Page 17 of Amateur Goddess (Morrigan University #3)

I had a hard time sleeping and focusing on anything. My magic was irking me, and I knew I had to get some out now, but I was just a mess.

Kelton found me on the floor finishing with the last skein of yarn at five in the morning. He didn’t bother asking me if I’d slept and simply asked what he could do.

“I don’t know, and I’m really sorry that I’m such a disaster when you have to be one too because it was your brother,” I whispered.

“Bev, I could have—I’m okay. I knew Kevin’s job had risks. I asked to stay and be here. No one forced me, and I didn’t feel obligated, okay?”

I nodded, glad when he didn’t push.

Luckily, Nina was an early riser and was able to work with me on some of the cool stuff she’d taught Sergey that wasn’t in textbooks. Not at my level at least. I also let out some magic into two different vessels. Tracey already got a shed set up at her place that was going to be locked down magically, and if any human found it for whatever reason, they would think moonshine.

Awesome.

Nina got me to the factory, and then I busted my ass getting ingredients into mixers and doing the spell for all the different treats. Tracey was seriously impressive because by seven in the morning on Saturday, there were three teams working with me to get me what I needed and then handle what came next while others set up the next set of everything.

And we needed it.

Everything was selling out like crazy and we couldn’t make it fast enough. But the renovations were going well. There was a huge section of the factory updated, and next week the cookie line was going to be put in.

That took a couple of hours—for my part at least. And I had texted Taylor to meet me after because there was something I needed to handle next and I knew I shouldn’t go alone.

“You’re kidding me, right?” he drawled when I told him where I wanted to go.

“I’ll explain later,” I muttered, glancing around to remind him others were around.

“Okay then,” he sighed.

Five minutes later, the overly stern man was in Michaels with me in the fabrics department, standing in front of the fleece options to buy by the yard.

“Just trust me and pick some options you think Cheese would like,” I told him firmly. I focused on my own ideas including Woodchuck, Bubba, Spike, Teddy, and Loki. And even Fangs though we hadn’t met. I should probably get something for Quinn, but I was still miffed.

But the main focus was Councilman Oliveria’s familiar. That was why my magic was acting off and wanted to finish the idea. It did that when I played with new toy ideas, but it hadn’t ever been this erratic before.

It was definitely everything else going on and the fact I was pretty much a mess.

I hoped so at least.

“You’re kidding me, right?” the woman asked as I started off-loading the two dozen options I had for her to cut down.

“Why do people keep asking me that today?” I grumbled. “No, I’m not kidding. I’m sorry if this is annoying, but we need it for a class thing.”

She gave me a look that she didn’t appreciate me being bitchy with her.

Oh sorry, I didn’t like being treated like that for asking her to do her job.

“How much of each?” she asked.

I opened my mouth but then closed it looking at the measuring tape and yardsticks fixed to the table. I frowned but then sighed. “Let’s go three yards of each. That—having too much is better.”

“Not for what these cost,” she mumbled.

Fair, but she didn’t know how much the finished product would be worth either. Tracey never complained if I was wasteful making prototypes of anything.

Ever.

It took a while. Like… A while .

“Stop adding more options or we’re both going to beat you,” Taylor snapped when I went back for more.

I crossed my arms over my chest when the woman snickered. “Fine, but I’m telling your mom you were mean to me when I was just helping.”

“Bevin, we’ve been here for forty-five minutes. That’s way more in touch with my crafty side than I’ve ever been . And there’s still ten she has to cut. And we have to pay and get it all back. So fine, snitch to my mommy, just stop adding options .”

I glanced at my watch and winced. “Fine, sorry, it’s hard to know what’s the right anything with this.”

“I get that, but we can come back,” he sighed. “She’s shaken out her hand like two dozen times. She’s been cutting for—”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” I snapped and grabbed what I could that she hadn’t cut yet to put back.

And tried not to cry.

Fuck, I really was such a baby.

Why was he getting all over me after what happened the day before because of some fucking fleece? Fine, I was being a butthead but like… Whatever.

She was on the last one left when I went back. I apologized again and she simply nodded. How I was the jerk when it was her job—fine, that was excessive and I was sorry her hand would hurt. I was.

I just loaded all the fleece in the cart and saw we would need more than one cart. I mumbled that I would get another one and brought this one up towards the checkout. I told the cashier what was going on and that the ticket was coming… And she looked at me like I was nuts.

Fine, I was fucking nuts. Great.

It was lovely that everyone felt comfortable making that clear.

I mumbled a thank-you to the woman as Taylor helped me load up the rest and then I wheeled it to the checkout. There was an itemized ticket she’d written out, so it was just typing it all in and bagging it.

Which annoyed the cashier.

