And just as fast as he’d come in, he turned on his heel and stormed out, slamming the door behind him. I blinked after him, not sure what to say.
I wasn’t the only one. It was a few minutes before any of us spoke.
“Okay, that was about more than just what we did,” Lucca muttered, glancing between me and the door.
“Yes, but he’s not wrong,” Darby agreed.
“No, we’re assholes.” Lucca cleared his throat. “And you do forgive us too easily.”
I sighed, reaching up and pushing my hair out of my face. “We also have a lot going on. If we had normal, calm lives and you fucked up like this, yes, I would be too easy on you. But that’s not our lives, and I also have a lot of traumas and issues. Just as I would hope you would be understanding of that, I should be understanding I do have a lot of shit. I can’t even keep it all straight.”
“Are you scared of me because I’m a bear?” Lucca asked.
“No, but sometimes the reminder makes me flinch,” I confessed. “Mostly because I thought your bear was Mason’s for so long. I don’t have—Mason was a man to me. It’s not about bears. That’s not my issue with you.” I winced, not having meant to say that. I sighed when I saw he clearly wasn’t going to let it go and explained about his father.
“It’s unfair but it’s not,” he sighed. “I’m not my father and you know that, but yeah, I get it.”
“You do, but you weren’t there that day in that meeting and a few since,” I muttered. “Him getting me honestly scares me more than Ainsworth.” I nodded when they both shot me surprised looks. “Ainsworth would use me like a magical battery and drain me. Your father would use me as a baby making factory and does not see the person, but a mare. It’s… Terrifying.”
“This day went off the fucking rails,” Darby grumbled. “I’m truly sorry, agra.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I’m going to ask for a few minutes alone and to get dressed,” I mumbled against my knees. “I’ll see you guys downstairs.”
“Okay,” Darby agreed when Lucca sounded like he might object or try to argue. The pouty bear caved and both of them left.
And I sighed heavily. I really did have piles of issues, but I also knew women without so many who wouldn’t be okay with what just happened.
Idiots. Men could be such idiots.
Loveable, but still idiots.
I tripped unwrapping myself, which was the comic relief I needed. Then, I dressed in different clothes, not wanting to deal with what they’d stripped off of me. It made sense in my head.
I was surprised to find amusement was the mood when I headed downstairs. My confusion must have caught the notice of several, but Mel addressed it.
“The dragon elders just issued an order that none of the former royals, and now dragon Alphas, are allowed to stand in the way of your council being the first to acknowledge you as a witch.”
I felt my blood go cold that a council had finally said it, took the first real, official shot… So why were they amused?
“They have no real power,” Zack reminded me. “Everyone’s reporting how the council went against everything sacred dragons believed in for whatever the warlock elders promised them, selling out their honor. None are even blinking they declared you a witch. It’s yapping in the middle of a huge storm. That’s why we’re all so amused. They did this big thing to them, and it’s nothing.”
Ray snorted. “Less than. It just set anyone back from doing the same and made them look like idiots. They seriously just helped you and probably have no idea how much.”
“Plus, I got the proof from Marisol about the hit and sent it to the news stations,” Mel added. “They’re now going to have sided with a council that has members colluding with the Underground—one of our biggest public enemies, specifically—and realize how badly they fucked up.”
As if the gods agreed, the breaking news came on from the biggest supe network. At first, the report was hesitant, repeating that what was given to them hadn’t been corroborated yet, and the councilman couldn’t be reached for comment. That was fine. I preferred people just not blindly report whatever and be idiots.
But they were being fair, saying that their techs had gone over and couldn’t find anything that would flag it as fake.
The best was when the newscaster was handed something live. Her eyes about bugged out of her head.
“It’s real,” she whispered. “Our people were able to find the post on the dark web. May the gods help us all. An elder contacted the Underground to put out a hit on someone he thinks is his own people for power and money. What is our world coming to?”
There were several moments live on camera where neither anchor seemed to know what to do or say with that, but then the guy touched his ear and matched her expression.
“We just received word that the intermediary confirmed the escrow account listed in the documents received. He did not know it was for a hit, or the parties involved, as it’s a double-blind normally used for the auctions. We have a quote from him. ‘I am disgusted I was used in such a way that is meant to protect all supes, and evil used me to try and hurt a powerful woman.’
“I doubt he’s the only one who feels that way. The escrows and practices of the auctions are sacred to keep both buyer and seller safe. There is a reason that those who can make high value magical items
