ove him, could they?
I wasn’t sure. I didn’t know the rules here.
It was an automatic reaction, full of pride and hubris. But the relief I saw filter across his face when I told him I didn’t want him to claim me made me want to punch the High Warlock in the face.
I stood up. “Well, now that we have that sorted, Matlock, I better get going.” My fingers shook. If I didn’t leave now, I was going to shoot more fire balls at his face. I would burn this entire place down – or at least try.
He reached for me but I pulled my arm out of his grasp and moved towards the door. What a disappointment! But what had I expected? Really? That he’d embrace me as the long-lost child that he’d always wanted? Everyone warned me about him. My mother, Alison, even Mallory mentioned things that would hint that someone like him wouldn’t want anything to do with me.
Grow up Ava. Grow the fuck up! I shook my head as I stormed to the door. I needed to get back to my sisters. I needed to leave before I did threaten him and that shifter security guard rushed back inside.
“Ava! Wait, please.”
“What?” I turned back around with my fists clenched. I snarled at him, my anger much more palpable than it had been. Sparks flew from my fingers and landed on the floor by my feet.
“Please.” His brows pushed together. “Don’t leave like this. I know you’re angry, but you don’t understand this world, and what would happen to you if people found out who you are. You haven’t told anyone yet, have you?”
I shook my head. My nails dig into my palms. If I wasn’t careful, I was on the verge of making myself bleed.
“Good.” He swallowed. Every move he made was tentative, as though he worried, I might disappear if he wasn’t careful. “Because you have to understand. I am a... King without an heir. My wife is barren, and we are yet to have a child. Our laws do not take into account illegitimate children, but you would be a threat to my wife... to our blood line... to the...” He swallowed.
“To the Council and their power over you?” I finished for him.
He frowned, deep lines slicing into his skin. “Be very careful, Ava, with your words. I know you’re angry and being flippant, but the Council have ruled that Magic realm for centuries, and they will not take lightly to any challenge of their power.” He took a step towards me, arms out as though he wanted to calm me down. “Yes, I am a mere figurehead to their decisions. But it’s always been this way. You would be a challenge to everything. You would pose the greatest risk to them, and they don’t take kindly to risks, to threats.”
Why did everyone keep saying that? “I don’t want to challenge their power!” I insisted. I stomped my foot like a petulant child and looked away, ashamed. “I don’t give a royal flying... fuck about your realm, the Council- any of this! I just wanted to know my father.”
He moved closer, meeting my gaze with a look I’d never seen before. It was cold... hard. Calculated. “You said you wanted to meet me, but there’s something else, isn’t there?” he demanded to know. “Why are you here Ava? Is it for money?”
Heat flashed up my face, in both anger and embarrassment. “No! Of course, not...” More sparks shot from my fingers. A couple even turned to a flame before they died out, hitting the floor.
“But?” He waited, breath poised.
I sighed. May as well be as honest as possible. It wasn’t as though I was ever going to see him again after this anyway. “But... I do need your help. When Mother died, our entire lives fell apart. Our house is gone. Clothes, books, everything. We had to create something from magic. We’ve been isolated our whole life. I don’t, I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“So, you do need money.”
Anger burst through my belly and into my blood stream, hot and fast. “No! Stop it. We need help! Not your charity. I need a job... somewhere to live. I don’t know... I just thought you could help! Might want to help...” Fuck! The tears were getting the better of me.
Tears blurred my vision and my throat was tightening to the point that I wouldn’t be able to speak soon. I nodded in acceptance of his decision and reached for the door to get away from here.
I didn’t know where I’d go, but I had to leave. Maybe Aunt Alison would take us in... we could learn to live amongst the humans. We could. I was sure of it. Or we could stay where we were, isolated from every realm. We had done it with Mother. Why wouldn’t we be able to do the same thing without her? Maybe our magic wasn’t as powerful as hers, but with all three of us combined, I was sure I could make it work. Somehow.
“No. Ava. Wait.”
He actually touched me this time, and my skin recognized him in a way I’d only even known with my mother. I gasped at the familiar, yet strange sensation and he took his hand back, staring down at his fingers as though he too felt the connection.
“What?”
He clenched his jaw and nodded once. “Don’t go yet. I’ll help you. I owe you at least that much.”
I raised an eyebrow and lifted my chin. “Really?” I couldn’t help be suspicious. He basically told me that he didn’t want to help, and now, all of a sudden, he was going to change his mind? I shot him an arched brow. “What kind of help did you have in mind?”
Chapter 9.
I took a step back and stared at my ‘sire.’ The man who’d gotten my mother pregnant without a second thought.
Not that he’d known about it, of course... but that was beside the point.