Page 19 of Frayed Owner

Yeah, Mrs. Oliveria definitely was one of a kind and really helped me a lot. I was glad I gave the first brush to her and the first blanket to Councilman Oliveria. I would be in such trouble without both of them.

And the brownies were amazing. Pumpkin pie cheesecake something-something and totally worth the calories.

I also got some to take back to my dorm. Yum.

I worked until I was exhausted, glad when Sergey was there waiting for me. He obviously heard what happened and simply gave me a hug. I appreciated that more than he knew.

The next morning, Emma Wagner was waiting for me when I was going to go for my run at my house. She was one of Taylor’s people, but she was also now working at Morrigan as Coach Dunham’s aide to really teach the women how to fight… But mostly protect themselves.

She chuckled at whatever was on my face. “Let’s run and chat, yeah?”

“Depends if I’m in trouble. Kinda overloaded and can’t handle being in trouble,” I admitted.

She glanced me over and smiled. “Nope, but good for you for setting that boundary and saying what’s off limits on your run time. You really need to give yourself more credit, Bevin.”

Wow, more people to pump me up? Yay.

We didn’t say anything for the first mile, but then we stopped to stretch a bit and she seemed to accept it was time. She let out a slow breath and met my gaze.

“I know you’re a Hughes,” I told her, not making her say it. I nodded when fear filled her eyes. “I won’t ever tell. I swear. Taylor clearly knows and that’s enough for us.”

“Way to take the big reveal away from a girl,” she chuckled nervously. She bobbed her head and seemed a bit shell-shocked. “How?”

Now it was my turn to squirm. I hadn’t thought that far ahead this early on a Sunday morning. “Shit.”

“Yeah, because I’m not going to let that one go when most have forgotten about me and I need it to stay that way,” she said gently. “If you know because your family was keeping tabs on me or—”

“Your familiar told me,” I confessed.

She did a double take. “I was right. You’re a goddess witch. Bé?inn right?” She moved closer when I didn’t answer. “Taylor wouldn’t answer when I asked, so I did my homework. It’s—Bevin is a derivative of that name.”

“So it seems,” I whispered. “I haven’t known that long, so—it’s a lot. I already had a lot and it’s a lot.”

“Yeah, fuck, that’s a lot and to just find out.” She whistled. “Okay, so let’s put a pin in all ofthatfor now and hit what I wanted to today.”

I nodded and took off, impressed that she was right there with me after the next mile. Not just still running but as at ease with the pace and terrain as I was. Nice.

“I won’t be able to go as long as you just yet, but I’m looking forward to it a few times a week,” she said as if knowing where my head was. “And I would ask you keep me being a Hughes quiet. They’ve buried that I was ever one of them and are fine to ignore it after they couldn’t scoop me back up. Taylor saved me from all of that. Got me disowned and in the military.”

“You’re in love with him,” I muttered, thinking I should admit that I knew that as well.

She let out a long, heavy breath. “Taylor is the ultimate man to me but one I don’t think I ever want to really have. He wouldn’t live up to the expectations I have in my head now, and it would ruin too many good memories we share. I want to let it go, but he’s just so fucking hot and awesome.”

“You’re also two sides of the same coin,” I added. “I see—you both need someone different. You would be too comfortable like that and—he would never have you grow.”

“Look at you doling out the relationship advice,” she chuckled. “Yeah, well, makes sense when you’ve got five all over you.”

I snorted. “Yeah, not really or—it was your familiar who said all of that.” I shot her a look. “And that you need a better place to live. For real. That’s why she won’t leave the Reids, and I didn’t realize they were basically a familiar sanctuary for all you guys who followed Taylor’s path.”

“Yeah, it’s complicated, but now I maybe can have a better place. I was always bouncing around and—hey, I’m here for you,” she said with a growl.

“Right, sorry.” I sighed when she chuckled. “Do you know how hard it is to carry all of this information? Your familiars all tell metonsof everything. Constantly. Especially once they learn that I can hear them. Wyatt walked up on Bubba keeping a bunch of them in line as they used me as a therapist to listen to their problems. Bubba’s actually really good at it.”

“That had to be a fucking trip for him to witness.”

“He called me a blond fucking Snow White I think,” I grumbled, rolling my eyes when she burst out laughing. She laughed so hard that she had to stop running. It was nice to hear her laugh though because she’d been through a lot too.

“I’m not from the ‘main family,’” she told me once we got back to running. “I’m a branch family.” She seemed to realize that wasn’t the right place to start and made a “back up” motion with her hands. “Not everyone’s built for therapy and that’s okay, Bevin. Healing and getting help isn’t a singular road or answer. One bridge doesn’t take you there.”

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