Page 52 of November Reign
I couldn’t help my grin. “Can’t believe I hooked a younger man.”
Our ages didn’t matter. I was only just into my fifties, despite looking about twenty-one. Witch life spans meant I looked thirty years younger than I was. I’dbasically stopped aging when I did the transition spell with Fern and her friends.
Oak was thirty-five and looked about a decade younger, so to most people we appeared to be the same age.
“Like age matters. You look younger than me,” Oak said, mirroring my thoughts.
I bet that once we’re able to go out in public together that we would make a striking pair. There was our height difference for a start, then the contrast of our skin tones. I was as pale as ash and strangely, Oak was a golden oak color. Had his parents done that deliberately? He didn’t speak of them often, and I hated to bring them up. All I knew was that they had died when he was in his twenties.
My mother had vanished after my father’s death, not strong enough to hold her position in the coven once Basil had taken over.
It was pretty common for witches to strike out on their own in new covens and treat them as their family. Unlike shifters or demons, we weren’t closely tied to our parents. Maybe they had it the right way around. If we were closer as families, maybe there wouldn’t be all the power struggles so common in covensor territories.
“Okay, I’m going to text Basil. What do you think of “need more time. Damon’s avoiding me.” Is that enough?”
“Sounds good to me. I really can’t guess what Basil’ll make of it.”
“Me neither. Okay, sent.”
While we waited, I worked on our dinner, a stew that would cook slowly over a few hours. I also made a homemade tomato soup we could have with grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.
Oak’s phone dinged with a reply. “Basil says that’s fine. I’m to keep him informed and he’ll be watching me. He’s heard there’s more training.”
“Wow, Damon moved fast!”
“Let’s just hope this works.”
We spent the rest of the day with lingering touches, secret smiles, and inside jokes. The others joined us for lunch and dinner, but seemed to get that we just wanted to be alone to make the most of the time we had left before we had to pretend we didn’t love each other.
“No! Put power into the punch. Don’t rely on your shield,” Oak yelled at the trainees.
“Damn!” I whispered to Cody, who elbowed me in the gut. There were a couple of witches standing together on his other side who weren’t likely to overhear, yet we had to be careful. “Sorry!”
“I get it,” he mouthed back, his face turned towards me so they couldn’t see.
Keeping my distance from Oak was proving to be incredibly difficult. If I didn’t know how his skin tasted, or how he felt against me, or how soothing his voice was when I was in his arms, then staying clear might have been easy.
Catching us chatting, Oak sent a glare our way. He was much better at acting like there was a rift still between us.
“Fuck!” Aster muttered. “Hate to be on the end of that look. What’s Oak’s beef with Thyme?”
“Heard Thyme took Damon’s side over kicking Oak out. Damon didn’t want him back but felt like he had to take him after the beating Oak took from Basil’s people.” I wasn’t sure of the guy’s name. Still,it impressed me that the rumor mill was working overtime already.
“Well, to be fair to Thyme, he’s stuck between both his brothers there. I heard Thyme feels responsible for Damon growing up in foster care.” Aster was getting bolder, her voice louder.
How did she know so much?
“Can the peanut gallery give it a rest?” Oak barked before turning his back on us to focus on the witch he was teaching.
“Your form is sloppy,” Damon said with an air of authority as he peeled himself off the wall to step into the ring. “No wonder the shifters got the better of you.”
Ouch. I knew this was playacting, but that had to have stung. My first instinct was to step in. Cody took a step back, boxing me in.
“So it wasn’t sheer numbers?” Oak sneered.
Damon tilted his head to the side. “Pretty sure if it’d been me, I would have taken a few down with me.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Oak waved him off, “you’re a superhero. Come teach us, oh wise one.”
