Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 128061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
“No,” she answered.
“Then you’d best stay out of the way. The TV room is probably best, or even just here, at your desk. They shouldn’t bother with you if you don’t bother with them. Stay out of the hidden tunnels, though. Those are for the enemy.”
A little grin pulled at her lips. She nodded, her eyes sparkling so much that I couldn’t believe her smile didn’t widen. Then again, she was a former alpha, through and through. Without a word, she turned back to her desk and her work.
This woman was made of iron. No wonder her pack had risen from the ashes and thrived.
Speaking of phoenixes…
“No killing!” I reminded Cyra as I jogged toward the rendezvous point. “And no cutting off faces and wearing them as masks, or whatever else you might get up to.”
“I have not tried that one.” Cyra smiled excitedly at Hollace.
He rolled his eyes. “That was a movie, and he was a sociopath. You’re doing a terrible job at pretending to be human.”
She let that sink in as she jogged after me. “He was still technically human, right? I’m just doing a bad job of pretending to be a good human. It’s a start.”
Once we got onto the roof, I looked out at the skyline. Wow, Gimerel was coming slow. Were they giving us time to have breakfast before the raid or what?
“Right.” I looked toward the town again, checking to see whether any other fliers had decided to join our team. A few more gargoyles had flown into the sky, but everyone was hovering low, ready to watch the show. “Right.”
Niamh walked out onto the roof in her muumuu. “What’da… Are they bringing the whole lot into the territory? I thought there were rules against that, no?”
“Not in a raid, apparently,” I told her. Then I just blurted what I needed to tell her. “Hey, Niamh, about that other thing from last night. The spying? Don’t do that. Don’t find out what he is. Just let it go.”
“Had a wee bit o’ guilt about that, did ya?” Niamh chuckled. “I wondered when all this would catch up to ya. I’ll keep ye out of it, how’s that? But I half want to know if my cousin is still kicking them woods. He disappeared years ago. Might be related.”
“I think you’re keeping me out of too much. Like sneaking away to the basajaunak. I don’t want all these secrets.”
“That wasn’t a secret. Ye knew all about that.”
“Well…right…but that’s only because Austin told me.”
“Ye don’t think we knew Austin Steele was keeping tabs on us? We knew. But I had to make it seem like I was hiding the truth from yis so that the basajaunak would think they were only permitted on Dave’s land. That if they wanted in on the fun and games, they’d need to trade fer it. Once those buggers trade for something, it means something to them. I was just helping Dave usher them to that point. And now look, ye got a small gaggle of them down there, waiting to brain the first thing that falls in their laps. More points if they have’ta do a little work to get at it.”
“Dang it, I knew they’d try to turn this into a blood sport,” I muttered. “Okay, fine, you knew what you were doing. But still, let’s all just…stay open with each other, okay? Let’s make sure we’re on the same page.”
Everyone murmured their assent as car tires screeched along the road. A moment later, Sebastian and Nessa were running for the house. She didn’t follow him in, though, instead looping around the house, probably for Edgar. The two of them made a surprisingly excellent team.
“This’ll all calm down soon,” Niamh said as Sebastian worked his way through the house. “If this raid goes well, it’ll be grand. If not…well, we’re no worse off, really.”
The sound of engines heading toward us pulled my focus. Cars parked at the front of the house. Shifters. Just after, more shifters in animal form entered the wood, coming from all directions. Austin came last, on two legs first and then shifting to four. He paused on the backyard grass to look up at me before disappearing into the trees. A swell of warmth I knew was love came through the bond. I returned the sentiment.
Still those gargoyles flew, slowly closing the distance. Ever so slowly. Like they were nearly suspended in midair.
“This is getting a bit ridiculous,” I said at last, half thinking of sitting down to wait.
“We can tell,” Hollace said in amusement. “Your pulses of magic went from the equivalent of a battle drum…to a foot tapping. Everyone can feel your annoyance at the wait.”
“Oh—”
“No, no!” Hollace put up a finger. “Don’t change it. I think it sets the right mood. The battle-hardened will always find games like these tedious. And now all the visiting gargoyles know.”