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)
You should’ve stuck to bird watching, I thought.
I opened all the windows in front of him and popped out the screens. The dolls waited within the hidden passageways, spread out all over, intending to mess with the minds of whoever came through.
Nelson didn’t take the bait, though. He had a particular destination in mind.
He angled up to the third floor, to the little landing that Nessa had pitched off the night of the dinner.
Somehow, he didn’t notice me flying just a bit behind him and to the side, watching him labor to that little landing and perch on the edge. Another of his gargoyles managed to evade Niamh for long enough to attempt to join his leader and get into the house.
I waved my hand. A blistering spell knocked him easily away, tossing him end over end through the sky and down. A basandere leapt up with surprising grace and snatched him out of the air. He wouldn’t be returning to the battle.
Nelson shifted to his human form and hurried down the couple of steps to the door that was standing wide open. He didn’t stop to wonder whether this was a trap. Apparently he thought we’d just welcome him in without even closing the entrances to the house.
I slammed the door behind him, locking him in.
He should’ve gone in through the windows. At least then he would’ve had a chance to avoid the hidden passageways.
“You’re mine,” Ivy House said, absolutely giddy with excitement.
It was the first time I’d actually felt sorry for any of the gargoyle leaders.
That done, I rose into the sky, seeing only a few enemy gargoyles left airborne. My team were closing in on all sides, corralling them toward one another. Ulric and Cyra flitted and swooped, herding them like sheep and, in so doing, showing off their incredible agility in the air. Ulric might’ve been smaller than most guardians, but he made great use of it, showing he was just as mighty. Jasper attacked a gargoyle that was trying to escape, wrenching his wing, spinning him around, and then throwing him to the ground.
Dave grabbed that one, and his roar of triumph jiggled my stomach a little. God, I hoped he minded his manners. He wasn’t the easiest one to talk out of violence.
The five remaining gargoyles put up their hands, surrounded now.
One said something that sounded a little like “Yield!”
Suddenly I didn’t feel so bad about my garbled speaking ability.
They lowered slowly, followed by my crew, until they touched down on the grass and into a precise ring of shifters.
This time my roar wasn’t just for show. My team had done it! We’d persevered against insane odds, again, and shown what we were made of.
My second roar was joined by my team, including shifters and the basajaunak. I pulled back the magic that darkened the lands, got rid of the fog, and then sent wave after wave of victory to those waiting in the town or hovering in the air, watching the show. I knew the other large cairns were seeing this, their leaders carefully watching. But most importantly, the solo guardians who’d come to check us out were also watching, seeing our strength. They’d felt the call, and now they felt the pride and joy of triumph, whether they’d been in the fight or not.
The first of probably many screams drifted out from somewhere in the house.
Doll sighting. Nelson was just getting started.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Nessa
“Is Jessie coming?” Nessa asked Jasper as they waited on the sidewalk in front of Ivy House.
The others were getting cleaned up after another hard training. Three days had gone by since the raid, and Jessie was not at all slowing down. That was a good thing. A very good thing. Nessa just wished she and Sebastian could tell her why it was so important.
Guilt burned in her gut, and she cleared her throat, turning away for a moment. God how she hated this. These people were becoming her family, and a family was something you protected at all costs. It felt like Sebastian and Nessa were doing the opposite by keeping important information from them, not to mention bringing in a bunch of magical users to attack them.
She had to trust Sebastian, though. This had to be done like this, in secrecy. In deceit. It would be far from the only time if their future plans came to fruition.
Still.
At least Nessa could do something to help the team. She was going to the bar with the guys to see if she couldn’t figure out what was troubling Ulric. After a few preliminary questions and a little digging, she had an idea of what to expect.
“Don’t think so,” Jasper replied, his hair still wet and his shirt clinging to his muscular chest. He never really put much time and effort into getting dressed, but it didn’t seem to matter with the ladies. “She got a notice earlier that the visiting cairns want to have a farewell dinner. They aren’t going to hang around much longer, I guess.”