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)
When he finished, he’d thanked the two gargoyles for displaying their goods and said we’d see them for dinner in an hour.
Our team was heading there early. We had to set up. It was time for a little sneaky reconnaissance.
I leaned against Austin’s arm and threaded my fingers through his. “Not put together well, though,” I reminded him. “Your grandma was not at all impressed with the inconsistencies.”
“True. The issues were obvious. But it raises the question, how could his people have come up with such amazing craftsmanship in one aspect, and not in others?”
“There’s some sort of scandal surrounding him. Maybe she should ask the Dark Three about it. They’ve been cagey, which means they’re definitely planning something.”
“What’d you think of him?”
“Who, Pierce?” I leaned away to get a read on Austin’s face. It was blank and his emotions didn’t give away anything besides that simmering rage I’d felt before, turned down low. “He’s very handsome.” Austin gazed down at me. “Very charming.” Still he stared. Nothing new came through the bond. “Lovely smile.”
“Small wings, narrow shoulders, lacking muscle tone for extended flight. He’s not great in the air and worse on the ground. Yes, I know all his physical attributes. What about him personally?”
“Oh, him personally.” I laughed and leaned back into him. “Not jealous, huh? Not even a tiny little bit?”
“It’s impossible to be jealous of such a fop.”
“A fop, wow. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that word spoken aloud. Apparently you don’t think much of him.”
Austin’s breath fell around me on a sigh, and he glanced out the window. “Apparently he doesn’t think that much of you. I’m not telling you how to do your job, Jess, but if that had been a shifter, I would’ve kicked him around the warehouse. He’s not taking you seriously.”
“I think we should prepare for none of them to take me seriously, Austin. But it wouldn’t have done me any good to kick him around the warehouse. He’s not someone I need to impress. He’s someone who should be trying to impress me.”
“Except he isn’t. First he allowed his people to laugh at you, and then he humored you in an attempt to charm you. If he’s here for business, it’s not yours.”
That pulled me up short. “Then whose would it be?”
“I don’t know, but if the mages don’t figure it out, I’m going to shake it out of him. I have no tolerance for his behavior.”
I smoothed my free hand across his forearm. “As I said, he’s not someone I need to impress. I can ignore him for now. It’s the big dogs I need to worry about. This is just a practice round.”
He shook his head, and his anger spiked. “All these cairns seem isolated at best and closed in at worst. The Goman cairn has their operation on top of a mountain, no one for a truckload of miles. The larger cairns might not be quite that remote, but they are still removed from the rest of the world. Will they even be helpful if we were to form an alliance with them?”
“Don’t we need them?”
“We can do without if we have to. We’ll just have to leave fewer shifters here to guard the territory while we’re gone. The territory should be safe, though.”
“Just…let’s wait and see, okay? There are good gargoyles out there—we have them on our crew. We’re making a lot of assumptions. If we flaunt our bling and show off our strength, we should be able to moonlight guardians looking for placement. We’ve already had an influx of them into the territory, right? We have the money to pay them. You have experience. We have the building blocks. We can reel in the rest.”
He was quiet for a beat. “Fine. But I cannot guarantee I won’t make an example out of one of the leaders if they allow their people to laugh at you. Or belittle you. It was a real struggle to keep myself calm earlier. It is a struggle I won’t win for very long.”
“Okay, then. What about the rug-making robot? Did you see anything you liked? You didn’t comment much, just asked questions.”
“His textiles weren’t as fine as Venavin, but the workmanship was first rate. The woodworking was amazing, equal to the sculpture you got from Nikken. The rugs were… I can’t decide if I want to say ingenious or wacky.”
“Your grandma raved, which is not something she does often.”
“I think that’s why I want to say ingenious. I saw what she did with the one in Ivy House. It absolutely adds the depth he was talking about. It might be a hard sell, though. I doubt I could make them work.”
I snuggled a little closer as we glided down the highway. “Think you’ll make a move?”
He let go a soft sigh. “I really want to be done with the whole species, honestly. I haven’t much enjoyed the guardians I’ve met, save one. They’ve been a handful. Then there’s that douche in the warehouse… In addition to the strength of the pack, I’ve gotten reports that the basa—Dave is entertaining more basajaunak on his mountain. Some are coming and going, but many are lingering. Or going and then coming back.”