Escaped Daughter (Morrigan University #1)

10

It was at least fifteen minutes we sat there and simply enjoyed the afternoon, ignoring we both had dried spilled coffee on us or anything else. I didn’t even think about my bag until then and noticed it was on the ground next to his, relaxing again when I saw it.

“I’m Kelton Rose,” he said softly, his voice calm so it didn’t startle me even in the quiet.

“Bevin Millen.”

“Bevin, pretty.” He cleared his throat. “Are you upset I went in there to talk to you? I didn’t think you were a princess or whatever.”

I glanced at him then. “A princess?”

He winced. “Um, I’ve heard some people refer to you as a freshman princess.”

“Ahh, yeah, a few have called me a princess, yeah.” I shrugged. “Maybe in some ways, but I don’t think I’m spoiled, and they don’t actually know me, so fuck them.”

“I didn’t think you were haughty, simply shy,” he defended.

I nodded, tucking some hair that fell out of my braid behind my ear. “That and now you know about what happened.”

“Um, not really. Just the rumor that one of the female freshmen was slipped something and attacked during orientation.”

“Something like that,” I muttered, not really wanting to get into it. “The first person to really talk to me did it. There’s some issues with the second person I talked to, and I’m getting some crap from a bitch and a dick in a few of my classes, so keeping to myself simply seems smart right now.”

He snorted. “Yeah, I would think so. Shit, that’s a rough go.” He was quiet a moment. “No other friends or anyone you know here?”

“No.” I didn’t mean to give a curt answer but… How did I seriously explain my life without ending the conversation where he looked at me like a fucking weirdo and walked off.

“Well, I’m Kelton Rose. I said that. A junior. Single. That’s an important one since I was going to try and talk to you. I don’t think you’re a princess because I’ve seen you eating with the big owl on campus a couple of times and your smile is brilliant. No one who smiles like that can be a bitch.”

It was hard not to smile right then and I failed. “Is that so?”

“I’m sure of it.” He chuckled. “See, that smile. That’s not a smile of a bitch. That’s a sweet smile that’s infectious. I bet your laugh is too.”

“What did you want to talk to me about?” I asked instead of figuring out how to respond to that.

“The same reason most guys want to talk to you, Bevin,” he teased, smiling when I glanced at him. But then his smile slowly faded around the edges. “Sorry, right, the last one…”

“Yeah, and he was really the only one.”

“That’s hard to believe.”

“Um, not if you know more about my upbringing,” I confessed, letting out a heavy sigh. “It wasn’t traditional.”

“That’s why no one knows you,” he surmised.

“Mostly.” There was an awkward silence, and I was about to just admit I’d killed the conversation and thank him before hurrying off when he rallied.

“I don’t mean to be crass given your trauma or the panic attack, but I don’t want to lie when you asked me. I hoped to get your number and ask you out.”

“Oh.” I did a double take. “ Oh , like a date?”

“Yes, one of those,” he teased.

“Um…” I cleared my throat. “I lost my purity.”

He blinked at me several times before rage filled his eyes and whole face in a scary, scary way I didn’t see coming from someone so sweet. “Did that monster take—”

“No, no ,” I quickly cut in, waving my hands in front of me. “Someone intervened, but it was an aphrodisiac he slipped me and—it’s complicated. I just figured, um, well—”

“Jesus, you come from one of those families that fucking believes you’re damaged goods because you lost your purity, don’t you?” He growled when I slowly nodded. “Bevin, you know that’s bullshit, right?”

“Well, yeah, but…” I glanced away and realized I didn’t know how to say what I was thinking without being rude. “I don’t really know many men, sorry. The ones in my family felt that way. The one who drugged me tried to get it because he thought that would force our mating as I would be so ashamed I would mate my rapist. The one who took it seems to have… I don’t know. So—our society is pretty sexist.”

“Yeah, the old ones. The wealthy… You come from a wealthy family.”

“I did,” I whispered.

He leaned in a bit and teasingly whispered what he said next. “I’m not a virgin either. Don’t judge me, okay?”

I chuckled softly. “I thought it made men studs.”

“I’m an equalist. I treat women with respect, but I think the sexes are actually equal.”

“That sounds nice.”

“I’ll even make you split the check with me if we go out to dinner.”

“Oh really?”

“Really,” he promised. “Or I might buy this time if you promise a second date you’ll pick up the tab for. I like that idea better. I get two dates then.”

I smiled at him. “What if I’m cheap and only invite you to lunch?”

