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)
Frustration started to rise. “Right but…we’re not here to raid. How are they going to see that?”
“I’ve got it handled,” Sebastian said from behind the others. “Trust me, that’s all sorted, as Niamh would say. Ten times over.”
I twisted around to look at him, but Tristan and Sue were in the way.
“How—“ I cut off as I spied the first Guardian against the wall. Something told me this wasn’t the conversation to have when others might overhear.
Austin threaded his fingers through mine as we walked along the sidewalk. We could’ve driven, but it wasn’t far. Also, Tristan wanted us to be seen by more than just the cairn leader, although he hadn’t said why. Thankfully, the darkness masked the presence of the pocket watch.
Evan’s residence loomed in front of us.
“I wonder how much of the interior he inherited,” I mused. “Did he redecorate like we’re doing, or was that all Withor’s doing?”
“He hasn’t been here long enough to redecorate to that magnitude,” Austin replied. “All the interior matches. He would’ve had to do the entire downstairs, and it’s only been a couple months. You’ve seen from Ivy House what sort of undertaking all that is.”
“So then…” I frowned at the beautiful architecture. “He’s not that different from me, just like Tristan said. Why does he get status just for moving in?”
“It’s for essentially taking over, either by force or by family,” Tristan replied as we drew near. “The gargoyles assume someone had the power to take it over. For family, they have the training. The status passes that way.”
“Ah. I didn’t take anything over, and I don’t have the family or training.” I shrugged. “That makes sense.”
“That’s…not…” Tristan seemed at a loss for words.
But I did make it so Evan could take this cairn over. My maneuvering gave him the in.
We stopped in front of the door. It swung open before we could ring or knock. A man dressed in a white suit with a black tie and stuffy air about him greeted us. He looked about half Mr. Tom’s age but just as pompous.
“Please, come through, Miss Ironheart, Mr. Steele.” He stepped out of the way and gestured to the interior of the house.
Connections suddenly formed in my mind as I thought about the events leading up to this moment: how Evan had gotten here, and ultimately, my role in all this. I’d taken a backseat to so much recently—allowing Austin to lead because it was shifter politics and letting Tristan and Patty pave the way since they knew the details of cairn life—that I hadn’t stepped up when I really needed to. But now, strangely helped by Sebastian’s presence, suddenly I felt so much more in charge. Everything seemed so crystal clear.
“Cool,” I said to no one in particular. I brushed my fingers over the Ivy House pocket watch, a relic out of time, like my incredible magic. Like the house I was mistress of, guarding its people.
I was a Guardian, as well. I was a cairn leader.
But I was also so much more.
It was time I remembered that. Evan was one of my people. They all were. That was the blessing and curse of a female gargoyle, so rare. We brought everyone together. We unified our army, through better or worse.
Evan could choose to ignore me, to cast me out, but I knew his people would want to join our convocation’s purpose. They craved what Austin and I had to offer. The moment I extended a connection—and some of them already had it from when they visited us—was the moment they were mine. Not his, mine.
Gargoyle leaders could play hardball all they wanted, but if they didn’t have the loyalty of their people, they had nothing. Just like in O’Briens, all I had to do was prove that status quo. In the end, as the shifters were learning with Austin, it came down to who could lead the best. And that was me. It was Austin. It was, without a doubt, the combined might of our team.
“I’m good.” I nodded. My fingers brushed that watch again, and I remembered where I’d come from, why I’d chosen magic, and how I’d gotten here. “I got this.”
“Exactly.” Sebastian walked up to stand beside me, his shoulders back, his head high, ignoring the alphas entirely. He gave me a cocky grin. “We are enough in our own right, but sometimes we need to gloss things up to show everyone else what we are really capable of.”
His gaze swept down my body, and I had no idea how I knew it, but he was adjusting the perception of my mage persona. His cunning gaze said it all. He’d adjusted my image based on what he was seeing now, based on me. I was finally connecting with who I was and what I’d become.