Page 27 of Frayed Owner

“I don’t think it’s been bad, but there’s no reason for him to deal with it,” I told him. I snorted. “Some of them were bullying me. The familiars of assholes can be just as big of assholes sometimes. Seriously.”

“Thank you, Bevin, really.”

Good. That was something handled that had bothered me as well. I didn’t want to be mad at Quinn any more than he wanted me upset with him. He’d comforted me when I’d needed it, and—we’d tripped and now we could fix it.

If only every relationship in my life could be handled so smoothly.

We finished breakfast and Clare shooed me away when I went to help clean up. It bothered me and she frowned when I just stood there.

“This is when I don’t know how to handle this and our past is going to be a problem,” she muttered, looking at Tracey and Jasmine as if to ask for help.

Tracey jumped right in and gave Clare a hard look. “Depends if you’re turning to me because you won’t show her patience and are being a shit or are you worried about hurting her?”

“Worried about hurting her, but my patience is short because of the crazy I just went through, and that’s valid to say and ask for understanding for,” Clare bit out. “I’m freaking out about tomorrow and having nightmares about Alex. So please cut me some slack too.”

“Understood. And yes, more than fair,” Tracey accepted before turning to me. “Clare needs busywork and a project. Our bathrooms are spotless. Your sister seems to be a stress cleaner and—leave it be.”

“Oh, okay. I was hoping to give her a session too,” I muttered.

“I think that unwise until she’s free, plus she’s distracted,” Jasmine interjected. “But I also have the stuff from the contractor about the addition and it’s Greek to me. I think we’re getting railroaded.”

“Yes, good, I can help with that,” Clare accepted with a sigh.

Okay then, something else I didn’t understand. It was frustrating, but well… Maybe I should start trying to focus on the wins?

The Reids arrived with their familiars and that confused me until Taylor said he wanted to go over the property some with his father. Again, I was missing something, but I left it alone. I couldn’t keep up with it all, but I did comment maybe they should talk with Clare about the contractor if Jasmine thought we were getting taken advantage of.

“Probably when your priority was keeping things quiet, but now that Charles knows where you are, you don’t have to worry about that anymore,” Taylor muttered. “I’ll get into it.”

Cool.

I sat outside with Mrs. Reid and Professor Wyatt. I explained to them where my mind was about using my magic more effectively. They explained to me what Wyatt’s friend had said about me being too early. I needed more of the basics down before I started trying to adjust how I used my magic.

“That doesn’t make sense to me,” I sighed, scrubbing my hands over my face. “Even a basic runner changes shoes for comfort or socks—whatever the analogy is.”

“You’re not wrong, but you’re looking at it too simply,” Mrs. Reid guided. “Or maybe the magic as the parts, but it’s the whole. Thespellsare the socks or shoes. The magic is you.Youtook a lot of work to get to this point. You need the maturity of your magic just as you are.” She tapped her fingers on her other hand a moment as if thinking how to frame it for me.

“You didn’t use gels to start,” Wyatt offered. “You didn’t go that far. That came later.”

“Yes,yes, exactly, well done, Wyatt,” she praised. “Even other factors like being old enough for a sports bra instead of a child racing around the playground. Learning how to run during your menstruation and how to handle that. Tying up your hair versus clips. Then you factor in clothes for the elements. All of that is your spells.”

“And the outcome is the magic? But the magic makes each spell,” I muttered.

“Yes, in the literal sense, but in the figurative and life sense, the more spells and magic you’ve done, the more your magic grows. You’ve said your magic has pushed you to grow and learn. You can sense things and that’s how you’ve made your products?” she asked.

Wyatt jumped in when I nodded. “That’s how we move to the next level of spells with our familiars. We—it’s like things lock into place. You don’t have that because you don’t have a familiar. So for us, it’s like we know by playing with how we filter or change the flow of magic.”

“Instead of thinking of making you run better, think of it as travel in general,” Mrs. Reid suggested. “You run. You walked before. You could have a debate on which is more efficient, but really it’s about outcomes. You can bike. That gets you further for your energy, but you can’t do it for everything.”

“Yes, yeah, much better analogy. I remember this from school,” Wyatt agreed. “Now take it to the next steps. Or even back one. What moves you before a bike?”

I sighed. “Roller skate or rollerblades. Skateboard. Scooter? Some of the electric ones would be after a bike I think.”

“Yes, but you get the idea. That’s how you have to start thinking about your spells and using magic,” she advised. “You’re not using a skateboard for a huge big distance and you don’t use that type of magic for that level of spell. But you won’t understand that until you start doing those types of spells.”

“It’s why we were all watching you with awe when you make toys,” Wyatt explained. “Kelton might not have ever seen someone so effortlessly use high-level magic like that.” He waited until I nodded, giving me a sad smile. “It also means your perception is a bit off from a normal witch or warlock.”

There it was. That was the part I was missing. I let out a shaky breath. “Thank you. Th-that was what—it just wasn’t clicking. I thought—I mean I knew it would be weird for me because I didn’t have a familiar but…” I took in a shaky breath and bobbed my head. “Okay, yeah, that…”

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