“Seriously, I’m so sorry I made people here actually do their jobs. I promise I will never return to this Michaels and never do that again,” I snarked when she gave me another shit look.

She focused on finishing the order then and didn’t say a word to me as I put in my card and paid. Not even when she gave me the receipt.

Fine, I didn’t want to thank her either.

“Okay, yeah, she was rude,” Taylor muttered as we walked out of the store. “All she had to do was key in the items. It’s not your fault the store doesn’t have a more efficient way.”

I blinked at him. “Yeah, kinda like making her cut with fucking sewing scissors over and over again instead of like an auto-cutter she could feed the material through. I instantly looked at her setup and thought it was inefficient as fuck, but I didn’t do it. I just wanted to buy their wares. And I have employees . If they ever acted like that—”

I shook my head and stormed over to where we’d circled in. I never, not ever allowed the employees in my store to be shit on. Tracey and I were very clear that the customer was not always right and the staff were never to be disrespected.

However, they were paid to do a job and never make the customer feel unwelcome either.

“Sorry,” Taylor mumbled as he laid down the circle.

I just nodded. Whatever. I found amusement in him being overloaded to the max with bags of everything I bought.

We brought it all right to Councilman Oliveria’s house, his staff beyond shocked especially when I said I had to go get more supplies at my dorm. I realized the missing piece of what I was working on when I had to jump around to security and then walk to my dorm.

Me: Sorry to bother you, but I’m working on something and I think you would want to be involved. As my power assessor but also because you would understand it and get into it.

Me: Sorry, it’s hard to explain over text. Can you meet up so I can explain it to you and show you?

I wanted to groan. I sounded like such a damn goober. Clearly, this was going to be awkward for a while as we figured out… Whatever.

Wyatt: I can’t come to you, but I can bring you to me if that works?

Me: Give me two minutes and that’s perfect. Thanks.

I hurried to pack everything up for Taylor and sent him on his way back to the Oliveria’s—much to his dismay—and told him what was going on and hopefully I would be there soon with more help. Again, his expression and shock almost made up for him being a jerk earlier.

Almost. I’d been through something big, and a bit of understanding would be nice.

Then again, I was always going through something big and the people around me had to be as tired of that as I was.

I felt the magic flare of a circle being put under me. It wasn’t like anyone could do that at any time to anyone. That would be dangerous, and my father would have already abducted me.

No, it was specifically in my dorm room and because Wyatt had placed all of the magic and protections there.

I blinked at the change of lighting from my room to where I was now… And realized I was staring at Wyatt’s naked chest.

Huh?

I flinched and glanced up, meeting his pretty grass-green eyes, but they weren’t focused on mine, but my hair instead.

“What did you need, Ms. Millen?” he asked quietly.

I went to tell him but flinched again when I heard a weird clinking sound. Wyatt fidgeted with his ballcap, something I’d never seen him in.

Oh, a gym. He was at a gym lifting weights.

“Sorry, was a bit disoriented with the change,” I mumbled gesturing from his chest to lights and around me.

“Derek, you spotting me?” someone called over.

“Yeah, coming,” he said back.

And then just walked away from me.

Okay then. I followed after, weaving between equipment and glancing around curiously. I’d never been to a public gym besides at school and this was different. The one at school looked like in the movies that had memberships and was standard.

This was… I wasn’t sure.

Men-only for one?

He moved behind a bench press setup and a guy staring at me like I’d grown another head.

“Umm, care to explain?” the guy asked Wyatt as he gestured towards me.

“She needed help with something. Just focus on your reps.”

“Yes, boss,” the guy chuckled and lay down on the bench.

I watched as they got into position and the guy moved more weight than I could hurry to add up off the rack with Wyatt looking confident he could catch it if need be.

“Bevin?” Wyatt said. It clearly wasn’t the first time he’d said my name to get my attention, especially since he’d been calling me Ms. Millen.

“Sorry, didn’t sleep well,” I mumbled. “Um, I don’t know I can talk about this with others or—”

“I didn’t think about that. Okay, I can find you later,” he cut in.

Right, but I sort of needed him now, but that was rude, but if he knew what I was doing I was pretty sure he would want to be involved. “Um, so when you scan me while I’m working on magic you want me to try to see if it’s clicking or I’m doing it right. Does that work because you know the outcome or can you do it for something new?”

“Both,” the guy lying down doing the bench presses said. “One spell is to basically watch a lot like training wheels. You look for feet on the pedals and the wheels being turned. It starts there and can go to way more complicated like a car engine and gas flowing—all the parts if you understand it.”

“Correct, and then there’s more a spell for new magic we use as professors to make sure nothing is hitting dangerous levels,” Wyatt took over. “We’re basically watching the temperature gauge of the magic to make sure nothing boils over or burns.”

