Jaded Jewels (The Coveted Saga 2)

"What the hell is so funny?"

I crossed my arms and leaned back on Tallis. I wasn't answering that.

"Aria has had that experience. I don't think she enjoyed as much as some do, though." He kissed the back of my head, and his hand started rubbing my stomach.

I grumbled, "No, I really hated it the next day. And I wasn't a fan of it that night either."

Jay started laughing. Then Desmond spoke with a playfully angered tone. "What the hell, man? Aria got drunk and no one invited me to the show?"

"It was definitely a show," Everett said, an unusually teasing gleam in his eyes.

I bit back a few rude things I wanted to say.

Desmond set back with a pouting look. Ash studied me, her grin taunting me. "I can't picture Aria being drunk."

"She really can't handle her liquor," Tallis muttered dryly.

I rolled my eyes as him and elbowed him.

Jay laughed hard. "I hate that I missed it."

Everyone continued talking about my attempt to be a normal, wild teenager. I laughed with them. Everything seemed normal. I forgot about the fact that we were immortal. I forgot that we were a family of magic. I wasn't worried about the many battles ahead of us. I was just Aria Weislen—not the coveted descendant of Isis. Tallis and I were just two people in love. My family was just a normal family teasing their younger sister.

Jay leaned forward with a bit more of a serious look. "A lot of things make sense now. There were so many signs."

Tallis nodded. "Yeah. I thought about all of that, too. It's hard to believe everything that we missed."

Amelia had question marks forming, and apparently she couldn't probe their emotions for the answers. That meant it was magic-related.

"What are you two talking about? What signs?"

Ash spoke up. "The mortals that attacked Aria outside the diner for one. And the way that she was picked on so viciously by the mortal girls."

Henry took a deep breath. "The way she smelled so many of the dark ones so easily."

Tallis stroked my hair as he added, "The fact that I couldn't sense her essence. The power emanating from her was so intoxicatingly surreal. It was the strongest I had ever felt."

Desmond joined in the conversation with the same serious tone. "The incredibly protective feeling that we all had for her at all times."

Everett looked at me. "The way Trey, and so many others were drawn to her so fiercely."

I was sure he was referring to Jared and McKee as the others—considering he emphasized that word while looking pointedly at me. He and I had discussed the way I was driving people crazy. He had made me feel better the night I drove Jared away.

Henry said, "Amelia bonding to her. Empaths bond to the strongest witch that they sense. It should have raised a red flag."

Then Ayla joined in as well. "The amazing strength, compassion, and understanding that she possessed. It was all right in front of us."

Amelia still looked confused. I felt slightly embarrassed by all of their comments that mixed with compliments. Amelia spoke with her baffled tone. "What does all of that mean?"

Tallis spoke this time. He was so gentle and he seemed to be enamored by me. "We should have known that she was the long awaited descendant of Isis. Isis loved the mortals, but her power was so remarkably strong that it often drove them mad. She had to love them from a distance. The close contact would confuse every emotion. Women were incredibly jealous, and men were instantly in love. When rejected, men became enraged. Men that are already prone to violence, well, they can become deadly. I'm surprised so many were able to resist."

Completely mortified by this point. Yep.

Henry added, "Thankfully, my bond to Amelia was grounding my emotions. The rest of the mortals were just too scared to mix up with Tallis and McKee."

Tallis forced a smile, though it was very weak.

Everett spoke cautiously. "I kept my distance at all times. I simply focused on the task of keeping her masked. It wasn't always easy, though."