Heir of the Coven (Daughters of the Warlock Book 3) Read online

  My pulse sped up as panic flowed over me. He wouldn’t come in, would he? The last thing I needed was to be caught in an embrace with Tavlor, completely naked. I wasn’t sure how my father was going to react. Hell, I didn’t know how I would.

  I called out, “Thanks! I’ll be out soon.”

  I glanced at Tavlor who lay on his back and put both arms behind his head as though he was thoroughly amused by the situation.

  I sat up and glared down at him. “Hey. I’ve never had to deal with parents and... this.”

  I indicated to his naked body.

  Tavlor grinned.

  “Well, we better get used it, huh?” he asked, that feral grin on his face making me want to try and buy us a little more time than a half hour.

  I stooped to kiss him, then jumped out of bed. I couldn’t let myself by tempted by him—and damn, I was tempted by him.

  I needed a shower and a thought occurred to me. Another way to make this morning memorable.

  “Wanna join me in the shower?” I asked, bravely standing in the middle of the room, fully naked. I wasn’t sure what his response would be, but I thought I’d try it and see where it went. Worst thing he could say was no.

  He was up and out of bed before I could blink. “Yes, although we may need to expand it a little. It wasn’t built for two people.”

  I gestured towards the small bathroom, having no idea how to do that.

  “Please, be my guest,” I said, interested in learning how to do such a thing.

  Tavlor waved his hand, said a few words, and before my eyes, my tiny shower doubled in size.

  I clapped my hands together, my eyes widening. “Perfect.”

  So many benefits to magic.

  I opened the door and turned on the water, steam and heat filling the room. The muscles in my body immediately relaxed, and the tension I felt at the response from the Council melted away. I knew it would be something I would have to deal with in a little while, but for now, I could just enjoy myself.

  “After you,” Tavlor said.

  I jumped in and moved beneath the spray. Warmth flowed over my breasts and face, then Tavlor stepped in behind me and shut the door, the atmosphere around us changing immediately.

  I had so many things I wanted to do with him, to him, but half of my brain was focused on the fact my father was outside the door waiting for me, and the last thing I wanted to do was ruin the chemistry between us.

  Tavlor’s hands ran over my back, caressing my bum and then moving around to my breasts. His touch was in no hurry. It wasn’t so much that he was grabbing me to feel me, but he took care in how he touched me, as though he was appreciating my body. Like he was worshipping me with his hands.

  I sighed and let my head fall back onto his shoulder, shutting down my brain and allowing him to dictate the mood rather than me trying to think too much. My eyes closed, water running down my face.

  “You’re so beautiful, Ava,” he murmured.

  I turned around and put my arms around his neck, going up on my toes to kiss him. I couldn’t find the words to respond. I hoped this was enough.

  He pulled my body tightly into his, his hardness against my softness.

  I moaned as his tongue slid into my mouth and he held me tight. But he didn’t go any further. He just kissed me and petted me as he washed my body.

  I wanted him to go on, of course. His touch had my nipples throbbing and other tender parts of my body calling out for his touch. “Are we going to...”

  I gestured down to his cock, which was thick and long and pressing against my belly. My fingers caressed his tip and he shuddered, throwing an arm out against the wall to maintain his balance.

  “Aren’t you sore from last night?” he asked, his fingers from his free hand trailing down my stomach.

  “I am... but...” I let my voice trail off. I didn’t particularly care about my soreness as long as it meant getting to feel him inside of me again.

  He grinned and kissed me on the lips. “Let’s wait until after the trial,” he said. “Hopefully tonight we’ll have plenty to celebrate.”

  I nodded, his commonsense both annoying and thoughtful.

  “Okay.” I didn’t bother to hide my disappointment from my tone, and I released my hold on his cock.

  He grinned and thrust against me. “You know I want you, Ava. But I don’t want to break you before we’ve even begun. Let it build up. The wait will be worth it.”

  I nodded again. He was right, of course. Since he clearly had more experience, I had no problem trusting his judgment. But that didn’t mean I was happy about it.

  Perhaps he was right.

  I hopped out of the shower, then heard my father’s voice again. “Ten minutes Ava.”

  I stared at Tavlor as I wrapped myself in a towel. “Oh shit.”

  I hadn’t realized we had been in there for that long. Perhaps it was best Tavlor had said no. I could only imagine my father shouting out just as I was about to reach my climax.

  I ran into my bedroom and didn’t hesitate to use magic, when I could have taken the time to do things the human way. With a quick spell I was dry and dressed, and my hair was done.

  I glanced at the image reflected in the mirror. Yep, that’ll do.

  “I’m gonna make something to eat, and meet you in the office, okay?” I called out to Tavlor.

  “I won’t be long. See you in a minute,” he called back.

  I raced out of the room, making sure to shut the door behind me.

  My father was well ahead of me. The table was laden with hot drinks, juices, pastries, and cold sandwiches.

  He gestured to the platters with a flourish of his hand.

  “A proper breakfast to start the day?” he suggested.

  “Yes, please!”

  All of the activities I had recently participated in with Tavlor had left me feeling hungrier than I realized.

