Doc perched on the arm of the couch, probably too on edge to actually sit. I sank onto the couch next to him, and Victoria sat next to me. Her parents took the loveseat, and my parents found chairs. Ed joined Allan in the kitchen. I wished I could go hide, too.
"I wasn't sure we hadn't already handled the situation," I answered. "Besides, what could you have done? The only people who can help are here, and it's not like we could call the police."
"Is it handled now?" Dad glared at Doc.
I frowned, wondering what he had done to get the angry stare from my dad.
"Momentarily," Doc replied tightly.
"So, what now? You think you can keep her safe? Do we take her back to Nebraska? Try a different college?" He continued to glare.
Ed and Allan both hovered in the doorway to the kitchen, eating sandwiches.
"I don't want to leave. I can learn to defend myself. Once I actually know how to use magic, I'll be safe enough. As safe as any magic user in this world, anyway."
"So, what, Doc teaches you then?"
Oh, shit. I had no idea what to say to that.
"Yeah, I think that's the plan," Doc replied, saving me from having to figure out what they knew before I answered.
"You know, we actually tried to find someone to teach her when she was younger. You know what they told us? They said that if she didn't have family to teach her, she'd have to find someone willing to take her in as family when she was a child, or wait until she was old enough for consent, because something about the magic training process meant that they usually ended up together."
I hadn't known any of that. Doc remained impassive. I was pretty sure he hadn't known, either. That would make finding someone to train me a lot more difficult if it was actually true, since I wasn't giving up the guys.
"So, you're going to date our daughter then?"
"I'm already dating your daughter," Doc replied. "We had not really discussed magical training, but it's obvious it's necessary."
I was a little alarmed when Dad turned red. My mom put her hand on his arm. I don't think he noticed.
"You've known her two weeks, and you're already dating?"
"Not seriously, we've been hanging out, dating a little, seeing where it goes. I think that's how you're supposed to do it, or am I mistaken?" Doc's voice lowered dangerously.
"Seriously, why is this even a problem?" I glared at them. "I mean, it's not like he tried to kidnap me. The other guy I was thinking about dating actually did. So, seems like I made the right choice."
"But..." Dad couldn't quite seem to say what was on his mind.
I had no idea what his problem was, unless he was upset that Doc was supposed to be a mage.
I shot Mom a confused look.
"Dan, relax. She's safe for now. We're all tired. Let's talk later." She tugged on his arm until he followed her outside.
Everyone took a deep breath, and I glanced at Victoria and her parents. "I'm sorry. I have no idea what Dad's problem is."
Doc touched my shoulder and tilted his head, listening. After a minute his eyebrows went up. He finally shook his head and sighed. "Guess your dad doesn't like native people."
"What...that's ridiculous. Seriously?"
"How do you know?" Victoria's mother asked.
"I can hear them arguing."
"I've never seen him act like he doesn't like someone just because of their race. There's all sorts of people who work in the oil fields with him," I grumbled.
Doc glanced at me and winked. "Yeah, but they're not dating his daughter."
I groaned. "Well, he's going to have to fucking deal." I got up and stomped toward the door.
"Sofia!" Doc grabbed for my arm. I was out of his range before he realized what I was doing.
"I'm still juiced up enough that I'm pretty sure I can deck his sorry ass if he doesn't get over his shit." I stormed out of the house.
Mom and Dad were standing by Doc's truck, still arguing. I stomped over to them.
"Seriously!"
They stopped and turned to me.
"Your big problem with Doc is so stupid, it's not even worth mentioning, except that obviously, we need to talk about it." I narrowed my eyes.
"How do you know what my problem is?" Dad glared at me.
At one point, I would have flinched away. Not now. I stared him down.
"Because, Dad, we're mages. We have magic, we were listening," I growled. "Who cares if Doc is half native? He's nice. He cares about me. He just risked his life to save mine. What's the problem?"
Dad looked away first, working his jaw.
"You afraid I'll bring him home for Christmas and embarrass you in front of who? The rest of the family? Your oil field buddies? You going to tell Rick and George that all of a sudden, you don't like them because they have native blood? What about black people? Huh? Why is this a thing for you?"
"No," he finally grunted. "Of course not."
I crossed my arms and continued to glare.
"I'm sorry. This is all just a lot to take in. We weren't expecting any of it."
I refused to relent.
He stopped talking.
"Honey, we're all tired. We should continue this tomorrow. It's been a long day," Mom tried to soothe us.
"Yeah, I think Victoria and I are staying up here tonight. We'll get you a ride back to town." I turned and walked angrily back to the cabin, shutting the door more carefully this time, before leaning against it.
Everyone stared at me, and suddenly, the entire day caught up to me. I leaned against the door and shuddered.
Ed was at my side before the others and put his arm around me, pulling me back into the house.
Victoria's parents both looked surprised and glanced at Doc. He was only paying attention to me. This really was going to be complicated. It
