Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 112089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 560(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 374(@300wpm)
“Will your mom know any of that?”
He waved his hand through the air. “Oh, yeah, definitely. And if she doesn’t, she’ll make a bunch of calls to figure it out. Don’t worry about that. In the meantime, though, it has piqued my interest.”
“Maybe that’s the actual goal—to be unique. To stand out.”
“Maybe so.” He looked off down the street. “Quaint, huh?”
The tiny strip of town was half the length of O’Briens. A couple of store signs jutted out over the sidewalk. Buddy’s Auto Repair sat beside a gas station. A burger joint and some sort of café seemed to encompass the downtown eateries, and a dive bar lurked in the middle. Other than that, there didn’t seem to be much.
“Yeah,” I said, breathing in the fresh scent of trees. I crinkled my nose. “Is it just me, or does this town smell like incense?”
“Not just you.” Ulric inhaled as well before glancing at the sky. “We bought out all the rooms in town, right?”
“Yeah. And we’ll still have to double up. There were a couple of other places we could’ve stayed with more accommodations, but the basajaun said this was the closest entry point to their home. It’s only for one night, though.”
Ulric shifted a little, back to looking down the strip of town. “I’m not so excited about the odds of this going right.”
I bit back an honest response and instead said, “It’ll be good. The basajaun is confident.”
“Yeah,” he said noncommittally. “Do you get the feeling, though, that he might be a bit younger among their kind than you initially thought? And…you know…a bit less mature in his thinking? I mean, I can’t tell his age or anything, and from the things he says, it sounds like he’s been alive awhile, but I’m getting the impression that his species is longer lasting than I originally thought, and he isn’t so far up that ladder.”
It had occurred to me, yes. I’d talked it over with Austin at length.
“I think he just has his own agenda,” I said, hedging. “I think he wants to lead the younger crowd out into the world. Or who knows, maybe he is following his stars back here. Maybe this is all meant to be. I honestly don’t know. But he is confident, whether that attitude is logical or intelligent or not, and it is our best bet, as much as it pains me to say so.”
“Take it as it comes.”
I chuckled. “That’s about right, yeah. And if it comes out of the trees with puffed hair and snarls, I’ll take it at a run and hope to get away.”
He laughed. “You know, it’s funny, but I’m actually more nervous about the basajaunak than I am about those mages. That mage we caught in Alpha Steele’s territory wasn’t much of anything.”
“He was the muscle. He wasn’t supposed to be much of anything. Can you imagine going up against someone like Sebastian?”
Ulric’s brow pinched. He didn’t comment.
“These mages won’t be of his caliber,” I said, “but there will be more of them. They’ll be experienced, and they’ll bring their ground crew. Sebastian isn’t one hundred percent certain about what we should expect, but his ears on the inside apparently told him what to look out for. He’s nervous about it, even with the possible basajaunak aid. Don’t lose sight of the danger here. We’re going to be surrounded by it constantly.” I paused for a beat. “This isn’t my ideal getaway.”
Ulric laughed again. “You’re right. Maybe I’m just focusing on one big bad at a time.”
“Wise. I should be doing that.”
“Alpha.” Nathanial walked up and stood beside me, watching a car move slowly down the street. “They’re heading in.” He motioned for Ulric to move that way. “Help with the bags.”
“Yup.” Ulric started off, but Nathanial didn’t follow.
“A word?” he said.
He believed this plan was a good idea. Most of the crew agreed. I was the one who had the most doubts. And Austin. And now Ulric. Mr. Tom was mostly just put out he’d have to sleep in the woods.
“Sure. What’s up?”
“I know you aren’t used to any of this. You should know, though, that if we were meeting gargoyles and not basajaunak, they’d expect you to bring the fight to them. They’d expect to see how you handled it and, in so doing, handled them.” His wings fluttered a little. “If Ulric’s mother ever shows up, she can hopefully fill you in on the details, but I thought I might point that out, since we’ll need to be dealing with everything soon. Maybe treat this as practice for what’s to come.”
As Ulric said, one big bad at a time.
“Thanks. I will,” I said.
“I’d also like to say that I am honored to be part of your circle. Not because of what you are, but because of who you are. I believe in your leadership. Whether or not you succeed, I will remain by your side until the bitter end. You have my oath.”