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)
And so, I wore my muumuu. If Drex tried to stand in my way of mage business, there’d be a battle.
“Ready?” Austin entered the kitchen wearing rip away sports sweats, a T-shirt, and flip-flops. He was dressing down in anticipation of shifting, but it was still a meeting with another alpha, and he apparently drew the line at a muumuu.
Sebastian walked in wearing a suit, an extravagant, sparkly watch inlaid with way too many diamonds, his hair slicked back, and all the swagger of a rich, powerful mage at the top of the hierarchy. In other words, he was going as the grim reaper, Elliot Graves himself. He had his own statement to make, and he had not taken kindly to Tilda impassively watching him as he was dragged to and from the torture chamber all those years ago. She hadn’t shown one hint of remorse or sadness or any emotion at all, and he held a grudge.
Nessa followed him, her heels clicking against the floor. She was wearing a cream silk romper, a chunky necklace of red beads, and her own flashy and extravagant watch. The Captain was on duty.
She pointed at her flowy and fashionable clothes. “She’ll know this means I want to show off the blood I extract from my victim. Her, in this case.”
Her bubbly attitude heavily contrasted with her words and, quite frankly, made them that much more terrifying.
I swallowed. “What happened to you not wanting to get your hands dirty?”
“This is a family matter. She wronged my brother, and that I can’t stand for. Besides”— she shrugged nonchalantly— “this is war, and mages are violent. So are shifters. And gargoyles. I think maybe I needed a little perspective.”
“You needed the freedom to choose,” Austin said, checking his phone. “We all get a choice, and then we go hard. We don’t do things by halves in this team. You’re no different. Let’s get going. Everyone is ready.”
Nessa gave me a glittering smile, squeezed my hand, and practically bounded after Austin as he headed for the door. Her mannerisms seemed usual from all the time I’d known her, but somehow they also seemed wholly different. She almost looked…lighter, somehow. Graceful and carefree. Joyous. I couldn’t put my finger on why, or even if that was true, because maybe it was just me being better at reading body language, but regardless, I was happy she was happy, as cliche as that sounded.
Everyone loaded into the vehicles. Austin held my door for me before climbing into the driver’s side of the Jeep. This time, Tristan and Broken Sue sat behind us. We’d lead the procession.
“I anticipate an interesting meeting,” Tristan murmured as we got underway. Fred gave us a thumbs up from the porch of the house she was staying in. She’d remain behind in case things got dicey.
“To say the least,” Austin said, following the directions to Drex’s house.
“Drex better have a damn good explanation for why he has those mages harbored here,” I said. “If he doesn’t, we don’t want his support for the convocation. We can’t bring on a guy who willingly hides and protects the deviants of the mage world, the same people we are trying to root out.”
“Agree,” Austin said as we turned into a wide street.
A large house flanked either side, leading to an even bigger house at the very end.
“The beta, the lead enforcer, and Drex,” I guessed. “These are large residences.”
“That’s usual,” Austin told me as he stopped in front of the house, parking in the middle of the street. “Look at my brother’s pack. His house is massive. You didn’t see it, but his beta’s house is, too. A show of wealth is usual in a shifter pack. If the leaders are prosperous, it means the town is prosperous. The way we set things up, one can’t happen without the other.”
“Except Broken Sue has a moderate house,” I argued, “and your house in the woods is gorgeous but not extravagant.”
“I wasn’t looking to establish a pack when I built that, and Brochan didn’t plan to join one. Now, it isn’t a pack at all.”
“Ivy House puts every rich alpha to absolute shame,” Broken Sue said as he pushed open his door. “No one can compete with it. We don’t need to be fancy, we simply have to point to Ivy House and call it a day, especially now that Naomi has remodeled the interior.”
Austin started out of the Jeep and paused, turning back to me, his features knotted in thought. His gaze delved into mine, as though trying to poke through into my brain and get insight into whatever had entered his head.
“What?” I asked.
He watched me a little longer and then glanced at the alpha’s residence again. In silence, he climbed from the Jeep, leaving me to wonder what he was thinking.