Something was happening. Lester didn’t know what it was, but he could tell it was important. He knew better than to ask, no matter how curious he was. He didn’t want to be cursed like he’d been the last time he tried standing up to the coven.

A piece of popcorn hit his forehead. He blinked and glared at his friend, Hannah. He wasn’t sure how long she’d been trying to get his attention, but throwing popcorn was nasty.

Even though it got his attention.

“I asked what you thought of that,” Hannah said as she pointed to the TV screen.

They were watching a TV show with people dancing around and singing. Lester was sure Hannah had told him what it was, but he couldn’t remember, and he didn’t know what she expected him to have an opinion about. She wouldn’t take it well if he was honest, so he knew what he had to do.

“It was nice.”

Hannah stared at him as if she couldn’t believe what he said. Chris and Cole were sitting on the floor next to Lester’s bed, and from the way they snickered, Lester knew it was the wrong answer.

Panicking, he stared at the screen for a moment. He needed to come up with something to say. “She looks great,” he went with.

Hannah threw another bit of popcorn at his head. He tried catching it, but he wasn’t fast enough, and it landed against his cheek.

“Will you stop that?” he complained.

“You’re supposed to be watching with us.”

“I’m sorry. I’m just distracted.” And this kind of TV show wasn’t his thing. He’d rather watch baking shows.

“Why are you distracted?”

“Can’t you hear? Everyone’s running around, and there has to be a reason for that.” 

There was always a reason for the coven to do something. Lester and his friends were never told what that reason was. Apparently, it was none of their business, because even though they were coven members and had been born into it, they were too young and stupid to do anything important. Lester might agree on the young part, even though he was twenty-six, but he wasn’t stupid.

He definitely wasn’t stupid enough not to know that the coven didn’t always do the right thing. Most of the time, it was the opposite. Thinking about it made his stomach churn, and once again, he wished he’d been born in another coven.

“You need to ignore that,” Chris said, reaching up and squeezing Lester’s foot. “It won’t end well if you try to stick your nose into coven business.”

“But I’m part of the coven. It is my business to stick my nose into, isn’t it?”

“Want to tell the elders that?”

Lester groaned and rubbed his face with both his hands. He’d never dare say something like that to the elders, and his friends knew it. The elders led the coven—and as far as Lester was concerned, they didn’t do a great job—and didn’t allow anyone to disobey their orders or even question them. Lester would know. He’d tried to ask questions many times, and every time, he was rebuked.

“I just don’t like it,” he declared.

“None of us like it,” Cole said. His expression was sad. “It doesn’t matter. We’re not allowed to have opinions or participate, and I’m fine with that. I don’t want anything to do with whatever they’re doing tonight.”

“They might be hurting people.”

“If they are, I’m sorry for those people, but there’s nothing we can do.”

Lester slumped. He understood why his friends felt that way and would feel the same if he were smart.

But many people thought he wasn’t smart. Some days, he had doubts, too.

He got to his feet. He could see the alarm in his friends’ expressions, but he ignored them as he pushed his feet into his shoes. “I’m going to the kitchen to get something to drink.”

“You’re going to the kitchen to spy,” Hannah hissed. “This isn’t going to end well. You’re going to get yourself killed.”

Lester grinned at her. “I’ve been an idiot several times before, and I’m still here. I doubt they’ll kill me just because I need something to drink.”

Lester should keep his nose out of whatever coven business was happening and focus on his friends, on what they were watching, and on his studies. Even though he was twenty-six, he was still learning how to be a mage and control magic. That was why he was kept away from every important thing, or at least, that was what he’d been told.

He’d always wondered if there was something else behind it. Was that really the reason he was being held back? Did the coven want to test him before they welcomed him deeper into their midst? Or did they think he wouldn’t accept whatever they were up to?

Lester shivered as he thought of the few people who’d done that. They’d left and had never been heard from or seen again. There were rumors that they didn’t leave the coven as much as they were kicked out of it, and sometimes, they left feet first.

Lester swallowed as he left his bedroom. He didn’t think he was about to be killed just because he was headed to the kitchen to grab a drink, but the other mages weren’t stupid. They’d know he was trying to find information if he pushed too much, and they wouldn’t take it nicely. He’d have to play up his innocence, which didn’t come easy now that he was older. It would have worked if he’d been ten years younger, but his teenage years were long behind him.