2

Councilman Reid went over the procedure to start the hearing, labeling it a closed hearing even so it wasn’t accessible to anyone who requested the information. It was our version of security clearance as only a few could ever see the proceedings now.

Wow.

“Before you present your case, I want to ask why the request for a hearing and not simply fire Mr. Hills?” one councilman asked.

“Because we are also asking for a magical gag of Mr. Hills and the information he knows about Ms. Millen as he has shown to be untrustworthy with it,” Jasmine answered. “If we were handling a rational player in a calm situation, that should be fine, but especially after the troubling meeting Ms. Millen had with Mr. Hills, we know he wouldn’t have allowed her to fire him.”

“I wanted that clear for the record. Thank you and proceed.”

“I see you have a recording of the meeting you’re entering into evidence?” Councilman Reid asked, waiting until we nodded. “Let’s start there as I think that will shed light on the situation quickly. It is after hours on a Friday after all.”

“No, of course, and I’m very grateful all of you agreed to make the exception to hear my case,” I said as I pulled out my phone. I knew that was what they wanted as Tracey told me they wanted a favor. Sure, great—just give me what I needed.

I played the recording, pausing it when Ramon objected that I recorded him without his permission. To which Councilman Oliveria reminded him I was the client. It was illegal for him to record me , but I was the boss, and it was well within my rights, especially given my concerns.

Nice. I continued it, and the moment it was done, disgust was all over every councilman’s face.

“Before we get into how unprofessional you were, Mr. Hills, I would like to know what the purchases are he referred to?” Councilman Reid inquired.

“This is the list of any purchases Ms. Millen has made over five hundred dollars since she came of age and the estate fully became hers,” Jasmine told them, handing over a piece of paper to the guard. He brought it to Councilman Reid who frowned.

“There’s only a few. What are they?”

“Upgraded security for the store and Ms. Millen’s home she will now be residing at.”

“I told you not to bother with any of that as her mate would handle it once he took over,” Ramon snapped, shooting Tracey a disgusted look. “This is why I tried to get your authority on the accounts revoked.”

“What?” I gasped, not hiding my shock well. “Grandfather put her on and I agreed. I would never have allowed—”

“Henry was wrong about her.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “And you. You were a good girl, but clearly you’ve been—”

“That’s enough,” Councilman Oliveria snapped. “Henry had reservations about you, Ramon, but you were loyal and would do as instructed with the trust in the event of his death. You are overstepping what my friend wanted. He was your business associate, but he was my friend .”

“Plus, we know he didn’t listen to the trust’s instructions,” Jasmine interjected, holding up a file folder. “My understanding was you all reviewed the trust before it was handed over when Ms. Millen was freed from her family. It was very specific that she be allowed to move assets and be instrumental to the investments so his granddaughter would learn money management as all of it was because of her.”

I swallowed a sigh when I saw Ramon wince. What did he do now?

“That’s—I had full authority to deny her wishes if I saw fit.”

“Yes, you did that a lot,” Jasmine drawled. “You weren’t allowed to lie to her about them. You told her you would do it, gave her information saying you did as she wanted, but didn’t. After it all came to Ms. Millen, her business manager, Tracey Anderson, asked me to audit the books as there were some discrepancies from what she knew Ms. Millen had told her.”

She handed the folder over to the guard who took it to Councilman Reid. He glanced it over and shock filled his eyes before he passed it along.

“You lied to your client about purchasing stocks and other investments that she wanted and cost the estate over five million dollars, Mr. Hills. There is no world in which you could excuse or explain that away. The whole trust was set up to teach Ms. Millen about the world and help her survive once she was of age, not to placate her and then mate her off as you saw fit.”

“Five million?” I breathed, slowly finding my seat and plopping in it.

Councilman Reid shot me a sympathetic look. “You are a bright and wise investor, Ms. Millen. You chose several tech companies to invest in that would have made you money. Unfortunately, he didn’t do as you said.”

“But he always listed it as on the—you kept lying to me?” I seethed, jumping back to my feet. “So now I don’t have those investments that should keep making me money which means protection? How can you look down on me for one second for being a woman, damaged goods, or any of your other bullshit when you lost the estate millions while saying you’re doing all Grandfather wanted?”

His eyes went wide at my outburst.

