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)
Drex’s muscles slowly relaxed, and he gave me the briefest of nods. I can live with that. Then a wink. Thanks.
“I couldn’t think of a better plan meself,” Niamh said with a nod, and I knew that was only because she’d read the same thing in Drex that I did. Otherwise, she’d call me a bleeding heart or something and “accidentally” kill those mages before wasting money on setting them up elsewhere. I was not fooled.
Sebastian held up a finger. “I request that you keep her here for a bit so that I can ransack her house and take her potions notes.” He turned to her. “You did bring your journals with you, I assume? Very few mages leave without their best work.”
Tilda didn’t answer.
“Yes, she did,” Broken Sue replied on her behalf.
“Go ahead,” Drex said. “It sounds like that’s all stolen knowledge anyway. It doesn’t belong to her any more than it will belong to you. Might as well make use of it.” His gaze swung my way, and he inclined his head. “Thank you for honoring my position and creating a solution that will absolve me of my duty to protect her and her people.”
“Ye need to stomp on those rose-colored glasses, boyo,” Niamh murmured.
If he planned to join the fight and get his hands dirty, that would happen soon enough. We might as well let him have his hero-complex just a little longer.
“Right so.” Niamh pushed to standing. “That was fruitful. I’m hungry. Let’s go see what that bollocks Mr. Tom has made for a late lunch.”
15
Austin
Four fires glowed merrily within a large park just off the downtown strip. Smoke wafted from BBQs and people laughed and chatted. At every break in the cloud cover, a blanket of stars glimmered jovially.
This was their fifth evening in Drex’s pack and the fourth cook-out he’d organized for Austin and Jess’s people. Most of the pack was in attendance, providing food and smiles, drinks and a good time. The atmosphere was calm and relaxed in a way Austin could barely remember. Most of these people had a comfortable life without experiencing a hint of danger and it showed. Drex had provided exactly what he’d set out to, a safe haven where people could be free to live in peace.
Even as he was thinking it, Drex wandered over with a glass of something bubbly.
“Alpha,” Drex said by way of greeting.
Austin inclined his head in hello. Jess was across the way, chatting with Ulric and Jasper while Edgar stood to the side, wearing a strange smile while seemingly looking at nothing. Austin wasn’t sure if he was trying to fit into the merriment or if his brain had randomly stopped while he was laughing at a joke.
“How goes it with the mages?” Drex asked, managing to hide his wariness at the thought. Mostly.
Niamh, Sebastian and Nessa had been working with the mages around the clock to gather information about the Guild and Momar. Brochan and Aurora and Tristan all took turns helping out, the first two reading body language when the mages tried to hide information, and Tristan lending his nightmare magic to loosen lips when the mages got stubborn. For the most part, though, the mages answered the questions willingly, knowing their only hope was in helping the convocation take down the Guild. Their fates were less than certain. Had been, since before they’d walked out of the Guild’s doors.
“They’re staging the murders now,” Austin said, his hands in his pockets. “They’ll film it and post it to message boards and what not. It’s all politics at this point. They got the information they were after.”
Drex took a sip of his drink. “To be brutally honest, none of this sits right with me.”
“It didn’t with me in the beginning, either. I was viewing them through a strictly shifter lens. I’ve since learned more about the different magical cultures and some things aren’t a problem anymore. Like breaking into someone’s place and stealing their spells. That’s usual in the mage world. They expect it and prepare for it. It’s like the gargoyles staging a mock battle to steal that cairn’s possessions.”
“They do what?”
Austin chuckled and filled Drex in on the gargoyle raids.
“Huh. Whatever passes the time, I guess.” Drex’s eyebrows pulled together, but his movements suggested lightheartedness. He was a man eager to learn and with an open mind. That would serve him well. It certainly had helped Austin.
“Another thing mages do, apparently, is take trophies when they kill an enemy. Like a very rare and expensive sports car.”
“That right?”
“Yup. Sebastian and Nessa acquired one from a mage that helped plan the attack on my brother,” Austin said. “They sent Kingsley the car. It took a little convincing to get him to take it, because mage antics don’t sit right with him, either, but he’s coming around. Hard not to when you’re staring at a piece of automotive beauty and your passion is collecting cars.”