Page 2 of Frayed Owner

“You will die for your betrayal, Bevin!” Father roared.

“Henry would be so disappointed in you, Charles,” Councilman Oliveria said from where he circled in with council guards. “Truly. He had such high hopes for you when you were a boy. To think you became—”

Father gathered magic too fast and I knew what he was about to do, doing the same quick draw that I’d been practicing. I had a lot already at my fingertips, ready from the moment I’d heard his voice, and I threw just the smallest amount at him to knock into him. His shot went wide and hit a tree left of the group.

And we all watched as it turned to ash, completely disintegrating.

He slowly looked at me, his face redder than I’d ever seen. “Your magic is unstable and out of control. You will come—”

“You can spin that however you want, but everyone here knows you were going to send that at a councilman because you are fuckinginsane,” I hissed. “And thelast personI’m going to agree to learn magic from is the man who kills to steal it. You were too fucking stupid to see I was hiding mine—tooweakto understand what was going on. What could you teach me?”

“Don’t,” Taylor warned as he moved closer and put a gun to Father’s head. “Councilman, please step on the other side of the barrier where it’s safe.”

Councilman Oliveria snorted. “I’m not afraid of Charles Shaw. I came here with magic to protect me. He simply can’t sense it. He’s not as powerful as he thinks.”

“I suggest you leave and take your corrupt cops with you,” Taylor said firmly. “And grab that warrant so people get fired.”

The cop nearest to it burned it and gave a lame “whoops.”

While smirking at me. I just rolled my eyes. These guys were seriously too much and only terrifying because they’d go over the line.

Father’s gaze locked with mine. “This isn’t over, Bevin. I know where you are now.”

I shrugged. “You knew where I was at Morrigan too, but you couldn’t do anything there either. It must be hard to be so ineffective and unable to manage the slightest task, Charles.” I smirked at him as Taylor ordered one of the cops to set down a spell circle to take them out of there. “And yeah, it won’t be over until one of us dies. I just don’t think it will be me anymore.”

His eyes flashed with something almost like fear, but then he stepped into the circle and was gone.

I pointed to Taylor when Councilman Oliveria turned to me. “He told me to poke Charles. He said to push all of his buttons. He didn’t say not to if he showed up here. I went with my standing orders.”

He nodded. “I poked him as well.”

He might have had more to say, but the reality of what just happened hit me and I turned and threw up in the bushes. I really,reallyneeded to get a handle on how I processed conflict before I ended up with an eating disorder. And I wasn’t making a joke.

I didn’t mean to at least. Was that how it worked?

Why couldn’t my anxiety or issues give me another side effect? It had to be the grossest one that wreaked havoc on my body? Seriously?

Councilman Oliveria helped me sit on the porch when I was done and handed me a bottle of water that someone else brought. “You are not weak, poppet. You havesuffered. Ignore everyone else who might say nasty things about this being dramatic or too much. Many people have these physical triggers from their abuse.”

“It makes me hate myself,” I rasped.

“You shouldn’t. We had a case of a witch who lived in a volatile house and filed for disownment. One minute she was ignored and the next minute screamed at for reasons she couldn’t even tell what she’d done wrong. Or her father would kick her out of the house for not doing chores that were her siblings’ responsibilities.

“Her mother would come home and yell at her for being dramatic for actually leaving, being scared of her father and looking foolish in front of the neighbors. She would get a B on a test and one time her parents would be understanding and forgiving and the next time explode as if she came home pregnant.

“And everything was a secret. They would tell her things no parent should tell their children and she had to hide it then. They would turn around and always accuse her of lying, saying they knew she was a liar. They had made her a liar by keeping their secrets—while both parents constantly lied about so much. Anytime she tried to talk to them about anything they mocked her.

“Journals she wrote they read and laughed at with her family or she was punished for her feelings. Stories she used to write in the hopes that could be her future were torn down—nothing was safe or hers. Her siblings and parents always loud and yelling—screaming as if that won the fight or argument. She had the same reaction you do to confrontation, Bevin.”

I listened to what he was saying while rinsing my mouth with the water and spitting it out. A few times. “You’re telling me all of this to say she got better, right?”

He opened his mouth but then closed it and sighed. “I don’t actually know. I cannot keep up with all the cases we hear. I wanted you to understand that even people who go through less than you have will suffer from this sort of response. You are not broken, and you are certainly not weak.”

“Thanks.” It helped. I thought what Emma said about me being scared and knowing I would freak out later and still doing what I needed to was maybe a better thing to say, but this was nice to hear too.

He squeezed my knee and moved into my gaze. “But you are doing better already, Bevin.” He nodded when I frowned. “This is less of a reaction than last time, and this was against your Father who I know you are scared of. You are finding your way and learning to handle more—how to express more too. Keep on the path and please stop being so hard on yourself, okay?”

He might have said more, but Jasmine appeared via circle and seemed shocked at what was going on. She shook it off and locked gazes with me. “Clare contacted me. She called me but couldn’t talk to me. She’s being—your brother is trying to force her to sign a mating contract. He took her phone—”

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