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)
Silver lining.
“In the meantime…” Austin picked up my half-finished lemonade and took a sip.
“Cheating on your diet is only cheating yourself,” Mr. Tom intoned.
“He’s a grown man, Mr. Tom,” I said. “He doesn’t need you to restrict sugar from his diet.”
Mr. Tom sniffed. “Tell that to his evening mood swings.”
Austin finished the lemonade and set the empty glass down in front of him. “In the meantime,” he said again as he stared pointedly at Mr. Tom, “some of his guardians might look elsewhere for placement. Granted, most of them will probably hang on to see what happens, but we’re presenting them with a different option—with a situation where they’d see a lot of action and excellent leadership. We might entice a few this way. Maybe Patty should be allowed to gossip.”
I frowned at him as Naomi walked into the kitchen with a few cloth place mats in hand.
“What happened to you not wanting to bother with the gargoyles?” I asked him as she stopped and stared at me. That meant she wanted something.
“That was before I realized the rank-and-file guardians are actually pretty easy to manage. They aren’t like the lead enforcers or stray gargoyles we’ve had in town. In fact, they are taking an active interest in how I’ve structured our defenses. I get the feeling their operations aren’t as organized.”
“I mean…they are a battle species,” I replied. “It’s right up their alley to be interested in your fighting approach.”
“I think you mean we are a battle species, miss,” Mr. Tom said. “Now, you’d better acknowledge Naomi or she will stare holes right through you.”
“I am capable of waiting for my turn to speak, Mr. Tom, or didn’t you notice my silence?” Naomi told him. “And of course the guardians settle down quickly. They are watching one of the best alphas in the world. They can’t get this sort of battle training with those stuffy old gargoyles. Present company not excluded. Anyway, Austin, Jessie, what do you think about this for the table settings tomorrow?”
NINETEEN
Jessie
A jet of magic seared through the sky, right for me. Sebastian had joined our training today, and he wasn’t pulling any punches.
Nathanial grabbed me around the middle and tilted wildly, tearing me from a forward trajectory and careening us both haphazardly toward the ground. I let him, closing my eyes to finish the spell I was working on, and then opened them again to find the direction of the ground. He leveled out, nice and low, and I let the spell fly.
Sebastian didn’t have the ability to counter. Not with how close I’d released the spell and its complexity and strength. He dove out of the way, leaving him vulnerable.
“Ta-ake him!” Nathanial yelled out.
Cyra dropped forward immediately, opening her mouth for a fire attack. Sebastian rolled, knowing he wouldn’t get any time to flail. Not with my team. He shot a spell at her, prompting her to dodge away. Ulric and Jasper dove with her, sweeping apart when he spread his hands and then targeting him as soon as his spell shot between them.
They should’ve known better.
It ballooned out and then condensed, knocking them together and tying up their wings. They started to fall, slowly at first and then like stones, straight for the ground.
Nathanial threw me in their direction. I snapped my wings quickly to stop from tumbling and then hit the gargoyles with a counter-spell. Mr. Tom flew in to grab them and give my spell time to work. Hollace soared overhead, raining down lightning.
Sebastian threw up a protection spell, but it took a hit and fizzled immediately. I could hear him swear from below.
I helped him, keeping Hollace from accidentally giving Sebastian more than he could handle, while also throwing a spell Nessa’s way to keep her hidden in the bushes.
Ulric and Jasper snapped out their wings, freed, and Mr. Tom dived down toward Sebastian. Niamh followed right behind. When Sebastian shot off a spell at Mr. Tom, sending him careening, she was right there, smashing down onto the dirt. Her hooves hit beside his body and then she was up again, showing off all the ways she could kill him—hooves, stabby horn, whatever.
Breathing hard, Sebastian just lay there for a moment with his eyes closed.
“Get me in the air,” he finally said, climbing to his feet. “Get me up in the air, and let’s see if I can get at Jessie that way.”
Ulric dove down to grab Sebastian. Meanwhile, Jasper had gotten hold of Nessa, pulling her out of the bushes.
“Whoa, whoa, I didn’t sign up for aerial combat,” she hollered as they rose into the sky.
“Come on, Captain,” Sebastian called to her. “It has to be better than being trampled to death by a nightmare alicorn.”
“I wasn’t the one in that predicament. I was hiding safely in the bushes. Crap! Please don’t drop me, Jasper.”