“Still worth it for a second date with you.”

I felt my cheeks flush. “Tomorrow night?” I flinched when his eyes flashed shock. Had I made a mistake? Was that too easy? “Um, too soon?” Right, I was supposed to play harder to get or… Something.

He quickly shook his head. “Oh, no, I just—most wait for the weekend.”

I gave a half shrug. “Yeah, but then it’s busier, and I’ve never been on a date before, so that’s more pressure. Plus….” I had no idea what else to say or excuse to use.

“Plus ‘I have class in the morning’ sounds like a safe way not to be pushed too much, and the rules about having guests on weeknights are stricter,” he said gently.

I nodded. Sure, we could go with that as if I’d thought it out.

“Yeah, tomorrow for dinner sounds great,” he agreed. “There’s a cozy pub in town. Not a diner but not too fancy, no pressure and low-key.”

“If the food’s good it sounds perfect.”

He nodded. “It’s good pub food, burgers and such for sure.”

I smiled, not wanting to admit I’d barely ever eaten out, especially since Grandfather had died. If not for social media, I wouldn’t have a clue what pub food even meant.

We traded numbers and set up a time he was going to pick me up at the freshmen dorm. We were almost back to campus when I realized how our whole meeting started.

“I’m so sorry about your clothes. I can wash or replace them if—”

“I can wash them, and I get stains on stuff all the time, so I know what to do, no worries.” He gave me a wink as we reached the throng of people coming and going instead of the nature path. “We’ll call it even if you let me walk to where you were heading.”

I glanced away. “The library, but I think I’m just going to go back to my dorm.”

He read between the lines, his voice coming out softer. “You went there that night too, huh?”

“Yeah, and I haven’t been back since, so I better get over that fast. I’m going to need to go there a lot.” Especially since I didn’t plan to give up my research even if I was going to drop the independent study class and switch to something else. But that made me realize I had to look into that, thinking it really was best to head back to my room.

“I’ll walk you.”

The smile he gave me when I thanked him eased some of the discomfort I felt that I couldn’t handle something so normal. Maybe this was exactly what I needed, this easy, normal sort of college experience.

But I was still going to text Tracey his name and double check he wasn’t tied to my family somehow or a creepy fucker to be wary of. Hey, fool me once…

“See you tomorrow, Bevin,” he said when we reached my dorm.

“Thanks for the save, Kelton.”

“Anytime.”

I smiled and headed for the entrance, pausing when he called my name. “Yeah?”

“I mean that. Anytime, so call if you need me,” he said firmly.

I nodded, smiling as I hurried inside, feeling all the eyes on us. Still, I felt warm and fuzzy inside at the idea that I wasn’t so alone maybe.

Just maybe.

After a bit of looking on the school’s website, I easily found the form to drop a class and was able to look over my other options. I listed three I could stomach even if they were boring, they would count for graduation credits. I also texted Tracey and managed to get some work done even if I was exhausted.

I didn’t go to the cafeteria for dinner, instead just picking at what I had in my room. It wasn’t really about being embarrassed if anyone had seen how I’d behaved in the coffee shop, but I was just done with being around people for that day. Honestly, it was tiring and I wasn’t used to it. The only people I generally was around were the staff of my parent’s house and they mostly ignored me.

Well, when they weren’t hovering or spying for my parents. Even my parents when they cared enough left me mostly alone thinking I couldn’t get up to anything in my room.

Oh how na?ve they had been. But that left me with next to no interactions with people, so it was exhausting to have all of it now. Plus being able to work freely now and how much magic I had to put into it tuckered me out and I was in bed early again.

I woke when my alarm rang, stretching with a yawn as I rolled over and turned it off. I stretched again and leisurely sat up, trying to get out all the kinks in my body from leaning over my work at odd angles.

“I’d cover up or the only conversation we’re going to have is which ways I want to have you,” Professor Wyatt grumbled, his voice taking on a husky tone.

My eyes went bug wide as I locked on him sitting backwards on my desk chair facing me. Then his words sunk in and I glanced down, remembering I only had on a nightshirt that didn’t cover much. I swallowed a yelp and quickly grabbed the sheet, pulling it in front of me so I was covered. “How—”

“I told you we needed to talk and that you had some misconceptions about what happened,” he reminded me as he reached back and plucked something off my desk. I swallowed a flinch when I saw it was the class drop request form I’d filled out. “Is this your answer? Drop the independent study? Do you know how hard it is to get as a freshman, and you want to throw that opportunity away?”

