A Witchy Inheritance

Chapter 12

My mind was swirling with different thoughts and emotions. Part of me couldn't believe there'd been a full-grown man in my house the last two weeks, especially considering I had had dinner with my boyfriend Jake the second night Cicero had been here. Part of me was relieved that Jake had to leave early due to a red eye flight out the next morning for a two week business trip out of Chicago. I didn't know what I was going to do when Jake got back and maybe spent the night. The idea that Cicero was just around when Jake and I were, doing what adults do in adult relationships, made me queasy and my cheeks turn red.

Cicero came to sit back down on the floor and turned his body in my direction though he wasn't looking directly at me. He didn't look exactly thrilled with this situation either. I suppose it should be some comfort that we were equally uncomfortable with this scenario.

"Do I even get a say on whether I have a familiar or not?" I asked, my tone more petulant than I meant it to be.

Cicero stiffened and there was a frown on his face before he blanked it and turned his gaze to me.

"Unfortunately, you do not. I was willed to you and therefore am assigned to you for the next six months. At some point between then and now the evaluator will come out and you can express your displeasure at having a familiar to them. I can't say it will make much of a difference but it might." His tone sounded a little bitter at the end.

It made me feel guilty, Cicero, from what I was getting, head just as little control over this current situation we found ourselves in as I. We were both stuck in this boat together.

He gave a heavy sigh. "Theoretically you could push me out the door and refused to let me back in but other than that were kind of stuck together."

The dejected tone to his voice made me feel less guilty and a little more frustrated and angry with the situation.

"I'm not a fan of this situation either Cicero. I came home to a n***d man in my house telling me that I somehow inherited a witch's library which is massive. And a familiar who's actually a man/cat Hybrid. As well as some mystical power to see the future which so far has only meant I get really weird dreams. I don't want any of this." I knew my tone was harsh but I didn't try and soften it. There was nothing about the scenario that I wanted. "Is there contact information for anybody that's on the ruling body of witch's that I can talk to? I can ask questions of?"

Cicero's expression turned wary. "Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. You could try but I don't know if they'll even get back to you. If you want I can reach out to my boss who can reach out to her boss who is a member of the Council." He looked at me sheepishly and it made me wonder whether there was more to this story than he was letting on.

"I would appreciate that thank you."

Cicero only nodded and we sat there in tense silence until my earlier observation itched at me enough to move to the forefront of my head again. Marissa was supposed to be one of my aunt’s best friends. Surely, she knew about the family library, as I can't imagine if they'd been friends for long, it was something that was easily hidden. Maybe it was something all families had. But either way the fact that Cicero went out of his way to hide it was bizarre to me. He even closed the top of the box so she wouldn't even so much as see the books. Taking a deep breath and feeling anxiety roll through my chest like a swarm of bees I turned my attention to Cicero's face so I could monitor every minute response to my next question.