1

“Have you calmed down and can now discuss the topic as we should?” Ramon asked me as he folded his hands on his lap and stared me down. He was the attorney Grandfather had used and put in charge of the trust hiding my assets from my parents should he die.

According to Ramon, they were great friends, but I didn’t remember it like that. Grandfather valued him, but I’d seen him with his friends and those he cared for, and that wasn’t how he treated Ramon. He respected the man and trusted him, but that was it.

And the man had become a pain in my ass the moment I turned eighteen and everything became mine. Something had changed, and I was tired of his attitude and how things were going. The fact my attorney actually said that to me with a straight face, like he was the principal talking with a misbehaving student, was the last straw with me.

Well, no, the last straw had been when I’d called him to handle this situation with him trying to mate me off after Professor Wyatt had dropped the huge bomb on me I was still recovering from. The last thing I needed if I was really a goddess witch was mating interviews and a rogue lawyer thinking he would handle it all.

I didn’t reply, taking several moments to stare right back. I raised an eyebrow when that didn’t seem to work as it should. “I was calm when we spoke last, Ramon. You were the one who worked himself into a tizzy, disregarded your employer’s very specific instructions, and ended the call with a huff.”

“That’s not how I remember it,” he argued.

“You told me the conversation was over until I cleared my head and came back to the reality of my situation and did what I should,” I said more for the recording I was taking of the meeting. “I wonder if you know the reality of your situation as you are my attorney, not my parent or—”

He snorted. “No, your parents are monsters. That’s why Henry entrusted you to me.”

I swallowed a flinch. He really did seem to believe that. “You are mistaken. Grandfather entrusted the running of the estate to you should he die. Not me. I am a person, an adult now, and your boss as I pay you.”

The look he gave me spoke volumes on how childish he thought I was being. “Your teenage rebellion is getting old, Bevin. I understood after you came of age that you wanted your freedom and to make some purchases, fine, you have the money, but it’s enough and time to handle what needs to be handled.”

“Which is?” I pushed, wanting him to say it for the recording.

He sighed heavily. “Your mating . I’ve said this again and again.”

“No, you originally said that the matches my parents were picking were unacceptable and when I was of age, that would change.”

“Yes, I would facilitate your mating candidates as Henry wanted.”

“He did not actually, and we’ve had a serious miscommunication as I thought you meant protecting me from the insanity of being mated off at eighteen .”

He sighed again. “Bevin, you need a mate to protect you and manage your growing financials. I cannot do it forever and—”

“That’s fine. Tracey and I are—”

He talked right over me as if I hadn’t said anything. “This situation with your parents is dangerous, and a single woman alone cannot handle it. You need to be mated.” He cleared his throat and adjusted how he sat. “Now this unfortunate matter with your losing your purity already has changed which families are willing to allow you to mate into theirs, but suitable candidates are still on the table.”

I felt my blood turn to ice. “Wait, you’re already discussing this with people?”

“Of course.”

“Without my consent? ”

Again, he sighed. “This is how mating meetings go, and as your grandfather is gone, the responsibility falls to me—”

“No, the responsibility is mine ,” I snapped. “This is unacceptable, Ramon. I never gave you permission to discuss any of this. Neither did Grandfather. You were to handle the trust when I was underage, and his will was very specific.”

“Yes, it was and—”

“And it had no such nonsense of immediately mating me off or your being the broker of my sale.”

“You’re getting hysterical again.”

I almost lost my shit like he was accusing me. “I’m completely calm, Ramon. Disagreeing with you doesn’t make me hysterical. I am the client here. I think you forget that. I forbid you from this course of action.”

“That decision isn’t yours, Bevin.”

“Do you understand our laws at all? It absolutely is as you are not my guardian or able to speak for me without my permission or instruction. What have you told these people?”

“Now we can finally discuss the matter,” he said as if all the rest of what I’d said didn’t just happen. “I’ve compiled a standard profile with what you will bring to the mating, including your dowry of holdings—”

“You told them I own Familiar Treasures?” I whispered in horror.

