Chapter Fifty-Three
Allie
Standing before the Council of Witches and the other attending witches was intimidating. Witch in good standing or not, I was still a succubus, and sex demons were looked down on by most witches, probably because of their tendency to seduce warlocks, even attached ones. The fact that Isadora Hunt wanted me with her son still made absolutely no sense. I’d been assuming she was just getting desperate, but our conversation earlier had me questioning my original assumption.
Dylan reached out and squeezed my hand before leaning toward me. “It’s going to be okay, sweetheart. I’m right here, and I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”
“I’m not worried,” I said, but it seemed ridiculous to argue when anyone with eyes could see I was terrified. “It’s just that I really wish I knew what was going to happen. Not knowing makes it harder.”
“I wish I could tell you, but you already know the test is different for everyone,” Dylan told me, looking regretful. “Allie, I’m sorry I let my mother push you into this, and even more sorry I helped her do it. Seeing you like this is tearing me up inside.”
There were moments like this when I knew I could fall in love with Dylan, but I was still terrified he would break my heart. No, Dylan wouldn’t cheat on me. He’d be faithful, but how could I be enough for a warlock of his stature? Despite my father’s high rank, I was still half-succubus, and most witches still didn’t accept me because of that. Then I had to wonder if all of these worries were just excuses to avoid admitting that I was already falling in love with Dylan. Was I just trying to keep myself from hoping we’d pass the affinity test?
For some reason, I’d assumed we’d come into the meeting and move straight to the affinity test. Apparently, we were last on the agenda, which meant we had to sit through the entire meeting while we waited to see what would happen, as if I weren’t already stressed out enough.
The meeting seemed to go on forever as the COWs discussed all sorts of boring business, including a complaint about how Night High was portraying witches as ditsy cheerleaders. Yes, this was a major concern, and the council unanimously agreed to call Mel before them to explain her script. That was a meeting I might attend because Mel’s response was sure to be entertaining.
Dylan leaned close until his warm breath fanned out across my ear. “We should come back when Melina answers their questions about Night High. I’d love to see their faces when she tells them to go fuck themselves.”
I put a hand over my mouth and looked down, hoping the council wouldn’t notice me trying to stifle my giggles. Dylan had apparently spent enough time around Mel to know how she’d react. It wasn’t the part about explaining herself that she’d react poorly to as much as them telling her to change her portrayal of witches. I couldn’t wait to see what she did with the witches on the show after that meeting.
“Dylan Hunt and Alana Talbot,” a warlock at the front of the room called out, and I wondered if we were in trouble for talking during the meeting.
Dylan tugged on my hand and led me to the front of the room. That’s when I noticed the strong resemblance the warlock standing at the front had to Trevor. Since Trevor had said his father would be administering the affinity test, the man before us had to be Trevor’s father.
Isadora gave me a reassuring smile while my dad refused to make eye contact, probably figuring I was still mad at him for allowing this to happen.
“Where are your robes?” another council member asked, clearly annoyed.
“There was an unfortunate incident involving a paper shredder,” Dylan explained, and there were several coughs around the room, all probably meant to cover laughs.
“Are you ready?” Trevor’s father asked with no expression at all.
“They have no robes,” someone complained.
“We can certainly proceed without robes,” Trevor’s father insisted.
“I’m ready,” Dylan answered.
“Um, I didn’t really study,” I said lamely.
Trevor’s father coughed to cover his laugh.
Isadora chuckled softly. “Alana, you are definitely what my son needs. Don’t worry, dear. Everything is going to be okay.” Then she turned her attention to Trevor’s father. “Alana wasn’t trying to be disrespectful. She’s just nervous, so please try to be patient with her.”
Trevor’s father raised an eyebrow. “Do you think I’m going to yell at her?” he asked. “The poor girl looks like she’s going to faint.” His face softened as he looked at me. “There’s nothing to be afraid of, Alana. This is a simple matter, and it will be over soon.”
“Can we get started?” Dylan asked. “Waiting is making it harder on Allie.”
“Of course,” Trevor’s father agreed. “You’ll need to remove any magical items before we begin.”
“I can’t,” I said quickly, feeling my panic returning.
“It’ll be okay,” Dylan assured me quietly.
“No!” I insisted. “I need to keep my cuffs on or there could be problems.”
“The affinity test can only be performed with no magical items on your person,” Trevor’s father explained less patiently this time. “Those items make it impossible to give accurate results.”
“The sooner you take them off, the sooner we can be done with this,” Dylan insisted as he walked to the table and dropped his keys with the spelled chain so he couldn’t lose them, his cell phone with the tracking spell, and his wallet with Goddess only knew what spell on the table.
Since I’d left my purse in the car, I only had my cuffs to remove, and I really didn’t want to. Still, Dylan was right about me delaying things by standing here arguing. Reluctantly, I walked to the table and removed one cuff. As that cuff hit the table, I heard Dylan suck in a sharp breath. When the second cuff came off, Dylan groaned, and I turned to find him nearly doubled over. Looking around, I expected the same reaction from the other warlocks in the room and was surprised to find none of them were having any reaction at all to my succubus powers.
This didn’t make any sense. Dylan was upright now with his head dropped back and his fists clenched at his sides. It looked like he was fighting to control his own arousal while everyone else was completely unaffected.
“Can we get this over with quickly?” I asked, because I hated seeing what my succubus powers were doing to Dylan.
“Move forward and take his hands,” Trevor’s father ordered.
I hesitated for a moment because I wasn’t sure getting closer to Dylan was such a good idea. He might have an even stronger reaction if I touched him.
“Come here,” Dylan ground out, his eyes burning into mine.
I obeyed because I honestly didn’t feel like I could refuse. Dylan had both hands outstretched toward me. When I took his hands, he tugged me against his body and slammed his mouth down on mine. His kiss was hot, and I don’t just mean it was turning me on—it felt like we were surrounded by heat, and it kept getting hotter and hotter as Dylan’s tongue plunged into my mouth over and over, mimicking the act of sex.
“I need you,” he said, pulling away slightly to stare at me.
It was then that I noticed we were literally surrounded by fire. Crimson flames danced around us so high I could no longer see the council. These weren’t normal flames; they were Dylan’s magic, writhing around mine. Looking up at Dylan, I watched the fire dance in his eyes and felt myself getting wetter at the thought of the power he possessed. No, it was the power we possessed. This wasn’t just his power and my power; this was our power combined in some inexplicable way. The anxiety I’d felt about the test was gone, and it was like no one else existed—just us.
A cool breeze wafted through the room, and the flames were gone, stealing the cocoon that shielded us from the rest of the world. Dylan blinked twice, looking disoriented, and I knew exactly how he felt.
Sinfully Spellbound Page 54