Page 39 of Discord
Beyla seemed to find that just as funny as Reyson did. That was expected, since she was a teenager, but Reyson had no such excuse.
“She deserves it, for thinking she can control me, but that’s not what I did. I just made her life more difficult. She’s going to find things aren’t going to be going her way more than usual. She’s a witch. She’ll start reading her tarot cards and blaming the stars before she thinks of me.”
That was totally insulting to every witch and warlock at the table, but he wasn’t wrong. When most people in my tribe went bad, they never went straight to karma or the fact that whatever you put into the universe, you got back in threes. They’d instead start checking to see if Mercury was in retrograde, and obsessing over their horoscopes.
“I only just found out I’m a witch and started school with other supernaturals, but that’sexactlyhow the mean girls at my school operate.”
Even the baby witch knew this about our people.
Kaine started laughing. I didn’t think this grumpy dragon could even smile, and I didn’t know what was remotely funny about this situation.
“That’s because you have your magic, and they don’t. I love that you are using it to take out the trash at your school, and no one can prove it.”
Ripley and Ravyn started giggling. Ripley held out her hand for a fist bump. Killian and I had appeared to them when they were just teenagers, to prepare them for the day they would get their magic. The twins had a pretty good amount of friends in high school, and at the academy, but there were always going to be those in the supernatural community who believed that if you didn’t come from a particular bloodline, you were trash.
It was the same in my day, and it was apparently the same for Beyla now. I don’t think a single person at this table had any problem with her using her magic like that.
“Just don’t get caught, girl,” Ripley said. “Those fuckers have been marrying their cousins for centuries, but they have a lot of sway and power. They can ruin your entire life over something you did in high school.”
Beyla just lifted her chin proudly.
“I might be new to this, but unlike them, I pay attention in class.”
“When is the demon going to wake up? Balthazar said you have a Hellhound here.”
Bram said he would be at dinner to help with this, but he was still feeling very weak. He fixed a plate and went to stand vigil by Talvath’s bed. I hadn’t spent any time alone with him like Ripley had, but I knew he was working through some shit about his life in Hell.
Bram was devoted to him. Honestly, none of us liked Talvath, since he owned Bram. He could be a perfectly lovely demon, but that right there was a stickler. Also, we probably wouldn’t even be in this mess if he hadn’t allowed Dorian to walk around alive for this long.
Maybe I’d change my opinion of Talvath when I met him, but I highly doubted it. I was born in England, because my ancestors were kidnapped and brought there during the slave trade. I wasn’t a slave, but I was alive when people certainly thought I should be. I’d probably never like Talvath, even if he was perfectly polite and had impeccable manners.
“They are recovering,” Reyson said. “I can heal any injury, but I can’t give back magic another god gifted. Balthazar can pass on what was said to you.”
Kaine glared at Reyson.
“That’s not how investigations work. I’ll be back when they have recovered, to question them myself.”
“Can I come?” Beyla asked.
“I brought you tonight because it’s the weekend and I wanted you to see this library. You aren’t skipping ballet class for this. You’re going to be a famous prima ballerina one day, and then my job will bewayless interesting than your life.”
Kaine ushered Beyla out, but I had a feeling she had different opinions than Kaine did about what she wanted to do with her life. Her aura was dim, but was undeniably getting brighter. She only would have gotten her magic this early if she had been through something, if she had nearly died. Something else had gone on with her during all of that.
She had the body of a ballerina, but trauma changed people. If she had seen something, she definitely might be more interested in following Kaine in a career at the bureau than a career in ballet, no matter how much she loved it.
We’d taken a big step tonight. We had the support of the Paranormal Investigation Bureau. Maybe, when Talvath woke up, we might even get Lilith’s attention and assistance with this. She hadn’t given fuck all to her witches so far, but maybe she actually gave a shit when someone was threatening her demons.
Maybe not, though. She had created Hellhounds, too, and she didn’t seem to care how they were treated. I changed my mind. I didn’t want Hell to find out about this at all.
We didn’t need a supernatural war all because an arrogant witch and an immortal playboy were trying to get out of making a payment.
28
Ripley
Irefused to let Kaine leave without offering some help to Beyla. I would have done it even if he wasn’t helping us with the Silvaria and Dorian situation. It wasn’t just her aura. Felix showed up on my back porch when I was sixteen and had taught me and prepared me for the day my magic showed up. Killian did the same for Ravyn.
Beyla didn’t have any of that. I still didn’t know why her parents lied to her and let her think she was human. The level of deception it would take for a witch and warlock to maintain a house that appeared human was intense. I had an entire room full of potion ingredients, and my altar. I didn’tneeda new athame, but if it was pretty, I bought it.