“Of course not. I’m not an idiot. Henry was adamant that stay secret,” he snapped. “I’ve listed the value of your assets and net worth, not the specifics. That would be over the line.”

“ All of this is over the line. You’ve told people the amount of my assets without my permission? What else have you told them?”

“What they need to know to decide if you can mate into their family.”

“I want to see this profile immediately , and you are not to give it out again. You will cancel whatever you’ve done and—”

He pushed to his feet. “This meeting is over if you’re going to be unreasonable.”

“Ramon, none of what I’m saying is unreasonable.” I stood as well. “Grandfather was clear on your role. The rest was of your own fabrication. It is unacceptable, and I want to see what you are passing around about me to people I’ve not told you to.”

He huffed and went over to his desk, grabbing a file folder off the top. He flipped through a few more and then picked up another one. He handed them over to me. “This is the full profile and the list of who it was sent to along with the responses I’ve received. There are some who are willing even with your new status as damaged—without your purity. Review it and call me when you’re calm.”

I snatched it from him. “I am not damaged goods. That’s disgusting you would refer to a woman that way because she doesn’t have her purity. Grandfather would never have allowed you to speak or think of me that way.”

“Well, Henry is gone and has left me with a mess since you couldn’t protect yourself and got yourself into this situation,” he lectured.

I flinched away from him. “I was drugged . How dare you blame the victim! This—this is too much, Ramon.”

“You know the way out, Bevin. Get me a response on which answers you’re interested in by Monday or I will proceed as best I can for what you need.”

“As decided by you since Grandfather wanted none of this.”

He gave me a withering look. “Don’t tell me what my friend wanted or not. You were just a child when he died. You still are.”

“I can concede the first point, but I’m an adult, Ramon. I’m the adult who’s your client, not your child.”

“You’re not a child, but you’re acting like one. You’re a woman, Bevin. Please remember that, and stop trying to act like a man now that you’re of age. It’s unbecoming and embarrassing to Henry.”

That was it. I couldn’t even talk to him anymore if he was going to be this crazy. He must have hidden this part of him from Grandfather or he knew it and Ramon was still the best choice.

Then again, he didn’t plan on dying when I was young, so he would have been here to handle this jackass in his mind.

I spun on my heel and left his office, watching I didn’t say anything for the recording that the High Council would hear. I could cuss later after all. It wasn’t until I was down in the lobby that I stopped the recording. I thanked the security guard when I reached the spell circle to take me back to campus since the whole building was owned and operated by witches and warlocks.

The moment I was back, I made the call I needed to.

“Well, that was fast,” Tracey drawled. “How bad?”

“He’s lost his fucking mind ,” I snarled. “It’s worse than we thought. He’s been sending out the profile he compiled of me including the value of my assets and has been speaking with families, admitting I’m damaged goods and seeing who he can still mate me off to so they can handle me . It was like walking into Grandfather’s worst nightmare for me and he—”

“Okay, okay, rant later,” she cut in. “I need to get this request for action filed. You agree, yes?”

“Yes, I’m done with this, and he’s doing damage we might not be able to fix. He’s going to proceed Monday with who he thinks is best for me if I don’t give him answers, Tracey. He completely ignored me.”

“Fuck! That man—okay, I’ll upgrade it to an emergency filing. He’s—this is now a safety issue. I need what he gave you and now.”

“On it,” I promised. “I’ll pay for the school’s courier to send it to…”

“Send it to the main desk at the High Council. We’ll be there in a few moments once Jasmine changes the request and gets it all there.”

“Got it. Let me know.”

“Of course.”

I jogged to the other section of the student union which was like our post office—simply the magical kind—and told the attendant what I needed. He made copies magically and put it all in a sealed folder only Tracey could open. I thanked him and headed back to my dorm, trying to keep my temper under control as I knew it wouldn’t get better after I looked over what Ramon had given me.

Sergey was waiting for me, and normally I would have been happy to see him, but I wasn’t in the mood. I hadn’t been in the mood for several days since Wyatt had clued me in about what I was.

“I’m sorry, it’s a bad time and—”

“Something’s going on with you. Yeah, I know, but this also can’t wait,” he cut in, giving me a worried look. “You need to see this.” He held up a folder and I wanted to groan.

