Page 31 of Frayed Owner

“It’s crazy that your dad’s familiar was killed the day after we were talking about it,” he muttered under his breath. “It kinda freaked me out.” He glanced around. “Do you think anyone heard us since we were in the cafeteria?”

Relief flooded me so strongly that I had to set down my tray. I let out an awkward chuckle when he just stared at me. “Honestly, I was a bit worried about it and…”

He snorted. “It’s horrible, but I would have if I could get the chance.” He sighed when I looked at him in horror. “Bevin, come on. Your father’s a monster. I’m sorry—how many people has he killed? He wants to killyou. I’m sorry for his familiar, but the gods would forgive that. Seriously, they would.”

I grabbed his arm when he got upset and turned to leave. “Sorry.”

“No, I am,” he mumbled. “I get it. You knew the familiar and felt bad it was broken. The rest of us just hate it because it helped keep your father in power. I’m not sad it’s gone, and I won’t hide that. Don’t ask me to.”

“Okay.” I was a bit surprised Nigel was being so firm on that, but he wasn’t on much, so it was fair to accept especially because it was about protecting me or what was best for me.

He cleared his throat and we went back to loading up our plates. “Besides, there’s no way I could get at it and past their security. The news showed the spot with a drone and it was way up on the roof. It had to be another familiar that did it up there. No way that Fangs slithered up there unnoticed.”

No, the huge python didn’t move that fast.

I’d still never met him, but I knew enough about snakes for that. I was disappointed in myself that I hadn’t met the familiar, but I was scared of snakes after one bit me badly as a child. It was mean, and… I had so much else going on that I didn’t need anything else terrifying me. And that hadn’t been a big snake.

Fangs was a huge fucking python. That could scare a lot of people who didn’t have a fear of snakes.

Nigel had been great about it, saying that it was fine because Fangs wanted to stay in the barn of the large familiar housing. He liked his spot up in the rafters watching all of the other familiars and enjoying the activity. He had a space up there now just for him and a heater since the new attendants were awesome and not just part-time asshole students.

So it worked out for everyone. I’d seen him from a distance when I’d been in there, but he sort of made it clear he didn’t want to be around me either which didn’t help my fear.

At. All.

After breakfast, I saw the bitch who always hassled me, and when she opened her mouth with a twinkle in her eyes, I acted first for once.

“Don’t even fucking think about it,” I warned.

“What?” she asked, frowning.

“Don’t start your bullshit this time,” I said coldly as I stepped closer and got in her face. “Enough with your rumors. This time it’s a serious fuckingcrimeyou’re about to push and accuse me of. That’s not a rumor and I had nothing to do with it. Only a fool would think I could have been able to manage it with all the security there.

“And I’m not letting you get me dragged back to that fucked family because you run your mouth and arejealousof me. I will absolutely sue you if say shit about this. This isn’t you saying you saw me leaving the rooms of people I’ve never met or you heard me moaning in a class with a teacher I don’t know. This is serious. Really serious. And I will retaliate.”

She believed me because she swallowed loudly.

I glanced around at the audience we now had. “Pass it around. I will absolutely sue this time. I didnotkill Charles Shaw’s familiar. I don’t know who was involved, and I hope whoever did it is punished. That is over the line and a coward’s way to take someone on. I wanted him locked up for his crimes, not his familiar killed for them.”

Others seemed ready to accept that, but the bitch had steam about coming out of her ears as she glanced around and saw no one was ready to lay into me. I saw in her eyes that she was about to double down and start shit with me that I just didnotwant to deal with.

It pissed me off. Itreallypissed me off. I was tired of these bullies and assholes just doing whatever they wanted and no one punishing them—no one handling them even after I disproved all their bullshit.

I had a flash of something I read in Father’s study, one of his spell books focused on business. Learning more and above my required lessons was one of the few times he praised me given how lazy the others were. Even if he thought I didn’t have the magic to use any of the spells, he said it showed I was a Shaw to be so driven.

Funny since he was a lazy, cheating, pathetic asshole, but… Whatever.

The spell was useful in the moment and I quickly said it before she could blast me.

Or she still did, but it was in Russian.

I smirked at her. There was a second spell that Father would use so he would understand it as well, but I didn’twantto understand her. Father had dealings with businesses and families in Russia—and several other countries—so it made him look impressive if he spoke the languages.

I couldn’t even blame him for not really learning them. Why waste the time when we had magic, and intheory, so much else going on? He really didn’t, but I would.

And apparently, it was useful for this.

I ended up putting it on her friends as well and beamed at them as I pulled out my phone. “According to Google, ‘I’m sorry’ in Russian is ‘mne zhal'.’ When I hear you say that, I’ll take off the spell but not before. Havefunlearning your lesson.” I got in the girl’s face. “Maybe this will finally teach you not to bite off more than you can chew, bitch.”

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