Darknight(53)

Reluctantly, they turned and regarded Connor for a long moment. I was proud of the way he sat there in silence, returning their stares coolly but with no sign of hostility. How handsome he was, with the sunlight coming through the windows on the west side of the room and warming his raven hair, showing all those translucent layers of sage and slate and moss in his remarkable eyes.

At last Margot let out a long sigh. “I don’t know what to make of this. Perhaps the other elders will have some insights. In the meantime, I think you should stay here in the house.”

I placed my hands flat on the tabletop. “No.”

The winged black eyebrows lifted. “I beg your pardon?”

“No,” I said. Where the strength to defy her was coming from, I didn’t know. Maybe simply from having Connor near me, feeling his reassuring presence, even when surrounded by those who should have been his enemies. Something told me, though, that I needed to make a stand, to assert myself. I was the prima now, and although she was a clan elder and worthy of my respect, still, mine was the final word. “I’ve had enough of house arrest. I brought Connor here to meet my family, to see where I grew up. It is not your place, Margot Emory, to tell the prima what she can and can’t do.”

Her face had always been pale, but something about it appeared pinched now, as if she needed all her strength to prevent herself from snapping out a retort.

“Now, Angela, you don’t need to be speaking to Margot like that,” Henry said in his easygoing manner. Since Great-Aunt Ruby, the former prima, had been his mother, maybe he had more experience dealing with someone who intended to get her way. “She’s just concerned, that’s all.”

“It’ll be fine.” I let my gaze sweep the table, moving from Henry to Boyd and then back to Margot. “I’m here in my home territory. I’m safe, and Connor will be safe. Won’t he?”

None of them said anything.

“Won’t he?”

“Of course he will,” Margot said then, her tone quiet but somehow laced with venom. “After all, we’re not Wilcoxes.” A scrape of her chair’s legs on the wooden floor, and she had risen to her feet. “Boyd, Henry, it seems we can go. Angela has everything under control.”

They looked dubious, but followed her lead, getting up from their chairs and then following her to the front door. She paused there for a moment, even as I stood up to face her. “I hope you know what you’re doing,” she remarked coldly.

Then they were gone, the door slamming behind them. For a few very long seconds, the house was completely still. At last Connor expelled a breath.

“That was…impressive. And here I thought you were all shy and retiring.”

I raised an eyebrow, but, despite my earlier show of strength, my knees felt like jelly. “I don’t know about shy and retiring, but I do know I feel like passing out.” I didn’t, of course, but I did let myself more or less fall back into my chair. At once Connor reached and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. His fingers were warm and strong, and the heat of our bond had never felt so welcome.

He waited, watching me, as if he could tell I had more to say.

“It was just — somehow I could sense that if I let her tell me what to do, then she’d just keep on doing it. ‘Poor little Angela, so young to be a prima. Let’s keep guiding her since she doesn’t know what she’s doing.’” I let out a breath of my own, and tightened my fingers around his before letting go so I could push a wayward strand of hair back from my face. “But I’m the prima, damn it, and that’s not how things are supposed to work. This is my house, and this is my town, and if I want to walk around with my boyfriend — ”

An amused glance. “So I’m your boyfriend now?”

I made an impatient gesture with one hand. “Come on, ‘consort’ sounds so…I don’t know. It’s one thing when you’re talking to other witches, but to anyone else you’re just going to sound crazy. So, yeah, ‘boyfriend’ works for now.”

“It’s fine. I don’t care what label you want to put on our relationship. I’m just glad we have one.”

The table was just big enough that I couldn’t quite lean over to kiss him. Well, there’d be plenty of time for that later. I settled for saying, “I love you.”

“And I love you, O prima of the McAllisters.”

“Very funny. Anyway, what I was trying to say was that if I want to walk around town with you, stop in for drinks somewhere, get in the car and drive down to Cottonwood to meet Sydney and Anthony and go out, then that’s what I’m going to do. If the elders don’t like it, they can just suck it.”