“Yeah, I have a feeling that’s what I just found out about too,” I grumbled, nodding he could come with me.

We went inside and up the elevator. I let him in my room and kicked the door closed.

“You know about this packet your parents gave out?” he asked.

I froze but then sighed. “Yeah, I knew they were trying to mate me off to benefit them. It was the first time I told them no and I got smacked a lot for it. I’ve never seen it though.”

“Well, here’s the original one,” he muttered, handing over a file to me.

“Original?”

“Yeah, there’s a new one which is why I said it couldn’t wait.”

My legs felt shaky, and I just made it to the bed before sitting down. “New one? They’re still trying to sell me?”

“Yes. Well, they’re about to try to,” he corrected, wincing when I gave him a confused look. “They were going to use a broker with some questionable contacts to handle it for them since they can’t outrightly after the High Council decision.”

I realized why he winced. “How did you get it then?”

He nodded. “It’s the same one we’ve used to get papers and stuff should we ever need to go into hiding from my family. He’s shady in that way, but most of what he does is to hide and protect people. I asked him to keep his ear to the ground about any mention of you or dealings the Shaw family has. He called me and said he had something that would cost me to hold up. I agreed and got my hands on it.”

“I’ll pay it. I’ve got to get it to Tracey and—” I froze when there was a weird knock at the door. A magical one. I jumped to my feet, almost falling given how my legs were feeling.

Sergey caught me around the waist and pulled me against his chest. “I got you, foxy. Why are you in such a—”

“I have to check that,” I cut in, pulling away from him with a mumble of thanks and heading for the door. I opened it and blinked at the summons waiting for me. “Holy shit.” I snatched it up and closed the door, racing to open it.

And almost dropped it.

I hurried to pull my phone out and called Tracey. “Did you get one?”

“Yes, before I even left the building,” she whispered. “How fast can you get here?”

“I’ll hurry right there,” I promised. “What is going on that they’ll drop everything to handle something that I can’t think is—”

“I’ll explain later, but it’s not bad. They just want favors—it’s not bad. I know why. Trust me.”

“I do. There’s something else I got from Sergey. My parents made a move.”

“Shit. This is not the time for—bring him. They might want to question him if we can get them to hear this too.”

I paused. “He’ll know the rest then.”

“You trust him, right?”

“Yes, but why do you? ”

“I talked with his mom. They’re good people and clean. We can talk about that later too. Just get here.”

I hung up and gave Sergey a worried look. “Will you help me?”

“Going on the record with the High Council is a big ask, foxy.”

“Maybe you can be listed as a confidential informant like in the human movies? I promise I’ll ask my new attorney to protect you. She’s good. Please? This is more important than you know.” I hated that I was begging, but I needed this.

“Okay.” He grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back to him, kissing me with all he had. “Only because I want you safe. You’re going to have to answer some questions for me later though.”

I nodded. “You’ll get some answers today, but the rest needs to wait. It’s too much, Sergey.”

“Okay, okay,” he whispered when he saw I was overwhelmed. “When is the summons?”

“Half an hour.”

He blinked at me. “That’s after the normal High Council hours. You just did this today, right? How the fuck did you get on their schedule today? ”

“I don’t know, but I have to go.”

“Yeah, okay,” he sighed.

I gathered what I needed and we hurried out.

The next problem was stumbling across Winter and Professor Wyatt at the student union.

And they both wanted to talk to me.

“I’m sorry, I have to go, I got a summons,” I blurted as I rushed past them when they both tried to stop me.

“A summons for what? ” Wyatt demanded.

“It’s complicated and personal,” I threw over my shoulder and hurried to the spell circle counter. I smiled at the woman I’d just seen, holding up my summons. “I need a circle to the High Council. I was just summoned.”

She glanced at it and nodded. “Best of luck to you.”

“Thanks, but I requested it. It’s good.” I moved to the circle with Sergey, frowning when Wyatt and Winter were there. “What are you doing?”

“You can’t stop us from going to the council,” Winter mumbled.

