Page 20 of November Reign
“How are you going to find that?” I wondered aloud.
“Social media.”
I looked at Barr, who seemed to know even less than I did.
Oak sighed. “I forget you’re old,” he joked, softening around me for the first time in days. “Parker is great at computers, but he forgets about social media a lot of the time. The humans love to take pics of everything. I bet we’ll find the hottest party and Damon will be front and center.”
“Barr, could you get me some fresh rosemary from the pots in the greenhouse, please?”
The Hellhound nodded and left the room. He seemed happier now we had a plan in action. I felt terrible for him. Mori and Gregoris were putting too much on his young shoulders. They should have had another guard, but since they thought Damon and Parker were going to be safe at the orchard with Toth, they hadn’t bothered asking anyone else.
“You know we can’t hide this from the others, right?” Oak leaned in his chair, staring at the ceiling, probably wishing this was just a bad dream.
“Of course. I get why they did it. They’re all so young and the last few months…”
“Have been a shit show. Still, this could be dangerous. I just wanted to check if we’re on the same page.”
“I just want to find them safe and sound. We can deal with the rest later.”
Wayward Students
Oak
The words Zinna haduttered to me in that last phone call ran circles in my head even as I was denied the perfect opportunity to finally tell Thyme the truth about me. I was going to unload all my secrets and hope for the best up until Barr appeared and ruined our peaceful movie night.
What better time would I have had to tell him everything? No one else was in the house. Thyme actually wanted to spend time with me. It was ideal.
Of course, Damon had to ruin it. If something was going to happen, it was going to be Damon’s fault. It was like he had a special radar for quiet moments and just had to get attention somehow. Since it was a less than savory personality trait, he must have gotten it from Basil, who took after their father more than Thyme did.
“I’ll get my laptop and meet you in the kitchen,” I said before leaving the room. I needed a moment to breathe without someone watching me. For one second I’d been so close to blurtingit all out.
My room was exactly as I left it. I almost hoped for Hela to be there to greet me with her adorable chirrups and purrs. The comfort she gave me would have been welcome at that moment.
When I returned to the kitchen, Barr was handing some fresh smelling rosemary over to Thyme, who was finishing cleaning up after himself and storing the popcorn away.
“Maybe we’ll find them quickly and have time for that movie later,” Thyme said with a sigh. Clearly, he’d been looking forward to a quiet night as much as I had.
“I’m sorry for spoiling your night!” Barr twisted his fingers, his tail hanging mournfully.
“Hey, this isn’t your fault.” I wrapped an arm around him, feeling bad this was all landing on his shoulders. They really hadn’t thought about the Hellhound at all, which I didn’t get since Damon was so friendly with Barr.
“Why didn’t they take you?” The question just slipped out.
Barr flinched. “They, uh…”
“They asked you already, didn’t they? You said no.” Thyme gave Barr a sympathetic smile.
“Yes. I knew Mori would be upset and…”
“He employs you. Damon would have forgotten that. At the end of the day, he’s Mori’s chosen mate. He gets to do things someone in your position can’t.” Thymewinced. “Mori would have been furious with you if you went along with it.”
Thyme glanced at me, his meaning unclear. He raised his brows in Barr’s direction. So something to do with Barr then. What was he wanting me to do?
Eventually, he sighed and pulled Barr into a hug. “We’ll make sure they know you did what was best.”
The demons would absolutely take it out on poor Barr if we didn’t speak up for him. They were irrational when it came to their mates.
“Of course. You did the best thing coming to us first. The demons would have made a mess, drawing more attention to Damon, Cody and Parker. We can just narrow the area down with a spell, then do some digging. With any luck, they’ll be back in the demon realm and with their mates in an hour.”
