Page 97 of Black Willow Witch
Reena shifted in her seat, cursing beneath her breath. ‘That they came to you doesn’t necessarily follow that they would betray me.’
‘Why? Because they’re family and friends?’ Emberlyn snorted. ‘Gill, Dez and their kids are my family – look how they treat me. If people want something bad enough, things like loyalty, love and honor can fly out the window. Aren’t there peopleyoutrampled over in your effort to rise to the position of High Priestess?’
Reena hesitated. ‘I take your point,’ she finally mumbled. ‘Did your grandmother ever say who she thought might be part of the faction?’
Emberlyn shook her head. ‘Millicent didn’t care about coven issues unless they impacted her.’
‘When I wanted to be voted in as High Priestess, I considered challenging her to prove my worth to the coven. But I knew I would lose. Another idea I had was to drive her out of town. But, again, I knew I’d fail.’ Reena paused. ‘I tell you this because whoever wants my position may think of doing the same to you. Unlike me, they may be willing to take the risk of losing. They’ve taken plenty of other risks so far.’
That much was certainly true. ‘You like to claim the right to punish your witches yourself. I’m going to be clear to you right now that if any of them take the risks you just mentioned, I’ll handle itmyway. And if I were you, I wouldn’t retaliate against me.’
Reena let out a soft snort. ‘The warning is not necessary. You think I’m not aware that you’re more powerful than I am? Much as it vexes me, I’m unable to deny it.’
‘And yet, you thought to take the manor from me the very night it chose me.’
‘It was an act born of anger and desperation. Though I didn’t realize quite how powerful you are until that night. I knew then that I had no chance of taking the house from you by force, so I tried talking you round. It became clear that you wouldn’t part with the manor. And when your family’s attempt to invalidate the will failed, I accepted the situation. If I were to challenge you, I would lose – and look weak. A witch of my status can never afford to look weak.’
Emberlyn hadn’t thought she’d say it, she really hadn’t . . . but she had the honest feeling that the woman across from her genuinely meant her no further harm. Not that she now thought of Reena as anything close to an ally. This truce was situational, and it wasn’t likely to last. But it at least meant that she had one less person coming at herfor now.
‘I’ll give you the names of those who came to me looking for the kind of magickal aid that you’d consider unethical. I adviseyou strongly to look closely atallof them. By that, I don’t mean question them. I mean watch them. Monitor their activities. Even follow them, if necessary. Feed false information, set traps, don’t share your suspicions with others. Trust no one, because they will have infiltrated your inner circle. You’ll have at least one spy in your camp for sure.’
Sighing, Reena rubbed her temple. ‘It’s ironic that, right now, I trust you more than I do my own people.’
‘You don’t trust me, but you trust that I don’t have my eye on your position. That makes me no threat to your status quo. You just sadly can’t say the same about those who’ve sworn fealty to you.’ And wasn’t that a bitch?
‘Are you going to keep glaring at my legs?’
Ripper forced his gaze upward to meet the pale-hazel eyes staring at him in mild exasperation. ‘Not your legs, your pants.’
Emberlyn’s brow pinched. ‘Why?’
‘I have an issue with them.’
‘What’s that?’
‘They hide your legs from me.’
She blinked. ‘You talk as if it’s their motive. Like my pants are purposely inconveniencing you.’
‘Feels that way.’
She rolled her eyes and turned back to the football game. Her tongue took a dainty lick of the ice cream he’d nabbed for her at halftime. His dick twitched in envy, so easy for her it was almost embarrassing.
Their sides were all but plastered together, since there wasn’t much empty space on the bleachers, but he was perfectly fine with that. The closer she was, the better.
Excitement rolled off the fans. Some waved flags or signs. Others ate or took pictures.
Ripper had never watched a live game on TV – there was no cable here. But he’d watched reruns, as well as movies that featured large events. The football games here might be smaller, but the fans were louder, rowdier and more prone to cause riots – likely because they were so personally invested in the games.
Little specks of magick skipped along Emberlyn’s skin, as if the anticipatory energy bounding around acted like a magnet to the power inside her. Throughout the game, his witch had let out the occasional cheer or boo but – as opposed to the screaming fans around them – she was her usual collected self. Not stoic, not uninvested in the game, just composed.
Her muscles were loose, her expression placid, her smile easy. But a fine line of tension – so fine he could have missed it if he hadn’t come to be so attuned to her – rode her spine. ‘You don’t like crowds?’ he asked.
She side-eyed him. ‘I don’t like the friction that’s building in the air. Shit’s gonna go down at some point.’
‘Probably.’ Shane’s team was up against Carver’s. The latter was losing, and the spectators could sense it. A shouting match would break out eventually, but no fights – people typically saved that for the parking lot.
Emberlyn didn’t seem to know it, but Ripper had never taken a woman to a game with him before. Not even one he’d dated. But he wanted his witch with him. And this way, he could be sure that she wasn’t being crushed by the crowd or forced to deal with more bullshit from her family.
