Page 3 of November Reign
I watched Damon drink. “Do you need to eat? I can get a—“
“Stop babying him!” Oak repeated, getting into my face.
Barr was there to muscle him back with a low, rumbling growl.
The Hellhound, and Damon’s biggest defender, had taken to me. It was sort of sweet how he often acted as a buffer between me and Oak during these training sessions. He and Damon were close friends, closer than I was to my brother. The two of them spent time training Barr how to fight better, mostly to ease Damon’s guilty conscience after leaving Barr outside alone while Basil was attacking the old coven house. Barr, unlike Damon, had improved greatly.
A lot of it, I feared, was that Damon was spectacular at combat. He knew several fighting styles and was proficient in weapons. He never wentanywhere without at least one gun and a knife hidden on his person. Damon relied on that a little too heavily, considering he was going to be fighting a witch. One who had used magic his entire life and loved to instill fear into others.
“Hey, it’s fine,” Damon soothed Barr, wrapping an arm around him and drawing him into the circle he was supposed to be working in. “These two just need to fuck and get it over with.” Barr reddened as Oak practically launched himself away from me with a look of disgust.
“Careful, you’ll hurt my feelings,” I tried to tease. It fell flat, the rejection stinging. Why was he such a jerk to me sometimes? He could be fun, just rarely around me.
With Damon and Barr both glaring at him, Oak muttered, “sorry,” actually looking genuinely apologetic, then turned away.
“Can we stop training today? I want to take Barr out on the ATVs and check the wards.” Damon knew I was going to cave so hard, despite what Oak said. Why was he so determined to make my life more difficult?
It was Oak who gave into him, though. “Go. Do whatever. We need a full day tomorrow. Leave the pup to watch over your mate.”
Damon flinched when Oak used the word pup to describe Barr. He was really protective of theHellhound, given that Barr didn’t have a fully human guise. Barr always had his wolf-like ears on display, his tail out. He was covered in fur. There was no mistaking him for a human like we could with Cody, who was half demon, half witch.
For his part, Barr didn’t react. Instead he turned to me with such a hopeful expression, wanting final approval.
“Fine. Like Oak says, we need you to really commit to training, Damon.”
The pair left with Damon making false promises to devote the next day to his magic. I could practically taste the lies.
“Why’d you let him go?” I couldn’t help but ask Oak.
He paused in packing the training materials, spell books, sand, clay, and crystals into a bag. I really thought he wasn’t going to answer me.
“We both know we can’t get him to do anything he doesn’t want to do. He’d have only dug his heels in and wouldn’t have learned a damn thing.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” He was. Damon was as stubborn as a mule when he wanted to be.
Oak turned, frustration written on every line of his gorgeous body. He closed the distance between us until he was so close I had to crane my neck to look up at him. There was barely any room between us. Theproximity of his muscular body picked up my pulse until it was hammering in my ears.
“Then why do you let him get away with it? You’re his brother, for fuck’s sake! He respects you. If you actually pulled your finger out of your ass and spoke to him, he’d put the work in he sorely needs!”
Damn, Oak was hot when he was angry, which was pretty much any time he was around me recently.
“Hey! That’s—“
“He’s backsliding. I’ve seen no progress this week. If anything, his control is worse than it was before. He’s lost interest in using magic except when he’s on those fucking ATVs or messing around with Barr.”
“But—“
“And that’s another thing. The Hellhound has to stay away from training. You need to speak to them both. He’s too quick to step in the minute Damon struggles.”
“I—“
Whatever Oak saw on my face, he clearly didn’t like.
“Fuck! I’m sorry, Thyme. I just—“
He made a noise of disgust, spun on his heel and stalked out.
Who knows how long I stood there idly tidying the training room, stuck in my thoughts. The room was likely originally supposed to be a ballroom for the fancy parties we didn’t hold. The floor was parquet andthere was a glittering chandelier overhead. Light from it made pretty patterns on the ceiling.
