November Reign (Northarbor Coven #3)

12. The Others

The Others

Oak

Despite what he said, Thyme stayed by my side, slipping into my bed each night after my confession. We spent our days circling each other, both of us tending to coven tasks or just wandering around the now empty mansion pretending we were cleaning it.

Neither of us had heard from the others since we had dropped them in the demon realm with Mori. Not even a text after Damon’s initial apology, which pissed me off. We had rushed to find them, keeping them from certain harm, and they couldn’t be bothered to say thank you or tell us they were okay. It had all gone quiet on their end.

Thyme avoided me during the day wherever possible. He left me a plate at lunch and dinner, but otherwise kept out of my way until I went to bed.

There was plenty to do. At least that’s how I excused my behavior, since I was just as bad. I spent hours in the gym working out my frustrations, trying to give Thyme space instead of clearing the air with him. Then there were the endless coven disputes and plans to put in place.

Now that Basil was resurfacing again after weeks of very little happening, it was making the coven members anxious. Damon being MIA wasn’t helping at all. Having a barely trained Head Witch was difficult at the best of times, having him vanish without a word, well, let’s just say he wasn’t winning any popularity awards.

The stresses of the day were only okay because of Thyme. When he came to me at night, it was like I could finally take a full breath again. Each night, I hoped he would come and wrap his arms around me and let me know everything was okay. With him beside me, it was.

I wasn’t fooling myself. Things were going to get worse before they got better. Thyme was right, I had to tell the coven, to admit to Damon and Mori it was my fault they were shot at. People were going to hate me, for good reason. They might even want me to leave the coven.

Could I give it up? Live as a lone witch? I wouldn’t be able to go far, I’d miss seeing my niece, Sage, grow up if I moved away. Given how difficult the pregnancy was, she might be my only nibling. Missing her growing up was out of the question .

Instead of focusing on all the coven stuff, I thought about Thyme instead. Even with him cuddling me every night, I knew things weren’t good with him, either. After my confession, I felt unburdened, only because I’d pushed that onto him. Now he had to deal with it. I felt gutted about how I’d gone about telling him about his brother. The fact that he hadn’t asked any questions clued me into just now bothered he was about it. If he was anything like Basil, then his brother was a sore spot for him. All their lives, the brothers had been pitted against each other. I knew I’d hurt him badly with my confession.

Didn’t mean that my foolish heart wasn’t hoping for more each time we curled around each other. All through the night we would cling on, until dawn rose and Thyme would slip quietly from my room.

We didn’t speak during the hours of the night. I’m not sure either of us slept much, only getting a couple of hours when exhaustion took us. If we did happen to be in the same room during the day, we kept things to house or coven business, that was it. I could see his questions eating at him.

As much as I hated this holding pattern, I knew it was preferable to the storm that was coming when the others returned.

The ward alarms chimed with their warning. A portal was being opened in the house.

“Honey, we’re home!” Damon’s familiar voice called just as Thyme dismissed the alert.

They all were huddled together in the entryway. Cody stood holding Toth’s hand. Parker and Gregoris were turned towards each other, their bodies touching shoulder to hip. Damon and Mori, well, I could see the discord there. They weren’t touching, their bodies telegraphing their discomfort with the distance between them.

“Where’s Barr?” Thyme asked, noticing their missing member before I did. All of the demons could open a portal between our world and where the demons lived. Barr, being a Hellhound, could open portals within realms, making it a convenient way to travel.

There were some glances exchanged with speaking looks. The air prickled with tension. Mori broke it.

“Barr requested some time off. He’s going to visit Jorgoth for a time. I made sure he had his phone on him, and he’ll come if there’s an emergency. ”

Mori looked at Damon with a frown. “Barr’s actions prevented any harm coming to my mate, his brother, and my son. While my initial response was one of anger, your warning was enough to make sense and put the blame where it really lay.”

“So I can message him and check to see that he’s alright?” Thyme asked with some relief.

“I’ll give you his number,” Parker offered.

We stood about awkwardly for a while, the atmosphere thickening with the growing tension.

“Should we sit and talk?” Cody looked at Toth for support. The quiet demon just nodded his agreement.

I followed the pair as they led us to the living room and took one of the love seats. Thyme took an armchair, sadness on his face.

“We didn’t want to tell your mates—“ he began.

“You had to. I understand.” Cody smiled sympathetically.

Nothing was said for a long time. I wasn’t sure if I should break the stalemate. As our leader and High Witch, Damon should be taking charge, yet he was the problem. His behavior had put the entire coven at risk. If he had been caught, or killed, we would be vulnerable.

Damon cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. Going off was stupid, I was just... ”

“Bored?” Cody laughed. “Yeah, me too, but it doesn’t make what we did any better.” He clung tightly to Toth. “We needed to blow off steam, sure. We just went about it the wrong way.”

“Bullshit!” Damon’s frown made him look so much like Basil it made my stomach lurch with nausea. “We were perfectly safe. Cody could have portaled us out of there if we’d been attacked.”

“What about the humans?” I asked, sitting forward on my chair, suddenly furious. “What would they have done while the club was filled with witches gunning for you? Would they have been safe in the demon realm from the magic witches were throwing to get to you?”

