Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 126030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
She dropped her gaze from mine in submission, a gesture that would probably make a shifter feel powerful, but I was just annoyed.
The woman’s brown eyes were wide with fear, and her gaze was rooted on Sebastian. As she neared us, her gaze flicked to Nessa, then back to Sebastian. Trembling, she tried to shrink away from Sebastian.
“Why’d you attack?” I asked without preamble.
Her gaze swung to me and darted back to Sebastian. “Do you know who that is? He might look disheveled and dorky now, but that’s all an act! You’ve got a snake in your bed. That is Elliot Graves, and the moment you turn around, he’ll kill you.”
“Ah.” The breath gushed out of me.
She struggled in the gargoyle’s hold.
“I will not go quietly!” she gritted out. “I will die before I work for him or them, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to tell you anything. I will not succumb to whatever it is you plan to do to me.”
I put my hands on my hips, glancing at Sebastian with raised eyebrows.
He shrugged. “I don’t remember her face. Maybe a name would help?”
“Is she correct?” Vessa asked, her gaze wary. We were giving her a lot of nightmares with our visit.
I couldn’t admit who Sebastian was, not in front of all these people. Some, no doubt, filming this whole interaction on their phones through the shop windows. And even if the service up here was lousy, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t spread the word. It wasn’t time to tell the world that Elliot Graves and the Captain were our mysterious mage helpers, even though Momar probably knew already. He hadn’t told the mage community at large, so Niamh said we shouldn’t either. Not yet.
The problem was, I was bad at lying, especially to shifters. Anyway, I suspected they already knew the answer, considering Sebastian had essentially spoken on Elliot Graves’s behalf.
I sighed. “Look, I guess we’ve all got some secrets we need to chat about. If you stop attacking us you won’t be in any danger. Otherwise, I’ll let the basajaunak loose.”
Vessa’s expression smoothed to hide her emotion. “Understood.”
“We’ll be keeping to ourselves this evening,” Austin said in a hard tone. “We can postpone the dinner until tomorrow or not at all. I think it’s best for all involved if we keep to our own devices. We might have one or two of ours in town, but they’ll know to keep their heads down, and they won’t be mages. If they experience any trouble, they’ll handle it brutally. You’re warned.”
“Yes, alpha,” Vessa said crisply. “I apologize for this lapse in etiquette.”
Austin put his hand on my shoulder, steering me away. “Nessa and I still need to get groceries and now organize dinner for everyone tonight. I want to give some orders, as well. Why don’t you go back to the house with Tristan, and I’ll meet you there shortly.”
I glanced around the street and then the sky, getting an idea of numbers. Austin would be fine. If something happened, he wouldn’t need my help. This town didn’t have the sort of fighting prowess they thought they did, at least not compared to us.
I nodded and shifted back into my gargoyle, fatigue dragging at me. All the fighting, healing, stress, and shifting was wearing me down. Staying in tonight and relaxing was a dream come true.
Austin
“Tristan,” Austin called, then waited for the gargoyle to drop lower in the sky. Jessie paused when he spoke. “Take Sebastian with you.”
Sebastian nodded in understanding and walked away from Nessa, putting up his hands like a child. Tristan swooped down and grabbed him, flying a little too closely to Nessa and dusting her with the upswing of his wing.
She jerked back and wiped at her face. “Really?” she said in irritation. “Keep it up and I won’t make you any brownies.”
He blasted into the sky, trailing Sebastian’s scream behind him.
“C’mon,” Austin told Nessa, not sparing another moment for that beta. She probably did not look forward to relaying all this to her alpha. One thing Austin understood, however, was the frustration of wild cards. He had a great many in his setup, and clearly this alpha did, too.
“How did you know those mages weren’t dangerous?” Nessa asked as they walked back to the grocery store.
He slowed to allow her to enter first. “The woman was practically screeching with fear as she cast her spells.”
“Her body language?”
“Yes. She clearly thought she had no other choice and didn’t think much of her odds. If the beta hadn’t requested we stand down and acknowledged that we had the upper-hand power-wise, I would’ve let Sebastian handle it. As it was…”
“And the other mage?”
“I caught sight of Edgar loitering near a flowerpot down the way. By the time Sebastian was readying magic, Edgar was nearly to the mage. I figured he’d handle it. I did not know how, and really hoped it wouldn’t be fatal, but there wasn’t much I could do at that point.”