  I grabbed one of the hot chocolates and began sipping it as I layered up a plate with mostly sandwiches and a croissant or two.

  No point going hungry when I didn’t have to.

  My father arched a brow at the amount of food I had piled on my plate, but I avoided looking at him. I still wasn’t sure if one of his powers was being able to read my mind, and the last thing I wanted was for him to know what happened between me and Taylor.

  By the time I sat down on the couch, Tavlor had joined us in the room wearing traditional Fae robes and looking sexier than any man should.

  “Good morning,” he said to my father and although he didn’t seem embarrassed, there was tension in the air I couldn’t put a name to.

  I looked towards my father, who had stiffened slightly.

  We were both in quite unusual stages of our relationship. I was twenty-three years old, surely old enough to have a boyfriend sleep in my bed.

  And yet Matlock had never had a daughter before, and I’d never had a father. Should I be embarrassed? It wasn’t as though Matlock could storm back into my life and start treating me like a child. And yet, I felt like I might have done something wrong, even though I knew I hadn’t.

  The feelings were strange and uncomfortable.

  “Tavlor.” Matlock nodded once. “Help yourself to some breakfast as well.”

  I turned towards my father, desperate to move past the awkwardness. “Matlock, did you read much of mother’s journal yesterday?”

  My father walked over to me and sat down on the opposite couch, his brow furrowed. “I did... most of it actually. I couldn’t put it down.”

  I chuckled as I bit into one of the buttery, delicious croissants.

  “Yes, she was quite dramatic, and entertaining with her writing, wasn’t she?” I asked. All feelings of odd tension were pushed to the side, at least for now.

  Matlock nodded, but didn’t comment.

  I’d found mother’s journal to be a roller coaster of emotions, and as a woman, I had empathized with her, but hadn’t gone down that hole too deeply.

  I’d never love
d the way my mother had, nor lost. So, I’d kept my emotions in check while reading about her grief.

  But my father would have read about her experience in a very personal, very confronting way.

  “You know, if you want to know anything about her life with me. With us. You can ask. Anytime,” I said around another bite of the croissant. I reached for a grape when I finished and popped that into my mouth.

  He nodded, his sadness showing in the lines of his lips.

  “I will, perhaps after this is all over,” he said.

  Fair enough. “Okay.”

  I ate as quickly as I could, and all too soon my father was standing up and directing us through the door and towards the portals that would lead us to the trial rooms. I wiped my palms on my thighs, trying not to feel the butterflies in my stomach or the way my heart stuttered against my chest.

  “Do you have any idea what’s going to happen today?” I asked him as we stepped between worlds.

  He shrugged. “No. This is completely unprecedented. But I would keep your physical and mental shields as strong as possible. We don’t know what to expect, so we must expect the worst.”

  My hand strayed to my stomach where my sister’s gift was tattooed to my flesh. I had forgotten about it, even while showering. I was protected. The spell Bella had cast had taken a lot out of me, but I knew I was protected, that I was as safe as I could be because of my sister’s magic. That, more than anything else, gave me confidence.

  “I’m ready.”

  Where they seriously going to attack us? Again?

  When would these guys give up?

  My hand moved to my neck where my mother’s locket should have been. I’d forgotten to put it on, and was now missing it. Her voice, though confronting and somewhat annoying sometimes, was a comfort I was beginning to long for.

  Must be starting to forgive her for all this shit...

  “Big breath,” Matlock said as he opened the door to the trial room. I did as he suggested and took a big breath as my pulse fluttered in my throat.

  Then, all three of us stepped through to the room that would decide our fate.

  The room was different than I remembered it, though I wasn’t sure how. What had they changed? My gaze flickered over the chairs, the walls.

  I stepped closer to Tavlor.

  “Do you have an escape plan if we need one?” I asked in a low voice.

  He nodded once. “Always.”

  I instantly felt better, relieved that my lover had a back-up plan, though I wasn’t sure what it was. And, really, I didn’t need to know. If Tavlor had one, I trusted it.

  I turned towards the empty room. The back doors opened, people piling in. Some I knew, some I didn’t.

  I dragged up my mental shields the way I’d been taught and pulled forth some powers, shifting them to my fingertips in case I needed to go on the offensive. My body stiffened, ready to fight if that was what it came to.

  Thomas strode forward while my step-mother lingered in the background, hanging back in the last few pews. Why, I wasn’t sure. That wasn’t like her. I wanted to grin in amusement, but since I couldn’t be sure if this was a good thing, I didn’t allow myself to gloat. Not until I knew what was going on here.

  My father walked forward, to speak with Thomas who seemed to be the representative of the Council once again.

  “Matlock.” Thomas greeted him with a nod of his head.

  My father lifted his chin. “Thomas,” he said, a sneer on his face. “What have you come to say?”

  Thomas raised one eyebrow. “Would you like to sit down?”

  He gestured to a nearby chair.

  Matlock shook his head.

  “No. After what my daughter and I were accused of yesterday and the tricks you pulled to make sure I was at a disadvantage, I want this over as quickly as possible,” he said.

