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)
“He’s not wrong,” Ivy House told me. “These gargoyles have things backwards, and you need to show them.”
I needed to do a lot of things.
Sebastian stood with a little grin and held out the dress. “It isn’t perfect, but it should work.”
He’d sewn a little black loop on the red sash at the waist. The watch would then tuck into the sash, secured with black material to make up a pocket. The chain would then dangle down.
Mr. Tom stopped to survey Sebastian’s handiwork, his lips thinning. “It’ll match the guest rooms, at least.”
“I promise.” Sebastian held the dress out to me.
How I presented myself to Evan was important. He’d be going out on a limb with someone who had no status and trusting that I boosted prosperity and convocation stability. Only recently, he’d taken over one of the largest cairns, and he was contemplating allying with a start-up, and an odd start-up at that.
Wearing an old pocket watch sewn into an evening gown…really didn’t hit the right note, here.
Sebastian’s eyes were pleading. He could see my hesitation.
“I promise,” he whispered.
Trust. In the end, that’s all we really had.
I nodded and took the dress. He let out a breath and withdrew to give me a moment to dress.
Mr. Tom didn’t say a word as I slipped out of the robe and stepped into the luxurious material. He zipped me up in the back and went back to his task.
“What do you think would sway Evan our way?” I asked him, checking myself over in the mirror.
“You.” He handed me a shawl. “In the end, miss, it is always you who bring people into the fold. You never do it the same way twice, and you are never calculating. You are just unequivocally you, and people realize there is nowhere safer or better than to be by your side.”
I smiled at him, my eyes glistening with unshed tears.
He tsked. “There is no reason to get so emotional. It’ll ruin your makeup, and then all that undeserving cairn leader will see is an old watch haphazardly sewn into—and ruining—a new dress. Let’s keep the distraction to your face, shall we?”
“What’s wrong with my face?” I asked, glancing in the mirror as I trailed after him.
“It’s pretty. Unlike that horrendous watch. Here we go.”
Two couches faced each other across a small coffee table. Austin and Sue sat on one, with Tristan in the other. The men held snifters of something or other. They wore tailored suits, dress shirts, and ties, each as dapper as the next. I would’ve totally fit in if not for the freaking watch.
Sebastian waited by the door, hunched. Despite the clothes, he hadn’t yet donned his other persona. There was so much alpha power in this room, not to mention menacing muscle, it had probably squeezed out all his desire to be noticed.
Austin’s eyes softened as he beheld me. “You look gorgeous.” He noticed the watch but didn’t comment. Neither did the others. I could only assume that was because Sebastian or Mr. Tom had already filled them in.
He finished his drink and stood as I approached. His lips lightly touched mine, and then he paused for me to wipe away the lipstick left behind.
Tristan and Sue stood as well, finishing their drinks and readying to go.
“If their hired help is as shoddy as these horrible guest rooms,” Mr. Tom said, “send for me. I would be happy to take over and show this cairn what is expected of someone with my prestigious job title.”
“Thank you, Mr. Tom. I will,” I lied. There was no way in hell. He’d probably come in a disguise or throw away all the food he didn’t approve of, or some other embarrassing thing.
“He’s laying it on a little thick,” Sue said after we’d left the room and now walked down the hall.
“Actually, his attitude is perfect,” Tristan replied. “He’s responding to what we’re all seeing. This cairn can’t hold a candle to any part of our emerging convocation. Its territory is much smaller. Its wealth is insignificant. Its productions have no real outlet to make the sort of money Alpha Steele is thinking, and its people don’t have even a fraction of the power. We are vastly superior in every way. The only thing holding us back is your lack of history—yours personally and the convocation’s. That and the fact that Alpha Steele often presents as the alpha when they assume you should be the leader of the gargoyles.”
“So then…all the things that grant the highest status.” I took a deep breath as we emerged into the frosty evening air. My teeth chattered before I wrapped magic around myself to keep out the chill.
“The things that grant the highest status in gargoyle culture at present, yes,” Tristan said. “But those things aren’t the most important to gargoyles. They’re just what gargoyles have fallen back to in times of extreme boredom resulting from peace. And he is only the most dominant when you can’t be troubled to take control. Which, yes, is often. All they need to see is you handling trouble in the air.”