Was that how he was going to spin it? Make me the idiot so he could use me? Fuck him. “Leave my room before I report you.”

“No, not until you listen to me,” he argued, holding up his hand when I went to object. “And why could I get in here? That is the main reason I won’t leave, goddess. Why the fuck don’t you have this place protected and warded? The fact I could get in here worries me way more than you thinking I’m a monster right now. I can fix that, but—why aren’t you protecting yourself?”

There was no way I was answering that, fear shooting through me as I moved as far away from him as I could and pulled my knees against my chest defensively. Then I thought better of it and reached for my phone. “Get out.”

He sighed heavily and tossed a folder onto the bed. “Read it. It matches one you have.”

I frowned, not sure what that could mean, but after a moment my curiosity won out and I picked up the file folder, opening it. It only took me a moment to understand what I was seeing and then my eyes went bug wide again.

An order of disownment from the High Council. He might still have the last name Wyatt, but he was no longer part of the Wyatt family, officially disowned by them at his request.

Just like me.

“Before you say something you can’t take back, you know the punishment for faking a High Council ruling and those seals are a joke to even try,” he muttered. “That’s why I wanted to stay anonymous, at least until you went through with your hearing and did the same. I’m not proud of it, but I almost didn’t get involved because you were a Shaw.

“That’s why I was late that night and I’m sorry for that. It’s a long story and not one I’m ready to trust you with, but I had my own situation with a potion like that once. So I’m telling you that you’ve got some misconceptions wrong about what happened.” He nodded to the folder in my hand. “Will you now listen to me and let’s clear a few things up?”

I glanced down at the folder, my mind racing. Fine, he wasn’t trying to get at me because he was a Wyatt and I was a Shaw but… That didn’t excuse the other stuff. He still wanted my magic, and that smirk, that fucking smirk when he’d walked into class like I was one of many. “No, please get out.”

He didn’t, not saying anything for several moments. “Why, goddess?”

I tossed the folder to the end of the bed. “Fine, you’re not trying to fuck over a Shaw, but I’m still not letting you have my magic, and that fucking smirk when you came into class like I was just a notch on your bedpost and a pathetic moron isn’t something I can just—” I gasped as he was suddenly there on the bed with me, mashing his mouth down to mine.

“ That is the magic I want,” he growled against my mouth, diving back in for another kiss as he cupped my face. “The magic between a man and a woman, not your magic as a witch. I don’t know what the fuck happened to you, but I’m not thinking to siphon your magic or something dark like that. I want you .”

I moved my hand to his chest and ducked my head. “Stop. This—you’re… I won’t be that idiot.”

“I don’t know what you mean by that,” he murmured, kissing my hair. “When I came into class and introduced myself, your gaze immediately went to my desk and your face blushed bright red like you were remembering everything we did on that desk. I probably did smirk but because of that . Because you were as affected by what we shared as I am. I think the same things when I see my desk.”

Okay, that was… I had assumed a lot with his smirk, and I had been looking at his desk, so that wasn’t a leap. There still was more to discuss, but I couldn’t think with him that close. Then I had a flash of Kelton in my mind and my hand on his chest was firmer pushing him away.

“I have a date tonight.”

“I know,” he chuckled, winking at me when my gaze shot to his. “We can talk about the fun you have with Mr. Rose later.” He drew in a slow, deep breath as his gaze traveled lower to my chest, letting me know the sheet had fallen. “Personally, I hope you wear something low-cut and alluring to tease him since I know he won’t see your perfect breasts on the first date.”

“You know,” I repeated slowly. “And you’re still kissing me.”

“Mmm, I am.” He angled his head and brushed his lips over mine again, his hand grazing my breast and sending sparks throughout my body. “Why aren’t you protecting yourself, goddess?” He sighed when I flinched and tried to pull away. “You can’t, can you?” He studied me a moment and it was his turn to have bug-wide eyes as he put together something I didn’t admit. “Holy fuck.”

“Look, just because you explained some things—” I hurried to deflect, but he cut in.

“The Shaw family does something with siphoning magic, don’t they? That’s what you’re so scared of it and why you thought that’s what I meant when I said I wanted more magic from you. That wasn’t a normal reaction, Bevin. Yes, we give magic when we lose our purity, but you went—I couldn’t get over why you freaked like that, but it makes sense now.”

