Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 113319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
“No…”
I took a deep breath and counted to ten. There were some things I was not overly proud of having done in this new magical life, and most of them stemmed from the questionable practices of mages.
Nessa and Sebastian, experts in the dirty underground of the magical world, Niamh, and the newest installment of our antihero squad, Tristan, had all assured me these acts had been necessary. Expected, even. The mage world was ruled by despicable sorts, and our enemy, Momar, sat at the top of that pile. People like him and the Mages’ Guild were squeezing out or outright killing anyone with an intact moral compass. That was something Austin and I wanted to fix, but until we could take the high road…we were reduced to arguing about killing hikers with violent magical attack flowers, apparently.
“Just…no, Edgar. If you must have the flowers, at least ensure they have no poisonous thorns. Scratching and scaring, sure. An angry flower behind a ‘beware’ sign, great. But a killing flower that looks like an innocent sunflower until it is literally gouging a lost hiker? No. No! You must see the logic there.”
He heaved a sigh and bowed in defeat. “Okay, Jessie. I guess I’ll pretend to see the logic, since you are making me feel guilty about not seeing it. But I’d like to go on recording history by saying that I think this is a mistake and these flowers could also work against the corrupt mages sneaking on the property to check you out…”
His brows lifted slowly. It kinda looked like they were attached to the corners of his mouth, because his hopeful smile was slowly spreading.
“No attack flowers!” I yelled at him, my usually calm and patient demeanor exploding into frustrated anger.
I tried to breathe. To calm down.
Instead, I yelled louder, “Solve the gnome problem! That’s what we need. A gnome-killing flower—”
“But Jessie, as I explained—”
“Solve the gnome problem!” I hollered at him.
He spun and burst into his insect cloud, zipping away.
I stared after him, perspiration coating my forehead. Immediately I felt guilty, knowing he was just trying to help. We were all trying to find a new normal.
It had been months since the big battle at Kingsley’s. Since my team had devastated Momar’s, even with his impressive display of magic.
Since we’d lost Nathanial, and I’d almost followed him into the grave.
The loss had affected everyone differently, and to be honest, I was having a hard time consoling everyone through their grief. The guilt I felt had a constant hold on me, even in my nightmares. I’d try to change the outcome, try to dislodge Nathanial from my body as we hurtled toward the magical barrier that would kill him. But nothing made a difference.
Nothing could change the fact that he’d given up his life to save mine.
Without him, I wouldn’t have made it. I wouldn’t have taken out those mages and destroyed their spell. Without him, we would’ve all died.
Austin hadn’t been sleeping well, either. He constantly woke up, clutching for me, dreaming I hadn’t come back from the brink. That I was one of the people he’d helped bury.
I ran my hand down my face and turned, startling when I caught Niamh standing not far away. She wore black pants and shirt with a neutral expression, patiently waiting for me to notice her.
“How long have you been there?” I asked, checking to make sure I had clothes on.
That was another little trait I’d picked up—I just randomly worried I was naked. It was like I’d stopped remembering when I’d last bothered with clothes. We were going to my parents’ for Christmas in a week, and I needed to keep things in check. I would not end up like my father, wandering around the house with his begonias hanging out.
“Long enough to wonder if we should have left that vampire behind at Kingsley’s.”
“Yeah, right.” I huffed, starting toward the house and a meeting with Tristan I was probably late for. I did, in fact, have clothes on, so that was something. “He gave us a pass with the gnome situation even though they turned feral relatively quickly. There was no way he would consent to keeping Edgar.”
“Especially now that Aurora has refused Kingsley’s final ultimatum about going home.”
I groaned, reaching the back door and pushing my way in.
Before taking off without another word, Nessa and Sebastian had arranged a little surprise for us. They’d helped Aurora, Kingsley’s daughter, stow away with the basajaunak on the way back to O’Briens. She’d taken up residence at Sebastian and Nessa’s abandoned house. Kingsley hadn’t known any of this until he’d found her “goodbye, don’t worry about me” letter, which had been before we even found out.
Commence his worrying.
“What was the latest ultimatum?” I asked, passing by Mimi at her desk and knocking on the nearest wall in hello. We didn’t waste words when we didn’t have to.