The Genius and The Prince

Chapter 13 - Witches and Mates

Emily - POV

“No, this is not the one. You are not with him, do not fall.” Seline looks at me with fear in her eyes.

“Oh, no, this is not my mate, I know. He is just a good friend. Like a brother.” I say to her, trying to comfort her fears.

“Yes! A brother!” She says nodding. I look at Margo and she just shakes her head.

“Seline, I have known you for how long now?” I ask her trying to gain some stability and trust, so when I take her into the conference room she knows I am not going to let her get into any trouble.

“Oh, I have no idea, it feels like forever. You and Margo were always on chat.” She says to me, looking at Margo. We became friends while I was going to school online. Margo looks younger and so does her mother, but they are quite a bit older. They never did let me know their ages, but I have this feeling they are both considerably older than me.

“Yes, and after all this time have I ever lied to you or given you any reason not to trust me?” I ask her, looking at her, then Margo.

“No, you have always been there for me. Even when I met your parents.” Seline says, giving a little laugh. “Looking back, that is quite funny, our standoff with you in the middle.”

“Exactly, and now I need you to trust me even more.” I tell her and she nods. “We are going to go over to the conference room, and you are going to tell us what happened.”

“And who exactly is US?” Margo asks, raising an eyebrow.

Braxton steps up and answers her, “it will be me, Emi, my father Richard Walters, the King and the Prince.” He says the last two very quickly. As they both go wide-eyed, Margo starts shaking her head and her mother just starts shaking.

“No, we have done nothing wrong. That b***h came in when I wasn’t there and fooled my mother. Told her she wanted to undo her rejection,” Margo says nervously.

“Margo, trust me. I won’t let anything happen to you, either of you.” I tell her.

Seline then looks at me and then takes my face in her hands. “He found you! You know who you are?” She says softly. I look at her quizzically. “You are going to unite us all.” I close my eyes and give a little laugh, then look at Margo. Margo just shrugs her shoulders. “I trust you!” She says, finally removing her hands and taking both mine back in hers and Braxton walks to the door to open it for us.

“Right this way.” He opens the door, lets us all walk out and starts off down the hall. We come to a set of double doors, and he stops.

“Just so you don’t worry, this room is totally soundproof.” They both nod and he opens the door.

Margo and Seline walk into the room, followed by me and Braxton. I look at the conference table and at the far end of the room at the head of the table is Thomas, with Richard on his left and Jackson on his right. Richard stands and walks down the gray-walled room. The table is dark wood, sold almost black with light gray chairs that match the walls. Richard stops in front of me. “Thank you all for coming, would you like something to drink?” He looks at Seline and Margo.

“No, thank you.” Margo says as her mom says “Water” at the same time.

Margo looks at her mother with wide eyes and Seline shrugs. Richard lets out a laugh. Come ladies, please sit. He passes us and goes to an inset credenza and opens a cabinet that is a refrigerator and takes out several bottles of water. He sets them on the table in the middle but takes one and hands it to Seline who is standing in front of the chair next to his. Margo is next to her, and I am next to Margo. I watch as Braxton walks around and takes the seat next to Jackson. When I look at Jackson, he is watching me. I look away as Margo grabs my hand and I look at her.

“Why is he staring at you?” She tries to whisper, but I know they can all hear her. I just shake my head trying to give off the, I don’t know vibe, but she just keeps looking at me for an answer. Thankfully, Richard clears his throat and begins the meeting.

“First, thank you for coming. I didn’t believe witches were still around, I thought it was just humans trying to connect with the supernatural side and playing around. If you don’t mind, we are going to record this meeting?” He says as he turns to Seline.

“Perfectly understandable. We have done everything we can to hide who we are. There are still those of us true-blooded around, but we usually hide behind apothecaries and herbalists.” She tells him with a smile. “I am Seline Clairmont. This is my daughter Margo. I am a witch, but to everyone else, I am a herbalist and have a small store in town. I have known of your existence for quite some time, even before I met Emi here.” She says, looking over at me with a smile.

“How did you meet Emily?” Jackson asks, still looking at me. I look at him, then went back to Seline. She nods at me to tell the story.

“I met Margo during an online course…” I start to say as he interrupts.

“Which one?” Jackson asks.

“Chemistry,” I tell him with no emotion. “I know ironic.” Thomas, Richard, and Braxton chuckle, he just keeps looking at me. I turn to Thomas to continue. “I was ten, and Margo was thirteen. We were in the advanced classes and, since she was the only one close to my age, we started chatting. She didn’t live far from me, so we would meet. I asked my parents’ permission to have her come to our pack. That is when we found out about each other’s other half. Seline drove her to our house, and we all became friends. End of story.” I tell him. I may have left out the part where there was a tense standoff between my father and Seline, but mom smoothed that over and now Seline helps out whenever we need.

“You took Chemistry at 10?” Jackson questions. I look at him, and he is looking at me with amazement.

“What part of she is 20 and has a master’s degree do you not understand?” Braxton shakes his head at him. “She is going to sit for the Bar Exam in a month.” He continues as he points at me. Jackson looks back at me with a proud look.

“Oh my God! He is your MATE!” Margo declares.