I snorted. “That’s getting riled up, Ramon. Nothing I’ve ever acted towards you before was remotely hysterical as you kept calling it when I disagreed with you. I swallowed it all down because you had authority over my accounts that I couldn’t get taken away yet and you wouldn’t have agreed to being fired. Now I have a pile of reasons to get rid of you.”

“Oh, there’s more on the table now besides firing him,” Councilman Reid chuckled darkly.

“The other purchase was a new vehicle as there was a situation with her current one her parents refused to transfer over as they were ordered,” Jasmine continued, taking back the flow of the hearing. “We thank you for your aid in that situation.”

“You did it anyways?” Ramon demanded. “I told you both not to.”

“I don’t answer to you, Ramon,” Tracey drawled. “I never did. I always, always answered to Bevin as Henry told me I should. I’m her business manager, not your employee, you sexist idiot.”

“And they were acting in accordance with the decree we ruled on,” Councilman Reid interjected. “They were to inform us if the Shaws weren’t in compliance with the order. So you told your client to go against a council mandate. Are you that reckless and power-hungry? It’s not your power, Mr. Hills. It’s Ms. Millen’s you were managing until she was of age.”

“With all due respect, Councilman, I know how it’s being presented now, but Henry and I built the whole—”

“ I built it,” I sneered. “Grandfather helped. What did you build? We have proof you lost millions by not doing as you were told, and it will continue to cost me money. I have the power and came up with the company. I’m the owner of it; not you. You’re my attorney. The fact you’ve lost your head with me because I have breasts and you blame me for being drugged is insane.”

“And you are a risk to her security,” Jasmine added, getting us back on track yet again. Good thing she was there. “You listed the value of her assets, and while you didn’t disclose she is the sole owner of Familiar Treasures, there are only so many businesses that are at that level that don’t brag about who the owners are. Plus, now that she’s shown her talents at school, it’s not hard for people to—”

“If she had been focused on studying instead of getting herself into trouble, flirting all around campus, and showing off what she could do, no one would have been able to make the leap. That cannot be laid at my feet.”

“Your job is to protect your clients, not judge them,” Jasmine rebuked, finally showing some emotion. “And it was in her class, asked by her teacher, and in the proper setting. If you hadn’t been parading her around behind her back as a mare going up for auction soon, she would have known to be careful and have you removed sooner. This is all your fault, not hers, and do not speak of her in that manner again.”

“I agree,” Councilman Oliveria warned. “You have risked her and her talents. That is why we agreed to this emergency meeting. She needs to be protected, and I will see that done and not simply as a favor to Henry. It’s our job. It was yours, but you failed at it.”

“Yes, but she can’t hide it all,” another councilman murmured. “My understanding is that her power assessor is here.” He glanced at the guard at the door. “Let him in so we might speak with him and see if he can help us clean up this mess to keep her under wraps. If he understands the dangers, he will see this as bigger than the university.”

Oh boy.

Professor Wyatt was let in, dipping his head in respect to the councilmen before coming to stand at the seats behind us.

“Oh, it’s Wyatt?” a different councilman asked. “You took on being her power assessor to protect her?”

“Yes, Councilman.”

“Good, good. You made it clear you were going to court her after what transpired between you both, but I didn’t know you were her power assessor as well.”

“I’m sorry, Councilman, but I’m a bit behind on this,” Jasmine interjected.

Yeah, she wasn’t the only one.

He nodded. “Professor Derek Wyatt was the one who intervened when Ms. Millen was drugged. He also took her purity and informed us of this while giving his witness statement to the whole sickening situation of her parents. He made it clear that it wasn’t him taking advantage of her—which she adamantly said as well—but he planned to pursue her. It’s not against the university regulations.”

“What?” Ramon gasped, glancing between us all.

“Amazing what you learn when you speak with your client instead of ordering her around,” Councilman Oliveria drawled. “What is this new issue with her parents? And how did you obtain this information?”

“We have the witness here to answer questions, but we ask his name not be recorded as it would cause problems should anyone find out given who she and he are,” Jasmine said. “Also, we ask that the situation be handled so the broker isn’t in the line of fire with the Shaws as he gave it over to help Ms. Millen at great risk.”

“Both are fair,” Councilman Reid agreed when several others nodded.

“This first file is the original profile her parents gave out to possible mating candidates while she was still underage. The second is the new one they asked the broker to handle, basically trying to overtake what Mr. Hills was doing against his client’s wishes.”

