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10

We made up for the boringness of going to bed like that by messing around for over an hour before my alarm. It was glorious, and I teased him it was totally worth the cost of how much Chinese food he ate.

He burst out laughing and pulled me closer, kissing me with all he had. “I want you, foxy. I think I need you in my life. I know you have others, and I’m shockingly fine with that as long as they’re good to you. Please give me some leeway as well.”

I searched his eyes a moment and sighed. “You don’t think your mom will like me.”

“I don’t know. Eventually but probably not right away. You’ve got problems that could pull me in. She’s fought my entire life to keep me safe and she’s a hard woman. Just give her a chance and understand she’s been through a lot .”

“As long as she’s not a bitch to Tracey and doesn’t disrespect us, I can accept a lot. I’m socially inept all the time, and I don’t judge people for being the same.”

“Thank you.”

We got up and dressed to leave as both of our stomachs were growling after all that fun. The first surprise of the day was sitting outside of the dorm.

“Morning,” I greeted Link as he took it all in. “This is—”

“Sergey Koval, yes, I’ve been briefed and studied the backgrounds Tracey pulled on those close to you,” he said holding out his hand to Sergey. “Link Oliveria.” He nodded when Sergey’s eyes flashed shock. “Yes, of that family, but I normally go by Link Olive in these sorts of situations, and the guards know to call me that too. I think you know why.”

“Yeah, you’re as big of a target as she is if you’re related to one of them,” Sergey replied vaguely.

“No, not as big of a target being a nephew and not a child but yeah, you’re caught up.” Link looked at me when they let go of each other’s hand. “And I have a feeling there’s more to you than I’ve even been read in on as it was made clear to me that this isn’t a joke and to protect you like I would one of the council members. Care to fill me in on what I’m missing?”

“You’ll see some of it today but the rest, no, not really.” I shrugged when he gave me a surprised look. I might like him and trust Councilman Oliveria and his mate, but too many people were finding out too much too fast. That needed to stop. “Have you had breakfast?”

“No, I was shaking babies and kissing hands until later than I ever like and then had to report early to meet the head of campus security,” he admitted. “Why? You buying?”

“Does she need to given your family?” Sergey interjected.

Link gave him an assessing look. “You of all people should know not all the cousins or siblings get the wealth. My father is my uncle’s younger brother who mated for love, not alliances. They’re not in the spotlight and they prefer that.”

“And yet you’re doing just that being a council guard with that name,” he pushed.

“I had an aptitude early and felt it my duty given there was no chance I would be corrupted when it was protecting family.” He gave me a kind glance. “Your grandfather was one of the people who counseled me. He was a great man, and I’m extremely sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you. He liked helping people, so I’m glad he was able to help you.”

“He did—a lot.” He gave me a soft smile. “He would be proud of you. The way he bragged about you and how thrilled he was you were so different from the others and a true Millen before all the bad happened was… It was amazing.”

“All the bad happened?” I asked.

Link gave a one-shoulder shrug. “I don’t really know what. I was pretty young too, and he wouldn’t tell a teenager. That was the phrase he used, but he was always focused on you.”

“He’s the reason I’m not like them,” I praised, but then wanted to change the topic. “Let’s go have breakfast and maybe meet your new little brother.”

“And we need to discuss what I’ve already done,” he hinted.

I felt worlds better knowing he already had gone to handle Alex.

We headed for the cafeteria and found Kelton waiting for me there.

He glanced between the two men I was with before leaning in and kissing my cheek. “I know you said lunch and talk later, but I needed to see you were okay. You were really upset yesterday.”

“I was,” I sighed, before gesturing to Link. “Meet your brother, Link Olive. Let’s get food and then he can tell us what he did and how you have to listen to me going forward.”

“Hey, that’s not fair,” Kelton argued, an attitude in his tone. “I listen. There’s a difference between brushing you off and not understanding the levels of what is going on.”

“That’s fair,” I accepted. I held up my hand to hold him off. “But do not step in the line of fire for me with my family again. We both know that’s what you did, and I warned you not to get involved. Don’t make me feel guilty when they come for you because you did that.”

“You’re right, I did do that, but I didn’t see it that way, just backing you up. I won’t do it again or at least announce I was the one who did it.”

“Thank you.” I gave him a kiss on the cheek this time and we headed inside… Only to find Winter and Wyatt hanging out at the turnstiles. “Are we really the party table or something?”

“Just checking in,” Winter muttered. “Why are you wearing sassy pants?”

I chuckled and chilled out. “I wanted coffee before having to be an adult and deal with crap, but instead it was waiting outside my dorm.”

“I think I should take offense to that,” Link drawled. “You asked for my help, remember?”

“I did. Thank you. Need coffee and food.” I walked off and left them all there with their mouths open. I loaded up my tray and sat at a table by the windows. They joined me one after another, and I listened as Link told us how he did exactly as I’d suggested and the outcome.

