her name and move without telling anyone where she was going, so Layla dropped off the radar. They ended up in Oklahoma with new identities, both of them completely unaware that magicians exist.”