The guard came and took both from her and handed them to Councilman Reid.

He flipped through the first and quickly closed it back up, glancing at me. “Have you had a chance to review this, Ms. Millen?”

“No, Councilman. I only glanced over the summary page.” I glanced between them. “What’s in there?”

“Pictures of you in a bikini or workout clothes that are suitable for what you were doing, but revealing, and it’s clear you didn’t know they were being taken,” he said gently.

I sighed. “I fully knew I was a mare to be sold and an investment they wanted to get the most out of. I’m not even shocked. I’m not ashamed of my body but yes, my parents would—I’m not shocked. They have no line of morality and never saw me as a person or cared for what I felt. That was clear when they tried to have their top pick candidate rape me while drugged.”

“Yes, of course. I’m just sorry for the pain this must cause you.”

“It’s probably also why so many males on campus are disparaging her at every turn if the high-tier families were all given that as her mating profile,” Professor Wyatt interjected. “I would guess it’s also why Gregg Haddock’s family is spreading rumors of their engagement and more like wildfire as her own family painted her as a pretty, brainless, docile woman.”

“We were made aware of that situation which was part of why we granted this emergency hearing,” Councilman Oliveria said, and I felt my face flush. Geez, everyone just knew way too much. He glanced at Jasmine. “Did you wish to address that in this hearing as well?”

She sighed, shooting me an annoyed look. “It seems I’m behind on the situation.”

“We’ve had a pile of problems,” I defended. “Tracey and I—rumors and jerks at school didn’t seem top priority given this situation.” I gestured at Ramon. Then I thumbed over my shoulder. “And I didn’t even know he told the council he was pursuing me. More like…” I shook my head. “It’s hard to know who to trust with what and get a handle on it all.”

I glanced at the council, wanting desperately to ask why they were willing to do all of this and add the shit with Gregg now.

Councilman Oliveria seemed to understand my unasked question. “I’m sure Ms. Anderson was going to discuss it with you, but we asked that you fit in consultations with each of us and our familiars. You probably understand how difficult it is for us to give them all they need given how many hours we spend here. Some of us have contacted her before to ask if the owner of Familiar Treasures would be open to it.”

“What?” Professor Wyatt gasped.

I winced. Great, now he and Sergey knew.

“My apologies,” Councilman Oliveria muttered. “I assumed you would have had to tell your power assessor or he would have figured it out.”

“We haven’t had much of a chance to work together given it’s the start of the semester and all Ms. Millen has been through,” Wyatt smoothly replied.

“Of course,” he accepted. “Ms. Anderson was clear you would probably be willing, but right now you had several messes and issues from the fallout with your parents. And clearly others you were handling. We hoped if we could clear some of them up that would also free up your schedule.” He shot Ramon a warning look. “Do not even think to imply something you shouldn’t. You’re a danger to her.”

Ramon dipped his head. “I did not even think it, Councilman. This body is too honorable to trade favors from a girl to sway rulings.”

Councilman Oliveria scoffed at him. “She’s a woman , a legal adult, and a powerful witch who all of us want help from. I can admit I’m a bit sexist being so old and yet you are way beyond the normal and it’s completely unacceptable.” He shook his head. “Let’s start ruling or I will yell at him all night.”

“Agreed,” several said at the same time.

“We are in favor of removing him as her attorney and gagging him?” Councilman Reid checked, nodding when others did. “Good. Now, on to the things not asked for. I propose revoking his license to practice law as this certainly crosses way past unethical practices. I also believe he should pay Ms. Millen reparations given he cost her estate over five million dollars.”

Professor Wyatt coughed behind me and apologized when several shot him amused looks.

Councilman Oliveria took that one. “Yes, he was paid a heavy and generous salary as trustee of the estate and criminally negligent in his duties. His funds should be used to procure the stocks and investments Ms. Millen instructed him to and reparations made.”

Ramon was pale when I glanced at him. “My apologies, Councilman, but I don’t have five million dollars. I have nowhere near that.”

“Then maybe you should have done what your client wanted,” Councilman Oliveria snapped. “This is a serious misappropriation of funds, and we will discuss a criminal hearing at a later date.”

“What?” I gasped, hearing it echoed by Ramon.

Wow.

Jasmine moved her hand to my arm and nodded. Okay, so it was that big of a deal. Yikes!

