Melina

Allie and Dylan were waiting for us outside the room where larger council meetings were held. The Council of Witches had a huge compound at Bishop Ranch in San Ramon. The building contained witch training, various offices, and two council meeting rooms. One room could hold fifty people. The other could seat two-hundred and was rarely used. I’d never actually been to a meeting in the larger room, but it appeared that was where we were meeting tonight.

Dylan had a cocky smirk as he approached Trevor and slapped him on the back. “How are you holding up?”

“I can’t wait,” Trevor admitted, looking excited and definitely happy.

Dylan’s smirk turned to a full grin. “I’ll bet you can’t. You’ve worked hard to trap Melina into this. Getting her here without resorting to kidnapping must be a huge relief.”

“Idiots,” I muttered, appreciating the fact that at least Allie looked more subdued.

“I can’t believe you announced this to everyone,” she said quietly. “This is going to be a circus.”

“Announcing it wasn’t my idea,” I told her, glaring at Trevor again. “I know the witches must be coming from everywhere to see the infamous Trevor Dupree finally take an affinity test.”

“People are probably also coming because of you,” Trevor stated.

“He’s right,” Dylan agreed.

“Me?” I asked. “Why would they come because of me? Is it the show?”

“It’s because you’ve never dated a warlock,” Allie pointed out.

That was something I hadn’t considered. It’s not that I thought I was some unknown witch. My ongoing battle with the COW’s, Allie’s term for the Council of Witches, regarding the witches on Night High had earned me some notoriety among the witch community. I’d had more than a few warlocks try to approach me after that, but I’d turned them down. Until Trevor, I’d never dated a warlock. Although, technically, I wasn’t dating Trevor. As was Trevor’s norm, we’d skipped that step, not that I’d missed it. In all honesty, I hated dating.

Looking around, I noticed that the room was filling up quickly, as people waited to get into the meeting. “Oh, Goddess,” I breathed out.

“It’s okay, honey,” Trevor murmured, slipping an arm around my waist, which I really appreciated since for the first time in my life, I thought I might faint.

“There’s the happy couple!” my aunt Lil called out as she approached us. She wasn’t alone. Along with her were my mom, my aunt Muri, and my dad. At least, I could be grateful that it appeared Demetrius and my sisters weren’t in attendance.

“Stop embarrassing her, Lil,” my dad grumbled, looking irritable like he always did. Only the slight twitch of his thin lips indicated he was happy.

“What are you doing here, Dad?” I asked, knowing he couldn’t go into the meeting. As a full-demon, he wasn’t welcome in council meetings, and I suspected they wouldn’t allow him into the compound if he didn’t have the support of not only my mom’s family, but her ex-husband’s family.

“I came to have a word with your warlock.” My dad’s smile was somewhat scary and involved him flashing his pointy teeth. Since my dad hadn’t threatened Trevor yet, I was assuming he liked Trevor. Although, my dad threatening someone didn’t always mean he didn’t like them. He threatened Demetrius on a regular basis, and they were good friends.

“Ralph,” my mother warned. “You are not going to bully Trevor just because he cares for your daughter, are you?”

My dad shook his head. “I want to make sure we have an understanding. Let’s step outside for a minute,” he suggested.

Trevor nodded and kissed me on the cheek. “I’ll be right back,” he told me.

“Dad,” I began, “do not harass Trevor. Tonight is bad enough without you threatening bodily injury.”

My dad laughed, and that’s when my mom’s ex-husband, Demetrius Talbot, joined the group.

“I didn’t miss the talk, did I?” Demetrius asked.

“The talk we had weeks ago wasn’t enough?” Trevor asked Demetrius.

“Oh. My. Goddess.” I stretched each word out for emphasis as I glared at Demetrius. “You talked to Trevor weeks ago?”

“Without me?” my dad asked, sounding hurt.

“I had a meeting with him, and figured it would be best to make sure he understood how much our girl means to me,” Demetrius responded, giving me a warm smile that made me want to smack him. “So, am I in time for the talk?”

“There will be no talk,” I told them, but the idiot men ignored me.

“We’re heading out now,” my dad explained to Demetrius, and they led Trevor out of the room.

“Did you have to call Demetrius?” I asked my mom, knowing he didn’t normally show up at meetings or look at what was on the agenda. Demetrius Talbot only showed up at a meeting when someone called to tell him he had to be there, usually my mom. They had a strange relationship.

“Of course not,” my mom insisted. “Your dad knew Demetrius would be upset if he didn’t get to talk to Trevor before the affinity test. I am annoyed that Demetrius talked to him before. I can’t believe he didn’t tell us you were involved with Trevor. Clearly, he knew before we did.” My mom shook her head and smiled. “I’m sure he didn’t want to reveal anything about you and Trevor until you were ready to talk about it. He means well.”

“Demetrius realizes he’s not related to me, doesn’t he?” I asked, and it wasn’t the first time I’d asked that question. For whatever reason, Demetrius had taken on the role of second father, and my dad welcomed his intrusion in my life.

My mom laughed at my question, and that’s when I noticed all of my sisters entering the room. I guess it had been too much to hope my entire family wouldn’t be there.

“They may have to turn people away,” Dylan noted as he looked around the room.

“Maybe I’ll get lucky and my dad and Demetrius will scare Trevor off,” I mused.

My mom gave me a one-armed hug. “We both know that’s not what you want, but I am sorry this is turning into such a circus. At the same time, I’m really excited about tonight. Trevor is perfect for you.”

“Yes, he is,” I said so quietly that I wasn’t sure anyone heard me. Then again, I was saying it more for myself. I could do this because Trevor was worth it.