“Hello?” Her eyes widened. “Angela! OmiGOD, where are you?”
“Flagstaff.”
I didn’t think her eyes could get any wider, but somehow she managed it. “But I thought you never went there. I mean, you were gone, and Adam had this shiner like you would not believe, and no one was telling me anything, and I was starting to wonder if you guys had gotten in a bar fight and you’d been kidnapped by bikers or something, and — ”
“It’s sort of complicated.”
“Try me. I’ve got nothing but time.”
“You do? I thought your relatives would be coming over.”
She rolled her eyes. “They’ll be here at six. My mother’s gotten enough slave labor out of me today. I came up to my room for a breather because I couldn’t take it anymore. I cannot wait until Christmas is over, actually.” Seeming to recover herself, and realize that I was waiting patiently for her to finish, she said, “Okay, enough about that. So you’re in Flagstaff. Why are you in Flagstaff?”
“Is Adam okay?”
“Why wouldn’t he be?”
“You just said he had a black eye.”
“Oh, that. Yeah, I mean, it was a black eye, but it’s not the sort of thing that sends you to the hospital or anything.” She tilted her head and squinted at me, and I realized she was trying to get a glimpse of my surroundings. “So you’re in Flagstaff. Where? That doesn’t look like a hotel room.”
“It’s not.” I hesitated. “You know how I said there were things I couldn’t really talk about?”
“Yes.” Her eyes lit up. “So are you going to talk about them now? Spill it.”
“I don’t have time to go into everything, but…let’s just say that not all witch families are on the best of terms with one another. And the clan here in Flagstaff, the Wilcoxes — well, they’ve always been our enemies.”
“But you’re there now.” One hand went to her mouth. “Oh, God, you were kidnapped, weren’t you? But…now you’re using Facetime like it’s no big deal? I’m confused.”
Get in line, I thought. “I told you it’s complicated. Yes, they did bring me here, and I’m not exactly free to leave, but Connor has been very nice to me.”
She must have detected a change in my tone. “Connor, huh? Is he cute?”
“Well, you thought so.”
A blank stare. “Huh?”
“Turns out Chris Wilson and Connor Wilcox are the same person.”
“Holy shit. Seriously? Is that where you are now — his place?”
“Yes.”
“So…” She drew out the word as if trying to process the situation. “You’re, what, just staying there?”
“Basically.” I took a breath. “Actually, it turns out that he’s my consort.”
“Are you serious? He’s the man of your dreams?”
“More or less.”
“Boy, did you luck out.”
I couldn’t help laughing. “‘Luck out’? I wouldn’t exactly call getting kidnapped from my room in the middle of the night ‘lucking out.’”
“Well, it could have been worse. It could’ve been bikers. Big, hairy bikers. But Chris — I mean, Connor — is seriously hot.”
“He’s also the brother of the leader of the Wilcox clan…the man who planned the kidnapping. He thought he was going to make me his consort, but it sort of backfired.”
“Because Connor is your real consort.”
“Yes.”
She paused. I could practically see the wheels in her head going around. “So…do you like him?”
“I — “ I floundered for a second. “Sydney, his brother kidnapped me.”
“I know, you told me. That’s not what I asked. If it wasn’t Connor’s idea, why is there a problem?”
“Well, he didn’t do anything to stop his brother.”
That halted her for a second. Then she said, “Could he have? Stopped him, I mean.”
Good question. The truth was, even if Connor had tried to argue against the plan — and for all I knew, he had — he wasn’t strong enough to stop Damon.
No one was, apparently.
“Probably not,” I admitted.
“Well, then,” she said. “Come on, Angela, you’re shacked up with the man of your dreams, and you’ve admitted that he’s your consort, so I don’t see what the big deal is. Get moving and tap that ass.”
“Subtle, Sydney. Real subtle. Did you not hear what I told you earlier? His clan and mine have been enemies for generations.”