I nodded as they spoke, trying to make the pieces fit.

The guy set the weights back down and snorted before actually chuckling. He smirked when I looked at him. “Guess Wyatt really shouldn’t be shirtless in front of his students, huh? You were so locked onto his—”

Wyatt cuffed him upside the head as my face flushed lava hot. “Don’t be an ass. She was thinking and just staring off, not—shut up, stupid.” He looked over at me, but now I couldn’t meet his gaze. “Does that answer what you needed?”

“Yes—no, actually,” I muttered, focusing on the floor since apparently that was safe. “I’m not worried about it being dangerous. It’s way too benign. I just want to gauge what it does. Like if the effect is worth the magic put in or if my efforts are better spent in other ways?”

“Yeah, he can do that, but what is a freshman working on that would need that?” the guy asked.

I blinked at him. “Who said I was a freshman?”

He snorted. “You’re famous in our world, Millen. We all know you now.”

“That’s… Disconcerting,” I grumbled.

“And she’s clearly testing out a new treat so shut up,” Wyatt hissed at him before looking at me. “Yes, I can absolutely do that. And yes, I should be involved as your power assessor and would want to for my own knowledge. Thank you.”

“Cool.” I kinda wanted to ask him but like now what?

“Can you give me ten minutes to finish up here and I can meet you wherever?” he asked.

“Hey, we were all supposed to eat,” the guy grumbled.

“He can meet up with you again,” I offered. “It should honestly be quick, and I’m sorry to intrude, but I wasn’t thinking and got the ball rolling, and now others are waiting.”

“It’s fine, you’re going through a lot,” Wyatt said gently.

“Yeah, and um, thanks for yesterday,” I mumbled.

“Of course, let me send you back.”

I frowned. That was it?

Oh right, we were with his friends. There was no way he told them about being interested in a freshman. Of course not. That would have to be humiliating for him, right?

So again, why was he like pushing to be with me? It seemed like sex, but he wasn’t wrong that he’d done more.

Okay, right then was not the time to think about it all and certainly not when my head was spinning.

He sent me back to my room without another word or like a chance to say goodbye to the guy… After not introducing me.

“You interrupted his workout after he asked for space,” I mumbled. “Don’t be a bitch.”

One of the Oliveria’s guards met me by the school’s guard station and brought me to their house. Mrs. Oliveria was there with the good councilmen’s wives and Mr. Oliveria was giving me curious looks about the chaos.

And Taylor seemed about to leave like he’d been asked a billion questions that he didn’t know the answers to.

I started with Mr. Oliveria’s lynx familiar as I unbagged it all and took over their large sitting room. “Pick what you like best. It’s going to be for you, okay? Your warlock is going to work on something special for you.” I winced. “Crap, I should maybe have Wyatt for this part.”

“What did you talk to him about?” Mrs. Moon asked me. She nodded after I explained. “I can manage that for this part. You want to see how this helps their bond or magic, yes?”

“Exactly. I want to make sure I have the steps right just like waiting in line for the treats made the familiars feel something,” I explained before focusing back on what I was doing. “You need the braid with magic and two different types of fleece.”

The lynx glanced around and then back at me. “Can I pick different colors of braids?”

I frowned. “Maybe. It’s for a blanket for your bed here. A comfort blanket for when your warlock is gone. So—maybe.”

He nodded and moved closer to Mr. Oliveria, snuggling up to him and purring even as the older warlock took the selection process seriously.

Yeah, Mrs. Moon gave me a thumbs-up that it was working.

After a bit, they had the three parts picked and I went for the sewing scissors I’d bought at the last moment. I measured out about a yard of each and cut it down, thinking that was more than enough for the lynx.

Wyatt arrived then and was full of apologies for his attire, explaining what I’d interrupted. Everyone waved him off and Mrs. Moon filled him in on what she’d seen so far and done.

“The original idea was to offer completed blankets,” Wyatt muttered, taking the chaos in. “You were going to stockpile them and sell them.”

“Yeah, I realized how shortsighted that might be,” I admitted. “Or my magic did like ruling out brushes, and then it’s been bugging me to figure this out. I mean I’m pretty sure it’s everything else going on, and even my magic might know to distract me from the fact I killed someone yesterday, but whatever.”

I pulled up the video I wanted the councilman to watch on my phone and handed it to him, telling him to just get the idea. Link arrived as I was cutting the corners off the two fleeces and then the one inch to get the councilman started.

“This is those tie knot blankets that were super popular about ten years ago and still are fun to make,” one of the other witches surmised. “I used to make them with my kids as holiday gifts and they loved it.”