I pressed my lips together, not willing to say anything. I might hate my family, but I still didn’t trust him not to blow my life apart if I made those kinds of accusations, and I was saving all of that if they came after me.

He sighed again. “You’re powerful. Very, but you were hiding it. You didn’t want them to know. That’s why. You thought they would take it. I checked into you and found you were basically the hidden secret of the family and most thought the main branch of the Shaws only had four children. Yet some knew there was a fifth who supposedly was a dud magically.

“ Clearly , you’re not, but even what I heard from the High Council hearings, your parents were shocked about a lot, and I bet that. So they were selling you off as a well-behaving broodmare of a good bloodline even if you had no magic which meant you weren’t trained magically since you were hiding it. Fuck. That’s what you’re not willing to tell me. Fuck, fuck , goddess.”

“You should go,” I whispered, knowing he really wouldn’t leave now.

Sure enough, he ignored what I said. “Do you think I’ll be the only one who pulls that stunt? Everyone else wards and blocks their rooms. Sure, freshmen are off limits the first few weeks, especially since you guys haven’t even been read in on the campus-wide semester events but after that, you’re all fair game. Plus , we both know there’s more on the line than that, and you know things with your family aren’t over.”

“I know that,” I snapped. “I’m working on it.”

“Glad to hear it.” He backed off then but then hugged me. “I’m not trying to be a lecturing dick. I’m scared for you. I’m worried. I want you safe.”

I actually believed that. I could almost feel it coming off of him in waves. “Thanks.”

“I’ll make you a deal. I’ll protect your room and ward it from anyone who would come for you, even the enemies you’re making by sticking it to people. In return, you don’t drop the independent study.” He stole a quick kiss when I went to argue. “There’s no point when I’m your power assessment advisor as well. I made sure to snag that too.”

My eyes went wide. What a fucking stalker! It was almost flattering except… “You’ll protect the room except from you .”

“Well, that’s given,” he drawled, smirking at me again. He ran the fingers of his right hand along my shoulder and down my exposed breast. “Tempt him with these delicious beauties tonight, goddess. Do it and come find me after. Tell me all about it and I’ll make you scream my name now that you know it. Now that you’re free and we can just be us, come to me because you want me and I’ll make you come too.”

I shivered, wanting that, my body really wanting more of that. “The deal is—”

“Yes, yes, work first,” he chuckled as he quickly stood. “I’m a gentleman, so I won’t just barge in here like I own the place or without an invitation. This was an emergency situation as you were racing from me, and drastic measures were needed before something crazy happened that caused problems for both of us. I could have handled it a lot better and you made assumptions—it’s done now.”

“Fine, as long as you behave as you should,” I agreed, knowing I needed the protection and the devil I knew was better than what else was out there.

Yeah, for sure, when at least this devil was also a teacher and totally into me.

“I won’t drop the independent study,” I agreed.

“And you’ll come to me tonight?” he pushed… Well, sort of ordered which I wasn’t a fan of.

I pushed down the covers and let him see I was also only wearing tiny bed shorts as I rolled to my feet, shaking out my hair which he seriously liked from the way he watched it. “Let’s keep things separate, Professor . You want to make a deal because you want to know and study what I can do with familiars. I need an advisor and help being protected. I am not for sale or part of the deal.”

He eyed me over and took in a slow, deep breath of appreciation. “No, you are certainly not a woman who sells herself, goddess, but you are most certainly the best prize to be won.”

“You done?” I gave him a bored look even as I crossed my arms under my chest.

He groaned as he stared at my girls. “Yes, deal, the rest is separate. Still come to me tonight after your date.”

I shrugged. “I need to think. I’ve got a lot more on my mind than just you and the change of what I thought all happened.”

He narrowed his eyes at me but then tried to hide his reaction. Oh, someone didn’t like being told no.

Good.

He might have the upper hand, be older and more powerful here, but I wasn’t going to be some pushover.

Well, always. I probably would for some of the stuff as it felt really, really good when I did everything he wanted last time.

Focus, Bevin .

“Interesting room,” he commented as he glanced around, focused on the boxes in the corner. “Not what I expected. Getting new stuff now that you’re cut off? I would have thought your money went with it.” He frowned when I didn’t answer. “I see. So you’re still not trusting me with much. Fine, I can be patient… With some things.”

Still, I didn’t react. I might have freaked out about him finding out more than I’d wanted, but clearly he hadn’t gone through the boxes and I was a neat freak about cleaning up my work. A lesson hard learned when my parents had almost found something they shouldn’t have for the company. So now it was a compulsive habit.

