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"It has to be magic-related." Aurelia sighed as she spun around when we reached the end of the hall and entered the grand space of the three-floor mall. "There's a lot of drama going on with the Coven."
"Is it because you're now a part of it?" I inquired. "All these years of trying to shadow and ignore your talented gifts and magic affinity, but now they deem you worthy to join."
Aurelia came to a stop and I followed suit as she bobbed her head in agreement.
"All those years of training me to the core, making sure I was perfect, only to dash me aside for another witch because she was full-fledged and not a hybrid like me. Years of making me feel like shit, which only got worse when Ace left."
Right, Ace.
I'd forgotten about him because he’d been on my 'I'll kill you on sight' list for the longest time.
"If it wasn't for you and Onyx, who were in my life and remained supportive in your own unique ways, what would have possibly happened to me by now? I go from being insignificant, enjoying my life making my creations and becoming a badass hybrid witch, and now I'm valued and tossed onto the Council."
"Wait..." I had to stop her. "You didn't join on your own accord?"
"I was forced to join," she practically seethed. "Something...happened, and I was forced into taking the better choice, which was joining the Council."
"Then where does that leave that bitch and her group of mean girls who love to piss you off?"
"Trying to get payback," she muttered. "I'm trying hard to not trust anyone there. I'm trying to fix the shit my joining created, and I have an assistant, but I don't really trust her."
"Has she been in the field longer or is she someone new?"
"She's a child." Aurelia sighed. "Total newbie. If I was going to be given a new witch to babysit, I would have chosen the witch hybrid that returned from Japan."
"Hmmm? Isn't that the girl who gave me cookies? Well, William cookies. We've been selling her out since I tried them because fuck, they're addicting."
Aurelia laughed. "You could just ask her directly. Her name is Aoa. She's actually going back to Japan. I was hoping she'd be my assistant, but of course, the other members want someone else."
"But she's your assistant," I voiced. "Why would their opinions matter?"
"It's complicat-"
I moved to stand in front of her, and she blinked before her head lifted higher up to see my deep frown and disapproving eyes.
"Fuck, Willow. Why did you change to William?" she asked and tried to take a step back, but I was already flicking her forehead which made her flinch. "Ow!"
"Why are you able to be so protective of everyone else's sanity, but when it comes to your own, you disregard it?" I questioned hastily, my deep voice projecting my obvious anger with the situation. Maybe to others, it wasn't a big deal, and I really didn't know much about the rules of witches and the bullshit they loved to change whenever it benefited them, but I was tired of my best friend being spit on.
"Ugh, change back, William," she huffed.
"Why?" I tossed back and took a step forward so I was literally towering over her. "Does my male side make you uncomfortable?" I moved in closer on purpose, leaving her frozen in place while I lowered my voice. "Does it remind you that because of your aid through the years that I'm able to become an empowered man one minute and a badass female the next? That thanks to my dear best friend who didn't allow me to sit and wallow over the idea of never being a male, I was able to work on myself through the years and become one of the richest gender-fluid individuals of our generation? Or better yet, is it because when I'm actually a male, my words of advice are taken more seriously because of the intense authority I project as an Alpha male?"
She swallowed the lump in her throat as her eyes slowly met mine.
"All the above," she huffed.
I smirked and leaned back so she didn't feel like I was suffocating her with my boiling energy.
"I don't care how the Coven runs shit, Aurelia," I whispered. "If you're forced to enter something that wasn't given to you with the obvious acknowledgment of your power, then there's no more playing to their tunes. You want Aoa as your assistant, you make her your assistant."
"They're not going to make it that simple, William," Aurelia tried to stress the situation. "Besides, I’ve already chosen an assistant. She'll be here later. I sent her on some errands so she wouldn't follow me like a puppy dog, but they're not going to grant me a second assistant because I dislike the first."
"So you agree you don't like this child?" I concluded.
She gave me a look that emphasized how much she wanted me to drop the conversation, but now that I'd switched to William, I wasn't going to let her off the hook so easily.
"She's a bit of a know-it-all and would probably do best with a full-fledged witch and not a hybrid like myself. I don't feel comfortable having her follow me everywhere, even if it's her role now that I'm a Coven Head, or whatever we'll call it. There are just a lot of rules to follow and I can't just play to my own tune."
