The morning started worse because her mentor was here.
"Why is your apartment so messy? I almost fell!"
"I would have loved it if you fell instead of banging my doors off their hinges."
Klint Kelvin wore a white duster and posed like he walked out of an explosion.
"Let's talk. I hope you are well rested and well receptive to me now."
Rose rolled her eyes. She wasn't interested. At all. If anything, his words were all so late that it didn't matter anymore.
Seeing no reaction, he didn't worry.
"Won't you ask me to sit?"
"If anything, I'd like you to stand. I'm so shocked that you reversed your name, Klint."
Yes, as opposed to what Asher and everyone thought, his name was Klint Kelvin, not Kelvin Klint or Mr. Kell.
"Haha, I figured the human world- a new identity. "
Rose nodded. She understood that he wasn't going anywhere without talking.
"Yesterday, I left you alone at the party because you know, I'm not supposed to talk to you. And you know, you have a magic ward here and they can sense me if I near it when you aren't home. But now, you are already in, so the ward wouldn't think anything of my magical imprint. Stupid loophole."
Rose was stunned. Her ward, it was useless. The ward, which warded off unknown people like a fingerprint recognition system was useless to him.
"Wonder which genius made it?" She mumbled.
"Huh, yeah, I designed it. As my graduation spell, but yeah, they don't know about this. Anyway, I'm veering off the topic, so, you weren't safe there. We had to cut you off. Simple."
"Why?"
"The whole explosion then was planned to take out the headquarters and somehow, your presence stopped it. So, they had to remove you and they planned to get you involved in that murder. Your parents planned everything to keep you safe."
Her distant parents did love her then.
"Who are they?"
"Your enemies."
Made sense. So her enemies had so much power that they could make her leave the magic world.
"Why couldn't you tell me?"
"You are obviously not the brightest bulb sometimes. You were under surveillance and tell me, would you trust your teenage self to do the right thing and stay safe?"
He had a point. Her magic was a havoc then and it was even more manic now. But being the human world limited everything about magic. It was in a way helpful to her.
"But still, you expelled me. In front of everyone."
"Yeah, it doesn't matter. Witches and wizards get expelled every day and come back again the next day. Our academy has got to stop doing that."
He answered with a grin.
It was not the first time Rose wanted to pinch him. But she couldn't. He was her mentor.
Actually, Klint was just thirty now. Not old but capable enough. She chose him as her mentor when he was sixteen years old. He was just a tall kid then.
Looking at the serious faces of other mentors, she thought that a teenager would be easy on her. But no, he was hellish than the other mentors.
Mentor was like a lifelong familiar, friend and family. Apart from your family, mentors were the only ones who you could trust.
"And now you are just some weird dude to me. Not my mentor. You, yourself said so."
Rose could still remember the scene.
The despair, the pain, the unwillingness, and the fear she felt. It was Klint who broke their bond.
She was happy to see his expression turned painful.
"Rose, it had to be done. Also, we didn't break the bond. I'm still your mentor."
"What, but you renounced me in front of the Dean and the Head? And I saw the bond leaving me."
Breaking a bond is painful. Once a bond is broken, you cannot form the same bond with someone else. So, she couldn't have another mentor and he couldn't take another student.
"No, words have powers but bonds cannot be broken by just uttering some words. I left a small part of it and it should have grown to the full level bond now."
How bonds worked, no one really knew but they just followed the flow.
He became his previous serious self. The one she was familiar with. His joking and easygoing persona freaked her out earlier. But now, she felt familiar.
"You should have told me."
"Kid, you never noticed. Why would you have your wand if we all didn't want you? You know, we all hated your wand!"
Her wand buzzed and hit him on his head before coming back to her.
Rose cried.
She didn't cry when she was renounced. She didn't cry when she came to the human world alone. She didn't cry when she felt the night gnawing at her. But she cried when she knew that they cared for her. She wasn't alone like she felt.
He patted her on the back. And her wand combed her hair.
"Your nose is runny. Go wash your face."
Just, like that, he was back to his usual irritating self.
Rose changed and got ready. Their reunion had to wait.
"What? Why are you dressed up?"
"I have a job."
Klint tilted his head in thought.
"That guy, Asher?"
Rose nodded.
"He is indecisive. Likes to wait before making a decision. I don't like him."
"It's okay. He pays me. So I like him."
Klint walked behind her as she was gathering her laptop and purse.
"I can pay too. I have a company here. Want to become the head?"
"Nope. Like you said, I can maintain low there. You are high maintenance and high profile. Let's talk later about other stuff."
Klint watched her leave the apartment. He sighed, put a security spell, and disappeared in a flash. He had never told her about the changes. Like how she had new members in her family.
Rose met Asher in the elevator.
"Good morning, Miss Wyatt!"
"Morning, Boss. How did you sleep?"
"Good, and don't worry about Lydia. She is encouraged by my father's wife to cause trouble. Apparently, Lydia thinks she considers Lydia as a prospective daughter-in-law. So, if you find something, tell me sooner. They can dig holes for me for the inheritance."
Wealthy families have so many troubles.
"Yes, boss."
But something told Rose that she hadn't seen the last of Lydia. She didn't know if she should call her Lydia or Claudia. She would stick to Claudia. She wasn't familiar with Lydia but she knew her when she was Claudia.
Rose followed Asher for her morning briefing.
"I want to talk openly, Miss Wyatt, take a seat."
Asher's office was quiet and relaxing. She could see the sun and the light made her feel extremely content.
"You know Mr. Kell. I don't want you to help me but I want a fair opportunity to cooperate with him. What could be my next step in your opinion?"
Rose almost choked and laughed. Opposing reactions but they felt correct.
"Give him stones and cookies."
Rose smiled when she remembered her conversation with Asher. She had to be there to see Klint's reaction when Asher gave him some stones and cookies. Revenge felt sweet. But hey, he was her mentor, now more dear than before.
And yeah, he did like stones and cookies. Klint liked to collect jewels of all colors so he went stone searching. It was something no one knew but Rose stumbled upon him one day. She didn't tell him but she kept this a secret. And cookies, well, he liked to make them but he was a kitchen killer.
That's why the surprise would be happy and sad for him.
"Miss Wyatt, a parcel for you."
Rose went down to get it.
Rose smiled at the receptionist and took it back to her office.
She had a rule. She shook before opening.
It was a good thing. Otherwise, she wouldn't get the feeler from her magic.
Her immobile wand broke out from the ring she wore today and stood before her in an attack posture.
Danger
Extreme Danger