“All agreed?” Councilman Reid asked, banging the gavel once they had. “Guards, take Mr. Hills into custody. We will handle him later and he doesn’t need to be privy to the rest of this. Ms. Hough, we’ll get you the order to seize all you need with guards to take over the accounts as you need for Ms. Millen to be your client.”

“Thank you very much, Councilman.” She dipped her head to them as we all watched Ramon be led out of the room, completely gobsmacked.

He really didn’t understand how bad what he’d done was simply because I was a woman and not on the same level as men. Pathetic.

Once he was gone, Jasmine continued. “We also ask the council’s help in cleaning up the mess Mr. Hills made with trying to mate Ms. Millen behind her back.”

“What?” Professor Wyatt growled from behind me, amusing everyone there again.

“I think that fair,” one of the councilmen agreed. “We have the list and will make it clear that Mr. Hills acted of his own accord and without Ms. Millen’s consent.”

“We also ask that it be added he did not have the full picture of her assets and most of the information was inaccurate,” Jasmine added. “That will help us greatly as none of it should have been given over.”

They seemed to all agree on that and I sighed in relief. That was some subterfuge to buy me time to not get outed.

“Now, on the issue of her parents, we are going to seek damages this time.”

“We are?” I asked her.

Her lips twitched. “Given their latest ploy will risk Ms. Millen’s safety to counter it, we are asking for the amount to employ four security guards for the next five years and a list of security enchantments at her residence.”

“More than fair,” that same councilman agreed. “Plus, the amount of the vehicle we awarded her that they wouldn’t transfer over.”

“Thank you,” she accepted when they all agreed.

“And we will let them know that we were watching them after they threatened Ms. Millen in the parking lot with witnesses and you informed us of their continued harassment of her,” Councilman Oliveria decided. “That will protect your witness and this broker, yes? Our guards intercepted it after the continued investigation into them.”

“That would be perfect,” Jasmine agreed. “It will hopefully make them think twice before trying something again. At least for the moment.”

“Yes, they are a persistent problem,” Councilman Reid muttered. He smiled at me when I snorted. “Yes, you would know better than us.”

I bit my lip to keep quiet.

“That leaves us with this situation of Gregg Haddock’s family,” Councilman Oliveria stated. “Does the witness still need to be hidden? We’re all in agreement that he not be recorded.”

“No, Councilman, I know Mr. Koval is here,” Wyatt assured him. “And I thank you for protecting another student of ours who is in a precarious position. You all know the politics of this better than I do and how people would perceive this.”

The guard revealed Sergey who thanked him and then came over to stand next to Wyatt.

“Yes, it would be the bastard heir of two top-tier families teaming up with the youngest Shaw to start trouble no matter what the truth is,” Councilman Reid stated plainly, nodding to Sergey in apology.

“Who needs truth when there’s a good rumor?” Jasmine agreed. “The truth is he’s tutoring Ms. Millen, and Ms. Anderson thought him the best candidate as he would understand her complicated circumstances, not speak of them or try to capitalize on them.”

“Understandable given she had to hide her magic from her family,” Councilman Oliveria said. “I’m glad you found someone to catch you up no matter your power.” He glanced at Sergey over my shoulder. “Have you heard any of this about the Haddocks?”

“Yes, Councilman, I and another student heard it directly from Gregg’s cousin who is still on campus, and we made sure to immediately warn Bevin,” he answered. “They’re spreading the rumor that Bevin was intoxicated and got caught losing her purity before she was mated to Gregg, and thus cried foul that she wasn’t willing.

“The Haddocks are painting the incident as her overreacting, and it’s only by their benevolence that they’ll allow her to mate into the family even with her status as disowned and without her purity as Gregg should have made better choices. We heard him say Gregg would be back at school shortly, the engagement was announced, and invitations would be sent out soon for their winter ceremony.”

“I didn’t know that last part,” I told Jasmine.

“You looked as if you were going to be violently ill with what we told you and we needed to get you out of there,” Sergey said gently.

Wyatt confirmed he’d heard the same and even that Gregg’s parents talked to the school, saying that Bevin would be withdrawing the charges, so not to give away his place. They completely ignored the fact he was already expelled like that was a mistake.

I thought steam was going to come out of all the councilmen’s ears. Something else was going on here that I didn’t understand.

“These ‘top-tier’ families are getting out of hand in their pushing for power,” one of them grumbled. “Now knowing the situation, what is it you would ask of us, Ms. Hough?”

