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)
“Do you know that gargoyle who has wandered onto the property to watch you train?” Ivy House asked me.
I didn’t get a chance to look, as Ulric flew Sebastian quickly toward me.
“Who? I’ve been a little busy,” I thought as Sebastian fired off three spells that I was hard-pressed to handle.
“Don’t counter those,” Sebastian yelled at me as Nessa fired off a spell at Niamh, who was bearing down on them. It was now a little confusing as to who was on whose team. “Deflect them.”
I spared a moment to clue into Ivy House property, feeling the person standing below us, immobile, on the back lawn. Dave also blipped onto my radar, traveling with a bunch of others, all making good time through the wood and toward the house.
“Why didn’t you stop him or let me know sooner?” I asked as Ulric thundered toward me and Sebastian fired off more spells.
“Mo-uve,” I garbled out to Nathanial, pitching my body to get the point across.
He understood immediately, but instead of quickly tilting right to get out of the way of those spells, he threw me left and he went right. The spells sailed uselessly between us as he doubled back around to get behind the mages.
I darted farther in the direction I was heading before twisting in the air. The wind went out of my wings, and I started to fall, but I fired a few spells off as I did so.
“Get out of the way!” Sebastian yelled as Ulric dipped down. A portion of one of my spells raked across Ulric’s backside. He threw Sebastian into the air. “Motherfu—”
Sebastian rushed to work the spell to catch himself as Nathanial attacked Ulric, throwing him farther away. Nathanial dipped down to them and grabbed Sebastian to keep the mage from eventually going splat.
“Is he attacking or saving?” Nessa hollered, firing off a spell regardless. “Am I hurting or helping?”
I caught altitude and zipped a spell at her, forcing Jasper to steer off course to get out of the way.
Nathanial let her return spell hit him, and it sliced a gash into his tough gargoyle hide. With Sebastian in his grips, he shot up into the sky.
Jasper, who had Nessa, was on the chase immediately, trying to catch the stronger and faster Nathanial. The mages were reduced to screaming, and I figured that was about it for the day.
“Hello?” Ivy House said.
“What?” I asked her, seeing the basajaunak moving fast though the trees. Dave was in the lead, heading straight for the trespasser. He had eight or nine others with him, two of whom I recognized as the ones who’d initially shown up with him.
“I said…” she started, and from her surly tone, she clearly thought I’d been ignoring her rather than in the middle of an intensive training session. “I can feel his power. He’s got a lot of it. I’d be a fool to turn away a gargoyle of his magnitude. If something happens to the bear, this would be the perfect replacement. Actually, maybe the bear would agree to bringing this gargoyle into your relationship. That way we wouldn’t have to choose, and you’d get to have twice as much fun…”
I ignored her, stalling a little as Dave and the basajaunak broke the tree line, bearing down on the stranger.
The stranger saw the basajaunak and took a large step back, lifting his hands immediately. I could hear their combined growling from here, see their hair all bristled and their arms puffing out to the sides. That oughta make the strangers’ bowels a little watery.
As the basajaunak circled the stranger, I sent up a plume of magic that would shower the trees in color. That meant the end of our practice session. Lowering to the ground, I shifted and then snatched up my house sweats. Those on, I tied up my hair as I threaded through the flowers.
“I’m here to see the mistress of the house,” the stranger said, his voice cool and calm but tight. He wasn’t completely hiding his nervousness.
“That’s me.” I reached the first basandere and put my hand on her arm.
She stepped out of the way, smiling down at me. “Hello, Jessie, good to see you again. Beautiful wood.”
“Thanks,” I said, not exactly sure who she was. “You’re welcome to visit anytime.”
“Thank you.” She beamed at me. “When on your grounds, I’ll protect it as my own.”
“Oh, great. Yeah, thanks,” I said, realizing I’d just made a deal and chastising myself to be more careful in the future. Thankfully, it was a good one.
The gargoyle’s black wings dropped down nearly to his heels—no small feat, given his incredible height of six foot eight or nine. His large shoulders and broad chest suggested he’d earned his strength in flight or fighting. He wore a black blazer and black slacks with a black dress shirt and tie to go with it. His wavy hair lightly curled around his ears. He wasn’t Pierce’s caliber in the looks department—not many were—but he was no slouch, with a strong chin and high cheekbones.