“Of fucking course I am!” I snapped. “Mother, this is insane! Even for you.”
Beside me, Menon shifted slightly closer.
Never interrupting.
Never speaking over me.
Just there.
Solid.
Protective.
Ready.
And somehow that gave me strength.
“I’m not some backup daughter you can barter off because my magic developed differently,” I continued, voice trembling harder now.
“Did you honestly think I’d just quietly agree to marry a stranger because you decided I wasn’t useful enough on my own?”
Evelyn’s face faltered slightly.
For the first time all night—actual guilt.
Interesting.
“I was trying to secure your future,” she said quietly.
“No,” I whispered painfully. “You were trying to manage your embarrassment.”
Silence.
Arthur scoffed loudly.
“Well none of it matters now anyway since this fat little Witch has already fucked the blue-skinned freak!”
Wrong thing to say.
Very wrong thing.
Moonlight exploded violently around Menon.
The festival lanterns overhead flickered so hard several nearby students screamed and stumbled backward from the sudden surge of celestial power.
The air itself changed.
Pressure rolled outward in icy waves while silver-blue runes flared bright beneath Menon’s skin like living constellations waking beneath flesh.
Every instinct inside me reacted instantly.
Not fear.
Protection.
My magic surged toward him automatically, blue sparks dancing wildly across my fingertips as I stepped closer to his side without even thinking about it.
Because someone had threatened me and my mate was about to lose his shit.