“What comes to mind first is to report a case of fraud to our governing body,” she answered right away. “They are speaking on behalf of not only Ms. Millen, but ignoring a ruling from the High Council as Gregg has already been sentenced. Even if they succeeded in pressuring Ms. Millen to recant her statement, there were other witnesses and a full investigation conducted.”

“Not to mention the idiot confessed several times to try and make a deal to get the Shaws in trouble instead of himself,” one of the councilmen drawled.

I shook my head. My parents really were too full of themselves if they didn’t check into the idiot they partnered up with. I hated them even more that they tried to force me into mating such a stupid asshole.

“We would also seek emotional damages for what this is doing my client, plus a notice sent out that this is false to the point of widespread publicizing of Mr. Haddock’s conviction.”

“The first we can discuss, but the second would be out of our hands,” Councilman Reid admitted. “However, if it was done not by us, we would have no say in that.”

Nice.

“Thank you. We will reserve the right to revisit any other filings after I’ve had time to thoroughly investigate this matter.”

“Of course,” the councilman at the end of the group said. “I wonder if the timing isn’t an issue. You said Ms. Millen’s gifts were on display? Mr. Hills said something about her showing off?” He glanced at me. “Could you show us what happened? I know you’re gifted with familiars but…” He glanced at Councilman Reid.

“Some of what we’ve heard sounds outlandish. I agree that it would help us know the severity of the threat to you if we understood at least the power you showed publicly.”

I swallowed a sigh. That was fair even if it was probably more personal on a layer I didn’t understand. I glanced at Jasmine who reluctantly nodded before closing my eyes and focusing. “Two of your familiars are on the roof. If someone could open a window?”

The guard went over and did so after they gave him permission.

I whistled, magically calling them to me. Moments later, an eagle and a huge fucking hawk both flew into the room and headed right for me. I smiled at them as they landed on the table before us.

“Well, hello there. Aren’t you both so handsome!” I accepted their affection, cooing at and praising them. “Would you both be dears and help me out?” I waited until they nodded. “Do you know of a good place to harvest a bit of magic? I’m down on the tank with all my stress. If you’re not too busy and don’t mind?” I beamed at them when they agreed. “Thank you so much.”

I leaned in and gave them hugs before sending them on their way and on to their task.

One of the councilmen gasped. “I can’t believe how happy he is. What did you do?”

I shrugged. “To be honest, I don’t actually know. Familiars get as lonely and moody as people do, but they don’t get the same attention. You give it to them, of course, but others don’t as they have their own familiars. I don’t, and they soak that up. But the rest… I’ve just always been able to do it. It’s why I turned down familiars who wanted me to…” I winced. I hadn’t said that part before.

Shit.

“You’ve turned down familiars?” Councilman Reid pushed.

“Yes, Councilman.”

“How?” he whispered. “The gods assign us our familiars based on our spirit animals.”

“Have you always had the same type of animal requesting to be your familiar?” Councilman Oliveria added.

I sighed. “I don’t know how. I talked to them just as I did your familiars and told them it was a danger to have one as my family would use them against me. They seemed to understand it wasn’t the right time or fit for me and moved on. And no, it wasn’t the same animal. There were over a dozen types. Grandfather thought because of what I could do I didn’t have a set match, but simply an affinity of a different type.”

“No one can find out about this,” Councilman Reid told Wyatt. “No one. Do you understand? Not the university or any of the faculty as they would brag about her gifts and she would instantly become a bigger target.”

“And we would hold you responsible with severe punishments if that were to happen,” Councilman Oliveria threatened, his voice ice-cold.

“The sole reason I took her independent study and duty as a power assessor is to protect her and hide just how powerful and special she is, Councilman,” he declared firmly. “I know exactly how dangerous our world can be for someone who shines too brightly, and it’s extra perilous for her as she’s a young woman in our sexist society. I will make sure she is protected even if I have to lie to deans and board of directors.”

“Good. We’ll also give you an order from us that it’s our ruling so you aren’t held accountable if anyone were to find out,” the councilman whose familiar I’d spoken with added. He shrugged when they all looked at him. “You’ll understand when she works with your familiars. Mine is ridiculously happy and excited to harvest magic for both of us to make her happy. It’s unbelievable.”

I appreciated the praise, but when they all looked at me like they wanted more answers, I wanted to melt into the floor. Shit.