“Yeah, they’re fun and a bonding experience,” I agreed, turning to the councilman and handing him the scissors. “So bond with your familiar. Instead of knotting the fleece together, I want you to knot it to the braid with the magic. It might look like a hot mess but… So what? It’s what you made him and your feelings of comfort in it for when you’re not around.”

“I don’t care if it’s not perfect,” the lynx said. “I’m just happy that he wants to give me something so personalized.”

I told the others what his familiar said and the councilman seemed determined with that.

I glanced at Taylor when they focused on their task. “And this is what you’re going to do with Cheese. This is what we need to start doing before people are separated from their familiars. Redo when they’re on leave or whatever.” I gestured to the lynx who was all over his warlock in excitement.

“It’s definitely working,” Mrs. Moon muttered. “It’s like fireworks.”

Wyatt nodded. “It’s more than when you do a normal session. It’s almost like when you fix someone’s bond with their familiar. But you can only do that once. You could repeat this.” He snorted when I frowned at him. “You truly aren’t a greedy person.”

“Greed is a slippery slope, and I’ve seen how bad it really can go with Father, so I just really aim to make people appreciate my help and pay what they should and that’s enough,” I told him firmly. “But I don’t get what you mean.”

He gestured to the councilman. “I could think of four spots Quinn could have one of those.”

“Or they could be made into pillows,” Mrs. Moon muttered. “My familiar isn’t much of a blanket snuggler, but a pillow princess.”

I nodded. “I thought of that and it was versatile.” I sighed, understanding their point. “I can’t help other people’s greed to get more from their familiars or boast they have more. We have people who sign right back up for the waiting list and brag they have four of our toys for their familiar. Yeah, they could get more blankets, but it’s a diminished return.”

“The toys aren’t,” Wyatt argued. “Quinn has four toys now from you. He plays with different ones depending on his mood and if I’m playing with him or he’s playing solo. Same with this. I could absolutely see doing this with him every year on the day he found me or my birthday. Something for us. Christmas or to celebrate the new year.”

“Especially because blankets need to be washed and that will wear them down and the magic,” Mrs. Oliveria reminded me. “I would think that wouldn’t diminish the magical return but increase it because the familiar would feel the dedication of their witch or warlock.”

“Good point,” I agreed. Taylor had gone to get Cheese while we’d been talking and arrived back with his parents. I’d thought that odd since he was a grown man, but apparently since Cheese had lived with them while he’d been in the military, the familiar had opted to stay there instead of risk Taylor dumping him again.

It broke my heart, but he was comfortable there so as long as Cheese had what he wanted.

I greeted the Reids, and Mrs. Oliveria explained what was going on while Taylor and Cheese went through the options. “We’re going to need another store for sure. Tracey will probably want to have the fleece available like we saw in Michaels but more. You can’t bring the familiars there to choose. We could have a store just for this and the brushes.”

I kept muttering and went over to my bag to pull out my digital notebook that synced up with Tracey’s laptop and started jotting down notes of where my head was at. I was about to start sketching the store layout when Link squatted next to me.

“What about familiars like mine that will have crap on their hoofs or be an issue?” he worried.

“We have a lot on our social media, and Tracey would absolutely post new fleece options,” I mumbled as I started listing what we would need instead of focusing on the particulars that bored me. “You could scroll through our magic Instagram—Everpics—with Loki and—”

There was more that I was going to say, but something caught my attention.

Namely, Cheese. He intentionally picked out the most horrible, clashing options thinking Taylor was going to shut him down and be a jerk.

But Talyor didn’t. Saying if that was what Cheese liked, then it would look great. And Cheese was now stuck with the ugly ass blanket he didn’t want and was frustrated.

I gave Link what was in my hands and went over to Cheese, petting the serval. “I know you doubt him and that this is real—that he really wants to fix your bond and relationship, but he does. Don’t spite yourself to make him prove it. Tell him what you need and make him prove it. Games won’t help this.”

“It hurts all the time that he left me,” Cheese whispered. “He never explained and was just gone after fighting with his dad again. He assumed I would just support him. What about me?”

“He was my age then, and I can tell you that we’re twits and it’s hard to handle being an adult when our family isn’t on our side,” I told Cheese honestly. “He did the best he could and didn’t understand the pain it would cause. Now he wants to fix it.”

“He didn’t want these options,” Taylor surmised, nodding when I did. “Did I pass the test?” He sounded confused.

“Yeah, you’d let him have an ugly blanket if it made him happy.”

“I’d paint my place clown colors if it made him happy and he’d live there instead of with my parents,” Taylor admitted.

“Could I stay there at night when he’s there but at his parents’ house during the day?” Cheese asked after a minute.

I told Taylor, and the warlock was overjoyed that his familiar was willing to give him that much.

And yes, they picked out the supplies for a blanket Cheese really wanted.