Escaped Daughter (Morrigan University #1)

17

I woke when my alarm went off, half sprawled on a firm body with an arm wrapped around me. I blinked at the chest and then glanced up to meet caramel eyes.

Sergey. Right, I asked him to stay.

He stared down at me. “So you’re a cuddler which I like, but I’m not a fan of you talking about another man while I’m holding you.”

“Um, sorry,” I whispered before rolling over and shutting off my alarm. “What did I say?”

“You miss Clarence,” he grumbled.

I bit back a smile even as my heart hurt. “Clarence was the frog I named in my parents’ arboretum that was like my only friend—the animals were—but he was… He’s probably gone. He wasn’t doing well when I left, and I couldn’t take him here but—” I snapped my mouth shut and shook my head. I had to watch myself. I had almost admitted it killed me not to have been there and put him to rest.

“That’s seriously adorable.” He moved over me and kissed me. “Good morning, foxy.”

“Morning.” I ducked him when he went to kiss me again. “I need to brush my teeth.”

“So do I, but you’re worth it,” he promised, giving me a serious kiss I felt down to my toes.

I might have accepted more, but my phone beeped with a message. It wasn’t like a lot of people had the number, and I had plans with Tracey that I didn’t want to mess up. I reached for my cell and he let me but came with, hugging me to him.

“I’ve gotta get going,” I muttered after reading the message. “She needs my vehicle cleaned out and delivered in like an hour.”

“You’re going for another one then, right?” He waited until I nodded. “How much do you know about cars?”

“Nothing, but Tracey probably pulled all kinds of everything.”

“I know enough to be useful,” he hinted.

“You’d have to meet Tracey,” I reminded him.

He kissed my naked shoulder. “She was nice on the phone and we can talk tutoring. I think you’ll feel settled about me asking to sleep over again if that’s handled.”

He was right, I would. I nodded and gave him a quick kiss before standing.

“Fuck, I can’t be good if you’re about to get naked and wet in the shower,” he grumbled. “I’ll hurry and get ready.” He was already on his feet and yanking on his clothes. “I’ll be back to pick you up before you’re done, I promise.”

I smiled at him. “I don’t take long to primp or whatever.”

He smirked at me. “Oh, I believe you’re not high-maintenance, but you have a ton of hair. So does my mom and I know how long that takes. I’ll still win even having to jog to my room and back.”

Fair enough. I said as much and let him out, locking up behind him after I got another kiss. Then I raced to get ready, knowing I had to bring stuff to Tracey and get more out of the SUV. Still, I was ready in about twenty minutes, smiling as there was a knock on my door right as I finished applying mascara.

I opened the door to find him freshly showered and smelling great… And smirking at me.

“It was close,” I warned him. “If I didn’t have stuff to get to Tracey, I would have already been out the door.”

“Damn, you don’t mess around.”

“No, I really don’t,” I chuckled, handing him a bag of what we needed to bring. I checked I had everything and we headed out.

“As much as the skirt was sexy as fuck, you are hot in jeans,” he murmured when I pushed the button for the elevator. “Like seriously making me…”

I assumed he was going to say he was hard, but I was glad he wasn’t crass like that was all I was to him. But then again, he could have said lots of things. I took it as a compliment and smiled at him.

We took the elevator down and I snuck a quick kiss as a thanks. That seemed to amuse him but hey, I was a woman who would reward compliments and treating me nicely.

“You are stopping for food or something, right?” he checked.

“Yup, I’ll feed you.”

“Are you on the menu?” he mumbled as the elevator doors opened.

“Maybe if you’re good,” I teased, letting him know I heard him. I laughed as he flinched, walking off the elevator and darting away when he reached for me. He easily caught me when I stopped to open the glass door but then crashed into my back when I froze when I saw who was there.

“Hey, I caught you,” Kelton greeted with a bright smile. “I didn’t see you at dinner, so I thought I’d try…” He glanced behind me and his smile faded. “Oh, you’re—you’ve got plans?”

“Um, yeah, I need to get—that car thing,” I hinted, remembering other people were around even if it was pretty early on a Saturday.

“Right, I was going to see if I could help. I know vehicles. Not to say you don’t, but you seemed overwhelmed talking about it.”

“I am. I figured Tracey would—”

“I’ll make sure you get what you need,” Sergey promised.

