Page 25 of A Lesson in Obedience
I told them what I had told Corrin last night, watching as hermom’s eyes widened and the way she placed her hand over her chest at certain parts. I stuttered a bit when Grayson came up, so I moved past that as quickly as I could. I tried to force Marianne’s name out of my mouth, but it wouldn’t budge. That part wasn’t important to them, but she was important tome, so why was that part so fucking hard to open up about?
“That’s what was happening with your coven,mi amor?” Mateo asked Corrin, taking her chin in their grasp and forcing her to look at them.
“Yeah, but I promise I didn’t know all the insider details until last night.” She turned to her mom, pointing her finger. “And don’t start. If I had known her evil bio dad was in charge, I wouldn’t have been insistent on staying in.”
“Damn, a Celica legacy….” Ike trailed off, blowing out a breath. “That man takes ‘I’ll do anything for my family’ way too far.”
Corrin’s mom shook her head, her twists hitting her cheeks. “I knew something was off with that whole thing. I can report him, and seek the witch’s council's help. You’ll be under the council’s protection seeing as you are one of us now.”
I pulled at the ends of my braids, the tension at my scalp giving me something else to focus on. “No, doing anything like that would likely anger him and I don’t want to d-do t-that…” I shut my mouth the minute I found myself stuttering. I wouldn’t talk to the man that night after the meeting and he’d murdered someone right in front of me because of it. “I’m sure he’s skated his way by the council for years now. He isn’t stupid so doing something like that would be too obvious.”
“He still siphoned powers. He’s probably still doing it, despite finding you,” Jade pointed out, wiping her hands on a napkin. “Your boyfriend’s dad is also a piece of shit, by the way, just in case we weren’t clear on that. You trust that boyfriend of yours? Where exactly is the shadow wielder that was helping them?”
Mateo threw her a look. “Yes, we are all aware of how awful thesemen are so slow your questions. You are just as bad as Mr. Metal Magic over there.” Ike threw them a middle finger.
“Yeah, I trust River completely. And no…I don’t know where Grayson is.” A part of me wanted to know, but I couldn’t let myself go there, not yet at least.
Mateo gave me a sympathetic expression. “If not the witches council, then what? I, myself, and a few other wolves can watch you from a distance.”
“I don’t need bodyguards,” I grumbled, placing my face in my hands.
“You wouldn’t even know we’re there. Stealth is like wolf 101.” Mateo nodded to their sibling, who nodded as well in her agreement.
I scoffed. “You say things like I’m going to just go back to school. I can’t do that.”
Ike placed two of his fingers against his temple. “Do you plan to just stay here? Be a hermit? Chancellor Fowler expects you to submit, so you’ll just go against him by doing…nothing.”
Corrin grabbed a bunch of chips and chucked them at her brother. “Can you give her a fucking break?”
Ike grabbed a chip from his lap and popped it into his mouth. “Am I wrong?! The man wants you to take over his legacy—he isn’t about to, like you said, let the council get in the way of that—but with everything that happened you just think that he’s going to let you sit and rot away with your thoughts andnotlash out on anyone who is associated with you?”
I flinched at the last thing he said. I knew Chancellor Fowler would do just that, which was why this entire thing had no right answer.
“Ike! Just shut the fuck up!” Corrin screamed, the sheer volume of her voice sending Jax into a panic. He jumped up at Ike, clawing at him, which caused her brother to leap from the recliner. He swatted at the orange cat, yelling at Corrin to discipline her fucking animal.
A deep rumble erupted into the room. It sounded like a growl, but notthe kind that Beau let out when he sees a squirrel, The kind of annoyed, frustrated kind of growl. Jax hissed, but pranced away from Ike as if nothing happened and Beau picked his head up, staring right at Mateo.
“Way to set the tone, alpha.” Jade stuck her tongue out at her sibling.
Mateo vigorously shook their head. “Do not put that on me. Alpha tendencies, yes. Actually alpha, I am not.” They rolled their eyes, getting up from the floor and pulling Corrin along with them. They held their hand out for Jade to accept.
Ike rubbed the back of his head, a few claw marks showed on his forearm, tiny blood droplets falling along his dark skin. I swallowed hard when I looked at it, feeling a little dizzy. Just the smallest droplet had me seeing more, suddenly the droplets were a pool of thick, red, liquid.
“Riley, I’m sorry if I came off harsh, I just—” I could hear Ike’s voice, but it was becoming background noise to the loud static that went off in my brain. I clutched the couch, trying to breath, but it was like air had no way to enter my fucking lungs.
“Riley, please calm down, it’s okay. It’s okay, sweetie.” I heard my roommate’s mom, her voice soothing, while her arms rested on my biceps. Beau’s large head rested against my legs, whimpering.
I loosened my grip on the couch, blinking over to Mrs. Hayes. “I—I don’t….”
Corrin looked down at my side. “Well, Dad wanted a new couch anyway.” I followed her gaze, noticing that I’d created two large burn marks into their couch.
“Fuck, I’m so sorry. I don’t know how to…I can’t…”
“I have a feeling that that is also a reason why you would not like to be in society right now?” Ike inquired, running his fingers along his chin.
Jade got up and grabbed his arms, pulling him away from us. “You really don’t know how to read a room, do you?”
Mrs. Hayes grabbed my hands, enveloping them with her own. “Your magic is undisciplined. You need a dampener. Especially if you intend to go back to school the day after tomorrow.”
