Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 227(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 227(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Tristan continued to look at her, and she found that she didn’t mind the notice. There was no expectation in it, no pressure. No request for her to perform or dependency on her sunshine. Just a look, taking her in.
“I thought the hardest part of this position would be working with the shifters,” he said after a while, looking down the street again. “They’re similar, but just different enough to make things tedious. That’s the way it seemed, anyway. Turns out that part’s simple. Alpha Steele is a strong and sure leader, with a firm handle on his people and his duty. He’s open minded enough to take our differences in stride. Working with him has been a pleasure.”
She followed his lead, looking out over the street again.
“I’d gotten the impression that he handled most of the territory,” he went on, “and Jessie handled her very small crew. It seemed to me—and all the gargoyles during our visit—that his job was much more robust. He was essentially the leader, and she was the mate with magic. He took care of her, coddled her, and she did spells or whatever it was the house had granted her.”
“And now?” she prompted, not having heard all of that before.
He huffed, kicking his feet down the last step to the ground and leaning back.
“I didn’t know what the hell I was doing back there,” he spat out. “I’ve led guardians into battle. I’ve traveled the wilds. I’ve dealt with much worse than attacking flowers. But if I had been in charge of that clusterfuck, it would’ve all gone to hell. Flowers would’ve killed people, Dicks and Janes would’ve witnessed it, the exhibit would have exploded, and the basajaun would likely be rampaging through the fairgrounds or something, I don’t know.” Surprising her, he started to laugh. “I felt like I was standing around with my dick in my hand, wondering what to do next and wishing I’d let Alpha Steele handle it from the beginning.”
“What does that have to do with your perception of Jessie?”
“Alpha Steele cannot lead her crew, as small as they are. I can’t. We’d both try, and we’d both fail. He as much as admitted that to me on the way back here. Jessie manages all of these powerful people, full of aggression and idiosyncrasies, without seeming to. She gives them enough space to go berserk—but not so much that she can’t call them down if she needs to. She’s balancing her crew on this incredibly dangerous precipice that she doesn’t seem to realize is abnormal. This, in her mind, is a normal day. She thinks all this craziness around her is just that, craziness. Weirdness.”
“And you don’t.” She didn’t make it a question.
He leaned forward again, looking over at her. “Do you?”
“I think it is delightfully weird, yes. Mages tend to fear that which they don’t understand. Her crew is basically our dream scenario. Her crew’s weirdness will actually keep her safe when we go into the snake pit. I think it’s a blessing. The fact that she can call them down is enough for me. She stepped in front of an enraged basajaun today without batting an eye. She trusted him not to hurt her. And you know what? He didn’t. You need to have faith, Tristan. That’s a hard thing to grasp, I know, especially since you spent so long under the leadership of someone you couldn’t trust, but it’s safer than trying to control things.”
“Have faith in her crew?” he asked quietly. “The same crew that called in mages to attack her?”
Those words stung. “I’m not in her crew, remember?”
His brow arched. “So I shouldn’t trust you?”
She tried for any easy smile, but it wouldn’t come. Then, to her surprise, she found herself answering. “No. No one should trust me.”
“And why is that?”
“Because when I am traveling through hell, and that is almost always because of the life I lead, I have a habit of pulling on the devil’s whiskers.”
He studied her for a long time, then tsked. “Natasha, Natasha.” His smile was pure evil. “You have no idea what hell is.”
Her return smile was condescending, but she stopped herself before she could say something else she might regret, like more truths. He had too much information about her already, not to mention a few secrets she wished he didn’t know.
Instead, she grabbed his arm to haul him up. “Come on.”
He resisted, barely flexing to do so. A soft rip issued from his shirt as she stumbled. Her foot slipped off the step, throwing her off balance. She staggered against his leg, tripped over his foot, and tumbled down on top of him.
He caught her easily, spinning her in his arms like she was as light and malleable as a pillow, then cradling her against his chest.