Page 56 of Frayed Owner

I shrugged again, glancing at Wyatt for help.

He nodded like he had it, clearing his throat. “I’m a bit shocked you know—how do you know the level he was at?”

“He checked me before he would let me slip into the school’s security,” Link answered. “He said it’s standard protocol for the headmaster to scan the magic of all security.”

“It is,” several people said at the same time.

“That’s the piece I was missing,” I muttered, several others agreeing with me. I did a double take when Winter came jogging around the house to the back with a few of his friends. “What now?”

He held his hands up in surrender. “You weren’t answering your phone, and I heard Derek left campus in a rush. I figured it was about you. So you saw the press conference?”

I sighed and plopped down on one of the other ottomans. “What press conference?”

“Okay, someone is breaking out the hard stuff soon, right?” Emma drawled.

“Yeah, thanks, I can’t drink yet,” I drawled.

Headmaster Kerwynn snorted. “Since when has thateverstopped college kids?”

I had nothing to say to that and I felt weird, so I left it alone and simply focused on Winter for the answer I probably didn’t want to hear.

14

Jean made a move.

That was what Winter came for. He was worried about me and thought something more was going on because Jean had a press conference to finally announce she was the new head of the family.

I sat there and watched as she twisted so much around, basically making it like she was the only reason I’d gotten free. Clare too. That it was because of her and making sure we were safe from the abusive and evil men in our family—Bryan excluded.

But he did stand at her side and make it clear he was with her, not standing against her.

She apologized to us for not being stronger and able to protect us, but we would always still be sisters, and no matter the name, thatbondwould never be gone. She said Alex would be pleading guilty and serving his sentence for violently attacking Clare. Also, that she witnessed him abusing me as a child, so the rumors were true and she supported my pressing charges.

Then Grandmother took the podium and completely rewrote history. It wasn’t a pattern or tradition of sacrificing the youngest for the oldest. It was one instance—a mistake she didn’t put a stop to. That her youngest had sustained a life-threatening injury and magic could not save him. That they were trying and to figure out who could help him.

That it was Charles who decided to put his sibling out of his misery… But did the unthinkable to siphon his magic so it wasn’t wasted. The way Grandmother told it, she came in too late and never had the heart to tell her mate. She couldn’t lose two children because she knew what Charles did was wrong, but her youngest couldn’t be saved.

She was very sure that it drove Charles mad. One witch or warlock wasn’t meant to absorb that much magic that fast and certainly not through death. That it was dark magic for a reason and could only lead to one inevitable outcome—madness.

And that was what happened to Charles, so the proof was there.

Also, she would accept whatever punishment she should for hiding the truth but asked for people to understand that she was a mother who had lost a child. No matter what he’d done, he was still her child and she wasn’t strong enough to lose another. Though apparently, she had in the end.

“I almost fucking believe her and I know it’s bullshit,” Emma muttered as she watched over my shoulder.

“We’re amazing liars as Shaws,” I chuckled darkly.

“You’re not like them,” she comforted as she rubbed my back.

“Oh no, I am in this. I’m a great actress. It was the only way I survived,” I countered.

Jean went on, and in an effort to make it clear that the Shaw family was turning over a new leaf—alawfulleaf—she was asking the High Council to punish Charles. Not just that but accept her proof of the police department’s corruption and the list of all the dirty officers—the ones that Charles had killed even so those families could have closure.

I shocked people by chuckling. I met Councilman Reid’s gaze. “You know what she just did, right?”

He ground his jaw. “She pushed over the first domino to try and bring war between the council and top-tier families. I can’t not take that bait, and they’ll try to block it at every turn. We’ll eat each other while she solidifies her position.”

“Yes.” I let out a slow breath as I kept watching, shaking my head. “She’s not taking into account how petty and vindictive they are. Walking into meetings and showing she’s more powerful than Father will only get her so far.”

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