Mainly, Alex wasn’t happy. Grandmother had come to the door as well and started a fuss that a High Council guard was harassing the poor, poor Shaw family.

Link found it amusing and didn’t flinch at all, which was nice.

We finished up and headed right for familiar housing since I’d invited the others to join us. Might as well get a jump on the day and I needed to work with Link. He could bring his stallion via spell circle once he knew where we were going.

“Oh, Wyatt, good I caught you,” a man greeted with a smile I didn’t trust… Especially when he shot me a glance. “I was about to send you a message that I’ll be taking over Ms. Millen’s power assessment. Several of us have discussed and think it’s better.”

I bit back a snort, noting the way Wyatt flinched, but focused on the man. “And if I told you I won’t agree to any study or publishing of papers on me or my power?”

The guy focused on me with an amused, condescending look. “That’s not up to you or for you to declare, Ms. Millen. You’re a student here and—”

“Yes, I am. I pay for my education, not to be a subject in a study I won’t agree to. If you’re confused how that works and the students aren’t lab rats for any faculty to try and use selfishly, I can have my attorney contact you and go over that and the NDA Professor Wyatt signed because of certain circumstances you’re clearly now aware of.”

Meaning I was born of the Shaw family and my parents would want the information. Greed was all over this man, and clearly they’d gotten to someone higher in the faculty food chain.

He bristled at the implication and with people watching us with interest outside of the cafeteria. “I’d be a little less full of yourself as you’re no longer a Shaw but a disowned witch who now has to swim in the waters of life herself.”

I smiled brightly at him. “I petitioned to be disowned. It didn’t happen as a punishment that some are lying will be overturned, but thank you for confirming you’ve been in touch with someone in the Shaw family and bought that lie. The faculty are still held to standards and cannot disclose information to outside parties or—”

“They’re your parents,” he chastised. “Don’t be dramatic or—”

“Yes, women are always dramatic or hysterical while you’re hiding what you’re up to,” I drawled. “They were my parents, but the High Council declared they are now strangers to me, so they are not able to receive any information about me as even the headmaster has been told as he received a copy of the decree. So please, lecture me some more on these waters I swim while being vastly behind on the situation.

“Professor Wyatt has already come to a hearing with me as my power assessor, and the council was thrilled the teacher in charge of the classes about familiars was working with me as I have a knack to speak to them. I don’t think they’ll be happy to hear that a spy for my former parents who would go against their decrees was trying to muscle him out of that.”

“What? You—that’s a blatant accusation that—”

“It seems pretty spot on to me,” Link cut in. “You clearly didn’t get your information from her or the school but another source that gave you faulty information if you thought reporting to her parents acceptable. I also don’t think many would be happy to know that you’re so dismissive as to a student’s wishes. What’s your name and position here?”

“And who are you?” he seethed.

“Right, introductions are polite,” Link chuckled, extending his hand. “Link Olive. I’ve been assigned by the High Council to be a guard here for the semester and audit Morrigan’s security and safety procedures as there has been a rise in problems.” He nodded towards me. “Most concerning her former family, so I was questioning her, but there are others. It’s been cleared with the headmaster and head of security.”

The man went pale so fast he looked almost faint as he started sweating. “If you object and find Professor Wyatt suitable, Ms. Millen, I completely understand. Perhaps we can work together on another independent study once you feel more comfortable with other faculty. Good day to you both.” He turned on his heel and half stormed and half hurried off.

“Right, because I can’t just fucking ask you who he is,” Link muttered under his breath. “Tell me later, Wyatt.”

Wyatt nodded and gave a quick glance around at all the people who’d stopped to watch the show. “I think you all have better things to do and should think carefully before gossiping about what you think you saw or heard. We both decide your grades.”

Well, dayumn . I was shocked he covered for the other guy, but he was probably someone important or at least the faculty stood together.

Then again, he was going to tell Link the truth, so it was probably best to show everyone else the best face he could. Maybe?

Quinn leapt up, so I caught him in my arms as the others went to get their familiars. I stared down at the fox snuggling and loving on me and sighed. “You’re too fucking adorable to even try to lecture. The problem is you know it.”

He replied by licking my face and then had the balls to say it was because I let him get away with it.

Right, because I could respond right then when others didn’t know that I heard animals.

The others released their familiars from their pens and brought them over to us so Wyatt could do a spell circle to my place. We arrived moments later and there were several people there I didn’t expect. One who might as well have had “cop” stamped on his forehead… And had the same eyes as Kelton.

Huh?

And they all had their familiars.

Wait, what—huh?

I blinked at Tracey who seemed surprised I was so early, but I went right to Jasmine as I set Quinn down. “My parents infiltrated campus, and I had to use you as a threat just now when a professor tried to take my power assessment over from Wyatt. I figured they would try this, and the guy made it clear my opinion didn’t matter if I wanted to be involved in a study he published.”