  I had to clench my teeth to keep my mouth from falling open. My father had this unshakable ability to radiate strength and power, even when the outcome was unknown.

  Woah! Go, Dad!

  As I glanced around the room at the other Council members, I could see they were all fighting a similar feeling.

  They were shook.

  My father had obviously never stood up for himself like this before, although I was pretty sure the Council had never come after him in such an obvious and dangerous way either.

  It was great to see him acting and feeling so strong.

  “Well...” Thomas started, looking around as though the answer to this situation was around him, rather than right in front of him.

  He cleared his throat once again, seeming to shake away whatever thoughts had been plaguing his mind. It was obvious he hadn’t expected my father to be so confrontational and was now trying to figure out what to do next.

  “Well, you’ll be please to know that due to the evidence that was presented yesterday, and the fact that Ava came back to the magical realm on her own accord, the Council has decided to withdraw claims of Treason.”

  I could barely breathe. Relief flew through me on swift wings. In fact, I could have cried, but didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of seeing how relieved I was.

  So, I turned towards Tavlor, and focused all my attention on his strong profile, my eyes burning with tears.

  They were letting me go.

  They were letting my father go.

  I couldn’t believe this. It was almost too good to be true.

  We’d won.

  I staggered with relief and considered conjuring a chair to sit down in.

  “We do, however, have some... conditions if you want to remain our High Warlock and have Ava as your legal heir,” Thomas continued.

  “Conditions?” my father asked. “What conditions?”

  I swung around to ask the very same question.

  Thomas glanced at me and smiled, and the look in his eyes made me want to hurl up my breakfast.

  Fuck.

  That couldn’t be good.

  What did they have in store for me now?

  Chapter 8.

  CONDITIONS? Stipulations. Of course, they had those! Why was I even surprised?

  And from the evil look on Thomas’s face, I wasn’t going to like them.

  I looked away from him. The last thing I wanted was for him to notice the hesitant weariness inside of me, itching to come out.

  I rushed forward to join my father, who put a hand out to stop me coming too close.

  I stopped in my tracks, trusting him to guide me the right way.

  I couldn’t help but wonder why he needed me to stop walking, though. What would happen if I did get too close? Was there some kind of trap?

  Matlock spoke. “So, the Council is willing to accept Ava as my legal heir? Irrespective of illegitimacy and... her female sex?”

  He furrowed his brows, as though he didn’t trust the Council to make sure all our conditions were met, as though they had found some kind of loophole they could try and jump through without us noticing.

  I wanted to roll my eyes. I nearly opened my mouth to apologize for having a vagina, but I managed to refrain. I did want to attempt to take this seriously.

  I looked over at Tavlor who hadn’t flinched. Then I realized for him, it probably was a big deal. After all, most human royal families had made males the only legal heirs for thousands of years. For some countries, those rules were only recently changed.

  For humans, it made no sense to have such a rule, but for witches... it was probably possible to make such a rule. If they controlled their High Warlocks to the point that they were only allowed to have one child. One heir. Of course, they would make sure it was a male.

  It was probably in the laws they made the High Warlock abide by.

  Really should have studied that contract before today. Why didn’t I ask my father for a copy... shit!

  Thomas nodded. “Yes, we will accept her despite those faults. She will need to be trained, of course. As you were. She will need to be schooled in our laws, ou
r way of life, her responsibilities...”

  They were making it sound terrible! So much more like a job than I ever thought it would be.

  I didn’t want to appear ungrateful. This was what I wanted. This was what I said I would do in order to ensure my safety. But if they gave me conditions I couldn’t meet, then that wasn’t fair, either.

  I had to say something. “Okay... but I have time for that, right? It’s not like I’ll be taking over my father’s responsibilities for years.” Decades, preferably. “I assume I only inherit on his death? Not before?”

  It wasn’t something we’d discussed, and as I asked the question, I realized I really didn’t know a lot about the role I was about to take on. I’d simply wanted to be a part of my father’s life. I wasn’t sure if showing my ignorance in this matter was a good idea or not.

  I sighed and started twisting my fingers together. I just wanted to know my father and be with him as his daughter.

  But maybe we should have had some heart to heart discussions first?

  Thomas nodded. “Yes, you only inherit on his death, unless your father decides to step down early. Which doesn’t happen. You need to understand, however, that High Warlock’s are schooled from infancy in the correct way of addressing the public, their role...”

  He let his voice trail off. There was a hint of a sneer on his face as though he thought I would never be able to catch up.

  “Responsibilities... yeah, yeah, yeah,” I said with a shrug. Really, training someone since infancy?

  They didn’t want me to be excited about this win at all, did they?

  I waved my hand, accepting their condition. “That’s fine. I accept that I need to learn a lot about my role, and I’m sure between my father, and some of your chosen tutors, that shouldn’t be a problem.”

  That didn’t mean of course that I’d be the High Warlock they wanted me to be. I could see issues already with the way they ran their realms, their people. Their insane belief in their supremacy.

  But I wasn’t going to tell them that, of course. I needed to learn their ways and get fully accepted before I had a chance of changing anything. Of improving things for the people of these realms.

  “I’m glad you agree,” Thomas said, looking smug.