“I—“ Damon had a deer in the headlights look that would have been amusing under other circumstances.

“Did you know for sure that Cody would be able to portal under such pressure? What if one of the witches put up a blocker? Did you have another way to escape then?”

Cody paled. Toth glared at Damon and pulled his mate closer. I was glad that expression wasn’t directed at me.

“I see I went about explaining this to you incorrectly if you still believe what you did wasn’t a problem,” Mori said, turning for the first time towards his mate. “I was so focused on your safety, I didn’t even question the pressure you were putting on my son or the danger to humans.”

Mori ran a hand through his hair. “The continued pack aggressions have done nothing to ease tensions between supernatural species and humans. A witch battle in a nightclub on Halloween would have undone decades of progress.”

“I don’t care about the humans,” Toth said flatly. “All I care about is that Cody was in danger. His control of his demon magic is good, but he is untested under pressure. He shouldn’t have been in that position.”

Toth speaking so much was strange to me. He wasn’t done, either.

“None of us want you locked up, unable to have fun. You should have talked to us so we could make it safe for you to cut loose.”

Thyme jumped in to be peacemaker, seeing Damon gearing up for a fight. “I think we should just draw a line under it. We need to communicate things better. It’s the only way for us to all live together.”

“You might not want to live with me once I tell you something.” Better to rip the bandaid off. Everyone was still raw after Halloween but dragging this out was out of the question. There was no way to hide the tension between me and Thyme .

“What? Has something happened between you two?” Cody turned hopeful looks on us. Thyme shifted uncomfortably.

“No. That’s not it. I just... Look, there’s things I’m not proud of and they are coming back to haunt me.”

“Okay, so we’ll deal with whatever.” Damon gave a careless shrug, automatically moving closer to Mori who accepted his mate by wrapping an arm around him. Whatever was going on with them looked to be done.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly as I mentally prepared to detonate my entire life.

“Before everything started with Basil, while he was Head Witch of the coven, we were in a relationship, of sorts.”

“Of sorts?” Damon’s eyes narrowed, again reminding me of Basil.

“We were sleeping together. He wanted it kept quiet. I think he was still in talks with other covens to form alliances through marriage.”

When I thought I was in love with Basil, it had stung he was still looking for a spouse. I wasn’t even on the shortlist, despite being powerful in my own right. No connections, no family name of worth. Basil was a fucking snob and only cared about power. If he could have kept me on the side to fuck, I think he would have .

“When did it end?” Damon’s tone was low, dangerous.

“When he was removed as High Witch. If you listen to him though, he still thinks he owns me.”

“What d’you mean?”

This was starting to feel like an inquisition. It was a struggle to keep my voice even, not to show my growing frustration. Damon had every right to ask these questions.

“He’s still texting and calling me—“

“How? You’ve changed your number three times already!” Parker looked affronted.

“I think someone is sharing Oak’s number with Basil,” Thyme answered.

“You knew?” Damon’s face reddened with anger.

“Found out after the club on Halloween.”

Damon calmed. “So he’s still calling you?” I nodded. “Do you answer him?”

“Not the calls. Well one, but only because he threatened us. Otherwise not since...”

“Since?”

“The night Mori was shot. It was my fault. Basil called and stupidly, I answered. He heard River tell me which rooms he’d put you in.”

Gregoris went still, fury in his eyes. Parker held onto his arm, preventing him from doing anything. “That was your fault? ”

“Yes.” I had to get it out. “I’ve carried around the guilt all these months. It was stupid to answer him. I should have ignored the call. He just... Has a way of getting under my skin. He’d been messaging me all day...” I trailed off, realizing I was just giving excuses.

“I’m sorry, Mori.”

Mori paused, whispering something to Damon, who kept shaking his head as if he was refusing to acknowledge my apology despite Mori’s muttered encouragement. It eased my guilt some knowing the truth was out there and Mori didn’t appear to blame me.

Damon pulled away from his mate and had a look of someone readying themselves to do something they really didn’t want to do. He took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. I waited patiently for my punishment. Damon wouldn’t let Mori being shot slide.

“No. I’m sorry, we can’t have you here, Oak. Once the coven finds out, they’ll never trust you. How can we be sure you aren’t an inside man? First Mori then Halloween. It’s awfully convenient that you spotted one of Basil’s people at the club. Did you tell them where we were?”

“Hey!” Thyme sat up straighter, apparently ready to launch to my defense. “We didn’t know which club you were in for sure. ”

“Still, it looks bad.” Damon exchanged a look with his friends before meeting my eyes again. “I think you should leave for a while. Just until we can be sure. When we know whose side you’re really on, you can return to the house, if you want.”

“Alright.” I’d been prepared for this. “Just give me half an hour to get my stuff.”

My gaze strayed to Thyme, wondering what he would do. He looked devastated. “I–I’m staying here.” His eyes filled with tears. “Sorry.”

Thyme muttered spell words to speed his steps and fled from the room.

I hadn’t truly expected him to give up the coven and his brother, yet it still felt like I had a knife shoved into my gut.