“Right, sorry, um, Kelton, this is Sergey. Sergey, this is Kelton,” I muttered, moving aside and gesturing between them.

“Nice to meet you,” Kelton said, extending his hand. “So you guys are friends?”

“For now,” Sergey replied confidently, shaking hands.

“Yeah, we are too,” Kelton threw right back. “For now.”

Oh boy.

“Um, I need to get to the appointment,” I mumbled as I watched them try to break each other’s hands like I wouldn’t see the white knuckles. “And I have no idea how to handle this.” I thought it was fair to admit given I slid past them and basically fled.

“Nothing to handle,” Kelton promised as he caught up to me before I was even down the steps of the dorm. “Do you not want me to come?”

“What? No, that’s not—”

“Good. And I’m glad you’re making friends. How, um, did you guys meet?”

“Bevin saw some bitchy girls bullying me since I’m a tutor,” Sergey answered for me as he moved to the other side of me. “She stepped in to brighten my day not knowing I was the tutor she was looking for.”

“You hired a tutor?” Kelton asked. “I could have helped you.”

I shot Sergey an annoyed look before focusing on Kelton. “It’s complicated. There are things my family made sure I didn’t know so I was always dependent. The school recommended him and Tracey checked him out so I was covered.”

“Well, I’m glad you found someone if that’s what you needed.”

“Thanks.” I beamed at him but then almost tripped over my feet at who was also walking towards my dorm.

Professor Wyatt. For a second I thought it was just a coincidence since I didn’t know where he lived or if he would pass the freshman dorm on the way to the cafeteria… Except he slowed down his pace when he saw us.

I glanced away and pretended not to see him, sharply turning to head to the parking lot even if I was parked on the other side of it. We could cut across the lot instead of taking that path. Either way, we got there.

And avoided the devil, so that was smarter to me.

Kelton shot me a look as we reached my SUV. “Can I ask something?”

“Sure.” I hit the fob and glanced back at him.

“Never mind, it’s rude,” he muttered.

“Maybe, but it’s bugging me too,” Sergey admitted, confusing me as to what they would both want to know. “If you were always locked down at your parents’ estate—how come you even have a vehicle?”

That was a fair question to ask even if it was embarrassing. I cleared my throat and got in, noting Kelton grabbed the front seat before Sergey could. “For my tutors to certify I completed high school, I had to have driver’s education as a rule in our state. Also, the High Council requires it as well, plus we all have licenses as it’s a security measure.”

“Sure, but that doesn’t mean you need your own vehicle,” Kelton hedged as I started it up and pulled out of the spot.

“No, but my siblings refused to let me use their vehicles. My father wouldn’t ever let me touch his even if his driver normally takes him everywhere and my mother wouldn’t ever be bothered to drive herself. Plus, it’s a status thing. They’re so rich and would flaunt it by buying us all cars or people might talk.” I cleared my throat again. “Plus, my mother enjoyed treating me like her driver sometimes.”

“That’s messed up, Bevin, I’m sorry,” he said gently.

I shrugged. “It was a rare chance to get out of there, and that was great even if she never used me when she went anywhere fun.”

They left it alone, which I appreciated. I really didn’t want to get into it more than that as I was trying to put my family behind me. I knew it wasn’t that easy, and I had a lot of emotional scars, but they didn’t need to know all the details to make it worse for me.

People with a soul would pity me if they knew Mother only let me come if she was attending a party and then made me sit in the SUV like I was her paid driver. Or that it was something I loved as I got hours away from the house and some peace, no one spying or giving me crap. But I also wasn’t allowed to talk to the other drivers who normally hung out together.

So yeah, my life and family were pretty messed up. They knew that without the painful and mortifying details.

I pulled up at the guard station and rolled down my window. After a moment, one of the guards came out and I gave them the address Tracey had texted me asking for a spell circle to be set. He nodded and then checked it was an approved location, meaning it was a witch or warlock business.

If they were sending us, they had to make sure or they could get in trouble. For a business at least. If it was a home, we certified it as not everyone had their addresses listed in the public registry. Few did actually.

I didn’t have mine in it for obvious reasons.

Once they confirmed it, he waved me to go ahead to the assigned area. Kelton pointed it out specifically, guessing I hadn’t used it yet. They had different areas for coming in and leaving circles which was fairly typical; otherwise, there could be a serious problem.