He glanced at his watch and sighed, knowing time was going to beat him out from pushing me. Instead, he focused on doing the magic needed to ward and protect my room. It was more advanced than I’d seen, and there were some layers that went completely over my head and I couldn’t even begin to recognize.

Crap. That meant I was even further behind than I’d thought. Not good at all.

He tried to kiss me when he was done, but I ducked him and headed to the bathroom. “I’ve gotta take a shower.”

“I really, really want to join you,” he groaned.

“It wasn’t an invitation. I assume you know how to leave without being seen?” I teased the waist of my shorts as I stared him down.

He grumbled something under his breath and made a spell circle appear in the middle of my room, gone in a flash before I could even blink. Wow, okay, so there was definitely a reason he was a professor at the best university our world had and so young… And it wasn’t because he was a Wyatt.

Interesting. Very interesting.

I raced to get ready, and just as I was about to leave for breakfast, I noticed I had a text from Tracey saying to check my email. Grabbing my tablet, I was out the door.

Loading it up as I did my tray in the cafeteria, I saw it was a file of background reports. She really was something, but it was nice to have a guardian angel who cared about keeping me safe when I had so many dangers and even more when people realized how vulnerable I was… And what I had to take.

Kelton Rose checked out with what he told me. His father had been a witch-warlock cop who had been killed in the line of duty, a classified op which normally meant something happened with a different supe species, either vamps or werewolves. But he received commendations for it, so it wasn’t his fault and his family received his pension and respects from the High Council for his service.

Interesting—those weren’t given out lightly. That meant he was a clean cop with a dedicated service record for sure.

Kelton’s mother worked for a cleaning company. She’d trained as a healer but couldn’t pass the test to be one as she didn’t have the magic to qualify. Ouch. That had to hurt. Though they would have warned her along the way she wasn’t cutting it but still, it was a useful education to have. She simply couldn’t get the high pay of a certified healer.

Kelton’s older brother followed in the footsteps of their father and was a rookie cop, doing well so far. Cool.

The power Kelton had was surprising and him getting into Morrigan University even more so. He was there with full financial aid, not a problem given his dad’s service to our community, and he worked some weekends with his mom to help cover other expenses.

That was pretty adorable if I was honest. They were so… Normal.

Tracey’s notes echoed the same. They had no political ties, a lower-middle class family without any allegiances to any of the High Council or important families. They stayed out of the mix and bullshit and truly lived their lives away from it all.

How wonderful that sounded. How freeing to simply live and without all the extra… Crap .

She also added that if I did like him and started dating him, we were switching to that cleaning company as their rates were better than what we were paying.

I rolled my eyes. She was seriously lacking a sensitivity chip at times. I replied back thanking her for the information, but if she did that I would feel awkward and stop making as many items for work… And I had more to send her so to behave.

Her other message was the background of her top pick for my tutor.

Sergey Koval, nineteen, a sophomore with exceptional grades who’d placed out of a lot of classes as I had but even more. The reason she liked him though? His background was as complicated as mine and he would understand tricky and having to keep things quiet.

Apparently, he was the result of an affair of two mated people, both from important families who decided the best course of action for all of them was to pretend it never happened. They paid off a poor distant relation to raise him with the deal that all of his school would be paid for if he never started trouble and she kept him out of their world; otherwise, they would crush both of them.

Needless to say, he validly had a deep-rooted hate for both families and most of the “important” magical families of our society.

Yeah, get in line. So we would probably get along well and he would understand my situation better than anyone else. Plus, he got just enough to cover tuition and school expenses. His adopted mother had been given the house they’d lived at, but once he turned eighteen, they no longer gave her money for care and it wasn’t much originally.

In other words, they made sure they did the bare minimum to keep them in line and beholden to the deal so they couldn’t risk upsetting the hand that fed them. Wow, what a shit move when he was actually heir to both main families as he was the firstborn son to two important bloodlines because of the affair. That would have rocked a lot of alliances and started a lot of trouble.

It actually sounded like fun for when we were older maybe but right then, yeah, I understood not rocking that boat at all. The bears attacked hard if even remotely poked.

But the point that was of most interest to me was he was looking for tutoring clients. He’d taken three on last year who gave him rave reviews, and their improvement was enough that the university would even recommend him.

Which meant I needed to snatch him up fast. Done. I would get all over that tomorrow.

Today, I had something scary enough to handle.

My first date.