“Start from the beginning. I also need you to tell me which faculty member, Professor Wyatt.”

“Professor Harper is a useless piece of shit who can’t get tenure as he’s always pissing off the wrong people, so I would bet your parents found him an easy target and promised him just that,” Wyatt explained. “You would be the best study and case to publish about which would shoot him up in academia. All for the low, low price of him filling them in on their beloved daughter.”

“Yeah, I hit that nail on the head.”

“You normally do when it comes to them,” Tracey grumbled. “Jasmine and I will handle this. You have other things to start with.” She nodded behind me where Kelton was greeting his family and Sergey his mother.

“Why are they here?” I hissed at her. “I said Ms. Koval.”

“Kelton got on their radar, and that means they need to know how big this is and if there needs to be an offer to protect them,” Jasmine answered gently. “It’s only fair.”

“I guess I was na?ve to think I could have any sort of normal.”

“Normal is boring and you’re extraordinary. There’s a price for that, Bev,” Tracey comforted. “They already know what happened and why we involved Link. They simply wanted to meet him and you given… Well, his mom was going to take the chance to meet the woman her son’s into.”

Oh boy. I went to head over there but a tall woman moved into my path, staring down at me with judgment in hers.

“You date more than my Sergey?” she asked with a thick Russian accent and a lot of disapproval in her tone.

And I also didn’t need to guess who she was then. “We’re actually not… Um, dating?” I glanced at Sergey. “I thought we said friends and we’re getting to…”

“We did. Mama, back off,” Sergey cut in. “She was clear with me. She is not like that cheating wench you hated. She has been sheltered and imprisoned. She and Tracey warned me that she wanted to be free, not jump into a relationship when she didn’t even have friends.”

I cleared my throat and stepped away from him when he moved closer. “I’m not sure you needed to announce that to everyone here.”

He snagged my waist with his arm and kissed my cheek. “I’m sorry, foxy. I didn’t want to speak Russian in front of you and disrespect you that I would hide my talking about you. There’s nothing to be ashamed of as none of it was your fault, but it is your story to tell. I apologize.”

I nodded. “None of this is easy, and I don’t have the social skills to handle any of this.” I blinked up at Ms. Koval. “Or how fucking scary you are, so either flatten me or dial it back to like a seven , please.”

Her eyes flashed shock before she threw back her head and burst out laughing. “Oh, I like you. Yes, you will keep my Sergey in line and having fun.” She held out her hand to me. “Nina. Please, call me Nina.”

“Bevin,” I replied, shaking her hand before angling my head to see Sergey. “Your accent gets thicker around her. I couldn’t really place which Slavic country until you were around her.”

“It helps me not stand out as much if I sound more like everyone else,” he explained.

I nodded, pulling away and moving by Kelton and his family. “I’m very, very sorry you’re being dragged into this. I warned him not to put himself in the line of fire of my family and how dangerous they are but—”

“We know the world is dangerous,” Kelton’s older brother cut in. “I know there’s corruption on the police force and—”

“And you know which officers my family owns, or you think I’m just assuming?” I interjected with a huff. “You’re being just as dismissive as Kelton was, and I had to step in and owe favors to get help.”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Do you know what officers are in their pocket?”

“Oh fuck, Bev,” Tracey hissed when it was clearly on my face I did. “You hacked your parents before you left, didn’t you? I thought you only got proof to protect yourself, but you got way more, didn’t you?”

“It’s not hacking when I was on the same server as family and my father is a technology idiot who didn’t understand it was all backed up to our family’s cloud account that he didn’t password protect.”

“This just keeps getting better and better,” Link chuckled. “What else you got in your box of tricks? The names of dirty cops other high-tier families own? The Easter Bunny’s phone number?”

“1-800-Piss-Off,” I grumbled.

But Kelton’s older brother saw through the deflection and whistled. “You do. You know other dirty cops. You are a gold mine of information.”

“Maybe, but knowing who to trust to turn it over to is the tricky part as there’s a lot of corruption in our police, more than you would ever guess,” I warned. “And not at the lower levels to get so many bad things hidden.”

“I believe you,” he admitted. “I’ve already been told to look the other way a few times, and if it wasn’t for my family and the fact we have no clout, I wouldn’t.”

“But the Chief of Police is clean and would love help cleaning up corruption. That’s something to suggest to—” Link started to plot.

“Not until you’re stronger,” I cut in, giving him a hard look. “Your side needs to get much, much stronger as they are, and they know how to tempt people to make a move before they’re ready.”

He smiled and shook his head. “You were always going to give over this information to us so we could cut out the corruption. What else are you plotting there?”

“Don’t you need to go get your familiar so we can get started on our session?” I asked instead.