It was activated and all the air left my lungs in a whoosh as the power ran over us. I blinked and we were at what looked like a warehouse with a benign cleaning business sign. Sometimes hiding in plain sight was the best way to handle things.

I parked and then admitted I had to clean everything out, apologizing to them.

“I told you I would help,” Sergey said easily.

“Yeah, it’s like you gave us permission to root through your medicine cabinet,” Kelton teased me.

Well, when he put it like that, I was actually more embarrassed, wondering if I had anything I wouldn’t want them to see. I doubted it with how rarely I drove it. Maybe a wrapped tampon or something that fell out of a bag, but honestly that was just part of being a woman.

We hurried to get it done, stuffing it all in the totes I’d brought with.

“Bev,” Tracey yelled.

I glanced over my shoulder to see her confidently strutting towards us. She had no other way of walking, and I was a bit jealous of how she just did it so easily when I had to fake it a lot or wrap myself in emotional armor first. That and how gorgeous she was. She had flawless mocha skin, a curvy build, and alluring green eyes. She turned heads everywhere she went and she knew it.

I did too, but she knew how to handle it, what to do with it even.

“Hey, sorry to bug you on a weekend.”

She waved it off. “That’s what you pay me for, and you know I’d be pissed if you didn’t let me handle it.” She gave me a knowing look. Yeah, I was too na?ve to the world to even try to handle these sorts of situations. It would take most people two seconds to figure out I was out of my league. She gave me a quick hug and saw what I had in my hands. “Let’s get that locked up in my car before we get started.”

I held up one tote specifically. “Work.”

“Fabulous. I’m glad you…” she trailed off and looked behind me. “You already have stalkers, Bev?”

“I’ve been called worse,” Sergey snickered.

Tracey’s eyes flashed shock. “You’re the tutor.”

“I am. I also know vehicles, so I offered to help.”

She nodded, glancing at Kelton. “And you’re Kelton Rose. I recognize you from your background check.”

I turned so I could see all of them, wondering how that would go over.

Kelton nodded. “Bevin told me about it. I get it. I have nothing to hide, and I’m glad someone is watching her back so diligently.”

Tracey smirked. “Oh, you’re good. Yeah, you want my girl.” She glanced between them. “Both of you do. Nice, Bev. Really.” She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed before focusing on me. “But you will take my advice, right?”

“I, um, well—can we talk about this later?”

She gave me a soft look. “No, kid, because they already know you were locked up.” She glanced at the two guys. “She needs to be free , not tied down, locked in, or anything else. If you can’t deal with that and give it to her after what she’s been through, you don’t deserve her, and walk away.”

“Tracey,” I hissed. “Come on, it’s—we haven’t even had breakfast or coffee yet. Tone it back.”

“Not this time. I couldn’t protect you when you were trapped, but now I can, and I promised Henry that I would do everything I could if he died. He gave me a chance at everything, and I won’t fail him especially when I love you , Bev.”

“I love you too,” I mumbled. “We have an appointment?”

“Yes, we do, and I’m sorry it was so last-minute, but we can’t sit on this when your father is pushing. They could fit us in early so better to get on it.” She took the totes from me and spun on her heel, leading the way to her car at a clipped pace.

I didn’t think she knew how to stroll or slow down, which was amazing as she always wore stilettos and rocked them.

The guys easily kept up, storing everything they were carrying in her trunk.

“It’s nice to officially meet you,” Kelton said to her as he held out his hand. “In person instead of just my bio.”

“You too,” she purred, shaking his hand. She did the same with Sergey, looking amused as if they knew they had to get in good with her… For some reason? I wasn’t keeping up well without caffeine and my social ineptness.

She led the way to the office and went over exactly what we needed, picking the right package offered and handling the extras for delivery. She handed over an envelope when they went through it all. “This is to be given to the High Council guards and it will explain everything.”

The woman raised an eyebrow but didn’t ask. “I understand. We’ll let you know when it’s finished if you’d like to inspect it?”

“No, I’ve used you guys before and no one is better. You can deliver it right away,” Tracey replied easily. “You would never screw over a loyal customer.”

“Or any of them as people talk,” the woman chuckled. “We’ll see it done.”

“Thank you.” She paid and then nodded for us to leave. I was curious to ask what was in the envelope, but she didn’t even wait for me to ask, explaining once we were outside by her car. “Ramon didn’t agree with the plan and refused to do as I asked.”

