Page 51 of November Reign
“We make it look like Damon doesn’t trust Oak,” Parker said. “Create lots of opportunities for Basil’s spies to see the distance there. Then Oak can ask for more time to get Damon to lower his guard.”
“Yes,” Gregoris agreed. The demon was like Toth, he didn’t speak much, though everything out of his mouth was worth hearing. “If there is no opportunity for Oak to steal Damon away, then Basil will be forced to be patient. We should also keep the house busy so there are no chances for Basil to attempt to get in himself.”
“How do we do that?” I asked. The idea was solid. I could see how a busy house would prevent Basil from trying to get to Damon himself. It would also give his spies a chance to see Oak struggle to get near Damon.
“We offer training to the coven to fight against the shifters. We can see if the pride will let us borrow some of their members to spar with. Sweetwater is locked down tight because of the aviary.” Damon’s face was thoughtful. “We’ll have to play at disagreeing on every decision.”
“Yeah, that’ll work. I can text him telling him you’ve been impatient over how long I took to heal. Tell him you’ve been avoiding me.”
“There’s another thing,” Damon looked apprehensive. He shared a look with Mori who nodded.
“What?” I glanced at Oak, who was staring at Damon, a resigned expression on his face.
“You two cannot be seen together,” Damon finally said. “Basil will lose his shit if Oak is seen with someone else. He’ll go nuclear when he finds out he’s with you.”
My jaw dropped. “Seriously? I finally get my man and now I can’t have him?”
Cody giggled, making Toth relax. I was pretty sure Gregoris cracked a smile while his mate, Parker, was full on grinning. Damon and Mori, though, they stayed serious.
It was Oak who answered his question. “Only while others are in the house. Once they are gone—“
“And we’ve scanned the place,” Parker interrupted. I would have said he was paranoid, but given his former line of work, perhaps he had a right to that. “Once we’ve checked there are no bugs to listen in, then you can do whatever you do that makes Thyme make that noise.
I flushed. “Fuck off.”
Parker blew me a kiss, which made Gregoris growl and pull him close.
“So we have a plan?” Damon checked in. We all nodded. “Cool. Me and Mori might have to make a trip to the demon realm later in the week, but we’ll only be gone a day at most.” The pair shared secretive smiles.
“Even better. Can’t steal you if I can’t find you,” Oak teased. Damon only raised an eyebrow. “What? Too soon?”
Parker laughed. “We’re going to have so much fun with this.”
The Plan
Thyme
Satisfied with our plan,we left the room for the kitchen. Over the last few days, our meals had been pretty basic, the stir-fry aside. I wanted to get into the kitchen and make something hearty. I think I needed the distraction that cooking gave me. Plus, I had to make sure the others hadn’t ruined my kitchen. Yes, I was claiming it as my domain.
Oak followed closely behind me. I went to the fridge to check out what we had, and he crowded close, then pressed a kiss to the top of my head. In his arms, I felt so safe and secure.
“Better make the most of being able to do this,” he grumbled. It was rather cute.
“If it buys us time to form an attack on Basil, then it’s just what we have to do.” I tried to sound reasonable, though I felt irritated by the situation. My brother really was the bane of my life.
Both of us, me and Damon, had lost so much to Basil. Damon, his mother, me, my best friend. Basil had taken Toth’s freedom and tried to take Cody’s life.Damon had lost his childhood in the foster system. He’d grown up without learning about his magical heritage. He’d lost years of magic training, of love from his family and coven. All because Basil had wanted to lead the coven. Then it wasn’t good enough just to lead. He had to go a step further and cause harm to the shifters. His plans for the demons made me sick.
“I still hate it.” Oak backed off, taking a seat at the bar to watch me cook. I assembled all the ingredients under his watchful eye.
“Me too.” I shrugged. “Anything for peace. We’ll have nighttime.” I added a layer of suggestion to my tone. Oak would be sharing my bed every night. There was no chance I was going back to sleeping alone.
“Thought I’d grown out of sneaking around. I don’t want to hide what you are to me, Thyme. I want everyone to know.”
It was such a relief he felt that way. I didn’t particularly want to hide our relationship, either.
“What are we?”
“Boyfriends. Partners. Whatever word suits best. Just you and me. No one else.”
