Page 52 of Frayed Owner

He soaked up all the praise I lavished on him. Since there were ears all around me, I decided to slip in a few lies, saying he reminded me of my familiar who was a snuggly one too.

“Will you do me a favor? Your warlock was mean to me and is trying to abuse a gift I was willing to give him. He should be punished, right?” I ignored when people gasped at the familiar nodding. “Good, you’re a smart boy. I’d like you to not harvest for him until he apologizes, okay?”

“But that’s my job,” he worried.

“You’re supposed to be a team, and he’s not doing what’s best for the team. So until he does—”

“Touch her and you’re dead,” Taylor warned, blocking me from the headmaster.

“She has my familiar and is using magic on him,” the headmaster seethed. “That’s against the law.”

“It’s actually not. The law ishurtingfamiliars and you know that,” Councilman Oliveria said firmly from my right. “Here I thought I would be arriving to witness the next step of progress so Demeter could thrive as Morrigan’s large familiars have, and instead—have you lost your mind?”

I took the distraction and explained to the koala why it was the right move and his warlock needed some humility and to not abuse witches. Not when he was responsible for shaping the next generation.

“He’s going to get mad,” the koala worried.

“He can get mad and yell all he wants, but if he hurts you—even a smack—you can find me and my magic now. I want you to find me and I’ll give you sanctuary,” I promised. I met the headmaster’s pissed-off gaze and matched it. “I’ve done it before with familiars who were abused.”

Not exactly the truth, but I was loaded up with so much magic to hide and protect me that no one was getting much from me.

“A familiar is agift, not a given,” I told him firmly. “You want to use me to promote yourself and seek fame that I don’t even try for. I stay hidden so people keep their focus where it should be. On them. On the familiars.” I kissed the head of the koala. “Our gifts from the gods that help us be more than human.

“And you’re selfish with that? You’re supposed to be an educator first. What are you teaching your students today? To lie, cheat, and steal is fine if they get the result they want? To use situations to their advantage, and screw who you hurt in the end? Or what I want doesn’t matter because I’m a witch? Because I promise you that it matters to the gods.”

“Are you confirming you’re a goddess witch?” someone called.

I turned to face the reporter trying to shove a microphone closer to me and remembered what Tracey had lectured about muddying things up. “Are you a complete twat? A sexist twat, yeah?”

There, that sounded a bit British and like we were using magic to make me sound American.

Or I probably just offended every British person—dead and alive.

Sorry.

“No oneeversuggested the owner was a god warlock when everyone said over and over andoveragain the owner had to be a man,” I continued. “No, he was an impressive bloke who clearly had the best training. But now that I’m a woman, Imustbe a goddess witch.

“That’s the only way that it could be possible?” I snorted. “You’re an ignorant git. If I was a warlock, you would be asking me how I managed to develop new magic. What species my familiar is or if I know a secret place to harvest magic? Or if I did something differently harvesting to achieve this level of magic?”

“Did you?” someone yelled.

“Yes,” I answered with a smirk.

“We’re not playing these games,” Tracey said loudly, getting everyone’s attention. “Set the circle to leave.”

“You cannot just bail on the contract you agreed to,” the headmaster snapped as he reached for Tracey.

But he never reached her. Taylor was suddenly there pushing Tracey behind him and shoving the headmaster back.

“You just showed your true colors trying to put your hands on a woman when she tells you no,” he bit out. “And I read the contract, so I knew exactly what security we would provide.Youbroke the terms of the contract. You specifically agreed to no media—”

“I can’t help when they show up and I haven’t let them on campus,” he tried lamely.

Several of the reporters snorted, looking annoyed they weren’t getting their scoop now that they were clearly promised. One handed their phone over to Tracey and I bet it was an invite or something good because I thought she was about to explode.

“I will be back with teams to pull the sheds and transport them to another college that won’t pull this crap,” she said firmly.

“You can’t do that,” the headmaster growled, trying to shove past Taylor to get to her.

---