“And what will happen whenyouare the one in the hot seat?” Mrs. Cook took over. “You will only care then and… It will be too late, right?” She shook her head. “There are too many of you here who have been hurt by the sexism of our society to be that ignorant and dismissive. I hope people stand up for the next one of us to be hurt instead of part of the problem again.”
Mrs. Oliveria moved closer to Mrs. Cook when she got choked up. “Janet’s younger sister was in a situation much like Bevin’s. Whispers she was too powerful to be a normal witch. Gods forbid we’re powerful and not just here to birth more warlocks.” Mrs. Oliveria looked haunted. “But no one stood up for her when she was at school.
“People laughing at the attention or jealous that she was praised, ignoring the way she was treated. The comments about who would get the magic of her purity. Families starting tobidon it like she was a mare because no one checked the bad behavior.” She blinked back tears as she met my gaze. “Five men declared themselves the points to her star.
“Just decided it like she was property they were claiming and had the right to. They raped her. Together. Bragged about it and who got the power of the goddess witch—except she wasn’t one. They thought that justified their crimes somehow.”
I swallowed loudly. “What happened to her?”
“She killed herself,” Mrs. Cook answered, her voice cracking. “She couldn’t take theshameof letting herself be—I saw the same shame in your aura that you were drugged. Too many saying it was your fault to be so stupid or not protecting yourself better.”
She walked off the stage and came closer to me, reaching out and cupping my cheek.
“You did nothing wrong, my sweet girl. You were the victim. If he didn’t do it then, he would have done it later. Bribed someone—monsters are monsters. Never you. Never listen to anyone whoshames youfor the actions of others.”
“I’m trying,” I rasped.
“You do better than you think and I know we’ve all told you that. I didn’t know Henry well, but I know he would be blissfully proud of you, Bevin. Hold onto that through the storms and hang on to the times the sea is calm. You are not alone in this. I swear it.”
“Which is why the four of us made it clear that if the council doesn’t punish Conrad Hanson the way they should, we will publicly denounce it,” Mrs. Reid said loudly, nodding when we all stared at her with wide eyes. “I made it clear my mate do his duty especially on something this important or he sleeps outside the rest of his damn life.”
Mrs. Moon snorted. “Mine will sleep in the stables with horse shit.”
“Mine knows that I could not survive another witch I care for being hurt as my sister was and I won’t risk it,” Mrs. Cook rasped before going back to the others.
I sat, not needing to stand for this anymore.
And my knees a bit weak to hear they all threw down for me like that.
Wow. Just…Wow.
“Do better by each other, ladies,” Mrs. Reid said quietly. “I admit we should have done more too, but life is tiring. Raising children and constantly—” She wiped under her eyes. “Your mate constantly under threat and doing what you can to help keep himalivetakes so much of our time.”
“But it’s time to do better. All of us,” Mrs. Oliveria said firmly before looking at Gloria. “You did well immediately jumping in. We all trip and make mistakes, but you were the hero Bevin was when she saved you.”
“Sometimes all you have in this world is each other,” Mrs. Cook warned. “The attitude you’ve had has marked you to the gods for not being better. It has me as well. The question is who do we want to stare back at us in the mirror? I’m here to say that I’m committed to making sure justice is realized this time so none of you experience this type of injustice again.”
“And we hope you will join us,” Mrs. Reid took back over. “Yes, you are the minority here, but you arepowerfultogether. You could be a force to be reckoned with.”
“For some of you, it starts with an apology,” Mrs. Oliveria said gently. “Even if she never heard you or knew what you were doing, you made the situation worse for one of your own. I think many of you should be sorry for that as the first step to making this campus and our society better for witches.”
Mrs. Reid opened the floor to answer questions in her new role of Morrigan’s Women’s Rights Advocate. Apparently, there were a lot more issues than the women could have guessed because all of them looked shocked several times at what was happening to the witches of Morrigan.
Everything from theses being intentionally tanked to projects being graded lower than male counterparts who worked on the same project.
“We’re going to need an assistant to make order of all of this,” Mrs. Oliveria worried while sitting and writing out concerns to follow up on and with whom. “Seriously, does Morrigan have any competent faculty?”
Mrs. Reid snorted. “Yes, Professor Wyatt, and people almost got him fired because they were jealous and petty. I remember that issue well when I taught here.”
When the meeting was over, those of us in physical training were excused from class instead of changing for less than half of the time. So I was done for the day and said goodbye to my friends. There was something I needed to know, and even if it was rude to ask… I had to.
Mrs. Cook didn’t make me say it, waiting until most of the auditorium was cleared out and moving me away from the others to a corner. I felt magic and assumed she put up a privacy barrier around us. “Yes, my sister was a goddess witch.”
The accusation in my eyes probably spoke volumes.
She sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t tell people for obvious reasons, Bevin. Just as you didn’t. But more than that, I don’t know anything helpful. Yes, the mark of Hecate is bullshit, but you already know that. My sister didn’t have it either.Marking youwould be the stupidest way to get you all caught and even Hecate knew that.
“I would never correct the council on that. I never told my mate that when he’s pressed me for information.” She gave me a hard look. “I don’t even talk about it with mymate.” She waited until I nodded. “My parents also kept it from me. They…”