“You can’t come to the hearing,” I argued.

“No, but something is up and you’re terrified,” Wyatt said under his breath.

I couldn’t even deny it, glancing at the woman for help. She simply held up her hands in surrender, glancing at Wyatt. Yeah, no one would want to go against a professor. I sighed, nodding she could go ahead.

We arrived in the main lobby like I had before, but this time Tracey and Jasmine were there, both giving me confused looks as to my party.

“They just came when I raced by them,” I defended.

“Interesting,” Jasmine muttered, focused on me. “What’s new that you were telling Tracey?”

I went to hand it over, but I was stopped by the guards, needing to go through the check-in procedure. Oh, right. Whoops.

I thanked them when it was done, even for the bracelet to curb my powers, and handed what Sergey had given me to Jasmine. “I haven’t even had a chance to look at it. It just all happened.”

She nodded, flipping open the first folder. Her eyes went wide, and she switched to the other folder before making a disgusted noise. “They got ahold of what Ramon was sending without your permission and changed their whole proposal, framing it like he was acting at their behest. They’re basically trying to slip into all the DMs and take over. Okay, this can tie in and we’ll get it handled.”

“What is going on?” Wyatt demanded.

“Nothing that’s any of your concern, Professor Wyatt,” she answered firmly before glancing at Winter. “I don’t know who you are, but this doesn’t concern you either.”

“If someone’s fucking with Bevin, it concerns me,” he threw right back.

“Be that as it may, you are not in the confidential loop. I wouldn’t even bring in Mr. Koval, but they might need to speak with him.” She held up her hand to whatever they might have said next. “We don’t have time for this. Bevin, let’s go.”

She didn’t need to tell me twice. I let Tracey move her arm around me protectively and hurried along with them.

By the time we made it to the hearing room, the last case of the day had just finished and we were shown right in. It was funny to watch the council guards block Wyatt and Winter at the door after Jasmine said only Sergey was allowed.

She went right over to the guard in charge and whispered something. They both nodded a few times and then she came back to us. “They’re going to cloak you unless you’re needed, Mr. Koval. I’ve registered that I have a confidential witness who will speak with them but cannot be recorded for your safety.”

“Thank you,” Sergey sighed. He gave me a kiss on the cheek and then went over to that guard. The second he did, I couldn’t see him anymore.

Magic was so cool.

The door opened right after and a very pissed-off Ramon came storming into the room. “Bevin, what is the meaning of this? You aren’t authorized to—”

“She is or we wouldn’t have gotten a hearing,” Jasmine cut in. “You have overstepped your duty as an attorney, Mr. Hills, and Ms. Millen is tired of it, so she’s hired new counsel.”

“That’s not possible and certainly not to you . I will turn over the trust and estate to her mate after I find her the best option I can given—”

“I’m damaged goods?” I sneered. “The trust is over . I’m of age. The estate is mine . It was always mine that Grandfather protected for me. I built it all.”

“Nonsense. Henry did it all, and I did after he was gone. You simply have a quirk of magic.”

Everyone froze. He couldn’t really think that was how things were?

Apparently, he did. The ego and perceived power he had radiated off of him.

“Well, clearly this is an emergency situation,” Councilman Oliveria said.

I glanced over and winced to find all of the councilmen already in the room taking their seats.

“Yes, and the situation is more severe than we first thought, Councilman,” Jasmine replied. “It’s not simply a dereliction of duty, but severe endangerment as the information he illegally gave to people without his client’s permission landed in the hands of her parents and they are trying to take over negotiations and her.”

“What? That’s not possible. I was extremely careful in my talks to mate her off,” Ramon argued.

Councilman Oliveria narrowed his eyes at Ramon. “Who are you to mate off your client? Are you an attorney or a pimp where you’re selling her, Mr. Hills? And before you give some line about it being what Henry wanted, I know for a fact it’s not. Before he died he explicitly asked me if anyone tried to push his granddaughter into a mating that I block it as a councilman and take her into protective custody.”

I swayed on my feet. That was news to me.

And probably proof Grandfather knew I was a goddess.

What else had he kept from me then?