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)
“Secrets, secrets are no fun,” Edgar sang softly. “Secrets, secrets, hurt someone.”
“Thoughts?” I asked Austin.
“Up to you. Given what I’ve seen, I’m not at all worried for our safety.”
I nodded. “I can see where you’re coming from,” I told Arthur. “I’ll let this one slide. Do better.”
“Yes, of course.” He lifted his arm again, not at all sure. “I’ll have my mages take off the revealing spell immediately.”
“Don’t bother.” I waved it away as I started forward. Broken Sue took that as a cue to rejoin Mr. Tom outside, guarding the door. “It’s neither here nor there if I can see them or not. My people will let me know if something’s not right.”
The marble continued down the hall. A large, gilded picture frame down the way held the mage’s painted likeness. Big white flowers shot up from colorful vases on a thin glass table beneath it. It was pretty hideous.
The dark room on the right was decorated with muted colors and old-fashioned furniture. Half pillars holding vases of flowers dotted the sides, and more gilded frames hung on the wall. Given none of it seemed ragged and worn, the décor was a choice, and his taste was questionable.
Five men and women sat around the room with champagne flutes in hand, all held with the arm wearing a watch. Those watches sparkled and glittered, statement pieces, like Sebastian and Nessa had always said, and probably pricy. I, of course, didn’t know anything about them. The men wore nice suits, not quite as fine as those worn by the host, Austin, or Tristan, and the ladies wore elegant, fashionable dresses.
I looked absurd, and so did half my team.
Everyone stopped talking as we entered. And then they gasped as my people walked in around us and spread along the sides of the room.
“Is that…a big—”
“Don’t say it.” I held my hand up for the woman wearing five strands of pearls, all different lengths. “He’s a basajaun. He doesn’t like being called the other thing.”
Her mouth clicked shut, her eyes still wide.
“Excuse me.” Cyra bowed at thin air. A bit of magic told me they had another invisible person there. She walked around but didn’t go far, standing right beside the person.
“Yes, ah, some of the other mages employed invisibility potions for their people,” Arthur told me. “For the reasons previously mentioned. Listen up, everyone.”
“Did she get magic through the ward?” a man asked, his suit jacket open to showcase his rounded belly.
“I’ll get to that.” Arthur put up a finger for Belly Man. “Please, allow me to introduce Jessie Ironheart and her…mate, Austin Steele. Jessie and Austin, let me introduce the mages I have gathered here tonight.” He indicated Belly Man first as a waitress with the same uniform as the butler stopped beside us and held out a silver tray with two flutes of champagne.
“Oops. That’s my job.” Cyra hurried back and took one of the flutes from the tray. She took a large sip and grimaced. “I never much liked this stuff. The fizz makes me—” She sneezed, spraying the glass with spittle. Champagne sloshed out and dripped onto the deep brown rug. “Here, Jessie.”
I took it with a grimace and then set it back onto the tray.
After taking the other, I said, “I’ll take my chances with this one. I can probably heal myself if I’m poisoned anyway. Or we can rush Indigo in.”
“Are you sure?” She pointed at it. “Do you want to just wait a minute to see if I die first?”
“A whiskey on the rocks,” Austin murmured to the waitress.
Arthur’s eyebrows were in his hairline.
I pointed at Cyra. “She’s a phoenix. They come back to life after they die. She’s the poison tester.”
“And you have healing magic, did you say?” he asked.
“Yes. It’s part of being a female gargoyle. We can heal as well as hurt.”
“Well, that’s just wonderful,” said an older woman with bright pink lipstick and graying hair pulled up into a loose sort of bun with curls along the side of her face.
“Rest assured, Jessie, we don’t mean to poison you tonight.” Arthur smiled. The others chuckled as though that was some sort of joke. Politeness dictated that I should smile even though I didn’t get it. “As I was saying, this is Farris Levine, specializing in mixed potions and practical application.”
Farris smiled and patted his belly. His watch caught my eye—its face was crimson.
“Hello,” I said, and left it at that because I didn’t really know what mixed potions and practical application meant.
“Over here is Ester Bardot.” He gestured toward the older woman with the pink lipstick before rattling off some other things that made no sense to me.
“Hi,” I said.
The woman with the pearls, Tauna, did something called septic magic, which sounded gross, and I didn’t recognize the words at all for the other two, Emma and Bert. They were all mages, though, and none had brought a significant other. In fact, there weren’t any rings or anything, and it occurred to me that I didn’t know if mages married or had mates or just partners.