Page 25 of November Reign
He took a long drink of his bourbon, finishing the glass. Grasping the bottle, he inclined it my way to ask if I wanted a top up. Fuck it, I needed to get drunk. I felt too many things for being sober. I nodded. He poured a generous amount into my nearly empty glass before refilling his.
“There were witches who support Basil in that club. Half an hour longer and Basil could have been there himself. None of them are ready to take Basil on in a magical fight.”
“I know. I just wish there was a way we could have gotten them all back without creating drama. Mori was pissed and I’ve never really seen him that way. I can’t imagine Toth’s face right now. Honestly, I’m scared to see him angry!”
A huffed laugh escaped Oak. “You just know Gregoris is the one to watch out for. The demon has managed Mori for decades. He’s got endless patience, except when it comes to Parker.”
I chuckled. “Right? They do forget their mates aren’t weak, though. We’ve forgotten it.” My thoughts circled back to earlier, when I was wondering if we were just as bad as their mates, making them long for some freedom.
“Is it partly our fault they did this?” The bourbon was going to my head if every thought was escaping.
“Are they adults or children?” Oak fired back. His dark eyes flashed with anger. “They could have just asked. We would have worked something out.”
“Would we?”
Oak’s eyes landed on me. “Mori would do literally anything for Damon. He would have bought out a club and filled it with security if necessary. There’s nothing to say they couldn’t have partied it up in the demon realm. Damon just wanted a danger fix.”
“You’re right.”
We lapsed into silence for a while until Oak laughed.
“He dressed up as Basil! Can you believe his gall?”
Just picturing Damon’s costume had me joining in on the laughter. Hopefully, Basil got to see it.
A couple of hours later, we had demolished half the liquor cabinet. Glasses and empty bottles littered the small table, with the excess spilling onto the floor. Not the only spill, either. I was pretty sure there was a puddle of what I hoped was whisky on the tile. Either way, I was not cleaning that up.
It was safe to say we were both pretty wasted.
“Gah!” Oak tossed his phone aside.
“Damon still texting?” I said, maybe slurred. Who knows? I wasn’t even sure Oak was listening.
“Not anymore. Out of battery.”
My little brother had shared his feelings and then some apologies later, likely helped by Mori. Didn’t make it right.
Oak’s head thumped back against the shelf behind him, exposing the long line of his throat and prominent Adam’s apple. I wanted to kiss, lick, and bite it.
Before I knew what I was doing, I was getting off my seat. I slapped some sense into myself and sat my butt back down again. Oak didn’t notice, thankfully, in a world of his own.
He opened his eyes. They fixed on me, examining me, making me feel truly seen for the first time in a long time. I liked the way I felt under his gaze. Desired.
“You’re so gorgeous, Thyme.” He let out a long, heartfelt sigh. “I wish… I wish I met you first. Then I could look at you without seeing him.”
Him. He meant Basil, right? Why did he wish that? Was he always picturing Basil when I was in front of him?
“I wish… I could purge him. Then it would just be you.”
Purge?
My sluggish brain finally put it all together. Basil. Oak had known Basil first. He looked at me like he wanted me, but Basil came into his head then, because he’d seen Basil that way once, right?
“Were… were you and Basil a thing?” I finally blurted, both sick with anxiety and excited to have a piece of the puzzle that made up Oak.
He snorted. “A thing? No, I was his casual fuck. His dirty secret. His lover undercover. Until I wasn’t.” Oak’s voice was laced with so much bitterness and pain.
At some point, Oak had loved Basil. Maybe he still did under all the hurt he felt.
