Darknight(64)
* * *
It was, too. When we left the house about ten minutes later, Connor still looking grim and preoccupied, I was glad of the bright sun overhead, the deep clear blue of the sky, the white puffs of clouds that moved with winds aloft, sending racing shadows over the hillsides. He didn’t exactly smile, but as we walked, with the crisp, cold breeze pulling at our hair and the scarves wound around our necks, I could see the set of his shoulders begin to relax a little, even though he was walking through what was, for him, enemy territory.
Since it was the Friday of a holiday week, and so many people had the days between Christmas and New Year’s off, Jerome was packed with tourists. I used to hate days like this, since everywhere I went was overrun, but now I was glad of the crowds, glad of the protective coloration they provided. They made it so much easier for Connor and me to blend in with them. I couldn’t know for sure that members of my clan weren’t watching us, but I didn’t see anyone, and I took care to guide Connor toward the shops owned by civilians, and not McAllisters.
I began to relax. Big mistake.
The two of us were just leaving a shop that specialized in rocks and minerals and various Arizona-themed tchotkes when I heard Adam’s voice.
“So it is true.”
Connor and I halted, and then we both seemed to realize at the same time that we were blocking the doorway. Although I wished I could run back in the shop and hide in the storeroom, I knew that wasn’t a very practical option. So we moved outside and paused a few steps away from the door, in front of one of the shop windows.
“Hi, Adam,” I said, trying to sound casual and probably failing utterly. Beside me, Connor had gone tense, but he was silent, waiting for me to take the lead here. I didn’t like it, but it made sense. This wasn’t his fight.
I could tell Adam wanted to make it his, though. Scowling, he glanced from me to Connor, where his angry blue-gray stare lingered. “I didn’t want to believe it,” he said. “I couldn’t believe that you’d actually stoop so low as to be with a Wilcox.”
Connor’s jaw clenched at that, but he said nothing.
“Adam, he’s my consort,” I replied.
“Right, like I’m supposed to believe that.”
“Believe whatever you want. I know what the truth is.”
That was definitely not what he wanted to hear. I could see the way his chest rose and fell under his sweatshirt, the way his cheekbones were flushed with anger. A family passed us, two kids in tow, and I could almost feel the woman’s curious gaze settle on our tense little group. It was pretty clear that the three of us weren’t exactly having a friendly conversation.
“Look,” Connor put in, “this has been hard for everyone. We’re just trying to figure it out as we go along, okay?”
“Hard?” Adam repeated. He looked like he wanted to push Connor over the nearest cliff — not that I thought he’d probably win any kind of physical contest between the two of them. Connor had about two inches on Adam, and was much more muscular.
As for a magical contest, well, I still didn’t know the extent of Connor’s talents, but unless Adam could use his weather magic to summon a storm cloud to throw a few lightning bolts Connor’s way, I had a feeling he wouldn’t prevail in a confrontation like that, either.
“You don’t know what ‘hard’ is, Wilcox,” Adam continued. “Hard is seeing the woman you love stolen out right from under you — only to find out she’s gone over to the enemy side!”
“Whoa,” I cut in. “I’m not on their side.”
“Whose side are you on, then?”
“Mine.” I reached out and took Connor’s hand, wrapping my fingers around his gloved ones. “His. The rest of you — McAllisters and Wilcoxes and whoever else tries to interfere with that — can just fuck off. Let’s go, Connor.”
I pushed past Adam, and although I could tell he wanted to reach out and grab my arm, keep me from leaving, something in the warning glare I shot at him must have told him that he needed to back off, and now. Connor wisely kept silent, following me as I threaded my way through the crowds, marching back up the hill toward the house. Any desire I might have had to spend some time showing him around my hometown had been effectively killed by that encounter.
It wasn’t until we were back inside the big Victorian at the top of the hill that Connor said anything. “You can’t really blame him,” he told me gently as I slammed the front door behind us.
“Yes, I can, and I am,” I snapped, unwrapping the scarf from around my neck and unbuttoning my coat. “He wouldn’t have acted that way if my consort had turned out to be Alex Trujillo or someone like that.”