Chapter one hundred and sixteen

     "I am Sophia Belikova , I believe you wanted to see me."

     The man frowned when he heard that, "What is this Belikova nonsense? You are my granddaughter and as such you are an Usmanov, not a Belikova. As you have already summarized, I am Victor Usmanov but you can just call me grandpa. This is your cousin Natalia and the one standing behind me is my sister and your great aunt Olga. We are all family here so you don't need to be so stiff and formal."

     Before he had even finished speaking, the goth chick who I had just learned was my cousin, stood up and glared at me with her amber colored eyes flashing fiercely, "Grandpa! What are you saying? She is nothing more than a stray dog that uncle had decided to take in, she does not share our blood and she will never be part of our family!"

     Mr. Usmanov didn't like that. He formed a fist with his hand and hit the table in front of him in anger, shutting Natalia up before she continued to spew any more of her poisonous words, "Natalia, hold your tongue. Not only is Sophia a part of our family but she will also be a great asset to the coven."

     At his words, the woman who had been ignoring everything until now finally turned around. Although Mr. Usmanov, who I couldn't really think of as my grandfather, said that she was his sister and my great aunt, she looked young enough to be my sister. She was beautiful to the point that she could probably spark off a war between countries with just her smile. The only thing that made her look even remotely like she was related to Mr Usmanov was the fact that she had the same pale blue eyes which were now looking at me with interest, "She has the gift? Are you sure Victor?"

     "Yes. Kazimir has spoken about it now and then although he refused to tell us anything specific even when I asked him personally. I have also received reports about her from my contacts in the German military. You know how we needed the power of all the covens in your sisterhood to get a handle on things in all our major cities? She took care of Munich, alone."

     Her eyes lit up when she heard that, "That is quite interesting but that still doesn't mean that she is qualified to join our coven and it is not your decision to make even if she was. You have to remember your place Victor."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

     "I was just making a suggestion sister, I would never presume to have any power over your coven."

     After I heard their conversation, I got the gist of what was going on and what it might lead to so I tried to put a stop to it as quickly as possible.

     "Is this why you called me here? If that is so then it has been a wasted trip because I have no interest in joining your coven."

     Natalia, who had sat back down, stood up again and shouted, "How dare you! How dare you reject us!"

     I looked at my cousin incredulously, "I thought you didn't want me to join your family let alone your coven?"

     She turned up her nose and looked at me with disdain, "I don't. What I mean is that we can reject you, you don't get to reject us."

     At this point, I felt that staying here was not going to achieve anything constructive so I decided to leave before I did something regrettable to Natalia's face with my fist.

     "Alrighty then, it has been nice meeting you grandpa. Not so nice meeting you cousin Natalia. Anyhow, I think it is better if I leave now. I do have something urgent I have to get to in England so goodbye everybody, have a nice day."

     I started to back out the way I had come when the fuming Natalia decided to start yapping like an over caffeinated chihuahua again, "You disrespectful bitch! Who gave you permission to leave? Get back in here!"

     As she spoke, a dark slimy looking ball started to form on her palm. I immediately stopped trying to leave and instead took a few steps towards her.

     I had tolerated her outrageous behavior and even stayed silent when she called me a dog but now that she was attacking me , I was no longer going to take any of her bullshit. I waved my hand and disrupted the energy fueling the slimy ball making it disappear before it even had the chance to fully materialize. Natalia stared at her palm with a blank look on her face like she couldn't even process what had happened.

     "I tried to be nice. I tried being civil but I am no longer in the mood to play games with you."