“Yes, dear,” he drawled before looking at Tracey. “Will I be able to come back?”

“No, only Bevin, Jasmine, and I can.” She sighed when I pointed to Wyatt. “Yes, and him. He set up the ward like Morrigan has and included himself.”

“He has a tendency to do that,” I drawled.

And the man looked completely unrepentant. Great.

“Thank you for taking Kelton’s safety so seriously,” his mom said as she came over and hugged me. “It’s lovely to meet you, Bevin. I’ve heard so much about you from Kelton.”

“Oh, um, okay, hi,” I mumbled as I patted her back before pulling away.

“Not a hugger?” she teased.

“I’m not sure, but I’m not used to strangers.” I wanted to groan. This was going so well .

“Would anyone like some coffee or breakfast?” Jasmine cut in, gesturing to the patio table that was on the terrace. She smiled when I gave her a confused look. “We wanted to speak with Nina, Rita, and Kevin before you arrived around lunch.”

I shrugged. “Link was there right away, and I figured we might as well get more done.” I might have said more, but I was distracted by Mrs. Rose’s familiar. It was a type of macaw, but I wasn’t sure which species of bird specifically. But it had a lot of potential. A lot . I blinked at it and then Mrs. Rose. “Do you know more people like you?”

“Excuse me?” she asked, not hiding her confusion well.

Right, she wasn’t a mind reader. “People who’ve had training as a healer but not the magic to be certified.”

“Oh, Bev,” Tracey sighed from behind me.

I glanced behind me and frowned when I saw her wince and Link looking like he was about to die laughing as he leaned into his familiar, Loki. I flinched. Right, that was probably really rude. I opened my mouth to apologize, but Winter cut in.

“Are you thinking for your expansion idea?”

I sighed. “That secret idea?”

“We already know about the brushes,” Tracey muttered. “It’s why we wanted to get to know Nina better and her thoughts before we offered her a position.”

“Excuse me?” Nina asked, glancing between us. “Position for what?”

“Time to let it out of the bag and trust the people here,” Tracey told me firmly. “Jasmine can have them sign NDAs and protect you, but they’re all good people. You don’t know how to read that yet, but I do, and you trust me.”

“I trust you,” I confirmed.

She told them I was the owner of Familiar Treasures, and to say some of them were shocked was an understatement… Except not for the reasons I thought.

“No, she is the owner,” Nina argued, pointing to Tracey. “I know her from the commercials. You are a child who does not have anywhere near the magic she does even with her dampener to hide it.”

“We thought the same and you were her younger distant cousin or something,” Mrs. Rose confirmed.

“It’s her, and you’ll see that in a bit,” Tracey stated firmly but only had eyes for me. “What are you cooking up, Bev?”

“It’s not ready yet,” I muttered, rolling my eyes when Winter snorted. “It’s not.”

“Because you’re too hard on yourself and lack the deserved self-confidence you should have, little sexy. Trust me when I say you’re at the point to let them in. You worried me by what you said you still wanted to get together as if you were going to investigate possible properties on your own.”

“I was…” I trailed off when several people winced. “I’d need to feel the locations and at least have a blank slate to work with.”

“We would still work on finding prospective places that fit your other parameters and you could visit with us and security from there,” Jasmine cut in.

“Time to spill,” Tracey pushed.

“I don’t have the stuff for my presentation and it’s not all ready,” I grumbled, shooting Winter a pissed look. “Last secret you get.”

“I’ll make it up to you later, I promise. I want you safe. That’s always most important, and you’ve got some serious dangers right now. I know it’s ready. I can feel it. Show them what you’ve got, Bevin.”

I sighed when Tracey handed me her tablet, knowing all of my stuff backed up to her. We’d set that up a while ago just in case my parents ever found stuff and so she could shut it down and us not lose anything.

“People need to start signing NDAs,” I muttered, giving Link a look he would too. “These are company secrets, not anything other people need to know.”

“Fine, because I want to know as I think it’s going to be good.”

Kelton quickly signed and then came over to me. “You said it was a big company but damn, Bev. I probably should have put it together, but thinking you owned Familiar Treasures at your age is a bit out there.”

I shrugged. “I’ve owned it since I was much, much younger.”

“Don’t be nervous,” he murmured as he leaned down and gave me a soft kiss. “Everyone here is on your side. Just tell Tracey your idea and I’m sure she’ll love it.”

I nodded even if it wasn’t that simple as I had an audience now… And I was involved with several of them, and Wyatt seemed to never approve of anything. I pulled up what I needed to and handed it to Tracey once everyone was settled with coffee and pastries. I took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

“I want to buy a large property, at least a hundred acres, and turn it into a harvesting paradise and spa for familiars,” I declared as firmly as I could and told them exactly what I had Winter. Time to jump into the deep end.

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