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)
Austin broke, sinking one.
“Begging your pardon, alpha, may I be candid?”
“Of course.”
“I’m having a hard time trusting all of this. The only one I do trust is Natasha, and she’s probably the least trustworthy of you all. I get her, though. You all, with your fancy food and drink and easy lifestyle amid so much power and chaos—I don’t understand any of this. Honestly, it feels like a trap. Like this can’t possibly be real life. There are beings in this house right now who could kill me in half a second, and we’re playing pool and waiting on drinks from a gargoyle who must have been a guardian at one time but is now an overbearing butler. My mind is spinning.”
Austin stared at him for a moment, just to make sure he was genuine, and then started laughing. He knew this man wouldn’t challenge him because of it or think he lacked the control to hold it back.
“I will never speak ill of Nessa,” he finally said, collecting himself. “It’s not easy to be a low-magic mage playing with the big dogs. She’s a survivor, and a survivor in her situation has to make some grisly decisions. I don’t fault her for that. She’s got a good heart with a lot of pain and guilt in her past. I don’t know specifics and I won’t ever ask. Her partner in crime, Sebastian, is the same way. Even though he loves Jess like a sister, he’s as dangerous to us as he is necessary to Jess. When it comes to them, don’t think I am blind. They are very good at what they do but very bad at hiding their thoughts from people who excel at reading body language. I can trust them because I can read them. If there is someone not to trust, it is Patty, Ulric’s mother. Lovely woman, but one conversation will have you giving her safe combinations. Everyone else—honestly, they aren’t hard to get a handle on if you’re paying attention. You know when Cyra is going to burn you alive, for example. She’s not subtle. Hollace cannot be provoked. I’ve had many shifters try. Ulric never gives in. Nessa cares more than she’d like to admit, which she showed by dealing with Ulric’s bullies. Jasper can keep a secret. Niamh is incredible at manipulation and loyal to an absolute fault. If you’re not in her circle, you’d best watch yourself because she can be dangerous when she wants to be. Mr. Tom picks up the slack with everyone in the crew. Edgar is… Well. You’ve seen enough of him yourself to know. He’s ingenious and incredibly…not right in the head. None of them are hard to read, Tristan. So what is it you can’t trust? Your own ability to see details?”
Tristan stared at him like he had two heads. “You’re not blind,” he repeated, and Austin heard the question behind it.
“No,” he replied. “I didn’t know specifics, but I knew mages were about to attack our territory. It came as a welcome surprise when you all suddenly decided to stay. I had a feeling it wasn’t a coincidence, especially since you changed your people’s configuration and placement both inside and outside of the territory. It was pretty clear you were setting up a warning system and planned to help us. I worked within that understanding.”
Tristan had a look of shock on his face. He lowered the pool stick, still staring.
“You were the instigator in staying, right?” Austin asked. “I figured you must have been since your leader had no interest in Jess or our territory. Why did you decide to keep people here?”
He shook his head. “Partially a favor. Partially to see a female gargoyle and your territory in battle. I wanted to see if I would stay and be a part of it. Why didn’t you tell Jessie? That doesn’t sound like an open, trusting relationship.”
“She probably would’ve insisted on telling the gargoyle leaders. I knew from Nathaniel that the guardians would want to stay and do battle, but the leaders would have probably sited a grievance and taken off on principle. I couldn’t let that happen. I wanted to showcase our battle strength as well as get some much-needed help. You staying made that possible.”
Tristan’s expression hardened. “So this whole territory,” he said, “is essentially keeping Jessie in the dark about everything?”
Austin couldn’t help chuckling as he took his turn. He sunk one easily, lining up for the next.
“Not even remotely. This is the only thing I’ve kept from her. I didn’t tell her after the fact because she would have given it away to the mages, and I can’t allow that to happen. Nessa and Sebastian basically gave me a roadmap of how they operate when the gargoyles came to town. Both of them are great at speaking lies, but neither of them have the body language to back that up. They seem to have one foot in our camp, one foot out. It’s that foot out I need to watch. I will do anything to protect my mate and my territory. I need them to think they fooled me so they won’t try any harder to fool me next time.”