Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
“Surprise,” Jasper said with confidence. “She’s showing surprise. I’m far enough along in body language to deduce that much.”
“And disbelief,” Ulric added. “Surprise and disbelief. See? The lessons are paying off.”
“Hey, Fred,” I said, using the soothing voice that had been deployed on me the first time I saw a person turn into a rat. I’d spiraled pretty quickly. “How much did you see?”
“I thought she mostly believed us the other day,” Jasper murmured.
“Clearly, you still can’t tell when someone is lying to you,” Hollace replied.
“Or maybe she was lying to herself,” Ulric whispered. “She watched us shift, for criminy’s sakes.”
“Hey.” I approached her slowly, my hands out. You never knew what the brain’s reaction might be to something like this. In her shoes, I might try to karate chop, and I had no idea what sort of fighting prowess she had. “So…this is what we were talking about. With the magic. It’s jolting, I know. I was non-magical until over a year ago. It’s a lot to take in.”
Fred hadn’t blinked. She stared at me, transfixed…well, at least until Hollace sauntered closer, stuck his hand in front of her face, and snapped.
Her eyes fluttered, and she turned slowly to look at him. “You were a…a…” she stammered.
“A thunderbird, yes,” Hollace replied patiently. “And those”—he gestured to the sky—“are gargoyles.”
“Remember the other day?” Jasper bent to pick up her laptop. “When we shifted forms?”
She swallowed heavily, and the bread previously caught in her lip fell away. She raised her gaze and flicked her eyes back and forth, clearly watching the fliers. In a moment, she’d re-sighted in on Hollace.
He nodded, as if that were good enough, and walked around her. “Jessie, I’m just going to go change, and I’ll go with you. I want to see if I’m any better at reading their body language than you are.”
“Do you want to go for a fly?” Ulric asked Fred gently. “I can take you…”
“That other night, I wondered if I’d been high or something,” Fred said in a wispy voice. “Like, maybe I took an edible but forgot about it. Or, like, maybe you slipped me something, and I wasn’t in my right mind. But I brought the sandwich and bottled water from the hotel this time. I made that sandwich myself. I’m sober. I haven’t hit the vape, and I didn’t even take an edible to help me sleep the last couple nights. This…” Her gaze went skyward again. “This is…”
“Okay.” I gave the guys a thumbs-up. “I’m going to leave this to you. Niamh should be at her house and changed by now. Mr. Tom…is still training for some reason. Not sure why. Maybe you guys can root through the fridge and get Fred another sandwich before Mr. Tom comes down and yells at you for looking after yourselves.”
“Yup, yup,” Ulric said. “It’ll be okay. She just needs to process, and she’ll be fine.”
I hoped so, because apparently Fred had given Niamh a tiny demonstration of her prowess yesterday in her hotel room, and it had blown Niamh’s mind. Fred was a maestro with the computer, her skill set more art than technological expertise, or so Niamh had said. Niamh was champing at the bit to get working.
I changed and found Hollace by the front door. Surprisingly, Ulric and Jasper met us there, still in their muumuus, with a pale-faced Fred in tow.
“She didn’t want another sandwich,” Jasper said. “She wants weed or alcohol or both, or something harder. Her words.”
“I need a minute, that’s all,” Fred said, her voice shaky and raspier than usual. “I almost want to comb my hair flat right now. My mind is spinning!” We all started walking. “I mean…I’d really wanted to believe the towns around here didn’t have any cameras and that you were your own law, but I assumed you just owned the police and politicians. That’s what the movies always say, right?” She shook her head and looked back over the house. “Oh, wait, the fliers are gone.”
“No, that’s just a spell Ivy House does to keep people from seeing her property,” I told her as we neared Niamh’s place.
Niamh gently rocked in a chair on her porch with her basket of stones on her lap. She slowed as we neared, then stopped altogether when she spied Fred. “What’s the craic?” she asked in greeting. “How’s things?”
Fred pointed a shaky hand back the way we’d come. “You weren’t kidding.”
“O’course I wasn’t kidding, sure. What do ye think, I go around making stuff like that up? I haven’t got the imagination. Where are yis goin’?” Niamh put a lid on the basket. “Are yis goin’ for a pint?”
“Yeah, doctor’s orders,” Jasper said.
“Might as well, so.” Niamh put her basket on the porch before standing.
“I know we were going to meet up after I checked out the grounds, as you said, but—” Fred started.