Page 29 of November Reign
“Just for tonight, okay? I’ll stay with you just for tonight.”
Promising more was foolish. I knew better. There would be a time soon where I would have to choose: my coven, my little brother, or Oak. I didn’t know if I loved him enough to give it all up.
The Others
Oak
Despite what he said,Thyme stayed by my side, slipping into my bed each night after my confession. We spent our days circling each other, both of us tending to coven tasks or just wandering around the now empty mansion pretending we were cleaning it.
Neither of us had heard from the others since we had dropped them in the demon realm with Mori. Not even a text after Damon’s initial apology, which pissed me off. We had rushed to find them, keeping them from certain harm, and they couldn’t be bothered to say thank you or tell us they were okay. It had all gone quiet on their end.
Thyme avoided me during the day wherever possible. He left me a plate at lunch and dinner, but otherwise kept out of my way until I went to bed.
There was plenty to do. At least that’s how I excused my behavior, since I was just as bad. I spent hours in the gym working out my frustrations, trying to give Thyme space instead of clearing the air with him. Thenthere were the endless coven disputes and plans to put in place.
Now that Basil was resurfacing again after weeks of very little happening, it was making the coven members anxious. Damon being MIA wasn’t helping at all. Having a barely trained Head Witch was difficult at the best of times, having him vanish without a word, well, let’s just say he wasn’t winning any popularity awards.
The stresses of the day were only okay because of Thyme. When he came to me at night, it was like I could finally take a full breath again. Each night, I hoped he would come and wrap his arms around me and let me know everything was okay. With him beside me, it was.
I wasn’t fooling myself. Things were going to get worse before they got better. Thyme was right, I had to tell the coven, to admit to Damon and Mori it was my fault they were shot at. People were going to hate me, for good reason. They might even want me to leave the coven.
Could I give it up? Live as a lone witch? I wouldn’t be able to go far, I’d miss seeing my niece, Sage, grow up if I moved away. Given how difficult the pregnancy was, she might be my only nibling. Missing her growing up was out of the question.
Instead of focusing on all the coven stuff, I thought about Thyme instead. Even with him cuddling me every night, I knew things weren’t good with him, either. After my confession, I felt unburdened, only because I’d pushed that onto him. Now he had to deal with it. I felt gutted about how I’d gone about telling him about his brother. The fact that he hadn’t asked any questions clued me into just now bothered he was about it. If he was anything like Basil, then his brother was a sore spot for him. All their lives, the brothers had been pitted against each other. I knew I’d hurt him badly with my confession.
Didn’t mean that my foolish heart wasn’t hoping for more each time we curled around each other. All through the night we would cling on, until dawn rose and Thyme would slip quietly from my room.
We didn’t speak during the hours of the night. I’m not sure either of us slept much, only getting a couple of hours when exhaustion took us. If we did happen to be in the same room during the day, we kept things to house or coven business, that was it. I could see his questions eating at him.
As much as I hated this holding pattern, I knew it was preferable to the storm that was coming when the others returned.
The ward alarms chimed with their warning. A portal was being opened in the house.
“Honey, we’re home!” Damon’s familiar voice called just as Thyme dismissed the alert.
They all were huddled together in the entryway. Cody stood holding Toth’s hand. Parker and Gregoris were turned towards each other, their bodies touching shoulder to hip. Damon and Mori, well, I could see the discord there. They weren’t touching, their bodies telegraphing their discomfort with the distance between them.
“Where’s Barr?” Thyme asked, noticing their missing member before I did. All of the demons could open a portal between our world and where the demons lived. Barr, being a Hellhound, could open portals within realms, making it a convenient way to travel.
There were some glances exchanged with speaking looks. The air prickled with tension. Mori broke it.
“Barr requested some time off. He’s going to visit Jorgoth for a time. I made sure he had his phone on him, and he’ll come if there’s an emergency.”
Mori looked at Damon with a frown. “Barr’s actions prevented any harm coming to my mate, his brother, and my son. While my initial response was one of anger, your warning was enough to make sense and put the blame where it really lay.”
“So I can message him and check to see that he’s alright?” Thyme asked with some relief.
“I’ll give you his number,” Parker offered.
We stood about awkwardly for a while, the atmosphere thickening with the growing tension.
“Should we sit and talk?” Cody looked at Toth for support. The quiet demon just nodded his agreement.
I followed the pair as they led us to the living room and took one of the love seats. Thyme took an armchair, sadness on his face.
“We didn’t want to tell your mates—“ he began.
“You had to. I understand.” Cody smiled sympathetically.
