Warlock Brothers of Havenbridge 01 - Spell Bound by Jacob Z. Flores Read Free Book Online Page B

was pulling her leg. “I’m constantly getting in trouble for not toeing the family line. For pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable for my order. I mean, I shouldn’t even be talking to you, right? Unless we’re on official business. You’re white magic. I’m black. We’re supposed to coexist because we have to. That’s the way our world works, but that’s bullshit. That’s the way things used to be back when we first evolved, but that’s not the way they have to stay. Sure, you’re a pain in the ass.” Miranda crossed her arms and raised one eyebrow at me. “I should dislike you for that, not because we’re different species. But I think that’s changing. Because of us.”
    I motioned to the others, who had stopped what they were doing and started listening to me. “Take Charlotte and me for example. She’s always been kind to me. And so has Adam. Hell, I remember when Pierce and Adam were close, even though they aren’t now.” Pierce and Adam cast sideways glances at each other before returning their attention to me. “We’re changing, and with it, magic is changing. It’s becoming less black-and-white.”
    “More gray?” Kate Stonewall asked. She grinned, her dazzling white smile shining from skin darker than her father’s.
    Even though I shuddered at the thought of all of us becoming as boring as her parents, I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
    “What the fuck’s the matter with you?” Pierce asked. He crossed the lawn and towered over me. “Black magic will always be black. I’m never going gray.” He growled at Edith and Elliot, who had risen from where they sat and now stood in front of Kate.
    I sighed. “I didn’t mean it like that, Pierce. We’re different. I get that. What I mean is that our attitudes about each other are changing. How else do you explain why I’m friendly with Charlotte or Adam or why they’re friendly with me? If we were sticking to the ways of our parents, we’d all despise each other as much as our parents do. They’re only cordial to each other during Sabbats because that’s what we have to do. But that’s not the way I want to be, and I don’t think it’s the way you all want to be either. When Elliot and Edith had the flu last year, I brought them their homework. And dammit, I like Elliot. I always have.”
    Elliot flashed me a big smile. He obviously felt the same.
    “Sweet little Kate gives me a wildflower every time she sees me in the park, and how many of us have stopped to push Kate and Keaton on the swings in the playground?”
    They looked at one another and nodded. My words rang true. Over the years, we’d developed more than just working relationships. We were a dysfunctional extended family, whether anyone wanted to admit it or not. “Acting the way our parents do doesn’t make sense. There have been strict divisions among all three orders since our race evolved from the humans. But why? What’s the purpose of keeping us separate? No one ever seems to question that. Why are the members of the Conclave allowed to work together as one when we can’t? All of us have the same job, but we do it separately. Wouldn’t uniting make us more powerful? Wouldn’t it make more sense to protect the Gate together?”
    “Makes sense to me,” Kate replied from behind her older brother and sister.
    “Kate, hush,” Edith said.
    Keaton joined hands with Kate. The Stonewall twins were closer to each other than anyone else. “Don’t tell her to hush. You’re not Mom or Dad.”
    Elliot was quick to defend his twin. He shook his finger at them in reprimand.
    Keaton and Kate snorted in reply.
    “See what you started?” Edith asked me.
    “All I’m saying is we shouldn’t blindly follow tradition. It’s not who we are. Our race is a result of humans challenging the laws of the universe. Without them, we wouldn’t be here. We shouldn’t dishonor any of our ancestors.”
    “You mean the way you’re doing right now?”
    I spun around