“Have you seen her yet?” a male mage asked, his voice sounding younger than the high mages I’d tested with yesterday.
“Yep,” another male answered, his voice having the same timbre as Kian’s. His son. “She was at the records hall a couple nights ago to sign her name.”
Julian!
“And…?” the first voice asked.
“Oh my mage, Xavier!” a female trilled, her voice airy and musical. “She’s not life-companion material.”
One of the males grunted, but I couldn’t tell if that was in agreement or not. Probably not. Not that I cared what the other mages thought.
Looking at Honor, I rolled my eyes and then pulled open the door to Gramps’ study. Perhaps, if that was that, I would’ve walked through the door and said nothing.
Maybe.
But the mean girls’ convo … it just … kept … going.
“There’s not even short-term partner potential with that half-breed,” Kian’s son said. “Dad said—”
“Your dad is a douchebag!” I yelled, just before stepping over the threshold. I started to push the door closed, but my comment wasn’t nearly enough. Not even close. I sucked in a deep breath and yanked the door wide once more. “And I’m already mated!”
The voices cut off, and a female gasped, but I didn’t wait to hear what else was said. I simply slammed the door shut.
I glanced down at Honor and raised my eyebrows. “I’m done playing nice to these evil rich kids.”
His tongue lolled out again as he cocked his head to the side.‘I’m pretty sure you’ve never played nice to jerks.’
There wasn’t really much to say to that; he had an excellent point.
I peered around the space, but Reyna wasn’t in my grandfather’s study. Honor and I shared a look. “I guess I’m going to go start my first day.”
‘Do you want me to stay here or come with you?’he asked.
I exhaled a long breath. “You know, I have no idea which would be better.”
‘Then I’ll stay here,’he replied.‘But prop the door open so I can get to you if needed. And we may need to replace it … I nearly went crazy yesterday.’
I knelt in front of Honor and buried my hands in his silky fur at the scruff of his neck. “Thanks for being such a good friend to me.”
After a quick goodbye, I continued on into the castle, drawn to the kitchen by the smell of coffee.
“Good morning, Nai,” my Aunt Sariah said as I strode into the kitchen.
“Harumph,” I grumbled. “Bit of a stretch calling it good.”
“Coffee?” she asked, lowering her voice. “Rough morning?”
If she suspected I was having a rough morning, she waswayoff. It was more like a rough week—no, closer to a month. Honestly, I’d lost count, and my buzz from being with Rage had been killed by the d-bag mages talking crap about me and calling me a half-breed.
I nodded in response, slinking to the table as Donovan walked into the kitchen.
“Hungry,” he grumbled, sitting next to me.
We shared grumpy nods, and Sariah just laughed, setting a steaming mugful of coffee before me and a plate of waffles drenched in syrup before Donovan.
We sat in content silence for a few moments, me drinking coffee until the heaviness left my limbs, Donovan cutting his waffle into perfect squares, popping them into his mouth one at a time.
Sariah held a plate out to me. “Want a waffle?”