I frowned. “Did you tell him it was my plan?”

“Yes, I did, and he said he’d speak with you and explain what you needed to know. That he’d handle the situation and I need not involve myself with your personal matters anymore as that was his job.”

“This is getting bad. Now that I’m free, he’s stepping up and in the wrong way.”

“Clearly,” she drawled. “I had the attorney we discussed write up a formal notice to the High Council and it will be delivered to your parents as well after the SUV is dropped off. It was good. She is good. So I suggest you handle Ramon, but we need to move.”

“Yeah, okay,” I sighed, worrying over the situation and feeling disloyal after all he’d done for me. And he was trusted by my grandfather, so that complicated things.

Tracey seemed to understand my upset and patted my shoulder. “Bev, he’s not doing what he should. You’re the client. You pay him to do as you need, not for him to manage you. He was trustee until you were of age and got it all set with you. He’s not the boss of you and I think—this isn’t what Henry wanted and we both know that.”

“Yeah, Grandfather would never have trusted him with trying to mate me off as he didn’t want that for me.”

“Who’s trying to mate you off?” Kelton demanded.

“It’s complicated,” I grumbled.

“You got this,” Tracey assured me, ignoring Kelton. “I’ve got your back, and now we have someone else to back us. You just have to say the words and make it clear before we move.”

“I will. I promise.”

“Good, then let’s go get you a new ride. I’ve got a few options for you and—”

“Show me your top pick and let’s be done with it,” I muttered, not really caring what vehicle I got. I shrugged when they all stared at me as if I was being na?ve or silly. “It’s not like we do road trips like humans. We use spell circles. Tracey won’t let me get anything shitty. Let’s just go see it and get it done.”

“Fair enough,” she chuckled, shaking her head at my antics. “You need coffee and food, cranky pants.”

I flinched. She wasn’t wrong that I was being cranky. “It’s the situation and having to do this because of my parents being—it’s a lot, Tracey.”

“It is.” She left it at that, and I could feel the questions and curiosity from the guys, but they didn’t push it either.

We climbed into her car and she headed out, stopping for fast food as she knew I’d barely gotten to have any, and then we headed to the dealership less than ten minutes from where we’d been. Of course, she planned it all out down to that. Tracey wouldn’t have ever let us be anything less than completely efficient.

We pulled into a Ford dealership and got out. For the next twenty minutes, I listened to her go over features and specs of the Explorer and Expedition that were her options for me given the cargo space and my needs.

“I understand like none of that,” I finally cut in before my head exploded. “Just tell me what to get, Tracey.”

She gave me a loving look even as she sighed. “What color do you want?”

I glanced around and shrugged. “The blue, gray, and silver are all nice.”

“Okay, then let’s go get you a blue Expedition with whatever features they have on the lot.”

“Thanks, Tracey.” I linked my arm with hers, smiling when she sighed again. Yeah, yeah, I was being a pain… By not being demanding. How did that actually work out? I didn’t care what vehicle. I simply needed a vehicle and I trusted her.

“So you two were useful,” Tracey teased the guys as she headed for the office since she’d waved off all the salesmen.

“I didn’t know you were so knowledgeable,” Kelton defended. “She seemed annoyed she had to do it because her parents were jerks, so I just wanted to help.”

“Thanks for that,” I said before Tracey could poke them again.

“Anytime, Bevin. I told you I’m here for anything you need, anytime you need it.”

“Oh boy,” Tracey grumbled under her breath.

I ignored her. That was super sweet of him and I appreciated it.

Ten minutes later, I was taking a test drive in the one Tracey had already inspected with her eagle eyes.

Half an hour after that, it was mine, everything signed, paid for, and done. They even washed and cleaned out the inside while we did the paperwork.

“One last thing,” Tracey said as I drove her to her car. She hopped out and then came back loaded to the gills.

Right, the treats from Fortunate Cookies. I gave her a curious look since I thought she was going to have them sent.

She shook her head as she handed them off to Sergey who had already snagged the front seat. “Let them put your face with your name and kindness. Give them yourself, and you can do that quietly. Now follow me back to the place and we’ll do the spell circle there so you can get back to school.”

Of course, she had that all set up as well. She was so, so awesome.

Someday I will have my shit together like that and know what’s what.

Maybe, but I doubted it would be anytime soon.

Oh well.