Page 30 of November Reign
Nothing was said for a long time. I wasn’t sure if I should break the stalemate. As our leader and High Witch, Damon should be taking charge, yet he was the problem. His behavior had put the entire coven at risk. If he had been caught, or killed, we would be vulnerable.
Damon cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. Going off was stupid, I was just...”
“Bored?” Cody laughed. “Yeah, me too, but it doesn’t make what we did any better.” He clung tightly to Toth. “We needed to blow off steam, sure. We just went about it the wrong way.”
“Bullshit!” Damon’s frown made him look so much like Basil it made my stomach lurch with nausea. “We were perfectly safe. Cody could have portaled us out of there if we’d been attacked.”
“What about the humans?” I asked, sitting forward on my chair, suddenly furious. “What would they have done while the club was filled with witches gunning for you? Would they have been safe in the demon realm from the magic witches were throwing to get to you?”
“I—“ Damon had a deer in the headlights look that would have been amusing under other circumstances.
“Did you know for sure that Cody would be able to portal under such pressure? What if one of the witches put up a blocker? Did you have another way to escape then?”
Cody paled. Toth glared at Damon and pulled his mate closer. I was glad that expression wasn’t directed at me.
“I see I went about explaining this to you incorrectly if you still believe what you did wasn’t a problem,” Mori said, turning for the first time towards his mate. “I was so focused on your safety, I didn’t even questionthe pressure you were putting on my son or the danger to humans.”
Mori ran a hand through his hair. “The continued pack aggressions have done nothing to ease tensions between supernatural species and humans. A witch battle in a nightclub on Halloween would have undone decades of progress.”
“I don’t care about the humans,” Toth said flatly. “All I care about is that Cody was in danger. His control of his demon magic is good, but he is untested under pressure. He shouldn’t have been in that position.”
Toth speaking so much was strange to me. He wasn’t done, either.
“None of us want you locked up, unable to have fun. You should have talked to us so we could make it safe for you to cut loose.”
Thyme jumped in to be peacemaker, seeing Damon gearing up for a fight. “I think we should just draw a line under it. We need to communicate things better. It’s the only way for us to all live together.”
“You might not want to live with me once I tell you something.” Better to rip the bandaid off. Everyone was still raw after Halloween but dragging this out was out of the question. There was no way to hide the tension between me and Thyme.
“What? Has something happened between you two?” Cody turned hopeful looks on us. Thyme shifted uncomfortably.
“No. That’s not it. I just... Look, there’s things I’m not proud of and they are coming back to haunt me.”
“Okay, so we’ll deal with whatever.” Damon gave a careless shrug, automatically moving closer to Mori who accepted his mate by wrapping an arm around him. Whatever was going on with them looked to be done.
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly as I mentally prepared to detonate my entire life.
“Before everything started with Basil, while he was Head Witch of the coven, we were in a relationship, of sorts.”
“Of sorts?” Damon’s eyes narrowed, again reminding me of Basil.
“We were sleeping together. He wanted it kept quiet. I think he was still in talks with other covens to form alliances through marriage.”
When I thought I was in love with Basil, it had stung he was still looking for a spouse. I wasn’t even on the shortlist, despite being powerful in my own right. No connections, no family name of worth. Basil was a fucking snob and only cared about power. If he could have kept me on the side to fuck, I think he would have.
“When did it end?” Damon’s tone was low, dangerous.
“When he was removed as High Witch. If you listen to him though, he still thinks he owns me.”
“What d’you mean?”
This was starting to feel like an inquisition. It was a struggle to keep my voice even, not to show my growing frustration. Damon had every right to ask these questions.
“He’s still texting and calling me—“
“How? You’ve changed your number three times already!” Parker looked affronted.
“I think someone is sharing Oak’s number with Basil,” Thyme answered.
