My One and Only (Bewitched and Bewildered #10)(17)

"Their test scores were barely passing," Serenity argued. There was no way Nigel and Neil had the same amount of power as Kendrick.

Kendrick rubbed the back of his neck while Micah chuckled. "I may have taught them how to hide their magic for the exams," he confessed.

Serenity looked to her mate. "You said something similar, about fudging your test scores."

Micah nodded. "Most witches who want to continue to serve as unit warriors have to hide their abilities to get lower scores or they would be contracted out by Storm Keep to earn money for the city. If you have mediocre scores they allow you to remain a warrior since the city is obligated to provide warriors for the units. It's why Leif and Travis were hiding out in Vegas. They accidentally displayed their magic when they prevented that mudslide while visiting home a while ago. The test administrators wouldn't have been fooled. Magnus did everyone a huge favor getting them reassigned back to Noctem Falls and their tests cancelled."

Serenity clenched her teeth in frustration. Instantly Micah was wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close. "What's wrong? What's upset you?"

She looked up at him tears in her eyes. "They barely even tested me because I'm not a full blooded witch. 'Half-breeds' are assessed at two-hundred and fifty years old instead of five hundred years old like full blooded witches. I had half the amount of time to study. They gave me the score they thought I should have. At the time, I fought for every point thinking I had a chance at working for the council, but after I received my score I was informed that although I had potential they were reserving those open positions for other candidates, in other words, you need not apply."

Kendrick nodded sympathetically. "I never did put much faith in their scoring system."

Micah rubbed her back soothingly. "Look at this way love, Kendrick's been sabotaging the system for centuries, that shitty score they gave you is meaningless." As the words tumbled out of his mouth they turned to each other, then to Kendrick who began to whistle and stare up at the ceiling as if he weren't single-handedly responsible for ruining an entire social structure.

Micah chuckled and Serenity wiped her eyes. "In a way I'm glad they turned me down. They initially asked me to act as a low-level secretary in the Magical Academy. I was stubborn and deliberately moved to the Lower City to take the position as the Water Temple head." She exhaled. "Thank the gods for whoever insisted on keeping the temple there, otherwise a lot people would have been denied care. Since it's in the Lower City the temple was hard pressed to fill positions. The placement board thought it was an appropriate assignment for me." She smiled. "It has allowed me to help so many people and has made my life so full that I can't imagine working in the Magical Academy, even if it is in a nicer part of the city."

"You've done a lot of good work, you should be proud," Kendrick said giving her a rare compliment.

"I get to work with Laelia and Radclyffe and I was able to help the boys," she listed.

"Speaking of the boys," Kendrick looked to Micah who took down the soundproof spell. Kendrick picked up his walkie-talkie from the table. "Frick, Frack, report to lab as soon as possible."

"On our way," one of the twins responded.

Kendrick put the walkie-talkie down. "I can never tell them apart over these things."

Serenity smiled. "That was Neil. He usually takes charge and speaks up more than Nigel."

"Of course, you would know," Kendrick said putting his hands on his hips then leaning back to crack his spine.

"We'll leave you to it then," Serenity said before looking up at Micah. "I'd like to go check on Prince Magnus now."

"I can take you," Vivi volunteered. "Rheia can test the vaccine against the pure strain of the virus we got from DeLaFontaine. I'm praying we'll get a reaction we can see."

"I'll be able to help with that." Kendrick said. "My testing is done. We've figured out that it's earth magic in the virus. Now that we know the element, I'm going to have the twins help me stabilize the magic which should prevent it from wiping itself out and make it visible."

Vivi practically sagged in relief. "Thank the gods," she murmured reverently.

As they were leaving the twins were jogging up to the door. They both dropped a kiss on her cheek before going to meet with Kendrick.

"They are good boys," Vivi said once they were heading toward the prince's quarters.

"That they are, despite their rough start in life. You have no idea how much it means to me to see them so happy." Serenity felt like calling the Magical Academy gloating that the three of them found a place where they belonged, even with low test scores.

Vivi opened the door and walked in the same way that Adriel had. "You don't knock?" she asked.

Vivi shrugged. "We're kinda beyond knocking at this point. Why pull Sebastian away from whatever he's doing?"

"I appreciate that more that you know," Sebastian said walking in from the dining room wiping his hands on a towel.

"We're about to check on Magnus," Vivi said.

Vivi looked around. "Where's Meryn?"

Sebastian chuckled then coughed into his hand to hide his mirth. "Since the twins had to report to Kendrick in the lab, Master Pip decided to go visit Master Avery in the office. That left Meryn alone to keep Magnus company."